The Bible Story Vol 2_w.pdf - Herbert W. Armstrong

the ty pe of serpent that is plaguing
t he pe ople," God t old Moses.
"Have them moun t it on a long
pole, and erect the pole in th e center
of the camps as a sign of My
healing power. Then tell the people
th at any who have been bitten will
be healed and spared from death
simply by gazing on the brazen serpent."
(Verses 8-9.)
Mo ses ha stily obeyed, a nd
very soon the metal snake was
raised on a pole close to th e tabernacle
and the peopl e told what it
was for. Throngs of suffering victims
gathered to peer at the brass
serpent .
Before God's orders could be
ca rried out, however , t housa nds
more had been bitten by sna kes in
the sur rounding dry, rocky are as.
This re sulted in an in creasing
crowd of frantic, sick and groa ning
people to gather within sight of the
brass sna ke. Thousands had died
before it was made, but all those
who lived long enough to view the
sna ke on the pole were healed.
God caused the poisonous ser ­
pents to depart from th e area in
which th e Israelites were camped.
T he plague was end ed because the
offenders regretted what they had
done and because of Moses' pra yer
to God. The rem oval of the serpent
plague was ent irely a matter of
repentance, prayer, obedience, and
fait h. The serpent on the pole represente
d the pen alty of sin being ta ken
away. It reminded the Israelites of a
Th ousand s of snake victims
came to gaze at th e metal se rpe nt
erec ted on a hig h pol e.
108