There’s only one thing you can do – that’s to locate that serpent on that brass serpent. You would’ve fixed your gaze on that serpent. You would’ve fixed it in your gaze – “Don’t get in my way. Don’t get in my way! Don’t block my view!” I think it was probably up fairly high, so wherever you were, you could see it; and they would stand there looking. Just check and hold my hand up and see if it’s fixed. They would stand looking until they feel all the poison is gone. They feel the pain and the tingling go. “Thank You God. Your power has been released.”
Now, you understand this, the brass serpent had no power. It was just a focal point for their faith. Here’s what God wanted them to understand – that sin came into the world because of the serpent, and one day Jesus would come and He would be put up on a cross. You have to remember – this is hundreds of years before they ever invented crucifixion. The serpent was up on a pole.
God knew ahead of time that one day Jesus would come into this earth, and He would die a death on a cross which no one had ever heard of before, and when He died on the cross, the power of sin would be broken. The power of the serpent would be broken. The power of curses would be broken.
Colossians 2:14-15 – “When Jesus died on that cross, took the list of sins against us, cancelled it all, and disarmed the devil, broke the serpent’s power.” So God wanted them to understand that just as Moses lifted up the brass serpent, one day Jesus would go on a cross; and that every person who understood that sin was causing death in their life, if they looked to Jesus Christ with faith in their heart, the power of God would be released and they would be saved.
God so loved the world, He gave His only Son to die on the cross, that if we would believe in Him, that He died for my sins and rose again and conquered the power of sin, then the power of God would be released. Hallelujah. Come on, let’s give the Lord a clap, shall we? Thank You Lord. Thank You Jesus.