"God brought judgment on the people because of their grumbling. But judgment wasn't the last word. It's never the last word. Judgment is necessary because of our hard-heartedness. Its proper work is to open our hearts, to crack the shell of our self-sufficiency so that we can experience the inrushing grace of our loving and compassionate God.
It's true, as the apostle Paul wrote, that the kindness of God leads us to repentance. (Romans 2:4) But so does the judgment of God. Both are the means to the same end: to bring us to God, the Source of our forgiveness, our healing, our wholeness." Eugene Peterson, Conversations, pg. 224God's righteous judgment of me was the catalyst for me coming to Christ as an adult. For years, I had been thinking and acting in ways that were absolutely offensive to God. I thought I knew everything, but reality caught up with me and burned me pretty badly. Although the whole experience was very painful, I can see now that it was the "snake bite" that opened my heart and caused me to turn to Christ and believe.
I am eternally grateful that judgment's not the last word with our Loving Father, that there's a larger purpose, and thankful for this foreshadowing of Jesus in the middle of the Israelites' trip through the desert:
In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up - and everyone who looks up at him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life. John 3:14-15
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"...the Israelites looked about and saw much to bemoan, much to complain about...And what does God send the ingrates?...A slithering blanket of snakes that coil around the complaints of the Israelites, open wide and pierce the flesh with fang. Always, ingratitude makes the poison course. The cure against thanklessness's bite? The remedy is in the retina..."Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!" (Numbers 21:9) How we behold determines if we hold joy. Behold glory and be held by God. How we look determines how we live...if we live." --Anne Voskamp
It's difficult to see God's judgments as life. To thank God that He does not bend, does not lower His standards. Instead, He provides the way for eternal life. Thank you for the great reminder, Cici, that we can look on Christ and know that His final word is life.
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