Sermon in Minneapolis 26.10.2014

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We will begin our services this morning with opening prayer and thanksgiving.

Holy and righteous God, our dear Heavenly Father, again we thank you for this moment, an opportunity to gather around your holy word. We thank you for your many blessings, temporally but above all spiritually. We thank you for your dear Son, whom you have sent into this world to prepare the salvation for us sinners. We thank you for your kingdom, and where we can find this gift of gifts, your Son Jesus Christ through faith.

So we ask that you would be with us again today and always open up your word so it could comfort and console the listeners that are here gathered and those that are listening. Lead us and guide us on this narrow way of life, but above all, nourish us with your everlasting gospel word. All of this we ask in the name of your dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Today is the 20th Sunday after Pentecost, and I thought I would read one of the Sundays, a different cycle, not the cycle that's for this year, but last year, from Numbers chapter 21, verses 4 through 9. And we will hear these words as follows in Jesus' name.

And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to compass, or go around the land of Edom. And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way or the route that they took. And the people spake against God and against Moses, wherefore or why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water. And our soul loatheth or despises this light bread.

And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and he put it upon a pole, and it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. Amen.

Some years ago in Finland, at their large gathering that they have every summer, which we call in Finnish the Suvi Seurat, they always have a meeting called the Speakers and Elders Meeting. And after the Speakers and Elders Meeting that day, that year was over, a speaker brother kept a sermon speaking on this text.

And he said, I just came from the Speakers and Elders Meeting, and unfortunately there was a large number of people who were in the woods. Then he continued and said that, well, we were coming by bus from where we had the gathering back to the Suvi Seurat or to the service site, and the bus ended up in the ditch and went into the woods.

He used this as a starting point for the text, which is the same text we had before us, by explaining that the people of Israel were now traveling toward the Promised Land, and suddenly they ended up in the woods. They were actually in the wilderness. They were probably looking for the most direct route after they had passed through the Red Sea to go to their final destination, which was, of course, the land of Canaan, the Promised Land.

But, unfortunately, in the way was a small country, and the country was known as Edom. And Moses decided that it's best for their sake, for all of their sakes, to skirt around, or here it says in the King James Version, to compass around the land of Edom.

Now, why did they want to skirt around this small country, this small piece of land? And when they began to detour around this country, then the people began to murmur and complain, and sort of as if rebel against Moses and Aaron, who were the leaders of the people of Israel.

Well, we must look at the history of this name and the people that lived in this country, Edom. First of all, the name Edom means red or reddish-brown in color, but that's not of much significance for us and for this text. It's just an interesting piece of information regarding the name.

But when we think of the name Edom, it comes from that pair of twins. We remember there was Isaac and Rebecca had two twins, or two boys, a set of twins, and they were Esau and Jacob. And when Esau didn't receive, or he had sold his birthright, and as a result of selling the birthright to his younger twin, Jacob, he didn't receive the firstborn, which rightfully would have belonged to him.

And therefore, Esau became filled with rage and anger. And as a result, we remember that Jacob had to flee the wrath of his brother. And so, the country Edom and the people of the land of Edom were descendants, direct descendants of Esau.

And the wrath of Esau continued during his life and in the successive generations thereafter. And so, we can see that Moses and Aaron did not want to pass directly through this country, through this land, because they were an enemy nation.

One time when a group of tourists from Finland were visiting in the Holy Land, in the land of Israel, they, at one occasion, sang a song, which is a very familiar song to us, one of our Easter songs. And it begins in this way, "Risen is our sun in victory, shining on the mount today."

But then, if we look in the second verse, "Chilling winds have all departed," it goes on to say, but at the end of that second verse, it says, "Southwest breezes blow from Edom through the fig leaves they sound."

Now, they had a professional guide with them that they had hired to explain the different sites as they were traveling through the country. And this guide, their hired guide, was very bewildered when he listened to them sing this song.

And he asked the question, why in your song do you sing in such a very positive way about this country, this land of Edom? It's an enemy nation. They've always been in war against the people of Israel, and actually, nothing good comes from Edom. Even in the temporal sense, all that comes from that land are dust storms, which are a bother to the nations and the people around.

And so, those Finnish guests asked one minister, one speaker brother, who happened to be in that tour group, why don't you explain it? And maybe you would have an explanation.

Well, first of all, what came to mind was the portion from the prophet Jeremiah. And it's actually a messianic prophecy, it's a prophecy of the coming Messiah. And it says in this way, "Who is he who comes from Edom? And his clothes are red, stained red, even though he's wearing white garments."

And then, the reply is this, that "I alone have trampled the wine presses of God, and there is no one there to assist me and help me. I alone have treaded the winepress of God."

And so, herein, we can see it's interesting why does it say that he comes from Edom, from an enemy nation.

Well, we remember when the wrath of Esau was kindled, Jacob fled that wrath. He ran as far away as possible. But now, when Jesus, we remember on Maundy Thursday, Holy Thursday evening, was realizing, or he was all-seeing and all-knowing, like his heavenly Father, he knew what was before him.

But the soldiers came to arrest him there in the garden, and Peter tried to defend him, and Jesus told Peter, "Put your sword back in its sheath, that he who lives by the sword will also die by the sword."

But then Jesus said, "If I would want to, I could call to my assistance in aid 7,000 angels, and not one human hand, not one finger, would be laid upon me. I have that power, I have that authority, but I am not going to do it, use it."

He extended his hands and voluntarily submitted himself to the soldiers who arrested him and took him away.

Jacob fled the wrath of Esau, but Jesus did not flee when he knew that the odds were against him. He voluntarily submitted himself, and he, figuratively speaking, walked directly through that wrath of the enemy nation, Edom, all the way to the hill of Golgotha, where he was crucified, nailed to the cross on our behalf.

And therefore, we also sing in another song, which figuratively belongs to this land of Edom, because it says, "From the land of Edom come these southwest breezes which gently blow."

And 80 times the word Edom is found in the Bible. And in the book of Judges it says that from the land of Edom comes a cloud, and from this cloud sprinkles blood.

And we often say that the southwest breezes blow from Edom, and they sprinkle the blood, the blood of the Christ, which sounds forth in the gospel of God's kingdom.

But we remember when the people of Israel were on that wilderness journey, and during the nighttime they had a guide which appeared in the sky, which was a pillar of fire. And then during the daytime there was a cloud which led them and guided them on their journey.

And so one old pastor and speaker brother and songwriter writes beautifully in one song which I'm sure we're all familiar with. "When Jesus through faith is my savior, then brightens the stormiest night."

Then in the second verse it says in this way, "He guides in a pillar of flame through the night. By day in a bright crimson cloud he gives us light."

Again, referring to this blood red cloud which comes from Edom when the southwest warm breezes are gently blowing.

And from that cloud we can hear that audible message, "Son and daughter, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven unto you."

And so here our text begins as they journeyed from Mount Hor, so they came up to this certain mountain which was Mount Hor, and they had two directions that they could go, either this way or that way. They decided to take the long detour.

And they went by the way of the Red Sea to compass about or skirt around the land of Edom. And as a result of Moses and Aaron making that choice, going the longer route, it says, and the soul of the people was much discouraged, or the people became very discouraged, very dissatisfied with that choice of directions.

And then the people began to speak against God.

If we read from the books of Moses, the books of Moses are the first five books of the Old Testament, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. If we read from the last four, excluding Genesis, we can see that the people of Israel often began to murmur and complain and often even rebel.

And here it says, here is one of the, there's eight murmurings that are actually listed. And here is the first one or one of them.

And the people spoke against God and also against Moses. And their question was this, why have you brought us out of Egypt to die?

There seemed to be a lack of food and there seemed to be a lack of water many times during the 40 years in the wilderness. So they said that maybe it would have been better if we had stayed in Egypt. There was food aplenty. We were able to sit around the flesh pot there in Egypt.

During the wilderness journey, one time they found a source of water, but they tasted it and the water was bitter. It was alkaline water. They couldn't even drink it. But Moses had a solution. He threw in a piece of timber and the bitter water turned sweet.

Another time they were without water and the people were murmuring and then God told Moses, "Moses, you have a staff. Use your staff to strike that rock." He struck the rock and water came pouring forth from the rock. Enough for all the people and all their animals as well.

Another time they seemed to be out of food. They were hungry. Again the people began to murmur and complain. And then God sent a huge flock of birds. Such a huge flock it even darkened the sky when it blocked out the sunlight. And they had food aplenty.

And another time they ran out of food and then God allowed that some strange looking white pancake type of material appeared as dew on the ground each morning when they woke up. And they didn't know what to call it so they called it manna which means "What is this?"

So this was their source of food for a long period of time. And this is the food that they were now able to eat to sustain themselves on their journey.

And this is where our text then now picks up.

"And why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread."

Well, a couple of different times God provided for them in his own miraculous way food for them to eat. And neither is there any water. I mentioned the two different cases at least where God then provided them good drinkable water.

And then lastly, "Our soul despises this light bread," or this white bread, this manna that they were given to eat.

I've mentioned before that when I was single and living at home and my parents went to Finland for my brother Gary's wedding, mother was thinking of her poor firstborn that got left at home and didn't know how to prepare food for himself, so she made a huge pot of stew and she left it in the refrigerator for me.

And so for the next week and a half, two weeks, what did I have for supper? I had stew, stew, stew, breakfast, lunch, and supper. I didn't complain; I was very satisfied.

But now these people of Israel are eating manna 40 years of their life, breakfast, lunch, and supper, and now they are getting fed up, tired of this same simple diet.

And here is what it says, "And in our soul loathes this light bread."

We are getting mighty sick and tired of eating this manna every day, breakfast, lunch, and supper for year after year after year.

So that now leads us up to our text or the crux of our text.

"And then therefore the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and we have spoken against thee."

Oh, I jumped one verse.

And the Lord sent as a result of their complaining about this eating manna every day of their life, the Lord sent fiery serpents into the camp among the people.

And these fiery serpents or poisonous serpents began to bite the people one by one, and as they're bitten then they begin to die quickly because of the venom that the snakes inserted into them, and many people began to die.

And so first of all, what are these fiery serpents and why are they called fiery serpents?

Well, first of all, it's assumed that the color of these serpents were this variety of serpent was bright in color, so bright that it almost looked like the color of a fire.

But then secondly, when these serpents bit someone, the sting was so sharp it was like a bite, like the burning, the sensation of the burning of a fire.

And then thirdly, there was an old tradition that these types of serpents when they opened up their mouth they would spit their venom and it looked like they were spitting as if fire.

So anyways, these types of serpents came slithering into the camp and began to bite the people one by one, and as they were bitten as a result they began to die.

And of course a great frenzy went through the camp and they were wondering what in the world should we do, what is the solution?

And so therefore in verse 7 it says, therefore the people then now turned to Moses who they often complained against but now they're turning to him for help and support.

And they said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord."

They realized that what they had been doing was not correct, was wrong, and they were sorrowful and penitent and were now speaking this to Moses, "For we have spoken against the Lord and we have spoken against you, praying unto God that he would take away the serpents from us."

And so Moses then prayed for the people.

So what was God's solution?

Well, his solution was this, that in Moses and the Lord said unto Moses, "Make a fiery serpent."

So he's going to make an artificial serpent and use that.

So the Lord said unto Moses, "Make thee a fiery serpent, make a serpent that looks just like the venomous snakes that have been biting you, and set it upon a pole."

And it shall come to pass that everyone that has been bitten and looks upon this serpent that is now this artificial fake serpent that is raised up on a pole, whoever looks upon it shall live.

Then Moses made a serpent out of brass.

So it's interesting that why did he make a serpent out of brass or bronze?

When we think about the sin and the nature of sin, it causes pain, pain to the heart and soul.

There's an interesting portion in the book of Proverbs and it's talking about the matter of drinking alcohol, and I could look it up and find the exact quote but I'll paraphrase it.

It's in Proverbs 23 verses 30 through 32 if you with your smartphones want to look it up.

But it says that a person who drinks this type of alcoholic beverages it then stings just like the bite of an adder or a serpent.

So the picture of a serpent is the picture of pain that is inflicted.

And then secondly, this artificial serpent is made out of bronze.

And if you think about the metal bronze, it's bright in color.

But how do they manufacture bronze or brass?

The metallurgists say that in order to make bronze or brass, apparently an alloy, and the alloy mixture needs to be heated up to a very high temperature, and then the final product of brass or bronze is the final result.

And we know even in our society there's a very common symbol or picture of a medical field which is a cross with a serpent wrapped around it.

It's an ancient symbol from probably centuries on back.

And so this picture, this image, this artificial statue or figure of a snake made out of bronze is told to Moses by God to be made and then put high up on a stake.

So what does this mean? What is its significance?

There is one cathedral in Finland in the city of Tampere and it has many images painted by an artist on the ceiling.

So it's just like if we look up at the ceiling of our church and there would be all kinds of different pictures and images. We don't have any, but in that church there are.

And so one person once asked some people who were there with him, "Look to the ceiling," and it was a cupola type of church so it came up to a point in the center of the church.

And he said, "Look and find what you see at the highest point. What image is there?"

And they looked and sure enough it was a picture of a serpent or a snake.

So why was a picture of a serpent or a snake put at the highest point in that church?

Well, here we see some sort of comparison here.

Moses is asked to make a serpent out of bronze and put it on a pole and raise that pole high up into the air.

So here we can see some similarities, some comparisons.

But then if we think about a snake, a snake is dangerous, it's poisonous, it can cause death like sin can cause death to the undying soul.

But here is a beautiful picture of Christ.

Well, what in the world does a serpent have to do with an image of Christ? How do we find that picture from this image?

Sometimes young boys have tried to play tricks on young girls and maybe they got a snake, a figure of snake made out of rubber or plastic, and to play a trick on the girls and they toss that rubber snake at the feet of the girls and they jump out of alarm and they think that it's a real snake and they go running away with a loud shriek.

Well, actually it was a very harmless plastic rubber snake.

So Jesus or Paul writes about Jesus and he said Jesus was sinless but he became sin on our behalf in order to save us who are sinners.

So Jesus was sinless but he became sin.

Well, what does this mean?

We remember when Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane on that Monday Thursday evening and he prayed and he prayed that God, if it's possible, take this cup away from me so I wouldn't have to drink it, but God let your will be done and not my will.

And then the evangelist says that God cast all of the sins of the world, the entire world, upon the shoulders of Jesus.

And that weight of sin was so heavy that Jesus slumped to the ground.

And because of the weight of that sin that he was carrying on his shoulders on our behalf, it began to ooze blood drops out of his sweat pores that began to drip to the ground.

So Jesus, so Jesus sin, sin and always sin, sin, sin, sin, sin, sin, but he was carrying that burden, that weight, all of the sins that have ever been committed and ever will be committed on his shoulders.

And then he was led to the hill of Golgotha.

So therein is a picture of a serpent which is a picture of sin, but this is a sinless, not a dangerous serpent.

But then the serpent was made out of brass or bronze, and as I mentioned already, in order to make this alloy, brass or bronze, a mixture of metals need to be mixed together and brought to a very high temperature.

So imagine the heat that is needed to produce this metal.

And this also is a picture of Christ in a way because he had to suffer all of the pain, all of the agony, and all of those curses that are rightfully belonging to you and I and every human being.

Jesus said in the garden of Gethsemane, "Who eats of that fruit of that forbidden tree will surely die."

And Adam and Eve ate of that forbidden tree and as a result they died spiritually.

And as a result every one of us will temporarily die.

But God was angry and the Bible, or at least in our sermons, the old preacher brothers have often said that God hates sin.

So the wrath of God was now kindled.

God hates sin but then God loves the sinner.

So Jesus is that lamb of God, that sacrificial lamb, was come to take away the sins of the world.

And as the people of Israel were departing from Egypt on that eve of departure, they were to take a sacrificial animal, a lamb, and then roast it, burn it over a fire on a stick or a stake.

If you look at the stick or a stake, it looks like a picture of a cross which was like a rotisserie chicken or a lamb rotating over the heat of that flame.

And so the old preacher brothers have said that when Jesus was hanging on the cross he was being burned simultaneously by two flames.

On one side was burning that flame of the wrath of God when God hates sinners.

But secondly, on the other side was burning another flame which was the flame of God's love.

God loves sinful mankind.

God so loved the world that he sent his only beloved Son and who believes in him does not need to perish but has will have everlasting life.

One old preacher brother was keeping confirmation class in his local church in the old country and they were talking about a very difficult topic which was redemption and atonement.

And I often told the confirmation students when I had the same topic that confirmation students this is the most important lesson that confirmation can, this is the crux, the A and the O of living faith in our salvation.

So this old preacher brother, this pastor, was keeping a lesson on redemption and atonement and just before lunch hour he said, during lunch hour, during break, I want you to go outside and look at the roof of our church in which church we're holding confirmation class.

And then when we convened after lunch then tell me what is the highest point that you see on that physical church building.

So they reconvened after lunch hour and the pastor, as he promised, he asked the question, what is the highest point on this church?

Well, some said it's the highest peak of the roof of the church and some said no, there's a cupola on top.

No, on top of the cupola there's a cross.

And the pastor said no, no, no.

Then one bright student, observant student said, I think I have the answer.

What is it?

He says it's the lightning rod.

So the question is, what is the purpose of a lightning rod for a building or if there's an electrical storm, a thunderstorm, and a bolt of lightning comes out of the sky and comes to strike that building, that church in that case or in this church in our case?

What is the bolt of lightning going to strike first?

It's going to hit that lightning rod and it's going to go down that lightning rod and into the ground and it be harmlessly dissipated into the earth.

The pastor, the teacher said to that observant student, "Correct, you were absolutely right."

And then he went on to speak about this brazen serpent made out of brass, artificial serpent which was raised upon the cross.

And he said that Christ is like a lightning rod on our behalf.

So if a lightning bolt of lightning would have struck that church, those people, if that lightning rod wouldn't have been there, they could have kindled the church on fire and killed everyone in the church.

But they were protected, they were spared, they were saved by that lightning rod which harmlessly dissipated that bolt of lightning into the earth.

And so forth and likewise Jesus is that lightning rod on our behalf.

He suffered the wrath, he suffered the ridicule, he suffered all of the pain and agony and took upon himself all the curses of mankind on our behalf.

He is our Savior, he is our redemption, he is our sanctification, he is our holiness.

So herein we can see that beautiful picture when Moses raised that brazen serpent upon the pole and everyone who looked upon it, well not only just casually looked upon it but looked upon it in faith.

And one person said in this way, one believing brother, that a person could become to communion, for example, a thousand times but if they don't come in faith that is of no benefit for them.

So it is looking upon this picture, prophecy of Jesus Christ in faith which then allowed those people who were bit by the real venomous serpents to be cured.

And so here it says, and the Lord said unto Moses and Moses made a serpent out of brass, put it upon a pole, and it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man when he beheld the serpent of brass he lived.

And so when Jesus had that discussion during that one night with that Pharisee who was a member of the Sanhedrin, he was a member of that great council, he then spoke to Nicodemus and he said likewise those same words which he was quoting from Moses.

And he said in this way, "As Moses lifted up the serpents in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up."

So Jesus was lifted up on the cross but then buried in the tomb on the third day he then rose from the grave and then forty days later he again ascended from earth back into heaven.

So this lifting up was seen again and again and John says in another chapter that when the Son of Man is lifted up then he will draw all people toward him.

And so Jesus is our salvation, he has prepared all on our behalf.

And today we see on the wall behind the pulpit an empty cross.

He did not get left on the cross, he got put in the grave but he didn't get left in the grave.

He has arisen, he lives, and we can live through him.

And so therefore Jesus says that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

And so even this morning we can be happy and free when Christ has prepared all and done all on our behalf.

He has blazed the way to the glory of heaven and that is our destination that waits for us when we with our weak faith one day can close our eyes to this world and be translated from this life to that eternal resting place to the glory of heaven.

So we can be of good cheer even now, believe sins forgiven in Jesus' name and blood in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Lord bless us and keep us.

The Lord make his face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us your peace.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.