Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my meditation today is "Look Up and Live." I read from Numbers 21: 4-9 (NLT). All quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission.
4 Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient with the long journey, 5 and they began to speak against God and Moses. “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?” they complained. “There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!”
6 So the LORD sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died. 7 Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 Then the LORD told him, “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!” 9 So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!
The Israelites had to take a significant detour to go around Edom because the king of Edom would not allow them pass through their country. This longer than expected journey had disastrous consequences for the Israelites. Once again, they spoke against God and Moses and questioned the wisdom of leaving Egypt in the first place. They even despised the manna given to them by God. Their actions were a slap in the face of God, and He punished them by sending poisonous snakes into their camp. They came to their senses quickly, repented, and asked Moses to pray for their deliverance. God told Moses, "Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!" Before God sent the poisonous snakes, there was already a serpent in the camp. He was telling lies and counseling rebellion against God and His messenger, Moses. He was rejoicing over the death of God's chosen ones when God once again intervened to save them. By believing God and rejecting the counsel of the serpent, all they had to do was look up and live. As you are reading the story of the Exodus, you might think this was yet another breach of faith of the Israelites; however, this event was significant. Jesus uses this story to explain His coming to Nicodemus. In John 3: 14-15 (NLT), we read, "And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life." Like the Israelites, we rejected God and rebelled against His dominion, and received the like penalty, death. And just like God, He provided a remedy that we might live. If we look up to Jesus in faith and obedience, we will live. As we partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we are reminded that Jesus was lifted up on a cross and gave His life for us. Let us pray.
Abba, Father. Today we bless and set aside this bread and the fruit of the vine in this cup to remember Your Son, Jesus. We know that the bread represents His body that was nailed to the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood that He shed for us. As we pour out the wine from the cup, we are reminded of how Jesus poured out His own blood that our sins might be forgiven. Rather than sit in judgment of the actions of the Israelites, we certainly identify with their rejection of You and rebellion against Your dominion. We, too, were at one time guilty of the same charges and condemned to die. Thank-you, Abba, Father, that you saved us! But what a price You paid—Your very own Son was lifted up on a cross to die for us. As we partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we remember Jesus and His love for us. In His name I pray. Amen.
Today, Jesus invites you to partake of His supper. I read from Matthew 26: 26-28 (NLT).
26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” Let us partake of the bread.
27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Let us partake of the cup.
And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"
Until next time, from Numbers 6: 24-26 (NLT), "May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace."
Artist's Note: If you have questions about the Lord's Supper, I invite you to visit my website, https://eatthisbreaddrinkthiscup.com, for a brief overview. The Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast is listed in most podcast directories. The benefit of creating an account in one of the directory apps, like Apple Podcasts, Spotify or iHeart, is that you can add this podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. I do not receive compensation of any kind when you download and listen to my podcast. there is a written transcript that accompanies each podcast, and you are free to use the transcript in accordance with US copyright law. My prayer is that you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper. In these trying times, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus!