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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 1 of 5
Numbers 21:1-15
The victory at Hormah is obtained forty years after the defeat at the same place (Numbers 14:45). Alas! so soon afterwards, discouragement comes on the scene: "there is no bread, neither is there any water" (v. 5). There is no shortage of manna, but it is despised. The rock has been struck, but they forget to speak to it. Type of what happens when we neglect the Word and prayer! To lose sight of these resources is to sink down into discouragement and complaints; it is to expose ourselves to Satan’s attacks. The bite of the serpents leads Israel to feel and to confess their sins. Then Moses intercedes – once again – and the LORD prescribes a remedy: this serpent of brass put on a pole. One single look upon it brings the cure. The Lord Jesus in His interview with Nicodemus explains the spiritual import of this wilderness incident. The brazen serpent lifted up by Moses is Himself, the Son of Man lifted up on the cross; it is Christ "made . . . sin for us" (2 Corinthians 5:21), made like even to the power of evil in order to bear its judgment. Such is the extent of the love of God for the world! (John 3:14-16). Dear reader, have you directed the look of faith upon the Saviour lifted up on the cross? Have you got eternal life?
