The Parable of the Bronze Serpent

Once upon a time, the Most High God, the Creator of all that is, bestowed promises and blessings on a people. Having rescued them from a life of bondage and oppression, He sent His messengers before them with many signs and wonders, giving them food and water, and victory in battle. Yet, the journey was long and difficult in the eyes of the people, because they could only see jagged rocks and barren land. They had never seen the land to which they were heading and many times thought that this barren wasteland would be their fate. As they drew near to the promised land, their way was blocked so that they had to take another more difficult path. Disappointed and angry, they grumbled against the Most High God and despised His provisions, biting and blaspheming against the hand that fed them. In return, the Most High sent serpents to hiss and bite at them. Realizing their sin, the people repented and confessed their sins. The Most High then instructed that a serpent made of bronze be placed on a pole to save all who were afflicted by a serpent bite, because the bite was deadly. When a person who had been bit beheld the sign of their sin and affliction, that person would live.

Soon the people entered the land and they carried with them that bronze serpent. They became a prosperous and mighty nation in a good and bountiful land, as the Most High had promised. Yet, they exchanged the glory of the Most High for images and created things, including that very sign of His grace, the bronze serpent on the pole. So, the Most High cast those people out of His sight, reducing their kingdom to little more than a memory.

Hundreds of years later, The Most High again returned His people to that special land. They dwelled in the land and the holy place of the Most High was rebuilt. A voice cried out, calling that people to repentance, which many did; Having rescued them from bondage and oppression, a sign was given to them, which like that bronze serpent would cause those who looked to it to live. The Most High not only sent healing and relief through the new sign, but instruction also. Although the instructions were not new instructions, those who looked to and listened to the sign began to be called by its name. The Most High sent His messengers before them, and worked great miracles through those people. In time, however, some who were looking to this sign began to forsake the Most High who gave this sign of grace for the sign itself, and they too worshiped as their god the created rather than the Most High God, the Creator of all that is.