The God They Accused Rescued Them
John 3:14–15 — And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
Read the story: Numbers 21:4–9.
Connection: 1 Corinthians 10:9–11.
Israel was tired of the journey and tired of the food. Before long, their frustration became an accusation: God and Moses had brought them into the wilderness to die. They were speaking about the God who had just delivered them from slavery and continued to keep them alive. The food they despised was provision they couldn’t have supplied for themselves. Difficulty had narrowed their attention until the Lord’s care looked like neglect.
Now we need to be careful here, because Scripture does give us room to grieve, question, and lament. Psalm 13 asks how long God will seem distant. Bringing pain honestly to Him is an act of relationship. But Israel’s rebellion involved rejecting His goodness and speaking against the care He had given. We can respond the same way when life disappoints us. A prayer goes unanswered, a plan falls apart, or a problem gets worse, and we begin speaking as though God has never cared for us: “He never helps. Why do I even pray?” Our disappointment is real, and we can bring it honestly to Him. But what hurts today doesn’t erase His past faithfulness or prove that He’s stopped caring.
In the wilderness, the Lord sent judgment through venomous serpents. People died, and those who remained acknowledged their sin and asked Moses to pray. God then instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent and place it on a pole. Those who were bitten could look at it and live. The people couldn’t reverse the venom or undo their rebellion. God provided the rescue they couldn’t provide for themselves. Then, centuries later, Jesus took that strange wilderness scene and explained that it pointed toward Him. He too would be lifted up, so that those who believed in Him could have eternal life. The cross would become the place where God dealt with the judgment our sin deserved.
The God they had accused was the God who provided their rescue. And in the fullness of His redemptive work, the rescue would cost Him the giving of His own Son. See, our rebellion didn’t uncover a reluctance in God to show mercy, it revealed how desperately we needed the mercy He’d provide at such extraordinary cost. Jesus entered the judgment we could never survive and rose to give us life we could never secure.
And that’s a truth a Joyful Worshipper can dwell on even during a difficult week. We don’t have to pretend we have cheerful feelings about painful circumstances, but we can look at the cross and recognize a love greater than our circumstances have enabled us to see. Maybe something has happened that you can’t explain. You can tell the Father exactly how it hurts. You can ask Him why and ask Him to act. But when the thought comes that He’s never cared for you, look again at the Son He gave. The cross doesn’t answer every question about the road through the wilderness, but it does reveal the heart of the One who has committed Himself to bringing His people home.
Head: The cross reveals God’s heart when the journey is hard to understand.
Heart: Where has disappointment begun turning into a conclusion about God that the cross contradicts?
Hands: Write an honest prayer about one disappointment. Then name one truth about God’s love revealed in Jesus’ death and resurrection, without pretending the pain has disappeared.
Prayer: “Father, thank You for providing rescue when I could not save myself. Forgive the accusations I’ve allowed to replace the truth of Your love. Keep directing my attention to Jesus as I walk through what remains difficult. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
-PK