<TITLE>05. Par 13-16</TITLE>L-13 Notice, then right in that crucial moment, serpents had come in among the people and were biting them. And Moses was taught in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and they were boasting positions, far beyond in many things, than what we are today. Had our doctors skinned by hundreds of miles. But Dr. Moses had no cure for that snakebite. Nothing could be done. There they was, way in the wilderness. And Moses prayed and God came to him and told him the remedy for it. I like that. What is He? God, Jehovah-jireh, the Lord will provide, make a way. I love it.
Notice, then God told Moses, in this type or symbol; said, "Go make a serpent out of brass and put it on a pole." Now, the serpent, in a symbol, meant sin. The serpent represented the serpent from the garden of Eden already judged: snake turned from a--a animal.
Now, he wasn't a reptile. The Bible said he was the most subtil of all the beasts of the field. He wasn't a reptile; he was a beast. And he turned to a serpent on his belly. And that snake represented sin judged. And made out of brass meant Divine judgment. Brass means Divine judgment in the Bible. See, the people were sinning because they didn't believe the prophet. They were chiding against him and against God. They had sinned, and because of sin, serpents had bit them, and they were dying.

L-14 And all sickness is caused by sin. That's right. Before we had--before we had sin, we had no sickness. But sin--or sickness, is an attribute of sin. Sickness came because of sin: maybe not what you done; inherited it. Three or four generations it'll follow. God said so.
Notice. And so God put up this--had Moses to put up this ensign to Israel. And when he lifted it up, sickness and sin, a compound reason for both sickness and sin. Jehovah-jireh was providing an ensign that represented that their sin was forgiven and a healing for their sickness. You get it? Serpent represented sin judged.

L-15 Brass... See brass is one thing that you can't tamper with. Brass cannot be tempered. You find some form or a temper brass, your tithings for six months will pay my way for fifty years around the world missionary, if you can find something that'll temper brass. Can't be tempered. Goes to show that God's represented brass as Divine judgment and God's Divine judgment cannot be tempered. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Here you are. I want you to get it now.
Look. Brass, the brazen altar where the sacrifices were burned: judgment, Divine judgment. And in the days of Elijah, when he went out and looked at the skies, he said they looked like brass: Divine judgment upon a rebellious nation. God have mercy. The skies sometimes look brass around here in America. Divine judgment, hardly can break through. Judgment...

L-16 Notice, then the ensign was lifted up; a beautiful picture of this, it's pictured in--in Ruth. Many of you just read Ruth as maybe a little love story in the Bible (which it is), but oh, what a beautiful story that is representing Christ and His church. How that Naomi went over into the land of Moab. And there her husband died. Her two sons died, leaving widows. On the road back, the beautiful picture... Listen. Ruth, the Moabite, a Gentile, carried away with dumb idols like we were... And when it came time, Naomi kissed her and said, "Go back to your people, and with your people. I'll go alone."
But she said, "Let your people be my people. Let me live where you live. Let me die where you die. And let me be buried where you are buried. And let your God be my God." Beautiful picture of the young Gentile church coming in by the old Jewish church. The Jews had packed the Gospel first. Oh, how marvelous.


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