Jesus hidden in the serpent, the cloud and the fire

When the Israelites were travelling through the wilderness, they faced many trials they were not prepared for, but God was. There were times when they felt that God had forsaken them, but He never did. Jesus was right there with them, except their focus was not in finding Him but on the natural facts taking place all around them.

Exodus 13:21: “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.” (NKJV)

During the day, the Lord was in the cloud leading them in the way they should go. He was also a cloud as a covering over them to protect them for the sun. The Israelites were protected and kept cool even during the most heated day. The same protection God gave the Israelites in the wilderness, He gives us today as we are under the covering of His blood. He will not allow us to be struck down (Psalm 121:3–8), nor will we be harmed by the “heat” of the day. (Isaiah 54:14)

During the night, darkness covered the earth and the cold arrived, but God provided the pillar of fire to light the way for them and to be kept them warm in the midst of the cold. Today, we will face trials and days where we are overwhelmed with the darkness and coldness of loss and fear and we may fail to see a way forward, but in Christ you have hope. The Bible says, “You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.” (1 Thessalonians 5:5) You will not fear the terror by night or the pestilence that walks in darkness because God will deliver you from them. (Psalm 91:5–6)

Do you see Jesus in your days and nights?

He is no longer only on the outside like during the wilderness times of the Israelites, but He is inside us. He is the light in us and the warm love we are continuously walking in. We only need to look for Him.

The Israelites had Jesus right there with them in the pillar of cloud and fire, and they only needed to look up. The same applies to us; we are to keep our eyes on Jesus. In everything and in anything, whatever you need from Jesus, just look to Jesus. When you need His direction for a situation, look to Jesus who knows the way (John 14:6). When you need an answer, call on Him who has and is the answer to every question. When you see symptoms of sickness in your body, look to Jesus who has borne away every disease and physical affliction. (Matthew 8:17)

A little further along the Israelites journey in the wilderness they were bitten by deadly desert serpents. The serpents were no figment of their imaginations but real and their bites were painful.

“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” (Numbers 21:8-9 NKJV)

There again was Jesus, in their midst. The bronze serpent on a pole was a picture of Jesus Christ being judged on the cross.

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15 NKJV)

Bronze signifies judgment and therefore, the serpent, which signifies the problem they had – was already judged on the cross. The same way Jesus was judged on the cross for every sickness or curse we my ever suffer. Whoever looked at the bronze serpent instead of their wounds, caused by the serpent bites, was healed. But those who looked at their wounds died. For us today it means that whoever looks to Jesus, lives! We do not have to focus on our shortcomings and sicknesses as Jesus already bore all our sufferings. No circumstance we may face carries more significance than God’s Word.

We live in the truth and consequences of the finished work of Jesus on the cross. God’s Word reminds us of the victory we have over every circumstance and His Word supersedes everything. Choose not to stay focused on your problems and circumstances, but on Jesus. See Him in everything. He is there.

Maretha Retief

Illustration by Jeanne de Villiers