The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1907-09-06
THE BRAZEN
SERPENT
Sunday School Lesson Tor Sept 5. 1907
Specially Prepared i'T THIS Passr

II
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LESSON TEXT. Numbers as Mem
DRY verse O.
! GOLDEN TEXT. AS Moses lifted NJ
the serpent In tho wilderness. even 80
must tho Son 81 man Doc lifted up That
whatsoever boioveth h. him should not
perish but have eternal life John
3ii-i5
TIME. More than ss years after our
last lesson Aaron died on the flrsf day
Of the nth month July-August of the
fortioth year since leaving Egypt Mum
$3.50 Tho fiery sorpcnts attacked tho
people a few weeks later, IN September
lB C. 1852. according 20 the common
chronology
PLACE-Aaron died az Mount IIor. on
tho border Of the Edom range along the
eastern border Of the Arnhnh Tho sor-
pcnts were IN the great deep and broad
| valley called tho ARABIAN. south II the
Dead sea and extending 10 The eastern
arm Of the Red sea
Comment and Suggestive Thought
We left the Israclites. IN our last les.
son, at Kadesh Darnea. on the border
Of the south land OF Palestine and the
! northern border OF the great desert Of
Paran They had refused. through
fear and unbelief, 10 20 up and take
possession OF their inheritance. and
were condemned to remain IN the des-
ert for 81 years longer, ull an over 20
years Of age had died They arrived
at Kadesh about a year and three
months after the exodus, and left it
nine months before taking possession
81 Canaan. During these years "ka-
desh was probably their central M
cleus or rendezvous They would nat
urally change their locality from time
10 time. like the Bedouins Of all ages,
but stu cherishing the hope Of event
ually becoming pOssessors of tho land
Of promise. Meantime they arc not 20
be conceived as dwelling IN their In
teryals OF repose. IN a compact camp
which the nature OF the country for
babe 10 such an immense multitude
but as expauating in bands. here and
there over tho adjacent country, still
having the tabernacle as the center
and the rendezvous 70 which they
would return Bush Some OF these
wanderlnes are given In Mum. 33.ls
&c. extending as far south as Ezion
Geber on the eastern arm OF the Red
sea u Kings 9.26l.
Some OF the events recorded during
his period are: l. Korah's Rebel
lion Numbers l6l, which grew out Of
the long delay and disappointed hopes
2. Aarons rod buddod Numbers
10 10 prove that Aaron was the d.
vinoly chosen high priest
8. The death Of Miriam. the sister
Of Moses mum. 20;D.
A. Water from the rock at Meribah
and the sin of Moses that kept him
from entering the promised land |
mum. 20.2I3).
And the people spake against God |
and against Moses" Their bitter feel |
ings grew so strong that they were OK
pressed In words Their former muir
murlngs at Kadesh had been treated |
leniently. and water had been sup |
piled. apparently at their angry de-
mand. They seem 10 have interpreted |
the miracle there as an instance Of |
mercy in spite Of their wicked course |
but as a response 10 Il; and they there |
fore now repeated the experiment Of |
instruction.
Thus the Israelites tempted God q |
Cor 1919; Heb 800. They put his
patience and forbearance 10 the test
and did all they could 10 make him
give them up as hopeless.
The Fiery serpents Of sin.-No bet.
ter emblem Of the results Of sin could /
have been given 10 the lsraelites. or
to US The true. peculiar, pernicious.
fiery serpents were their murmurine
disposition and complaints against
Jehovah. '-Lange Sin Is like a fiery
serpent, often beautiful in appearance.
and secret In It's approach But the ef-
fccts are pains that only fire can ex.
press.
Repentance and salvatlon.-vs 10
Confession. v. we have sinned
The evil effects Of sin made them feel
conscious OF their sin and fits great
ness. The real evil is the sin. and not
the punishment But It is only by the
punishment that men realize the evil
Of sin itself
Against the Lord. and against
thee" All crimes against man are
sins against God And al sins against
God work wrong 20 man.
And Moses prayed for the people.
expressing their desires and feelings
There is real power In intorcessory
prayer. Their praying made Il wise
and safe 10 give blessings that would
have been an injury TO those who had
not the spirit Of prayer Ono OF the
objects Of the punishment was 10 turn
their hearts 20 Cod
The cure.--Note IN what a peculiar
and yet blessed way tho prayer was
answered; not by removing the scr.
penis. as they probably expected, but
by a way that healed their souls as
well as their bodies so pauls thorn
in the dosh" was not removed. but
Gods grace was made 20 abound as a
blessed fruit growing on that stem.
AS the sin and punishment Of the
lsraelites we're the fruits Of unbelief.
the true method Of help was first TO
restore faith and then healing
Practical Points.
Christ crucihed Is the most conspic.
uous object in the history Of the
world. Il is the center around which
the whole moral and religious warfare
Of the world - gathered
The power DID not he IN the brazon
serpent. but IN God himself who could
bestow healing upon those who
showed by their looking mp 10 Il a, hts
Word that they believed in God and
repented Of their sin.
Salvation was by faith, the only way
10 which free pardon can be offered
without increasing the sin Of the