Look and Live

As Nephi, the son of Helaman, bore witness of the Savior to the Nephites and emphasized how Moses had “spoken concerning the coming of the Messiah.” He then questioned, “Yea, did he not bear record that the Son of God should come? And as he lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so shall he be lifted up who should come. And as many as should look upon that serpent should live, even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal” (Helaman 8:14-15). A brazen serpent is one made of brass, and the story is told this way in the Old Testament: “And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived” (Numbers 21:9). As we look upon the Son of God with faith we too can find healing and relief from our spiritual wounds. And how do we do that? Surely one of the ways is to look upon Him in the words of God, and so it is fitting that the scriptures kept by the Nephites were made of brass. The plates of brass contained a witness of the Messiah from prophets like Isaiah, Zenos, Zenock, and Abraham who “saw of his coming, and was filled with gladness and did rejoice” (Helaman 8:17). As the Nephites looked upon the plates of brass and its testimony of the Savior, they were symbolically looking upon that serpent of brass lifted up in the wilderness to heal them.

                One other sacred Nephite item was also made of brass: the Liahona. Nephi told how his father found one morning at his tent door “upon the ground a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass” (1 Nephi 16:10). Alma connected the brass Liahona with the scriptures, saying: “For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.” He then seems to have linked it with this story of the brazen serpent: “O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever” (Alma 37:46). This came shortly after Alma taught to the Zoramites in very similar language: “Behold, [the Son of God] was spoken of by Moses; yea, and behold a type was raised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live” (Alma 33:19). Thus for Alma the Liahona was like the brazen serpent and the words of the scriptures: for all three we must look upon them to live. As the Nephites looked to the Liahona in the wilderness it led them to physical places that would sustain their lives, and as we look upon the words of God like the Israelites looked upon the brazen serpent, we too will find sustaining spiritual life and healing. For us today we must fix our gaze upon the Savior as He invited us through the words of Isaiah: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:22). He gave the same invitation to the Nephites: “Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live” (3 Nephi 15:9). And to us in our day He similarly said: “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:36). The invitation has always been the same, from the Israelites to the Nephites to the Saints of today: we must look to Jesus Christ and live.