Look and Live

When the people of Israel complained and “spake against God, and against Moses,” the Lord “sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.” As the people repented, Moses prayed to the Lord for help. We read, “And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 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 21:5-9). This story was very important to Book of Mormon prophets, and from their words we learn a little more about what happened and what it teaches us. Nephi described the event this way to his brothers: “He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished” (1 Nephi 17:41). His emphasis was that their way to healing was simple and easy, but some still did not have the faith to look. Amulek talked more about what happened and why they didn’t look to be healed: “Behold a type was raised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live. But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would heal them” (Alma 33:19-20). They missed out on the miraculous healing they could have received because they did not believe.

                The Book of Mormon also emphasizes that this event was symbolic of the Savior. Nephi said in another passage: “And as the Lord God liveth that brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt, and gave unto Moses power that he should heal the nations after they had been bitten by the poisonous serpents, if they would cast their eyes unto the serpent which he did raise up before them, and also gave him power that he should smite the rock and the water should come forth; yea, behold I say unto you, that as these things are true, and as the Lord God liveth, there is none other name given under heaven save it be this Jesus Christ, of which I have spoken, whereby man can be saved” (2 Nephi 25:20). I believe the connection Nephi was making here was that just as the only way to be healed for this people was to look upon the brass serpent, so too the only way we can be healed spiritually is to look to the name of Jesus Christ. Nephi the son of Helaman made this connection more directly: “Yea, did [Moses] 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). Even as the serpent was lifted up for the people to look upon, so too must we now look upon the Son of God to find healing. Amulek also made this connection and encouraged us in these words: “O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief, and be slothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish? If so, wo shall come upon you; but if not so, then cast about your eyes and begin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to atone for their sins; and that he shall rise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the resurrection, that all men shall stand before him, to be judged at the last and judgment day, according to their works” (Alma 33:21-22). We must learn to “cast about [our] eyes” and see and believe in the Son of God and the power of His salvation.

                One of the scriptures that the Come, Follow Me lesson references is this simply invitation from the Savior in our dispensation: “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:36). As we seek to focus our thoughts on Him, just as we promise in the Sacrament prayers, we can find His healing and help. And how do we do that? The fact that the serpent was made of brass connects with the fact that the Nephite scriptures in the Book of Mormon were also made of brass: to look to the Son of God we must turn His words in the holy scriptures and the testimony of the prophets found therein. Many things in the tabernacle of Moses were also made of brass, including “the brasen altar” and the “pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the Lord” and “twelve brasen bulls” (2 Kings 16:14, Jeremiah 52:17,20). The brass then was connected to the sacrifices and cleansings that were performed in ancient times in the house of the Lord. All of these in our day, from baptism to washings and anointings and the endowment ceremony, involve the covenants we made with the Lord. Surely these as well point us to the Savior and help us to look upon Him. Through the study of His word and walking along His covenant path we can learn to look to Him and live no matter what the figurative serpents are that seek to destroy us in our day.