Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/223

 Priest. Some time  later,  the  Israelites,  tired  of  their  incessant wanderings in  the  desert,  began  to  murmur  against  the  Lord  and Moses. Wherefore fiery  serpents  were  sent  amongst  them,  by whose  deadly  bite  a great  number  were  killed.

Then the  people,  knowing  that  the  serpents  had  been  sent in punishment  of  their  sins,  came  to  Moses  and  said: “We  have sinned, because  we  have  spoken  against  the  Lord  and  thee: pray that He  may  take  away  these  serpents  from  us.”  And  Moses prayed for  the  people. Whereupon the  Lord  said  to  him: “Make a brazen serpent,  and  set  it  up  for  a sign:  whosoever,  being struck, shall  look  on  it,  shall  live.”  Moses,  therefore,  made  a brazen  serpent,  and  set  it  up  for  a sign  which  healed  all  those that looked  upon  it.

The Justice, Mercy  and  Omnipotence  of  God  are  all  shown  in  this story. — God punished  both  the  doubt  of  Moses  and  the  murmuring  of the  people:  but  He  gave  the  ungrateful  Israelites  water,  listened  to Moses’  prayer  for  them,  and  healed  them  from  the  bites  of  the  snakes. By His  almighty  power  He  called  forth  the  water  from  the  rock; and, through one  glance  cast  at  the  brazen  serpent,  He  restored  the  dying to life  and  health.

Murmuring against  God  is  a great  sin,  as  we  can  learn  by  the severe punishment  which  it  brought  on  the  murmuring  Israelites. We must submit  humbly  to  the  will  of  our  God  and  Creator,  and  never resist or  murmur  against  Him  and  His  divine  decrees.

The use  of  sufferings.  Whenever  God  visited  the  Israelites  with sufferings, they  acknowledged  their  grievous  sins  and  repented.

Temperance. The  sensuality  of  the  Israelites  was  the  cause  of  all their grumbling. They craved  for  other  food  than  that  which  God  fed them on,  and  refused  to  put  up  with  any  hardship. Instead of  subduing