God’s Remedies

God’s Remedies
August 4, 2024
Speaker:
Passage: Numbers 21:4-9
Service Type:

"For mythoughtsarenot your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." — Isaiah 55:8

You know, it seems like, in every culture, each one that we could discuss has its own unique set of remedies for various ailments that plague them, whether in the past or the future or sometimes in the present. It would not take much investigating for us to look, uh, for books and find them, especially with the advances of the internet that have a recording of grandma's remedies. And you'll find various things here, some of which we would laugh at because they're very comical in nature. Some, we would cringe at because they're like, there's no way in the world I'm ever going to do that to myself.

And some we wouldn't consider doing because we have modern advances in technology,  for health and all that kind of things. This evening, I want us to look at God's Remedies. But before we get too deep into our discussion, some of those remedies that you might find in Grandma's recipe book go something like this.

Grandma’s Remedies

Maybe your issue is baldness, and from where I stand, it is.

  • Baldness: “Smear your head with fresh cow manure!”
  • Appendicitis! - Tie a leather thong around your waist and the appendicitis will enter the thong.

These are what I'm talking about. Grandma's recipes. You find some wild things like that, that obviously you, you scratch your head and you wonder if they're there for a reason because someone actually tried them.

What about God's Remedies?

God has some remedies that we find in the Bible.

Fiery Serpent bites!

  • Numbers 21:4-9

You see, God has a remedy for fiery serpent bites. What's really going on here? Well, if you back up a previous chapter into chapter 20, you've got the murmuring and the complaining and Moses being told to go to a rock and to speak to it, and then water was going to go out and so that all the congregation of Israel, all their animals would be watered. They would have plenty of water. But because the people grieved Moses to such a degree, he's angry when he gets to the rock and he smites the rock twice. Now God still gives them water, but God punishes Moses and Aaron. And it says in chapter 20, it was because of their unbelief. And we still see the unbelief of the people here in chapter 21.

And so the situation is they're saying it would be better for us to have stayed in Egypt where there was food. This light bread, this manna that you're giving to us, it's just not cutting it, Lord. So God sends these fiery serpents and to each one that it bites, it causes great pain and agony. And there's until they cry for repentance, there's no solution. It says many of them died. They go to Moses and they say, we have sinned entreat the Lord on our behalf. So that these fiery serpents will be removed. So Moses does. And, as the text reads that we read a moment ago, God tells Moses to craft this fiery serpent out of brass and to put it up on a pole so that the people can see it. And anyone who looks upon the serpent of brass will have the fiery venom of the serpents removed. And they will live.

Now, what are the possibilities of this? You know, maybe if you're in that situation, you have to ask yourself, what is it that you're going to do? You've never seen anything like this before.

  • Is the brazen serpent silly and pointless?
  • Would you disregard the warning?
  • Would you obey and look?

God has a remedy for fiery serpent bites.

God has a Remedy for Conquering a City

  • Conquering a city: Joshua 6:1-27

Now, there are some in here that I'm aware of that have served in the armed forces. Have you ever heard a military plan of action go quite like that? Have you ever taken your armies and you've completely surrounded an enemy city and you've marched around it in total silence except for the trumpets for six days straight?

I know I can speak for my family and we wouldn't make it past the first hundred yards in silence. Could be a problem. But then, on the seventh day, you're going to do that very same routine. You're going to do it seven times and then on the seventh trip around the city, the trumpets would blow. I'm going to assume blow a little bit differently than they had before and then at the command to shout, every single one shouts and the walls fall down.

Now who can get away with a plan like that for taking a city Well, God did, absolutely.

But in hearing what the plans are, what's your response going to be to this plan of war? Is it something you're going to scoff at? You're saying, I've got to walk around this city, which Jericho is no small city. Let's be frank about that. No small city, and they had to walk around it all in one day.

  • Would you scoff at the war plan?
  • Would you refuse to be part of the plan?
  • Would you obey Joshua’s instruction?

God was feared by some even before they took the city because of the dividing of the Jordan River and the burying of the Egyptian army in [the Red Sea].

God has a Remedy for Leprosy!

  • 2 Kings 5:1-14

2 Kings chapter 5 is the account of Naaman, the great commander in the Syrian army. And here this man has leprosy, and he doesn't know what to do about it because there's nothing you can do about it, except he has this Hebrew slave. And the Hebrew slave is a handmaid to his wife, and she knows that her master's husband has leprosy, and she says, Oh, I would that he would just go to Jerusalem and there he would be healed.

Naaman goes to the king of Syria. And he says that he has this handmaid that says he should go to Israel, and there he can be healed. And so, the king of Syria sends a letter with Naaman to the king of Israel. The king of Israel reads this letter and he says, Who am I to have anything to do with whether a man lives or dies? Is this king of Syria trying to get me to go to war? And here this king of Israel is thinking that he's being tricked right at the moment. But word gets to Elisha that there's this problem that the king is having and he doesn't have an answer for it. And so, he sends word to the king, says, send Naaman down to me and I will prove that there is still a prophet in Israel.

So, Naaman arrives at the dwelling of Elisha. And Elisha sends his servant out to speak to Naaman, the great captain of Syria. And the servant of Elisha comes out and he talks to Naaman and he says to, go and dip seven times in the Jordan River and your leprosy will be removed. And Naaman is so happy that he can't wait to get to the Jordan and dip seven times. Not exactly. When you read 2 Kings 5 and in verse 11 says, "Naaman was wroth and went away and said, Behold, I thought he will surely come out to me and stand and call the name of the Lord his God and strike his hand over the place and recover the leper."

Naaman is about to turn around and leave, go back to Syria, dying a man separated from his household, dying a man who was this close to a cure and not willing to receive it.

Until his servant comes to him and says, you know, if Elisha's servant had come and told you to do some great thing, wouldn't you do it? The implication is Naaman agrees that he will do it, and the servant says,Why not do this simple thing? What do you have to lose?  So Naaman goes to the Jordan River, and he dips seven times, and when he comes up the seventh time, he's healed. His leprosy is gone. 

What would you do? Would you have the attitude that Naaman has of hearing the statement of Elisha and not ever seeing the prophet?

  • Would you scoff at the idea?
  • Would you refuse and suffer as a leper?
  • Would you obey and be cleansed?

Hopefully, you would obey as Naaman did in the end and he was saved.

God has a Remedy for Blindness

  • John 9:1-7

Now imagine you're sitting at the gate when Jesus walks by him and his apostles, and they stop right in front of where you are. And they have that very same discussion, whose fault is it that this man was born blind? And Jesus says it's not anyone's fault that this man was born blind. But I'll tell you right now, he's here and he's blind so that the power of God can be made manifest in him.

Once again, we ask the question, what are you going to do?

  • Would you scoff at Jesus’ Request?
  • Would you refuse to let Jesus to put spit on your eyes?
  • Would you obey and receive your sight?

This man goes. Would you obey and receive your sight as this man did?

What's the point? Well, the point of all these is God has a plan. God has a purpose for all the things that He commands in the Bible, both Old and New Testament. Whether it's fiery serpent bites, conquering a city, leprosy, blindness, or even sin.

God has a Remedy for Sin

  • Acts 2:37, 38

Acts chapter 2 is the Sermon on the Mount that we read, of Peter there. And we get to verse 37,

"Now when they heard this, Peter speaking, that Jesus was the Christ that was crucified and he was made both Lord and Christ,"

Look back up to verse 36,

"and they were pricked in their hearts and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what must we do?"

According to the New Testament. We have to do certain things. We have to follow a particular plan. A particular plan of the one whose church that it is. But the question is once again asked. What are you going to do? We've looked at how God follows through with everything that he says. When someone is instructed to do something and they do it God's way. The result is favorable for that individual.

You see, God has a remedy for sin that is in our lives.

  • Will you believe on Jesus based on the evidence from His word?
  • Will you repent and turn away from your sins?
  • Will you confess that Jesus is the Son of God?
  • Will you submit to the watery grave of baptism? Where through entering into that water, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses you from all of your sins.

And when you come up out of that water, you are added to his kingdom by Jesus himself, (Acts 2:47). God has a remedy, but are we willing to accept His remedy for sin?

Maybe you're not a member of the body of Christ. Maybe, you need a remedy and haven't found one yet. Does God's plan for remedying the problem of sin sound too far-fetched to you? Are you going to scoff at the plan?

Let me leave you with this one final question. If any of those other accounts that we had read scoffed at the plan that God had laid out for remedying their ailments, whether it was fiery serpent bites, a city, blindness, or leprosy, would they have been healed? Would the city of Jericho have been conquered if Joshua and his people had deviated from God's plan? Not at all.

If we deviate from God's plan for the forgiveness of our sins, it won't work. But, if we can assist you in any way this evening, we encourage you to contact us so that we can meet with you.

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