Cross: Difference between revisions

The history of the Israelites written in the Bible prophesied that the church would worship the cross. The Israelites left Egypt by the power of God 3,500 years ago, and headed toward Canaan. As they were told to take a farther route, they grumbled and complained against God and Moses.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.studylight.org/study-desk.html?q1=Numbers+21%3A4-5&q2=&ss=0&t1=eng_n84&t2=eng_kjv&t3=eng_nas&ns=0&sr=1&ot=bhs&nt=wh&hv1=1&b=verse&d=3|title=Numbers 21:4–5|quote=}}</ref> Then, God’s wrath came upon them, and many of them were bitten by venomous snakes in the desert and died.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.studylight.org/study-desk.html?q1=Numbers+21%3A6&q2=&ss=0&t1=eng_n84&t2=eng_kjv&t3=eng_nas&ns=0&sr=1&ot=bhs&nt=wh&hv1=1&b=verse&d=3|title=Numbers 21:6|quote=}}</ref> Moses prayed to God for the people,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.studylight.org/study-desk.html?q1=Numbers+21%3A7&q2=&ss=0&t1=eng_n84&t2=eng_kjv&t3=eng_nas&ns=0&sr=1&ot=bhs&nt=wh&hv1=1&b=verse&d=3|title=Numbers 21:7|quote=}}</ref> and God asked Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Then, He said, “Anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.”<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.studylight.org/study-desk.html?q1=Numbers+21%3A8-9&q2=&ss=0&t1=eng_n84&t2=eng_kjv&t3=eng_nas&ns=0&sr=1&ot=bhs&nt=wh&hv1=1&b=verse&d=3|title=Numbers 21:8–9|quote=}}</ref> When Moses did what God said, the Israelites lived by looking up at the bronze snake on the pole. It was God’s word and power that made them live. The bronze snake itself was just a material and tool, and it had no power to save people. However, because of their wrong belief, the Israelites worshiped the bronze snake until the time of King Hezekiah for approximately 800 years. King Hezekiah, who was called a religious reformer of South Judah, broke the bronze snake that had occupied the hearts of the people and called it Nehushtan (a piece of bronze).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.studylight.org/study-desk.html?q1=2+Kings+18%3A3-4&q2=&ss=0&t1=eng_n84&t2=eng_kjv&t3=eng_nas&ns=0&sr=1&ot=bhs&nt=wh&hv1=1&b=verse&d=3|title=2 Kings 18:3–4|quote=}}</ref> The case of the bronze snake in the Old Testament was a prophecy about the crucifixion of Jesus in the New Testament.