Children's Sunday School Summary March 10, 2019

Last week, kids learned that the Israelites believed the discouraging report of the land of Canaan instead of Joshua and Caleb’s good report. As a result, God punished theIsraelites for their lack of faith. The Israelites had been wandering in the wildernesswhen they complained to Moses and to God. God had done some pretty amazing thingsfor the Israelites—He rescued them from the hand of Pharaoh, He parted the Red Seaso they could safely cross, and He provided manna for them to eat. But to the Israelites,this wasn’t enough.

God disciplined them because He knew their dissatisfaction was a sign of a bigger issue:a heart problem, a sin problem. They stopped believing that God is good. In their hearts,the Israelites believed the same lie that rattled Eve in the garden. MaybeGod isn’tinterested in giving us what is best. Maybe He is holding out on us.

God sent venomous snakes that bit the people and killed many of them. The Israelitesrepented. They wanted Moses to ask God to take away the snakes.

God provided a solution. He told Moses, “Make a snake image out of bronze and mountit on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.”

In John 3:14, Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so theSon of Man must be lifted up.” What was Jesus talking about? Second Corinthians 5:21says, “He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” So Jesus invites us, “Turn to Me and be saved, all theends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other” (Isa. 45:22).

As you talk to your kids this week, help them understand that the Israelites faced ahuge problem because of their sin. God sent snakes to punish Israel, but anyonewho was bitten could look at the bronze snake on the pole and live. Because ofour sin, we face a huge problem: we are separated from God. We deserve to die,but anyone who looks to Jesus on the cross and trusts in Him will live foreverwith God.