In the days of Moses, the Israelites were afflicted by some type of poisonous serpents. God commanded Moses to make a model of one of the serpents out of brass and to put it up on a staff where the bitten Israelites could see it. As the Book of Mormon explains, those who looked were healed and those who did not perished:
"After [the Israelites] were bitten [the Lord] 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 Ne. 17:41, emphasis added).
It is clear that the fault of those who perished was not with thoughtfully praying for personal revelation and direction for their own lives—even Moses lamented that the Israelites were overly reliant upon him for revelation: "I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit upon them all!" (Num. 11:29, NLT). Perhaps if they had all been capable of such divine communication, the whole episode could have been avoided. Instead, the Book of Mormon specifies that those who perished could not believe in the solution provided them purely for the fact that it was overly simple.
However, the solution was more than just simple; the solution was itself a symbol of the source of all true healing:
"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" (Hel. 8:14 – 15).
In other words, the actions God commanded the Israelites to take to obtain miraculous healing merely (and beautifully) foreshadowed the simpleness of the way of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The symbolism of the raised serpent stops, in fact, at the crucifixion of Jesus and how that all who look to him in faith can be healed. Jesus explained that this is indeed the sum of his gospel:
"Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me. And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works" (3 Ne. 27:13 – 14).
Ultimately who healed Israel? It was not Moses by way of an arbitrary command, it was God through "a shadow of the good things to come" (Heb. 10:1, CEV). Those Israelites who had been afflicted and were yet inspired with a sufficient degree of the light of Christ, obtained miraculous healing through Christ's incomparable, intervening power.
Ultimately, the inability of the Israelites to trust in God's miraculous power of deliverance against all obstacles and enemies prohibited them from entering in to the promised land (see Num. 14:26 – 30). What few may know is that Moses too, after apparently becoming overly reliant upon physical tools for miracles, was also denied entrance to the promised land:
"[God said:] 'As the people watch, speak to the rock over there, and it will pour out its water. You will provide enough water from the rock to satisfy the whole community and their livestock.'...
"Then [Moses] and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. 'Listen, you rebels!' he shouted. 'Must we bring you water from this rock?' Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill.
"But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!'" (Num. 20:8, 10 – 12).
As one commentator summarized:
"What do we learn? God means it when He gives you a commandment—if He told you to do something, that means you have the capacity to be successful at that task.... If your own self doubts lead you to question your ability to follow through on God's commandments, you not only do not believe in yourself, but you also don't believe in God" (Bruce James, response to "What exactly did Moses do wrong at Meribah?" Biblical Hermeneutics Stackexchange, posted 22 Apr 2013).
The modern Israelites and Moseses of our day are just as human and no less fallible than those of the Biblical narrative. To avoid their mistakes—and thus safely enter in to the promised land of our day—we must each come directly unto the Lord who was lifted up, leaving behind all physical tools that we have placed between his miraculous, healing power and ourselves. The way is simple.
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