One of the most important principles of the Christian life is that of living by faith. Today, we're studying Numbers 21 where the people's faith is truly a matter of life & death. We'll see the severity of their situation and how their faith prefigured the faith that we're to have in Jesus as our only way of salvation. Join us for another important study in God's Word! DISCUSSION AND STUDY QUESTIONS: 1. The podcast mentioned that we skipped over several chapters which chronicled several difficult challenges that the Children of Israel faced. What do you think the people's mood would have been like at this point? 2. What were the events of Numbers 21:1-3? What did the Children of Israel do? How was this unique? How did the Lord respond to them in verse 3? 3. Verse 4 sets up the main event of this chapter. Verse 4 mentions that they had left Mount Hor and were going around the land of Edom. This was going to be a 200-mile detour. How did the people handle this in verse 5? How do you think you would have responded to a 200-mile trek that was out of your way? 4. In verse 6, what was the Lord's response to their complaints? How was their response different in verse 7? 5. In verse 8, what did the Lord tell Moses to make? What were the children of Israel supposed to do with this? What would happen if they obeyed? Did people obey? 6. The podcast went over some of the heart change their obedience would demonstrate. What do you think their obedience reflected about their belief in God? 7. Now, fast forward 700 years to 2 Kings 18:1-4. What were the people doing with the Bronze Serpent in this passage? How did their behavior reflect the people's faith now? What did Hezekiah do with the Bronze Serpent? How did his actions reflect his faith and obedience? How do Hezekiah's actions show us the way to handle anything that gets in the way of true worship? 8. In John 3:14-16, Jesus refers to this event when explaining the kind of faith we need to have to be saved. How does looking at the Bronze Serpent prefigure the faith we are to have in Christ? What are we to be trusting Christ for? 9. How is Jesus the only way of salvation, in a way that is similar to the Bronze Serpent being the only way the people could be saved? Check out our Bible Study Guide on the Key Chapters of Genesis! Available on Amazon! To see our dedicated podcast website with access to all our episodes and other resources, visit us at: www.keychapters.org. Find us on all major platforms, or use these direct links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6OqbnDRrfuyHRmkpUSyoHv Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/366-key-chapters-in-the-bible/id1493571819 YouTube: Key Chapters of the Bible on YouTube. As always, we are grateful to be included in the "Top 100 Bible Podcasts to Follow" from Feedspot.com. Also for regularly being awarded "Podcast of the Day" from PlayerFM. Special thanks to Joseph McDade for providing our theme music.