In answer to the prayer of Moses the Lord told him to make a serpent of brass, and raise it up on a pole, so that all in the camp could see it. Those who were bitten were told to look at this Serpent and they would be healed. The serpent could not heal them, but to look required faith, and faith brought the healing power. [Illustration: The Brazen Serpent.] The Lord could have healed them with a word, but the lesson must be complete. The lifting up of the serpent was to them a type of the lifting up of Christ on the cross, for through Him only could they receive pardon and relief from the consequences of sin. The brazen serpent was an object lesson to lead the children of Israel to look to Christ. The Hebrews had the same Gospel, or good news of pardon and salvation through Christ, that we have. Speaking of them in the wilderness, the Apostle Paul says, "For unto us was the Gospel preached as well as unto them." Hebrews 4:2. Every sacrifice they made for sin, every lamb slain, was to show their faith in "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29. The blood of the offering was a type of the blood of Christ. Jesus Christ is the great central figure of the Gospel. It was Christ who was with Israel in all their journey from Egypt to the promised land. Christ was the "Spiritual Rock" which followed them. He was in the pillar of cloud by day, and in the pillar of fire by night. He was the "Angel" that went before Israel; for Jehovah said, "My name is in Him." (See Exodus 23:21, 22.) No being bears the name of God but His Son. So, in the history of the world, it has not been as some have supposed, God the Father in the Old Testament, and Christ the Son in the New Testament. It has been Christ with His people all the way. In the Old Testament Christ was their "Spiritual Rock." In the New Testament, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." 2 Corinthians 5:19. Both the Father and the Son have ever worked for the salvation of man; but Christ has been the active agent in this work. It was God who "so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" for our redemption. It was Christ who made the terrible sacrifice for our salvation. [Illustration: The Israelites Crossing the Jordan.] [Illustration] Entering the Promised Land. AS Israel neared the promised land, both Moses and Aaron died. Joshua was then made commander in the place of Moses. Soon they came to the River Jordan, which they must cross. Here again the Lord made a way for them. He told Israel to go forward, and as the feet of the leaders touched the water, the river stopped flowing from above, and the bed of the stream was left dry. Then the people passed over on dry ground, as their fathers had crossed the Red Sea forty years before.