Here, then, was the moment for divine grace to display itself. Man’s need has ever been the occasion for the display of God’s grace and mercy. The moment Israel could say, “We have sinned,” there was no further hindrance. God could act, and this was enough. When Israel murmured, the serpents’ bite was the answer: when Israel confessed, God’s grace was the answer. In the one case, the serpent was the instrument of their wretchedness; in the other, it was the instrument of their restoration and blessing. “And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.’” (Ver. 8.) The very image of that which had done the mischief was set up to be the channel through which divine grace might flow down, in rich abundance, to poor wounded sinners. Striking and beautiful type of Christ on the cross! It is a very common error to view the Lord Jesus rather as the averter of God’s wrath, than as the channel of His love. That He endured the wrath of God against sin is most preciously true; but there is more than this. He has come down into this wretched world to die upon the cursed tree, in order that, by dying, He might open up the everlasting springs of the love of God to the heart of poor rebellious man. This makes a vast difference in the presentation of God’s nature and character to the sinner, which is of the very last importance. Nothing can ever bring a sinner back to a state of true happiness and holiness but his being fully established in the faith and enjoyment of the love of God. The very first effort of the serpent, when, in the garden of Eden, he assailed the creature, was, to shake his confidence in the kindness and love of God, and thus produce discontent with the place in which God had set him. Man’s fall was the result—the immediate result of his doubting the love of God: man’s recovery must flow from his belief of that love; and it is the Son of God Himself who says, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John iii. 16.)