Purpose: Use this children’s sermon about Moses and the bronze snake to teach children to look to Jesus for salvation.
Scripture: Numbers 21
Needed: picture of the bronze snake , picture of Jesus during the crucifixion
Children’s Sermon
Show students your two pictures. Ask, Does anyone notice something that’s the same in these two pictures?
There are crosses in both the pictures. But what’s on the cross in the first picture? (A snake.)
And who’s on the cross in the second picture? (Jesus.)
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We know about Jesus being on the cross, but why do you think there’s a snake on the cross?
(Summarize Numbers 21 with the following story.)
After God used Moses to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, they were living in the desert. They had to live in the desert for a long time because they disobeyed God. But God kept taking care of them. He gave them the manna bread every morning to eat and He even made water come out of rocks when they were thirsty.
But still the people complained against God. They said they were tired of living in the desert and that they wanted to go be slaves again in Egypt! Isn’t that silly?
So, God decided to punish them. He sent snakes to come bite them. And whenever a snake bit one of the Israelites, that person died as a punishment for complaining against God.
When the Israelites saw what was happening, they said they were sorry for complaining. Then, God told Moses to make a snake and put it up on a pole. Anyone who was bit by a snake could look at the snake on the pole, and they would live. They would be saved from their snake bite.
Can you imagine that? All they had to do was look at the snake, and they would be saved. It was a miracle that God did for them.
When Jesus came, He said that He was going to be like that snake ( John 3:14-15 ). He said that just like people had to look at the snake to be saved, people will have to look at Him on the cross to be saved.
If we want to be saved from God punishing us for all the wrong things we do, we have to look to Jesus to save us. He came to take the punishment for all of our sins. If we look to Him and believe in Him, God forgives us for everything wrong we’ve ever done and everything wrong we’ll ever do.
We just have to look to Jesus to be saved.
Closing Prayer
Lord, thank You for sending Jesus to take all of our punishments for us. Help us to believe and trust in Him every day. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
You can also find this children’s sermon for Kindle or in print in my book, Children’s Sermons about the Exodus