(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

If you would flip over to Exodus 20, I'm going to show you another rule and another exception. Exodus chapter 20, if you would, title of the sermon is the exception proves the rule. Look at Exodus chapter 20 and we see a pretty clear rule here in verse number 4 of Exodus 20 from the Ten Commandments. It says, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them, for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. So here the Bible is pretty clear. Do not make unto thee any graven image of any animal or person. This is reiterated many times in the law. Deuteronomy chapter 4 says, Don't make an image of a bird in the heaven, of anything that creepeth on the earth, of any fish of the sea. Do not make a molten image. Do not make a graven image. I mean, just all throughout the Old Testament, this law is hammered. This rule is hammered. Don't do it. But let's look at the exception to this. Go, if you would, to Numbers 21. Numbers chapter 21, we'll see that there is an exception to this. Numbers chapter 21 says in verse 4, And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom, and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God and against Moses. Wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light bread. Well, wait a minute. You just said there was no bread. Well, it's light bread. It just shows how when people complain, they get unreasonable, they're not thankful for what they have, and they act like they have nothing. When in reality, they have something, it's just not their favorite food. You know, our soul loatheth this light bread. Verse 6, And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of Israel died. Therefore, the people came to Moses and said, We've sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. Let me ask you this. Was Moses right when he made the serpent of brass? He's being told specifically by God, make a serpent of brass. Now look, if God doesn't want us to make a graven image, a molten image of any animal, I would venture to guess that probably the last animal that we should be making a molten image of is a serpent. Because what does a serpent call to mind? The devil. And what does the Bible say about people who worship idols? It says they're not worshiping idols, they're worshiping devils. The idol represents a devil. Well, if you have a molten serpent, what does that represent? I mean, that's the perfect representation of the most wicked thing you could imagine, right? So you say, what in the world is going on? Why would God tell them to make the most wicked possible idolatry and hold it up on a pole, and anybody who looks to it will live? Well, flip over to John chapter 3. Now, God specifically told him, make this brazen serpent. But then after this incident was over, the serpent was to be destroyed. But they ended up worshiping it. People later on in the Bible, hundreds of years later, worshiped that serpent, and a godly king had to rise up and destroy the serpent and get rid of it and say, you guys need to quit worshiping this stupid thing. And he destroyed it and threw it away. But look at John chapter 3. The Bible reads in verse 13 of John 3, And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. You say, Pastor Anderson, how could a serpent of brass represent Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ, the perfect, sinless, spotless lamb of God, why would he be represented by idolatry? Why would he be represented by a serpent? I'll tell you why. Because when Jesus was on the cross, the Bible says, he who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So if he became sin for us, that's why a sinful image is held up saying, look, this is an image of Christ coming and becoming sin for us. Becoming sin for us. Now, just as Jesus Christ, when he was on the cross, what did he do? He endured shame. He endured shame, didn't he? What did he do when he was on the cross? He became sin for us. Now, does that mean he went around being shameful in his lifetime? Does that mean he went around sinning in his lifetime? No. Well, guess what? He didn't go around with long hair in his lifetime. He didn't live a life of shame and reproach. And he did not live a life of sin. He was without sin. He never sinned. He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. But on the cross, though, what does he become? He becomes sin for us. Therefore, the brazen serpent is the perfect representation of Christ on the cross, because he became sin for us, and brass is a metal in the Bible that's associated with judgment. And, you know, that's our sin being judged on the cross, because Christ is taking the judgment for our sin when he died on the cross for us. So, this is an exception to the rule, because God wanted to send this powerful message about Christ becoming sin for us, so that it could be used in these super famous verses in John chapter 3, verses 13, 14, and 15, which lead us into what? The most famous verse in the whole Bible, John 3.16. It's an important passage. And so, God did that in the Old Testament to symbolize something for John chapter 3. He had a purpose. Look, when there's an exception to the rule, there's a reason for that exception. God doesn't just make exceptions to the rules just willy-nilly, just because he can. No, there's a reason why these exceptions are made. They have a purpose, and we should not be so foolish as to think, Oh, well, there's an exception. Well, let's all jump on in and just live the exception. No, why don't you follow the rule? You're not Moses. You're not Samson. You're not vowing a Nazarite vow. Get a haircut, and quit having molten and graven images of beasts and people. Look, the Catholics will say, Oh, yeah? We're not supposed to have any molten images. What about that brazen serpent? Therefore, let's just make Mary and the saints and Jesus, and let's bow down to them. Let's burn incense. Let's have idols everywhere. Let's have demonic-looking gargoyles all over our cathedrals and all over our buildings. Look, they just go nuts on idolatry, and you try to call them out, and they're like, Well, what about this exception? Right? Every long-haired dude knows the story of Samson backward and forward, but he doesn't know 1 Corinthians chapter 11. He can't quote that scripture to you. Why? Because they're focusing on the exception and ignoring the rule. That's why this sermon is important, just to get through to you. Look, rules have exceptions, but that doesn't negate the rule. The exception proves the rule. It doesn't negate the rule. It doesn't eliminate the rule.