"The Mark"

 "But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness?" (Hebrews 3:17 KJV)

  "Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites." (1 Corinthians 10:9 NLT)

 Having been in the wilderness, so to speak, I can relate to what it feels like when you just don't have the hope you should, especially when it seems things are never going to get better. Not that I don't have any hope for the life after this one, because that hope is pretty much all that I can really trust in; I am talking about having hope for this life, and what happens here, on planet earth.

 I took my wife to the movies the other day, to see the kid's movie, called, "Elio." It was okay, somewhat enjoyable, until the movie started to end and the credits started; then they announced how this movie is to give people the sense that they are not alone, and that there is life out there in space. 

 Actually, it was rather interesting how they showed the 'space' to be, as if it was taken from the Bible. I am talking about how heaven shows up, as if a window opens up, and there it is, right in this atmosphere. Something like we see in Ezekiel; or in Acts when Stephen sees the heavens open. 

 What it reminded me of was the Rapture, which I believe will be soon coming, and how the world will believe that the people taken were abducted by aliens. It's just one more sign to show us that things are falling into place! 

 Anywho; this verse from 1 Corinthians 10:9 is to show us the 'test' that was put to Christ! Simply put, the test was not multiple choice; there was only one way that people were saved that had been bitten, and that was by looking at the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up on a pole.  

 There is something about missing the Mark that has power to save...

"Jesus replied, "You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don't understand these things? I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won't believe our testimony. But if you don't believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has even gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life."" (John 3:10-15 NLT)