In these passages, many years had already passed and many had died and buried in the desert. Still, the Isrealites complained, probably even those who were born in the desert, those who had not been in Egypt, but hearing their parents' life in Egypt, they missed out what God had done to them. They had been with God. They could see God's pillar of cloud and fire watching over them. Moses and Aaron, the leaders, even disobeyed God, and they could not go unpunished, Aaron died and Moses would die next. With God's punishment, Israel faced God's fury, he brought sickness and snakes which God then instructed Moses to place a snake on a stick for people to see when they got bitten by the deadly snake, an atonement from the the punishment. It's unbelievable to just see at the snake to be cured, but they trusted. They even trusted more in the midst of adversity. God never gave up on them, He still led them and protected them from harm and rejection.
God is merciful but He is just. Disobedience cannot go unpunished. Though God punishes us, He meant our punishment for good, to mold us, to change us, even to learn to trust in him. The snake is a manifestation of Jesus Christ. We are to look on Jesus. He is pure human and pure God. He experiences all our pains and other emotions. He has experienced death, but He has risen and is now with the Father interceding for His own. Jesus is the atonement of our sins, redeeming us from eternal punishment.
It was God's Will to delay the Israelites. It was God's Will to send Jesus and be sacrificed on the cross. It was also God's Will that, not only Israel, would get to know Him and have a relationship with the Creator. It is also God's Will that we face what we are facing now. We are to trust and have faith. Believe for our future is justified in God's Will. Even though, our present may seem hard to understand a future ahead, God wills what he wills.
