Narrator: You know the situation. The Israelites left Mount Hor and were taking a detour around Edom because the king of Edom would not allow them to travel through his land. The children of Israel grew impatient and murmured against Moses. God chastened them with venomous snakes. The people said to Moses, “We have 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” (Numbers 21:7). And God answered.
God: “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” (Numbers 21:8).
Moses: I did as God commanded. I “made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole” (Numbers 21:9).
Nephi, son of Lehi: I used your experience, Moses, as a warning to my rebellious brothers, Laman and Lemuel. I said unto them: Moses’ people “hardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the Lord… sent fiery flying serpents among them” (1 Nephi 17:40).
Zenock: I also taught this to my people. “Yea… a type was raised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live, but many were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would heal them. Few understood the meaning of those things” (Alma 33:19-20).
Nephi, son of Helaman: Thank you, Moses, for explaining the symbolism “concerning the coming of the Messiah.” I testified and bore “record that the Son of God should come and be lifted up [even] as… the brazen serpent in the wilderness” (Helaman 8:14-15).
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin: In every dispensation, it is “foolish… [to] ignore the prophets of God, depend on our own strength, and ultimately reap the consequences.” In my time, I and my fellow Apostles, taught our people to be wise and “draw near to the Lord and partake of His blessings…. [to] come unto Christ… [to] spend more time in His temples” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2005/10/journey-to-higher-ground?lang=eng).
Zenock: I said to my people, “Oh my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief, and be slothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish” (Alma 33:21)?
Elder Dale G. Renlund: I asked a similar question in our general conference: “How much energy does it take to look at something? Perhaps they lacked the faith to look. Perhaps they did not believe that such a simple action could trigger the promised healing (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/04/41renlund?lang=eng).
John the Beloved: You may recall that I wrote in my book that Jesus gave Nicodemus the comparison between himself and the brazen serpent: “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” (John 3:14-15).
Nephi, son of Helaman: It is significant that Jesus taught this, as did many of His prophets. I reminded my people that “all the holy prophets, from his days even to the days of Abraham. Yea… Abraham saw of his coming, and was filled with gladness and did rejoice” (Helaman 8:16-17).
President Joseph Fielding Smith: I am one of those prophets. “The lifting up of the serpent by Moses was a type of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Those who looked upon the serpent were healed. So also those who look to Christ in faith will be healed spiritually” (Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 1, p. 27).
Nephi, son of Helaman: I personally heard the risen Christ say: ”Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live” (3 Nephi 15:9).
King Limhi: How blessed you are to have had that personal witness. When my people were in bondage to the Lamanites, I said: “If ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage” (Mosiah 7:33).
President Russell M. Nelson: In my day, I taught that the temple is a place where we can look to Christ in faith and be healed from whatever bondage we are experiencing. “In the house of the Lord… we come to know Him. As we keep our temple covenants, we gain greater access to the Lord’s strengthening power. In the temple, we receive protection from the buffetings of the world. We experience the pure love of Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father in great abundance! We feel peace and spiritual reassurance, in contrast to the turbulence of the world” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/10/57nelson?lang=eng).
Joseph Smith: When I dedicated the Kirtland Temple, I prayed that the temple would be a place “that the Son of Man might have a place to manifest himself to his people” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:5-6)
Boyd K. Packer: And Jesus Christ did manifest Himself to you and Oliver Cowdery. “In the temple we face the sunlight of truth. The light of the temple, that understanding, shines upon us as does the light of the sun. And the shadows of sin and ignorance and error, of disappointment and failure, fall behind us. Nowhere quite equals the temple” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2007/10/come-to-the-temple?lang=eng).
Narrator: Using a wide-angle view, the Lord needed Moses to get the Israelites to the promised land, an impossibility if all the people were dead from serpent stings. Some obeyed their prophet and looked; some rebelled. The Lord needed Nephi, son of Lehi and Sariah to build a boat to get them from the Arabian Peninsula to the promised land, an impossibility if Laman and Lemuel rebelled. Today the Lord needs Russell M. Nelson to “prepare a people who will help prepare the world for the Second Coming…. [That is why we] are building temples at such an unprecedented pace… The Lord has instructed us to do so. The Lord is indeed hastening His work” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/10/57nelson?lang=eng).
President Russell M. Nelson: Through the authority of Jesus Christ, I promised my people the Lord would bless them as they serve and worship in the temple.
I promise “that the Lord will bring the miracles He knows you need as you make sacrifices to serve and worship in His temples” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/10/becoming-exemplary-latter-day-saints?lang=eng).
I promise “that as you increase your time in temple and family history work, you will increase and improve your ability to hear Him” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2020/04/45nelson?lang=eng).
I promise that “nothing will protect you more as you encounter the world’s mists of darkness. Nothing will bolster your testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement or help you understand God’s magnificent plan more. Nothing will soothe your spirit more during times of pain. Nothing will open the heavens more. Nothing” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ftsoy/2024/05/03-nelson?lang=eng)!
I promise that “every sincere seeker of Jesus Christ will find Him in the temple. You will feel His mercy. You will find answers to your most vexing questions. You will better comprehend the joy of His gospel” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/10/57nelson?lang=eng).
Narrator: The promises President Nelson gave are sure, but the question is personal: Will I follow the prophet? Will I look and be healed? Will I willingly give my energy and time to whatever symbolic ship needs my labor? Will I be worthy to receive the promised temple blessings? The temple is our gift, panacea, solution, answer, cure.
Alma son of Alma: Truth has been spoken: “Look to God and live” (Alma 37:47).
