They grew tired of bread form heaven
And of Moses and of God
They longed to live the life of slavery once again
So they muttered and they grumbled
And they whimpered and they whined;
With each faithless word, sank deeper into sin
He took the pen of pain once more
To write upon their hearts
The lesson they had been so slow to learn
But writing in the sand, the fiery serpents came to call
With a holy message and a bite that burned
(Chorus:)
Lift up the suffering symbol
And place it high upon a pole
Tell the children to look up and be made whole
So Moses made a metal snake,
And nailed it to a pole
Sent out the saving word so they would know
That the symbol of their suffering was now the focus of their faith
And with a faithful glance, the healing power would flow
In time the brazen serpent became an idol in the land
And they left the living God to worship clay
When they forgot their suffering
Soon true faith had disappeared
So some idolize a brazen cross today
