Numbers 21:5-9
Without a proper understanding of precisely what happened to Jesus at the cross, this story of the brazen serpent on the pole makes no sense. First, how could looking at anything affixed to a pole bring healing in the body? Second, and perhaps most important, why would God chose a snake as His symbol? Every Sunday school student knows that the snake first appears in the Garden of Eden and that he is a cursed creature.
To answer these questions, we must realize what happened in this story and why. The Israelites were complaining to Moses about the lack of water and their weariness with manna. They call it “light” in the King James Version, but the word is “worthless” in Hebrew. They are so sickened by God’s provision that they deem it as “worthless”.
In response, God allows “fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died” (Numbers 21:6). Remember, this incident occurs while the Israelites are under the Law, thus the Old Covenant must be honored. Though they are undeserving of any mercy, the Israelites beg Moses to ask the Lord to “take away the serpents from us”.
God instructs Moses to make a fiery serpent and place it upon a pole. Every person who has been bit can look upon it and they are promised life. Moses obeys, forming the serpent out of brass, and God honors His promise to heal all who gaze upon it. Jesus speaks of this incident in His conversation with Nicodemus when He says, “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” (John 3:14, 15). Jesus places Himself in the position of the brazen serpent, stating that He will be lifted up, which happens at Calvary. He then substitutes the “looking upon the serpent” with “whosoever believeth”. Where the Israelites were simply told to look upon the snake and they would live, Jesus states that people will have to “believe in him”. This is the role of faith in your salvation, and it is the answer to the first question that we posed: How could looking at anything affixed to a pole bring healing in the body? Your faith in what Jesus did at Calvary brings healing and redemption from the poison of sin.
That leaves us with the second question: Why would God chose a snake as His symbol? The serpent is a symbol of sin having been judged, thus it is brass, which comes from being placed in the fire. Jesus was made to be sin for us at the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21), and He bore the curse of sin, just as a serpent is cursed (Galatians 3:13). By showing Israel a serpent of brass, God was saying that the curse of sin will be judged, and that this judgment would provide redemption for all who believed. Jesus fulfilled this to perfection, bearing the blow of death that was meant for us, so that we might have eternal life.
This incident came to a head when Jesus proclaimed, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Jesus never calls His Father, “God” except at this moment, for it is the first and last time that He has been separated from Him by our sins. God could not continue fellowship with Jesus in that moment, prompting Jesus to address Him as “God”, so that we could always address Him as “Father”.
Thank God for that serpent of brass, cursed for you and for me!
Without a proper understanding of precisely what happened to Jesus at the cross, this story of the brazen serpent on the pole makes no sense. First, how could looking at anything affixed to a pole bring healing in the body? Second, and perhaps most important, why would God chose a snake as His symbol? Every Sunday school student knows that the snake first appears in the Garden of Eden and that he is a cursed creature.
To answer these questions, we must realize what happened in this story and why. The Israelites were complaining to Moses about the lack of water and their weariness with manna. They call it “light” in the King James Version, but the word is “worthless” in Hebrew. They are so sickened by God’s provision that they deem it as “worthless”.
In response, God allows “fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died” (Numbers 21:6). Remember, this incident occurs while the Israelites are under the Law, thus the Old Covenant must be honored. Though they are undeserving of any mercy, the Israelites beg Moses to ask the Lord to “take away the serpents from us”.
God instructs Moses to make a fiery serpent and place it upon a pole. Every person who has been bit can look upon it and they are promised life. Moses obeys, forming the serpent out of brass, and God honors His promise to heal all who gaze upon it. Jesus speaks of this incident in His conversation with Nicodemus when He says, “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” (John 3:14, 15). Jesus places Himself in the position of the brazen serpent, stating that He will be lifted up, which happens at Calvary. He then substitutes the “looking upon the serpent” with “whosoever believeth”. Where the Israelites were simply told to look upon the snake and they would live, Jesus states that people will have to “believe in him”. This is the role of faith in your salvation, and it is the answer to the first question that we posed: How could looking at anything affixed to a pole bring healing in the body? Your faith in what Jesus did at Calvary brings healing and redemption from the poison of sin.
That leaves us with the second question: Why would God chose a snake as His symbol? The serpent is a symbol of sin having been judged, thus it is brass, which comes from being placed in the fire. Jesus was made to be sin for us at the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21), and He bore the curse of sin, just as a serpent is cursed (Galatians 3:13). By showing Israel a serpent of brass, God was saying that the curse of sin will be judged, and that this judgment would provide redemption for all who believed. Jesus fulfilled this to perfection, bearing the blow of death that was meant for us, so that we might have eternal life.
This incident came to a head when Jesus proclaimed, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Jesus never calls His Father, “God” except at this moment, for it is the first and last time that He has been separated from Him by our sins. God could not continue fellowship with Jesus in that moment, prompting Jesus to address Him as “God”, so that we could always address Him as “Father”.
Thank God for that serpent of brass, cursed for you and for me!
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