Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
5/12 Reading Portions: Numbers 21; Psalms 60-61; Isaiah 10:5-34; James 4
Numbers 21:9
So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
SNAKE
YHVH God sent poisonous serpents when Israel grumbled against God and Moses. When they recognized the judgment of God, they cried out to Moses and the LORD instructed the prophet to craft a serpent, set it upon a pole, and place the pole in the middle of the camp. When one “beheld the serpent of brass, he lived” (KJV). The Hebrew word translated beheld (KJV) and would look (ESV) is first used in Genesis 15:5,
“Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be.” Genesis 15:5, KJV, emphasis added
Immediately, after God’s command to Abram is the Holy Spirit’s commentary, which gives us the context for Genesis 15:5,
And he believed the LORD, and He counted it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:6
Paul says that Abraham was justified by faith, not works, in this ancient encounter with Almighty God (Rom 4:2-4). So, the Hebrew word study tells us our verse in Numbers is about faith; Paul confirms this in His epistle to the Romans. Jesus likewise said so to Nicodemus:
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.” John 3:14-15
When Moses erected the pole, there were some who died because they didn’t even go to the pole to look when once they were bitten. There were also those who looked and still died because they did not believe. Finally, there were those who looked and believed that God would heal them just as He said He would— and only those in that third group lived. We know this same thing to be true with regard to saving faith in Christ crucified.
Another aspect of this episode with the fiery serpents is that of sin and the flesh. When we are drawn away of our own lusts and enticed, we must look to the truth of our Christ lifted high upon Calvary’s tree— and we will be empowered with life! Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Like Moses set the snake up high,
So Christ upon the cross
Must be embrac’d with faith’s true eye
To escape death and loss.
