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SUBJECT: Brass Serpent in the Wilderness -- Numbers
21
QUESTIONS: Please explain the action by Moses to
raise up a serpent of brass in Numbers 21. Doesn’t this go
against the 2nd commandment to make no images of
anything on earth? Please explain the allusions to this
brass serpent in the New Testament.
ANSWER:
No, this was not going against the 2nd
commandment as it was on direct order of God. God can order
anything He wants. This brass serpent had a specific
purpose and meaning.
Numbers 21:4-9
4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red
sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people
was much discouraged because of the way.
5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses,
Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the
wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any
water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and
they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, 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.
8 And the LORD said unto 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.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole,
and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man,
when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
First let us look at the commentary from the Hebrew-Greek
Study Bible:
Numbers 21:4:9—From a Christian perspective, this is one of
the most important incidents in the Pentateuch, but it had a
far-reaching influence upon Israel herself. In commanding a
bronze serpent to be made, God made an exception to the
second of the Ten Commandments, which forbade the making of
an image of any creature found on the earth (to worship-Ex.
20:4). The reason for this law is graphically illustrated
by the fact that hundreds of years later this bronze serpent
was being worshiped as a religious object (2 Kings 18:4).
In the New Testament, Paul made a brief historical reference
to the fact that God had sent serpents to punish Israel (1
Cor. 10:9), but the principal allusion to the incident comes
from the lips of Jesus, Himself. In His conversation with
Nicodemus, Jesus likened His being lifted up on the stake to
Moses’ lifting up of the serpent in the wilderness (John
3:14).
Now notice a commentary which gives us an overview of what
was taking place:
Under Attack Again
Meanwhile, a Canaanite king whose small domain included an
area of south Canaan heard that the Israelites were about
to invade his territory to the northwest of the Mt. Hor
region. This king felt that it was wiser to attack than to
be attacked.
Not to be outdone, he sent mounted troops to the south to
rush in on the camps of the Israelites.
So swift was the attack that some of the Israelites were
whisked away as prisoners before anything could be done. The
Israelites were so upset by what had taken place that they
made vows to God that they would wipe out the towns from
which the attackers had come if only God would help them.
God quickly answered their pleas and Israel proceeded
safely northward in the Arabah. (Numbers 21:1-3.)
After leaving the Mt. Hor area and defeating the Canaanites,
the Israelites continued through the valley of the Arabah.
This route was called the way of the Red Sea because it led
to the gulf of Aqaba.
Traveling through this huge desert cradle was difficult
because of the heat and the arid conditions. A number of
people
began to complain, especially because of the manna, which
they disliked because of their bad attitude. Their state of
mind
was like a contagious disease. It spread so swiftly that it
was only a matter of hours before a pounding wave of
discontent
disrupted the camps. (Verses 4-5.)
As usual, the head complainers organized throngs to gather
before Moses' tent with their loud and childish
demonstrations. Their remarks were so profane against Moses
and against God that God was angrily moved at once to
punish the offenders.
Even as noisy crowds shouted against their Creator, screams
of pain and terror began to rise from all parts of the camp.
Thousands of snakes were suddenly wriggling into the tents,
angrily biting the people on the feet and legs, injecting a
death-dealing poison that would quickly mean the end of life
for their victims! (Verse 6.)
Chapter 45
WAR WITH THE AMORITES
IT WAS at Punon in the Arabah, south of the Dead Sea, that
the invasion of snakes into the camps of the Israelites
occurred. At first they caused more terror than pain. It
wasn't long, however, before those who were bitten became
very
feverish and ill. Their bodies became inflamed and swollen.
Agonizing death soon followed.
The number of victims grew swiftly as the hours passed, and
Israel began to understand that it was possible that all the
people could be wiped out by a horde of poisonous snakes!
(Numbers 21:4-6.)
Israelites Repent
Frantic, worried Israelites gathered in a sombre crowd
before Moses' tent. This time they didn't yell and chant and
scream
insults at their leader. This time they came to humbly plead
with Moses for his help.
"We are sorry about the wrong things we said about you and
the complaints we made against manna," a spokesman from
the crowd anxiously told Moses. "Would you please ask God to
forgive us and take away these terrible snakes?"
Even as Moses was being addressed there was a loud and
violent commotion in the crowd. Snakes had slithered in
among the assembled people, and many of them were bitten.
Moses was convinced that most of those who had complained
and had made spiteful remarks against God and against
him were truly regretful of what they had done. He went at
once to the tabernacle to entreat God to have mercy on the
people and spare them from the poisonous bites of the
serpents. (Verse 7.)
"Instruct your best craftsmen to mold a brass serpent that
looks like the type of serpent that is plaguing the people,"
God
told Moses. "Have them mount it on a long pole, and erect
the pole in the center of the camps as a sign of My healing
power. Then tell the people that any who have been bitten
will be healed and spared from death simply by gazing on the
brazen serpent." (Verses 8-9.)
Moses hastily obeyed, and very soon the metal snake was
raised on a pole close to the tabernacle and the people told
what it was for. Throngs of suffering victims gathered to
peer at the brass serpent.
Before God's orders could be carried out, however, thousands
more had been bitten by snakes in the surrounding dry,
rocky areas. This resulted in an increasing crowd of
frantic, sick and groaning people to gather within sight of
the brass
snake. Thousands had died before it was made, but all those
who lived long enough to view the snake on the pole were
healed.
God caused the poisonous serpents to depart from the area in
which the Israelites were camped. The plague was ended
because the offenders regretted what they had done and
because of Moses' prayer to God. The removal of the serpent
plague was entirely a matter of repentance, prayer,
obedience, and faith. The serpent on the pole represented
the penalty
of sin being taken away. It reminded the Israelites of a
coming Savior who would be beaten and then crucified on a
pole
to pay for the sins of the world. (John 3:14-15.) However,
in later times the people of Judah began to worship that
serpent until righteous King Hezekiah destroyed it,
reminding the people it was only a piece of brass with no
power. (II
Kings 18:4-5.) ~from the
Bible Story by Herbert W. Armstrong
Now notice this from another commentary:
Num 21:4-9
V. The wonderful provision which God made for their relief.
He did not employ Moses in summoning the judgment, but, that
he might recommend him to the good affection of the people,
he made him instrumental in their relief, v. 8, 9. God
ordered Moses to make the representation of a fiery serpent,
which he did, in brass, and set it up on a very long pole,
so that it might be seen from all parts of the camp, and
every one that was stung with a fiery serpent was healed by
looking up to this serpent of brass. The people prayed that
God would take away the serpents from them (v. 7), but God
saw fit not to do this: for he gives effectual relief in the
best way, though not in our way. Thus those who did not die
for their murmuring were yet made to smart for it, that they
might the more feelingly repent and humble themselves for
it; they were likewise made to receive their cure from God,
by the hand of Moses, that they might be taught, if
possible, never again to speak against God and Moses. This
method of cure was altogether miraculous, and the more
wonderful if what some naturalists say be true, that looking
upon bright and burnished brass is hurtful to those that are
stung with fiery serpents. God can bring about his purposes
by contrary means. The Jews themselves say that it was not
the sight of the brazen serpent that cured them, but, in
looking up to it, they looked up to God as the Lord that
healed them. But there was much of gospel in this
appointment. Our Saviour has told us so (John 3:14-15), that
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so the Son
of man must be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish. Observe then a resemblance,
1. Between their disease and ours. The devil is the old
serpent, a fiery serpent, hence he appears (Rev 12:3) as a
great red dragon. Sin is the biting of this fiery serpent;
it is painful to the startled conscience, and poisonous to
the seared conscience. Satan's temptations are called his
fiery darts, Eph 6:16. Lust and passion inflame the soul, so
do the terrors of the Almighty, when they set themselves in
array. At the last, sin bites like a serpent and stings like
an adder; and even its sweets are turned into the gall of
asps.
2. Between their remedy and ours.
(1.) It was God himself that devised and prescribed this
antidote against the fiery serpents; so our salvation by
Christ was the contrivance of Infinite Wisdom; God himself
has found the ransom.
(2.) It was a very unlikely method of cure; so our salvation
by the death of Christ is to the Jews a stumbling-block and
to the Greeks foolishness. It was Moses that lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, so the law is a schoolmaster to
bring us to Christ, and Moses wrote of him, John v. 46.
Christ was lifted up by the rulers of the Jews, who were the
successors of Moses.
(3.) That which cured was shaped in the likeness of that
which wounded. So Christ, though perfectly free from sin
himself, yet was made in the likeness of sinful flesh (Rom
8:3), so like that it was taken for granted that this man
was a sinner, John 9:24.
(4.) The brazen serpent was lifted up; so was Christ. He was
lifted up upon the cross (John 12:33-34), for his was made a
spectacle to the world. He was lifted up by the preaching of
the gospel. The word here used for a pole signifies a
banner, or ensign, for Christ crucified stands for an ensign
of the people, Isa 11:10. Some make the lifting up of the
serpent to be a figure of Christ's triumphing over Satan,
the old serpent, whose head he bruised, when in his cross he
made an open show of the principalities and powers which he
had spoiled and destroyed, Col 2:15. ~from
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible
CONCLUSION
We see the meaning of this event made clear in these words
of the commentary: “The serpent on the pole represented the
penalty
of sin being taken away. It reminded the Israelites of a
coming Savior who would be beaten and then crucified on a
pole
to pay for the sins of the world. (John 3:14-15.)” |