The Serpent

John 3:14-15
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Numbers 21:4-9
4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 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.

The Israelites were in a familiar situation. Life was tough. They were wandering in the wilderness, thinking they were brought there to die there. But God was delivering them. They complained, as usual, about the conditions (which they were responsible for in the first place). They said ‘there is no food’. But God had already proven He could meet their needs. They said ‘there is…no water’. Again, God had already proven His ability to provide (Chapter 20).

Here we see a perfect example of man and his desire for things of the world, not what God provides. They suffered the consequences for their sin. Notice in verse 6 that ‘the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died’. I’m not a scholar or a preacher and I often times fear trying to expound on scripture, but it seems to me that the serpents represent the death we have in sin, the ‘sting’ of death. The people’s sin had brought judgment from God (He judges sin). It had brought death (‘the wages of sin is death – Rom. 6:23a).

Behold the salvation, the serpent on the pole. The serpent on the pole represents the sin of the people on the pole. It must have made no sense to the Israelites to look at a serpent on a pole to have life, but it was a beautiful foreshadowing of the Savior that would be lifted on a cross.

We all have sinned and death is waiting to sting us. But ‘as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness’ and saved the people from death, ‘so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.’ If we look to Christ (recognizing our sin) and trust in Him, we will be saved (but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord – Rom 6:23b).

I know this is elementary for most of you, unless I've fabricated the meaning of the serpent. But it spoke to me when I needed it. I know there's a lot more in there, too, but I didn't want to be too wordy. Perhaps someone sees it (bread).

looking to Christ

j