The Brasen Serpent

Having conquered a community of Canaanites, the people of Israel were anxious to enter the promised land. When they were told to detour around Edom, they rebelled. Their complaints echoed those of their parents of 40 years earlier: “Have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?…there is no food…neither water…we loathe this light bread.” They had the manna provided by God but they loathed His provision. And they had the water provided by God from the rock that followed them. But they despised it.

They were not only complaining against Moses but also against the merciful provisions of God. So the Lord sent fiery serpents which slew many of the people.

Unlike their forebears, the people quickly recognized their sin. A way to be saved was thus provided; Moses made a serpent of brass and elevated it on a pole. All those bitten by a serpent could look on the brazen serpent and not die.

A significant incident

The incident has more significance than might appear, for Jesus indicated it was a foreshadowing of his own crucifixion on a pole that those who look on him in faith might be saved (John 3:15,16).

Interestingly, one of the words used for “serpent” in this passage — saraph — is the base for the word “seraphim” used in Isa. 6:2,6. Like the Lord Jesus, the seraphim were closely associated with the throne of God and were the instruments for cleansing Isaiah of sin (Isa. 6:5-7). Also significant is the fact the seraphim had six wings. Six is the number of man. The savior was a man, “the man Christ Jesus” (I Tim. 2:5), who lifted up his heart crying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts” (Isa. 6:5). In order for the Lord Jesus to have such an attitude, however, he had to overcome the poisonous inclinations of human nature. Because he did so, he provides a means of salvation to those who are poisoned by the effects of the serpent in their very being.

We have inside us “poison” sufficient to kill us. It is in the form of our natural inclinations which became an inherent part of the human race when Adam and Eve followed the words of the serpent and not those of God. In a sense, we have been poisoned by that which emanated from the serpent’s mouth.

Like Israel, we may desire an easy way to the land of promise and may feel a loathing for the provisions God has made. As Israel looked on the serpent lifted up on a pole and realized the folly of seeking an easy course, we look upon the cross and realize the same. We realize sin’s flesh must be subdued by God’s way not a way of our devising.

Yet the serpent on the pole offered hope. God had the power to heal those who were poisoned. Christ on the cross offers us a like hope. If we associate ourselves with him, God will heal us of our sins, and ultimately, of our sin nature. When that day of great healing comes, we will join in singing, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”