Numbers 21:9: “So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.”

January 31st, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

This image is very descriptive and loaded with Messianic symbolism. There are 3 things about this picture that are important for us to clearly understand its meaning. First, the metal, bronze or brass, was associated with judgment throughout the Old Testament. Second, a serpent was the form Satan took in the garden to tempt Eve. And third, this bronze serpent was hung on a pole, publicly, outside, in open view of everyone.

It says that the people bitten had only to look up to the image on the pole and they would live. We see in this image one of the clearest pictures of Jesus in the book of Numbers. Both Jesus’ act of atonement, through the crucifixion, and the serpent on the pole were set in very conspicuous places. The serpent was in the center of camp, high on a pole, where perhaps 2 million people could see it. The cross of Jesus was placed near the gate at Jerusalem and at the center of our calendar. The vast majority of cultures in the world still date history by Jesus’ birth.

In chapter 20, God told Moses to speak to the rock and it would give water to the children of Israel, who were thirsty in the wilderness. Paul, in the New Testament, said of that time, “For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4). Now, one chapter later, the people were told to look to the figure on the pole. Both the rock and the sign of sin, in the form of the bronze serpent pinned to the pole, pointed to the sacrifice of the Messiah. What a beautifully symbolic picture this is. Speak to the rock and you will be refreshed, your thirst satisfied. Look to the figure on the pole and you will be healed, saved from the deadly bite of the serpent, of sin. Who says the Old Testament is hard to understand? It all points to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. It’s just that some parts are easier to see than others.

“Thank you, LORD, for Your word that points us to You again this day.”

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Numbers 21 KJV

¹ And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners. ² And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. ³ And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah. 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. ¹⁰ And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth. ¹¹ And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ije-abarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising.  ¹² From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared. ¹³ From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴ Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,  ¹⁵ And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.  ¹⁶ And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water. ¹⁷ Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it:   ¹⁸ The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah: ¹⁹ And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth: ²⁰ And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon. ²¹ And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, ²² Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king’s high way, until we be past thy borders. ²³ And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. ²⁴ And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon wasstrong. ²⁵ And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.  ²⁶ For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon. ²⁷ Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared: ²⁸For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon. ²⁹ Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites. ³⁰ We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba. ³¹ Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. ³² And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that werethere. ³³ And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei. ³⁴ And the LORD said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. ³⁵ So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.