As Moses Lifted Up the Serpent

Types and Shadows Studies

Introduction

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:14-18.)

The story about Moses putting a brass serpent on a pole in the wilderness is found in Numbers 21. The story is found in the midst of rebellion and disobedience against God and Moses. God told Moses and Aaron to gather the nation together and speak to a rock and He would give them water to drink. Out of anger toward the rebellious people, Moses said, “Hear now, you rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted up his hand with his rod and smote the rock twice. (Numbers 20:10-11.) Due to the ill behavior of Moses and Aaron, the Lord rebuked them and promised that they would not lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. Numbers 20 ends with the death of Aaron, Moses’ brother, on Mount Hor.

Again the people murmured and complained against Moses and God. They said, “Wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is neither bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loathes this light bread.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people and much people of Israel died. (Numbers 21:5-6.) When the people repented, God commanded Moses to make a serpent of brass and put it on a pole. Those who had been bitten could look upon it and be healed. This is the story that Jesus is referring to in his conversation with Nicodemus. No doubt, Nicodemus would have been very familiar with this story. But Jesus made it like unto his death on the cross. If we trust in Him and look up to Him on the cross, we will be healed of our spiritual sickness and death.

Concerning types, shadows and metaphors in the Bible, how is the cross of Jesus Christ like the ancient event in Israel? If we understand the physical event, then we will understand and appreciate the spiritual. There are four things that describe what happened in Numbers 21: the fiery serpents, the fallen people, the faith required, and the forged serpent on the pole. Today, we have the old story of sin, salvation and the Savior. The old serpent has bitten humanity in the Garden. We have the poisonous venom in our veins. Jesus is hanged on the cross for our redemption. We must look up to Him in order to be saved.

Bitten by the Serpent

It does not take much reflection and observation to see that something is terribly wrong with all humanity. We are like the murmuring, quarrelsome, rebellious Israelites. We murmured against those who try to lead us and even against God himself. Our tongues betray our sinful hearts. Nothing seems to satisfy sinful humanity. We are a difficult lot to lead to the Promise Land.

It is sad to see the effects of the deadly venom in our veins. One by one we are falling to its power. We are sick and dying due to sin. We put on a good face and act as if nothing is really wrong. We will hire scientists and medical personnel to determine the problem and wait on a solution from their studies. The Israelites could see the results of being bitten by fiery serpents. They could feel the pain of it. I have never been bitten by a snake, but I have had friends who have. One man was bitten on his hand by a water moccasin. His hand swelled to about twice its original size and his arm swelled up beyond his elbow. This man could not deny that something serious had happened to him. We have been bitten spiritually by the old the Devil and Satan. (Gen. 3, Rev. 12:9.) There are physically effects—we have numerous health problems and at last we die. We have been bitten by the serpent and it hurts. We can rationalize all we want about what caused it, but the truth is that sin brings forth physical and spiritual death. (Rom. 5:12, Rom. 6:23.)

The Bible goes to great lengths to explain this problem of humanity. According to the Bible, the difficulties that we face in this life are due to sin, the curse of God, and death that follows. If we deny the problem, we will reject the solution to the problem. Those bitten by the serpents could not deny what had happened to them. Neither can we successfully deny it.

The Brass Serpent

Moses forged a brass serpent that looked like the real serpents, except it did not have venom and could not bite. The point in this is that the brass serpent looked like the real serpents. Jesus looked like sinful humanity, but he was not.

“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” (Rom. 8:3.)

Jesus looked just like man. He was alive in the flesh, tempted in all points like we, yet without sin. He looked like he had the same problem because he was subject to death. The Romans and Jews killed him and nailed him to a cross. Jesus condemned sin in the flesh. He defeated sin and death in the flesh in two ways: he resisted sin successfully and he arose from the dead after being put to death.

We have another statement about the serpent of brass that Moses had made. Centuries later, in the reign of the good king, Hezekiah, the Israelites faithfully kept the serpent and burned incense unto it. Hezekiah had it broken into pieces. They call it Nehushtan, a piece of brass. (2 Kings 18:4.) The brass serpent had a history of about 700 years (1400 BC—the death of Aaron, to 700 BC—the reign of Hezekiah).

Burning incense to the brass serpent is likewise typical of mankind. We tend to express faith and confidence in everything and everyone, except the Lord.

Belief in the Savior

“Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:14-16.)

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said signifying what death he should die.” (John 12:32-33.)

A good understanding of faith is trust. In whom do we trust for our salvation? The Israelites were told to “look upon” the brazen serpent. They were not told to put their confidence and trust in it. They were not commanded to burn incense to it. Seven hundred years later, the good king, Hezekiah, put an end to that foolishness.

The one upon the cross is Jesus the Savior. We are commanded to trust him for our healing of the sin-death problem. He is in fact the only One in the world who can remedy that problem. (See Romans 5:12-21.) Would it not be ironic if we fail to trust the Living Son of God for our redemption, but the Israelites burned incense to a lifeless brass serpent? This has, in fact, been the story for the past two thousand years. Here is a summary of that history of misplaced trust.

1) It is well-known that the Pharisees of the first century trusted in themselves that they were righteous, rather than trusting in the righteousness of God. (Luke 18:9, Matt. 5:20, Rom. 10:3-4.)

2) The Judaizers were Jewish-Christian teachers, sent down from James, who taught that one was saved both by the Gospel and by keeping certain terms of the Law of Moses (like circumcision).

3) The church fathers, or apostolic fathers, presented a confused message concerning redemption and justification. This has been well-documented by Thomas F. Torrance, The Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers, a doctoral dissertation, 1959.) They spoke of works of merit, and even supererogatory merit. That is, believers may do more than God requires and thus receive more abundant glory in heaven.

4) Further evidence that many had misplaced trust is shown by the doctrine of salvific imitation. That is, we imitate Jesus Christ in our lives and even in death. Taking up one’s cross was taken literally. Martyrdon was exalted; much like suicide (self-sacrifice according to them) is today among Muslims. A martyr willing lays down his life and then receives the crown of glory as Jesus did. One is not saved by what the Lord did, but by what the martyr did. We imitate the life of Jesus and thus justify ourselves.

5) The works of merit is well-known in the Catholic Church. They do not trust fully in the merits of Jesus Christ alone, but also the merits afforded through Mary and other noted saints. The practice of selling/buying indulgences, which reduced or eliminated one’s stay in purgatory, brought on the Protestant Reformation Movement by the fiery Martin Luther.

6) The Holiness doctrine of sanctification relies more upon the Holy Spirit as the Savior than Jesus Christ. The so-called second work of grace replaces and minimizes the role of the first work of grace in justification. If one can be fully sanctified and made holy, what further need is there of trust in the Savior.

7) Rejection of the biblical doctrine of imputed righteousness and a dependence upon one’s own righteousness is further evidence of many not trusting in the Lord lifted up on the cross.

Conclusion

In regard to salvation, we must not look to the thief on the cross, but rather to Jesus on the cross. We ought not to behave like the unresponsive thief who only cast accusations toward Jesus. We must not worship objects, like Nehushtan, or any other idols, like the Israelites did. Believers must not trust in themselves that they are righteous, but we must trust in the Lord alone.