And YHWH said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” - Num 21:8
At the beginning of Numbers 21 there is the account of the people grumbling (again) against God and Moses. The result of this grumbling was an infestation of "fiery serpents" whose bites were lethal. As I read this account today I wondered what relevance such a passage could have for me today. Here are a few thoughts I trust God desires for us to see out this text.
All Sin Has A Consequence
This may seem too obvious since in the text the people of Israel complain in once verse and receive the fiery serpents in the next. While this is very true and there is clearly a relationship between the grumbling and the sending of the serpents. However, there is more to the story. In the larger context of Numbers we need to remember why Israel is in the wilderness in the first place. Not too many chapters prior (Num 13-14), the people rebelled by not trusting God to deliver them safely into the promise land. Their forty years of wandering is a direct result of that lack of obedient faith. Sin always has a consequence.
God's Grace Overwhelms Our Sin
This account is a great example of the reality that God doesn't simply wink at sin or somehow simply erase our sins from the permanent record. God is supremely and perfectly holy and righteous, so no sin is ignored and all sin must receive its just and equitable payment. In the case of the grumbling people, God provides a way for their faith to save them. They did not trust God to deliver them into the land. They did not trust God to continue to provide manna and water for their journey. Would they trust God to provide a way of escape from the fiery serpents? God's gracious provision of a bronze serpent on a pole provides not just an opportunity to believe, but actual salvation from the deadly bites of the serpents. And the same is true for us. God's grace will always overwhelm our sin.
Jesus Was Lifted Up So That We Might Live
Take a look at John 3:14-15
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
The imagery / typology is powerful. Bronze serpent on a pole. Jesus on a cross. People dying for lack of faith saved by God's provision of a bronze serpent. People dying for lack of faith in God saved by God's provision of Jesus. Israel needed to look at the bronze serpent and trust that God would save them. We need to look to Jesus and trust that God will save us. The bronze serpent was, in essence, sacrificed for the sin of the people. Jesus was, in reality, sacrificed for sins of his people. Jesus was lifted up so that we could live.
To God Alone be the Glory
