Then the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us." So Moses interceded for the people. Then the people came to MosesThis phrase marks a pivotal moment of realization and humility among the Israelites. The act of coming to Moses signifies a recognition of his God-given leadership and authority. Historically, Moses served as the mediator between God and the Israelites, a role that prefigures Christ as the ultimate mediator. The Hebrew root for "came" (בּוֹא, bo) implies movement towards a goal or purpose, indicating the people's earnest desire for reconciliation. and said, 'We have sinned
The confession "We have sinned" is a crucial acknowledgment of wrongdoing. In Hebrew, the word for sin (חָטָא, chata) conveys the idea of missing the mark or straying from the path. This admission is essential for repentance and restoration. Theologically, it underscores the necessity of recognizing one's sin before seeking God's forgiveness, a principle that resonates throughout Scripture. by speaking against the LORD and against you
This phrase highlights the specific nature of their sin: speaking against divine and appointed authority. The act of speaking against (דִּבֵּר, dibber) in Hebrew suggests a deliberate and rebellious communication. Historically, the Israelites' complaints were not just against Moses but ultimately against God, reflecting a lack of faith and trust. This serves as a reminder of the importance of respecting God's chosen leaders and the consequences of rebellion. Intercede with the LORD
The request for intercession underscores the role of Moses as a mediator. The Hebrew root for intercede (פָּגַע, paga) implies making contact or entreaty, often with persistence. This reflects the biblical principle that intercession is a powerful tool for seeking God's mercy. Moses' willingness to intercede despite the people's rebellion exemplifies Christ-like forgiveness and love. to take the snakes away from us
The plea to remove the snakes is both literal and symbolic. The snakes, sent as a consequence of sin, represent the immediate danger and the broader consequences of disobedience. In the biblical narrative, serpents often symbolize sin and evil. The request to remove them signifies a desire for deliverance from both physical and spiritual peril, pointing to the need for divine intervention in overcoming sin. So Moses interceded for the people
This concluding phrase demonstrates Moses' obedience and compassion. His intercession is a powerful act of advocacy, reflecting the heart of a true leader. Theologically, it foreshadows Christ's intercessory work on behalf of humanity. Moses' actions remind believers of the importance of prayer and intercession in seeking God's grace and mercy for oneself and others. Persons / Places / Events 1. The IsraelitesThe people of Israel, who were journeying through the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt. They often struggled with faith and obedience. 2. MosesThe leader of the Israelites, chosen by God to lead His people out of Egypt. He served as a mediator between God and the Israelites. 3. The LORDThe covenant name of God, Yahweh, who delivered the Israelites from Egypt and guided them through the wilderness. 4. The SnakesFiery serpents sent by God as a judgment upon the Israelites for their complaints and rebellion. 5. The WildernessThe desert area where the Israelites wandered for 40 years due to their disobedience and lack of faith. Teaching Points The Consequences of SinSin has real consequences, as seen with the fiery serpents. Our actions against God and His appointed leaders can lead to judgment. The Role of IntercessionMoses' intercession for the people highlights the importance of prayer and mediation. We are called to intercede for others, following Moses' example. Repentance and ConfessionThe Israelites' acknowledgment of their sin is a crucial step in seeking God's mercy. True repentance involves recognizing our wrongs and turning back to God. God's Mercy and ForgivenessDespite their rebellion, God provided a means of healing through Moses' intercession. This demonstrates God's readiness to forgive when we repent. Faith in God's ProvisionThe Israelites had to look at the bronze serpent to be healed, symbolizing faith in God's provision. Similarly, we must look to Christ for our spiritual healing. Bible Study Questions 1. What does the Israelites' confession of sin in Numbers 21:7 teach us about the importance of acknowledging our wrongdoings before God? 2. How does Moses' role as an intercessor in this passage reflect the role of Jesus as our mediator? Consider connections to New Testament teachings. 3. In what ways can we practice intercession for others in our daily lives, following Moses' example? 4. How does the account of the bronze serpent in Numbers 21 relate to Jesus' teaching in John 3:14-15, and what does this mean for our understanding of salvation? 5. Reflect on a time when you experienced the consequences of sin. How did repentance and seeking God's forgiveness change the situation? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 32The Israelites' sin with the golden calf and Moses' intercession for them parallels their sin and Moses' intercession in Numbers 21:7. John 3:14-15Jesus references the bronze serpent Moses made as a foreshadowing of His own crucifixion, highlighting the theme of salvation through faith. Psalm 106:23This verse speaks of Moses standing in the breach to turn away God's wrath, similar to his role in Numbers 21:7. | Complaining Punished | J. Parker, D. D. | Numbers 21:4-9 | | Discouraged | Henry, Matthew | Numbers 21:4-9 | | Discouraged Because of the Way | T. R. Stevenson. | Numbers 21:4-9 | | Discouragements | J. Parker, D. D. | Numbers 21:4-9 | | Fleshpots or Manna | F. W. Farrar, D. D. | Numbers 21:4-9 | | In the Valley of Seir | R. D. Shaw, B. D. | Numbers 21:4-9 | | Lifting Up the Brazen Serpent | Spurgeon, Charles Haddon | Numbers 21:4-9 | | Man's Ruin and God's Remedy | Spurgeon, Charles Haddon | Numbers 21:4-9 | | On the Discouragements of Pious Men | R. Hall, M. A. | Numbers 21:4-9 | | The Brazen Serpent | Homilist | Numbers 21:4-9 | | The Brazen Serpent | J. H. Titcomb, M. A. | Numbers 21:4-9 | | The Brazen Serpent | W. M. Taylor, D. D. | Numbers 21:4-9 | | The Brazen Serpent | W. Attersoll. | Numbers 21:4-9 | | The Cure for the Malady of Sin | W. Ormiston, D. D. | Numbers 21:4-9 | | The First Setting Up of the Brazen Serpent | | Numbers 21:4-9 | | The Happiness of Repentance | Bp. Babington. | Numbers 21:4-9 | | Unreasonable Complaint | Daniel Katterns. | Numbers 21:4-9 | | Destruction and Salvation Through the Serpent | D. Young | Numbers 21:6-9 | | The Brazen Serpent as a Type of Christ | E.S. Prout | Numbers 21:6-9 |
People Ammonites, Amon, Amorites, Arad, Canaanites, Chemosh, Israelites, Moses, Og, SihonPlaces Ar, Arad, Arnon, Bamoth, Bashan, Beer, Dedan, Dibon, Edom, Edrei, Egypt, Heshbon, Hormah, Iye-abarim, Jabbok River, Jahaz, Jazer, King's Highway, Mattanah, Medeba, Moab, Mount Hor, Nahaliel, Negeb, Nophah, Oboth, Pisgah, Red Sea, Suphah, Valley of Zered, WahebTopics Aside, Behalf, Crying, Intercede, Interceded, Prayed, Prayer, Prayeth, Remove, Serpent, Serpents, Sinned, Snakes, Spoke, Spoken, Turn, WrongDictionary of Bible Themes Numbers 21:7 5103 Moses, significance
6735 repentance, examples
8640 calling upon God Numbers 21:4-9 1680 types
7452 snake, bronze Numbers 21:5-9 9210 judgment, God's Numbers 21:6-9 1416 miracles, nature of
4843 plague Library The Poison and the Antidote
'And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to compare 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 …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureMan's Ruin and God's Remedy
Man has very many wants, and he should be grateful whenever the least of them is supplied. But he has one want which overtops every other: it is the want of bread. Give him raiment, house him well, decorate and adorn him, yet if you give him not bread, his body faints, he dies of hunger. Hence it is that while the earth when it is tilled is made to bring forth many things that minister unto the comfort and luxury of men, yet man is wise enough to understand that since bread is his chief want, he …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859 The Disciple, -- Master, in These Days Some Learned Men and their Followers Regard Thy...
The Disciple,--Master, in these days some learned men and their followers regard Thy atonement and the redemption by blood as meaningless and futile, and say that Christ was only a great teacher and example for our spiritual life, and that salvation and eternal happiness depend on our own efforts and good deeds. The Master,--1. Never forget that spiritual and religious ideas are connected less with the head than with the heart, which is the temple of God, and when the heart is filled with the presence …
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet Messiah Suffering and Wounded for Us
Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: ..... He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. W hen our Lord was transfigured, Moses and Elijah appeared in glory and conversed with Him. Had we been informed of the interview only, we should probably have desired to know the subject of their conversation, as we might reasonably suppose it turned upon very interesting and important …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1 The Nations of the South-East
Israel was cut in two by the Jordan. The districts east of the Jordan were those that had first been conquered; it was from thence that the followers of Joshua had gone forth to possess themselves of Canaan. But this division of the territory was a source of weakness. The interests of the tribes on the two sides of the river were never quite the same; at times indeed they were violently antagonistic. When the disruption of the monarchy came after the death of Solomon, Judah was the stronger for the …
Archibald Sayce—Early Israel and the Surrounding Nations The Lamb of God, the Great Atonement
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world! G reat and marvellous are the works of the LORD God almighty! We live in the midst of them, and the little impression they make upon us, sufficiently proves our depravity. He is great in the very smallest; and there is not a plant, flower, or insect, but bears the signature of infinite wisdom and power. How sensibly then should we be affected by the consideration of the Whole , if sin had not blinded our understandings, and hardened …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1 Ninth Sunday after Trinity Carnal Security and Its vices.
Text: 1 Corinthians 10, 6-13. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of them made trial, and perished by the serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, as …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III Covenanting Performed in Former Ages with Approbation from Above.
That the Lord gave special token of his approbation of the exercise of Covenanting, it belongs to this place to show. His approval of the duty was seen when he unfolded the promises of the Everlasting Covenant to his people, while they endeavoured to perform it; and his approval thereof is continually seen in his fulfilment to them of these promises. The special manifestations of his regard, made to them while attending to the service before him, belonged to one or other, or both, of those exhibitions …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting Nature of Covenanting.
A covenant is a mutual voluntary compact between two parties on given terms or conditions. It may be made between superiors and inferiors, or between equals. The sentiment that a covenant can be made only between parties respectively independent of one another is inconsistent with the testimony of Scripture. Parties to covenants in a great variety of relative circumstances, are there introduced. There, covenant relations among men are represented as obtaining not merely between nation and nation, …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting The Second Commandment
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am o jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of then that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.' Exod 20: 4-6. I. Thou shalt not …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments The Hebrews and the Philistines --Damascus
THE ISRAELITES IN THE LAND OF CANAAN: THE JUDGES--THE PHILISTINES AND THE HEBREW KINGDOM--SAUL, DAVID, SOLOMON, THE DEFECTION OF THE TEN TRIBES--THE XXIst EGYPTIAN DYNASTY--SHESHONQ OR SHISHAK DAMASCUS. The Hebrews in the desert: their families, clans, and tribes--The Amorites and the Hebrews on the left bank of the Jordan--The conquest of Canaan and the native reaction against the Hebrews--The judges, Ehud, Deborah, Jerubbaal or Gideon and the Manassite supremacy; Abimelech, Jephihdh. The Philistines, …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 6 The Two Classes.
"Two men went up into the temple to pray."--Luke xvii. 10. I now want to speak of two classes: First, those who do not feel their need of a Saviour who have not been convinced of sin by the Spirit; and Second, those who are convinced of sin and cry, "What must I do to be saved?" All inquirers can be ranged under two heads: they have either the spirit of the Pharisee, or the spirit of the publican. If a man having the spirit of the Pharisee comes into an after-meeting, I know of no better portion …
Dwight L. Moody—The Way to God and How to Find It Numbers
Like the last part of Exodus, and the whole of Leviticus, the first part of Numbers, i.-x. 28--so called,[1] rather inappropriately, from the census in i., iii., (iv.), xxvi.--is unmistakably priestly in its interests and language. Beginning with a census of the men of war (i.) and the order of the camp (ii.), it devotes specific attention to the Levites, their numbers and duties (iii., iv.). Then follow laws for the exclusion of the unclean, v. 1-4, for determining the manner and amount of restitution …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Numbers 21:7 NIVNumbers 21:7 NLTNumbers 21:7 ESVNumbers 21:7 NASBNumbers 21:7 KJV
Numbers 21:7 Commentaries
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