Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live." Then the LORD said to MosesThis phrase underscores the direct communication between God and Moses, a recurring theme in the Pentateuch. The Hebrew word for "LORD" is "YHWH," the sacred, covenantal name of God, emphasizing His eternal presence and faithfulness. This divine instruction highlights God's sovereignty and His role as the ultimate guide and protector of Israel. Historically, Moses is seen as a mediator between God and the Israelites, and this passage reinforces his leadership and prophetic role. Make a fiery serpent
The Hebrew term for "fiery serpent" is "saraph," which can mean "burning" or "fiery." This could refer to the burning sensation of the snake's bite or the appearance of the serpent itself. The serpent, often a symbol of sin and judgment, here becomes an instrument of healing, foreshadowing the paradox of the cross in Christian theology. Archaeologically, serpents were common symbols in ancient Near Eastern cultures, often associated with both danger and healing. and mount it on a pole
The act of mounting the serpent on a pole is significant. The Hebrew word for "pole" is "nes," which can also mean "banner" or "standard." This act of elevation is symbolic, drawing the eyes of the Israelites upward, away from their immediate suffering, and towards God's provision. This anticipates the New Testament imagery of Christ being lifted up on the cross, as referenced in John 3:14-15. When anyone who is bitten
This phrase acknowledges the reality of the Israelites' suffering due to their disobedience and the presence of venomous snakes. The bite represents the consequences of sin, a recurring theme throughout Scripture. The universality of the offer—"anyone who is bitten"—emphasizes God's grace and the availability of salvation to all who turn to Him in faith. looks at it
The act of looking is an expression of faith and obedience. In Hebrew, the word "nabat" implies a deliberate, attentive gaze. This simple act of looking signifies trust in God's promise and provision. It is not the serpent itself that heals, but the faith in God's word and His power to save. This prefigures the Christian doctrine of salvation by faith, where belief in Christ's redemptive work brings spiritual healing. he will live
The promise of life is central to this verse. The Hebrew word "chayah" means to live or to revive, indicating not just physical survival but a restoration to fullness of life. This assurance of life through faith in God's provision is a powerful foreshadowing of the eternal life offered through Jesus Christ. In a broader biblical context, it reflects God's desire for His people to choose life and blessing through obedience and faith. Persons / Places / Events 1. The LORD (Yahweh)The covenant God of Israel, who provides a solution to the Israelites' plight. 2. MosesThe leader of the Israelites, chosen by God to mediate His instructions and lead the people. 3. Fiery SerpentA bronze serpent created by Moses as instructed by God, symbolizing both judgment and healing. 4. The IsraelitesThe people of God, who were suffering from snake bites due to their complaints and rebellion. 5. The WildernessThe setting of this event, where the Israelites wandered and faced various trials. Teaching Points Faith and ObedienceThe act of looking at the bronze serpent required faith and obedience. It was not the serpent itself that healed, but the trust in God's promise. Similarly, our faith in Christ's work on the cross is what brings spiritual healing. God's Provision in JudgmentEven in judgment, God provides a means of salvation. The bronze serpent was a symbol of the very thing that caused their suffering, yet it became the means of their healing. This points to Christ, who became sin for us to provide salvation. The Danger of IdolatryThe bronze serpent later became an idol for the Israelites, showing how easily we can turn God's provisions into objects of worship. We must guard against allowing symbols of faith to replace our faith in God Himself. The Simplicity of SalvationThe instruction to simply "look" and live underscores the simplicity of the gospel message. Salvation is not about complex rituals but about faith in God's provision through Christ. The Necessity of RepentanceThe Israelites' need to look at the serpent was a call to acknowledge their sin and turn back to God. Repentance is a crucial step in experiencing God's healing and restoration. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the account of the bronze serpent illustrate the relationship between faith and obedience in the life of a believer? 2. In what ways does the bronze serpent serve as a foreshadowing of Christ's work on the cross, and how can this deepen our understanding of salvation? 3. What lessons can we learn from the Israelites' tendency to turn the bronze serpent into an idol, and how can we apply these lessons to avoid idolatry in our own lives? 4. How does the simplicity of the command to "look" at the bronze serpent challenge our understanding of the gospel message today? 5. Reflect on a time when you experienced God's provision in a difficult situation. How did this experience strengthen your faith and trust in Him? Connections to Other Scriptures John 3:14-15Jesus references the bronze serpent as a foreshadowing of His crucifixion, highlighting the necessity of faith for salvation. 2 Kings 18:4King Hezekiah destroys the bronze serpent because it had become an object of idolatry, showing the danger of misplacing faith. Isaiah 45:22The call to "look" to God for salvation echoes the instruction to look at the bronze serpent for healing. Hebrews 12:2Encourages believers to fix their eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, similar to the Israelites looking at the bronze serpent. | Man's Ruin and God's Remedy | Charles Haddon Spurgeon | Numbers 21:8 | | 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 Anyone, Bitten, Burning, Ensign, Fiery, Image, Looks, Pass, Pole, Rod, Sees, Serpent, Snake, Snakes, Standard, WoundedDictionary of Bible Themes 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 Numbers 21:8-9 1418 miracles, responses 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 21:8 NIVNumbers 21:8 NLTNumbers 21:8 ESVNumbers 21:8 NASBNumbers 21:8 KJV
Numbers 21:8 Commentaries
Bible Hub |
