So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live. So Moses made a bronze serpentThe act of Moses crafting a bronze serpent is significant in its obedience to God's command. The Hebrew word for "serpent" is "נָחָשׁ" (nachash), which is the same term used for the serpent in the Garden of Eden, symbolizing sin and temptation. The use of bronze, a metal associated with judgment and endurance, suggests a deeper theological meaning. In the ancient Near East, bronze was a common material for tools and weapons, symbolizing strength and resilience. Here, the bronze serpent becomes a paradoxical symbol of both the sin that brought death and the means of deliverance from it. and mounted it on a pole
The pole, or "נֵס" (nes) in Hebrew, is often translated as "banner" or "standard." This term is used elsewhere in the Old Testament to denote a rallying point or a signal for gathering. The elevation of the serpent on a pole signifies its visibility and accessibility to all who would look upon it. Historically, poles were used in ancient cultures to display symbols of power or victory. In this context, the pole elevates the bronze serpent as a focal point for the Israelites' faith and obedience, prefiguring the crucifixion of Christ, who was lifted up for the salvation of humanity. If anyone who was bitten
The condition of being "bitten" by serpents is a direct consequence of the Israelites' sin and rebellion against God. The Hebrew word "נָשַׁךְ" (nashak) means to bite or sting, indicating a sudden and painful affliction. This phrase underscores the reality of sin's consequences and the need for divine intervention. The serpents were a judgment upon the people, yet God provided a means of healing, illustrating His mercy and grace even in the midst of judgment. looked at the bronze serpent
The act of looking, "רָאָה" (ra'ah) in Hebrew, implies more than a mere glance; it denotes a deliberate and expectant gaze. This action required faith and trust in God's provision for healing. The simplicity of the remedy—merely looking—emphasizes the sufficiency of faith in God's word. This anticipates the New Testament teaching of salvation through faith in Christ, who invites all to look to Him for eternal life. he would live
The promise of life, "חָיָה" (chayah) in Hebrew, is a powerful testament to God's redemptive power. Despite the deadly nature of the serpent bites, those who obeyed God's command and looked upon the bronze serpent were granted life. This miraculous healing prefigures the ultimate healing and eternal life offered through Jesus Christ. In John 3:14-15, Jesus Himself references this event, drawing a parallel between the lifting up of the serpent and His own crucifixion, through which believers are granted eternal life. Persons / Places / Events 1. MosesThe leader of the Israelites, chosen by God to lead His people out of Egypt and through the wilderness. In this passage, Moses acts in obedience to God's command to create a means of healing for the Israelites. 2. The IsraelitesGod's chosen people, who are journeying through the wilderness to the Promised Land. They are suffering from snake bites as a consequence of their complaints against God and Moses. 3. The Bronze SerpentA symbol of God's provision and mercy. It was crafted by Moses as instructed by God and served as a means of healing for those who looked upon it in faith. 4. The WildernessThe setting of the Israelites' journey, representing both physical and spiritual challenges. It is a place of testing and growth for the Israelites. 5. The Fiery SerpentsSent by God as a judgment upon the Israelites for their rebellion and complaints. Their bites caused suffering and death, leading the people to repentance. Teaching Points Faith and ObedienceThe Israelites were healed by looking at the bronze serpent, an act of faith and obedience. Similarly, our spiritual healing comes through faith in Christ's redemptive work. God's ProvisionEven in judgment, God provides a means of salvation. This reflects His mercy and grace, encouraging us to trust in His provision in our own lives. Symbolism of the CrossThe bronze serpent prefigures the cross, where Christ was lifted up for our salvation. It reminds us of the power of the cross and the necessity of looking to Jesus for eternal life. Repentance and RestorationThe Israelites' repentance led to their healing. This teaches us the importance of turning away from sin and seeking God's forgiveness for restoration. Avoiding IdolatryThe later misuse of the bronze serpent as an idol warns us against allowing symbols or traditions to take the place of God in our hearts. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the act of looking at the bronze serpent demonstrate faith, and how can we apply this principle to our faith in Christ today? 2. In what ways does the bronze serpent serve as a foreshadowing of Jesus' crucifixion, and how does this deepen our understanding of salvation? 3. What does the Israelites' experience with the fiery serpents teach us about the consequences of complaining and rebellion against God? 4. How can we ensure that religious symbols or traditions do not become idols in our lives, as seen in the later misuse of the bronze serpent? 5. Reflect on a time when you experienced God's provision in a difficult situation. How can this passage encourage you to trust in God's provision in your current circumstances? Connections to Other Scriptures John 3:14-15Jesus references the bronze serpent as a foreshadowing of His own 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, demonstrating the danger of venerating symbols over God Himself. Isaiah 45:22This verse calls people to look to God for salvation, paralleling the act of looking at the bronze serpent for healing. | 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, Beheld, Bit, Bitten, Brass, Bronze, Ensign, Expectingly, Maketh, Pass, Pole, Rod, Serpent, Setteth, Snake, Snakebite, StandardDictionary of Bible Themes Numbers 21:9 4312 bronze 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 21:9 NIVNumbers 21:9 NLTNumbers 21:9 ESVNumbers 21:9 NASBNumbers 21:9 KJV
Numbers 21:9 Commentaries
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