Jesus established the bronze serpent as a type of Him: “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” (John 3:14-15). This is part one. Here is part two.

Table of ContentsReject the Manna and Get the SerpentThe Bronze Serpent Represents SinLike the Bronze Serpent, Christ Became Sin for UsThe Bronze Serpent Represents JudgmentSin Lifted Up and JudgedSaved by Faith from the Serpent’s BitePersonal Application (Continued in Part Two)Frustration Isn’t an Excuse to SinGod Disciplines His ChildrenComplaining about Authority Can Be Complaining about God

When I was in the military we trained with MILES gear. MILES stands for Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System. Thank of a big game of laser tag and you will have the idea. We would also use smoke, blank bullets, grenades, and Claymores to get closer to resembling actual combat.

One day a friend of mine said, “Look at these bushes. They stop lasers, but they won’t stop bullets. We want things to be as realistic as possible, but if people try to hide behind leaves in combat, they’re going to be in trouble. They think they’re safe when they’re not.”

Imagine believing something would keep you safe when it won’t, or believing something would not keep you safe, when it would. The Israelites faced a situation that required believing a brass snake on a pole would keep them safe from snakebites! Not only that, it would heal them if they had already been bitten. Let’s look at this account in greater detail to see a beautiful type of our Savior.

Remember the context from the previous chapter: Israel is making their second attempt at entering the Promised Land. This is the new generation God would bring in, because the old generation was forced to die in the wilderness. Sadly, this new generation (again) looks like their grumbling, faithless parents:

From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

Numbers 21:4-9

Reject the Manna and Get the Serpent

Israel had to go around Edom because the Edomites refused them passage through their country (Numbers 20:18). This forced the Israelites to travel far south back toward the wilderness and away from Canaan. Understandably this was discouraging. Combined with the lack of food and water, the people engaged in one of their favorite wilderness activities: complaining (Exodus 15:24, 16:2, 17:3, Numbers 12:1, 14:2, 16:3, 41 and 20:2).

Although, one difference in this account is that while Israel previously complained about Moses directly (and God indirectly), this time the people complained about God directly. Then they compounded their sin by complaining about the manna (a type of Christ; see chapter 8), and Israel heaped even more judgment on themselves. All of this contributed to the severe discipline. God didn’t punish the Israelites for wanting their bare necessities met; He punished them for their irreverence.

In the past, when Israel sinned, the glory of the Lord appeared and the judgment followed. But this time there was no warning. They didn’t want the bread from heaven,