When He Looked unto the Brazen Serpent, He Lived

 

When the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they complained against God and Moses because there was no food and no water. Therefore, God sent fiery serpents among them, and the serpents bit the people, so that many among the children of Israel died. When the people repented of their wrong and asked that the serpents be taken away from them, Moses made a serpent of brass according to the command God had given him, and set it upon a standard. Then everyone who had been bitten by a serpent could live when he looked unto that brazen serpent.

 

Afterward, it appears that the children of Israel served this brazen serpent like an idol for a very long time. We can see this because, in the days of King Hezekiah of the southern kingdom of Judah, King Hezekiah broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made and called it “Nehushtan,” that is, “a piece of brass.”

 

2 Kings 18:3-4 “3And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done. 4He removed the high places, and brake the pillars, and cut down the Asherah: and he brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan¹.”

[¹Nehushtan: meaning “a piece of brass.”]

 

Through this word, we can understand that those who had been bitten by serpents did not live because the brazen serpent Moses made had some power in itself. As Hezekiah called it, the brazen serpent was merely a piece of brass. What matters is what it symbolized (Heb. 10:1). The reason we today pay attention to the brazen serpent lifted up on the standard is that it symbolized Jesus, who would be lifted up on the cross far in the future.

 

John 3:14-15 “14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; 15that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life.”

 

In the end, through the brazen serpent lifted up on the standard, Jehovah bore witness beforehand to Jesus, who would be lifted up on the cross far in the future. But why did He symbolize Jesus specifically through the form of a serpent?

 

The old serpent who deceived Eve in the beginning (Gen. 3:1-15) is also called the dragon, the devil, and Satan (Rev. 20:1-3). Also, because of its appearance, the serpent is not an animal that people naturally welcome. For reference, the serpent that appears in Scripture often carries symbolic meaning, and therefore it must be distinguished from the actual animal, the snake.

 

Through the following word, we can understand why Jehovah symbolized Jesus, who was crucified on the cross, by the form of a serpent lifted up on a standard.

 

Isaiah 53:2-4 “2For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3He was despised, and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we esteemed him not. 4Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”

 

Truly, Jesus was despised and rejected by people because they said He had not been educated, because even the people of His own hometown looked down on His household, and because He was from Nazareth of Galilee.

 

John 7:14-15 “14But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. 15The Jews therefore marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?”

 

Matthew 13:54-58 “54And coming into his own country he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? 55Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas? 56And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? 57And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house. 58And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”

 

John 7:50-52 “50Nicodemus saith unto them, he that came to him before, being one of them, 51Doth our law judge a man, except it first hear from himself and know what he doeth? 52They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and see that out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.”

 

And even while He was hanging on the cross, He was insulted.

 

Mark 15:29-32 “29And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ha! thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, 30save thyself, and come down from the cross. 31In like manner also the chief priests mocking him among themselves with the scribes said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. 32Let the Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reproached him.”

 

However, the reason Jesus was hung on the cross was this:

 

Isaiah 53:5-6 “5But 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. 6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

 

Thus, Jesus was hung on the cross because of our transgressions and our iniquities, and for our peace and our healing.

 

1 Peter 2:22-25 “22Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed. 25For ye were going astray like sheep; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.”

 

Amen. Therefore, we must not despise and reject Jesus as unbelievers do. Rather, we must esteem Jesus as precious and look to Him with faith, who was crucified for us. For just as those who had been bitten by serpents long ago lived when they looked unto the brazen serpent lifted up on the standard, truly even today those who look unto Jesus will live.

 

John 3:14-15 “14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; 15that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life.”

 

Those who believe in Jesus are those who believe and follow the words of Jesus recorded in the Scriptures.

 

John 5:25 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.”

 

And the reason we who hear the word of Jesus cannot but live is that life is in Jesus.

 

John 5:26 “For as the Father hath life in himself, even so gave he to the Son also to have life in himself.”

1 John 5:11 “And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”

 

That is why Jesus also spoke of Himself as follows:

 

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

John 16:24 “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be made full.”

 

Therefore, whatever we do, in word or in deed, we must do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.

 

Colossians 3:17 “And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

 

This is because our salvation, our life—eternal life—comes only through Jesus, who was crucified for us.

 

John 10:9 “I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out, and shall find pasture.”

John 11:25-26 “25Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live; 26and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

 

Therefore, when we live through Jesus in whatever we do—that is, when we live in the name of Jesus—truly the eternal life of Jesus will be in us (John 20:30-31).

 

1 John 5:12-13 “12He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life. 13These things have I written unto you, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, even unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God.”

 

Amen.