“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die.” John 12:32-33
Dear RR144,
Nowhere in scripture is Christ ever symbolized by a “serpent”.
Paul says that to understand the “spirit” words of Christ, we are to “compare spiritual things with spiritual” (
1Cor 2:13). When we compare the spirit word “serpent” with how it is used elsewhere in scripture, it always means Satan and/or is fallen angels. There is not even one instance where the spirit word “serpent” is used to represent Christ.
Also, the verse you used to support your claim about Christ being represented by the bronze serpent is improperly translated. Here is how it should be translated:
2Cor 5:21 For the One not knowing sin, He makes to be a sin offering for our sakes that we may be becoming God’s righteousness in Him. (Concordant New Testament)
Christ was not made “sin”. How could that even be possible since sin is a transgression against God? The verse can only be saying that Christ was made a
sin offering. This truth is supported by other scripture, whereas, the translation you use is not.
Below is my understanding of the true spiritual message that is being taught by the story of the bronze serpent.
Here is the scripture:
Num 21:4 Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. 5 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 our soul loathes this worthless bread.” 6 So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. 7 Therefore 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. 8 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
The story above is a “type” which teaches its message through spiritual symbols (spirit words).
The primary concept used in the story is “first comes the physical, then comes the spiritual” (
1Cor 15:46).
The setting of the story is Israel’s 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.
During Israel’s time of wandering, the nation was lacking spiritual food and water (v.5) which would have spiritually satisfied them. Instead, the Lord provided the nation with carnal food and water which left them hungering for truth and thirsting for righteousness.
Neh 9:15 And gave them bread from heaven (manna) for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst,...
Manna is a spiritual symbol for the truth of God’s Word when it is received carnally. It will provide nourishment to the carnal man (Old Man). The true bread from heaven is Christ and He is a spiritual symbol for the truth of God’s Word when it is received spiritually. It will provide nourishment to the spiritual man (New Man).
John 6:32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Water is a spiritual symbol for the Holy Spirit. When it guides a person externally, the person will remain carnal. This was the case with the Nation of Israel.
In the case of the church, when an earnest amount of the Spirit (Early Rain) indwells a person, the person will remain carnal (governed by their flesh rather than by the Spirit). When the person is baptized by the Holy Spirit (Latter Rain), the person will become spiritual (guided by the Holy Spirit and not the flesh).
In verses 4 and 5, it shows that the people of Israel lost faith in the Lord. As a result of their loss of faith, the Lord sent “fiery serpents” into the camp. When a serpent bit a person, it would cause them to physically die.
This portion of the story is a “type” for the judgment (represented by “fiery”) that a called out believer in the church receives for their loss of faith when they turn to their own works for salvation. The fiery serpents are a type for the spirit of anti-Christ which comes from Satan and devours the faithless church. When Satan’s spirit enters a believer, it will cause them to spiritually die and lose their salvation. This is the Abomination of Desolation mentioned by Christ in Mat 24:15. And like the Nation of Israel, this death results from a person’s loss of faith.
When the Israelites realized that the serpents came into the camp as a result of their loss of faith, they repented and asked for mercy. In response, the Lord told Moses to set up a pole with a bronze serpent upon it. This event represents the temporary spiritual life which the Nation of Israel would receive from the blood sacrifice of animals established under the Old Covenant of Law.
The temporary life received from the Old Covenant of Law was based upon the
works of man and did not require any faith to receive it.
Scripture calls the way of approaching God by a person’s own works the “crooked way”.
Lam 3:9 He has blocked my ways with hewn stone (man’s works); He has made my paths crooked.
Isa 59:8 The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.
Mankind calls this way “religion”.
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Note: Approaching God by faith alone is called the “straight way” (
Psa 5:8, Mat 3:3 & Acts 13:10). _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Since the crooked way is also the way of Satan, Satan is called the “crooked serpent”:
Job 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
Isa 27:1 In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
Because Satan is the crooked serpent, the Lord instructed Moses to setup a bronze serpent upon a pole. Then, when anyone was bitten, all they needed to do was to look up at the bronze serpent and they would live. This is symbolic of the temporary spiritual life which the blood sacrifice of animals would provide the Nation of Israel under the Old Covenant of Law.
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Note: The Old Covenant of Law is based on the works of man. The New Covenant is based upon the works of Christ. Faith is what makes the path straight for Christ to come to a believer and convert them. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The bronze serpent is a precursor of Christ’s death on the cross. In other words, the Old Covenant of Law is our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ and the New Covenant.
Gal 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Christ made this statement about it:
John 3:12 “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.
To further show that the bronze serpent was only a precursor which was to lead us to Christ, we have this supporting scripture:
2Kings 18:1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his ancestor David had done (approaching God by faith). 4 He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan. 5 He trusted in the LORD God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him.
Hezekiah was a man of faith just as David was. It is by faith that a person will move from the Old Covenant of Law (man’s works) to the New Covenant of Grace through Faith (Christ’s works). When a believer makes this transition, they will break into pieces the bronze serpent and replace it with Christ.
Joe
