The sentence upon the serpent was physical and instantaneous.
Gen 3:14.— Because thou hast inflicted this evil, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
Mic. 7:17.—They (the nations) shall lick the dust like a serpent.
Isaiah 65:25.— Dust shall be the serpent’s meat.
Question:
Why in Isa 65 does it appear the enmity (carnivorous activity) in the animal kingdom (in the Kingdom age) is removed but the curse upon the serpent remains?
Dust shall be the serpents meat!
Clue: John 8 ;)
While you are thinking on that...
Isa 11:8 A baby will play over the hole of a snake; over the nest of a serpent an infant will put his hand.
Clue: Isa 65:20
In other words the poisonous bite will be removed though its meat is still the dust, its sting is gone.
If by now we haven't cottoned onto the symbology of the serpent as being the affects of sin and death, well we should! Even Jesus used it of himself in quoting Num 21:8 from John 3:14-15.
Jesus there is represented as "the" serpent on the pole representing the crucifixion of flesh.
Why did Jesus refer to the serpent which Moses lifted up in the wilderness?
There are at least four reasons for this:
1 The serpent was lifted up and fastened to a pole, "so must the Son of man be lifted up", i.e., die by crucifixion - by being impaled on a cross.
2. A strong sense of urgency is evident in the provision of the bronze serpent. Israelites were dying in great numbers from the venomous bites. Likewise all men are mortal and dying from the bite of sin - a sting which produced death (1 Cor 15:55-56). The Son of Man must (an urgent necessity) be 'lifted up i.e., die by crucifixion, in order to save a perishing world.
3. Faith was necessary - Israelites who ignored God's provision in the bronze serpent, perished in their unbelief. Likewise, Nicodemus, his fellow rulers, and countrymen in Israel, must believe on God's provision in the Son of Man. Those who ignored his claims or disbelieved that he was the Son of God, could not be rescued. Again the urgency is apparent. An Israelite bitten by a venomous serpent would die in a matter of minutes as the venom moved from the punctured skin into the veins and to the heart muscles which it paralysed.
4. The bronze serpent was a provision by God outside the scope of the Mosaic Law. In this respect it was a type of Christ, who was provided by God outside the scope of the Mosaic Law.
Clearly the Scriptures are trying to teach us many things about the Serpent in terms of its affects on mankind from its thinking to its venom.
Strangely enough, did you see the contrasting lessons from Gen 3:15 - - > Numbers 21:8 & John 3:14,15 - - - - > Isa 65:25 & Isa 11:8 - - - > Zec 12:10 (Look upon!) - - - > 1 Cor 15:26
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The curse of the Law
Numbers 21:9 and their application to Jesus Christ is rather intriguing. I would like to now consider another aspect of his death which is spoken in Scripture.
Long throughout history it has been recorded that many sinners were hanged on trees as penalty for a crime. Biblical examples are the baker in Gen 40:19 and King Ai in Jos 8:29 also two men in Est 2:23 among others.
During the times of Moses and the Law sinners were stoned and then hung up on a tree (stake) to publicly witness a particular discipline to sin Num 25:4 and 2 Sa 21:6.
We find at the time of Jesus death and because of the curse which God placed upon those hanging from a tree, in death, that the Jewish leaders were eager for the Lord should die in that way, and so they called for Pilate to have him executed by crucifixion. We all know this was not a Jewish punishment of sin, so they sought to assistance of Rome to kill the beloved Son of God. In this type of death the Jewish leaders could demonstrate the despised Jesus was not their Messiah.
How did Jesus redeemed life illuminate this curse?
His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged [is] accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance.Deut 21:23
Compare Rom 1:3
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that hangeth on a tree:
And Rom 1:3
3Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
So what exactly was cursed upon the tree?
Was it the man Christ Jesus: a righteous sinless character? Absolutely not!!! We are told it was not possible death show hold him (Acts 2:24).
What was cursed is not Jesus himself, but the sin which his nature was bias towards (the Serpent thinking called the carnal mind along with its nature).
"For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so HE CONDEMNED SIN IN THE FLESH" (Rom 8:3).
"God made him who had no sin (personally) to be sin (in a nature, or physical body, prone to sin) for us"
In other words Jesus was placed under the curse of the Law so that in Jesus we might become the righteousness of God"
2Co 5:21 -- in other words that through this man Jesus who overcame sin, our sins might be forgiven!
Serpent thinking is described by Paul 2 Cor 11:3 - notice how the beguiling affects of the serpent (carnal mindedness) can still influence the elect today and does?
Though Christ has represented mankind in himself putting the flesh with its lust and passions to death we are still called to do the same Gal 5:23,24
John 8:23
John 8:28
John 8:34
John 8:43
John 8:46
John 8:47
John 8:51
The very nature Jesus was raised up out of was the very thing he had to destroy; he could see these people were from the dust and they had been eating it all there days of there lives; he came to put that "serpent on a pole" (his nature) and destroy it once and for all (styled the devil in Heb 2:14) - even for his enemies sake! Such was his love.
(Note: Jesus was born of a Woman and born under the Law) Gal 4:4
Gods Law was required to curse His Son allowing God to righteously remove it from His people (Col 2:14). This is another proof that Jesus cannot be God for God cannot be cursed!
The writer to the Hebrews pings this lesson for us here:
The God of peace will quickly crush Satan (the adversary ie. flesh Gen 3:15) under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Rom 16:20
A plain allusion to Gen 3:15 : "And I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Here, undoubtedly, the serpent, or "satan" (the adversary), means human beings: for in context it describes those who "by smooth talk and flattery" "deceive the minds of naive people". Particularly, this may mean the Judaizers, who sought to draw other believers - esp Gentile believers - away from their freedom in Christ into an enforced bondage to the Law of Moses.
The Writer understood the Judaizers would have their day in AD70 when the Temple and everything with it would be removed and their Law would be no more. Until such time the believer had to stay true to the Gospel of Jesus Christ until it was time to scatter from Jerusalem.
Though today we have stronger ecclesiastical powers at work, many of you have been enticed by them, your serpent and satan are they still deceiving minds today.
P.
Rev 20:7 Now when the thousand years are finished, Satan (Adversary, Sin, Serpent, Carnal Thinking etc...) will be released from his prison.
Where Sin is restrained in our nature we will not have disease and hunger and children will not die unnecessarily as they do today. The Kingdom age will be tremendously different place to live than today.
Beautiful vision to leave this short study on.
Gen 3:14.— Because thou hast inflicted this evil, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
Mic. 7:17.—They (the nations) shall lick the dust like a serpent.
Isaiah 65:25.— Dust shall be the serpent’s meat.
Question:
Why in Isa 65 does it appear the enmity (carnivorous activity) in the animal kingdom (in the Kingdom age) is removed but the curse upon the serpent remains?
Dust shall be the serpents meat!
Clue: John 8 ;)
While you are thinking on that...
Isa 11:8 A baby will play over the hole of a snake; over the nest of a serpent an infant will put his hand.
Clue: Isa 65:20
In other words the poisonous bite will be removed though its meat is still the dust, its sting is gone.
If by now we haven't cottoned onto the symbology of the serpent as being the affects of sin and death, well we should! Even Jesus used it of himself in quoting Num 21:8 from John 3:14-15.
Jesus there is represented as "the" serpent on the pole representing the crucifixion of flesh.
Why did Jesus refer to the serpent which Moses lifted up in the wilderness?
There are at least four reasons for this:
1 The serpent was lifted up and fastened to a pole, "so must the Son of man be lifted up", i.e., die by crucifixion - by being impaled on a cross.
2. A strong sense of urgency is evident in the provision of the bronze serpent. Israelites were dying in great numbers from the venomous bites. Likewise all men are mortal and dying from the bite of sin - a sting which produced death (1 Cor 15:55-56). The Son of Man must (an urgent necessity) be 'lifted up i.e., die by crucifixion, in order to save a perishing world.
3. Faith was necessary - Israelites who ignored God's provision in the bronze serpent, perished in their unbelief. Likewise, Nicodemus, his fellow rulers, and countrymen in Israel, must believe on God's provision in the Son of Man. Those who ignored his claims or disbelieved that he was the Son of God, could not be rescued. Again the urgency is apparent. An Israelite bitten by a venomous serpent would die in a matter of minutes as the venom moved from the punctured skin into the veins and to the heart muscles which it paralysed.
4. The bronze serpent was a provision by God outside the scope of the Mosaic Law. In this respect it was a type of Christ, who was provided by God outside the scope of the Mosaic Law.
Clearly the Scriptures are trying to teach us many things about the Serpent in terms of its affects on mankind from its thinking to its venom.
Strangely enough, did you see the contrasting lessons from Gen 3:15 - - > Numbers 21:8 & John 3:14,15 - - - - > Isa 65:25 & Isa 11:8 - - - > Zec 12:10 (Look upon!) - - - > 1 Cor 15:26
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The curse of the Law
Numbers 21:9 and their application to Jesus Christ is rather intriguing. I would like to now consider another aspect of his death which is spoken in Scripture.
Long throughout history it has been recorded that many sinners were hanged on trees as penalty for a crime. Biblical examples are the baker in Gen 40:19 and King Ai in Jos 8:29 also two men in Est 2:23 among others.
During the times of Moses and the Law sinners were stoned and then hung up on a tree (stake) to publicly witness a particular discipline to sin Num 25:4 and 2 Sa 21:6.
We find at the time of Jesus death and because of the curse which God placed upon those hanging from a tree, in death, that the Jewish leaders were eager for the Lord should die in that way, and so they called for Pilate to have him executed by crucifixion. We all know this was not a Jewish punishment of sin, so they sought to assistance of Rome to kill the beloved Son of God. In this type of death the Jewish leaders could demonstrate the despised Jesus was not their Messiah.
How did Jesus redeemed life illuminate this curse?
His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged [is] accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance.Deut 21:23
Compare Rom 1:3
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that hangeth on a tree:
And Rom 1:3
3Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
So what exactly was cursed upon the tree?
Was it the man Christ Jesus: a righteous sinless character? Absolutely not!!! We are told it was not possible death show hold him (Acts 2:24).
What was cursed is not Jesus himself, but the sin which his nature was bias towards (the Serpent thinking called the carnal mind along with its nature).
"For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so HE CONDEMNED SIN IN THE FLESH" (Rom 8:3).
"God made him who had no sin (personally) to be sin (in a nature, or physical body, prone to sin) for us"
In other words Jesus was placed under the curse of the Law so that in Jesus we might become the righteousness of God"
2Co 5:21 -- in other words that through this man Jesus who overcame sin, our sins might be forgiven!
Serpent thinking is described by Paul 2 Cor 11:3 - notice how the beguiling affects of the serpent (carnal mindedness) can still influence the elect today and does?
Though Christ has represented mankind in himself putting the flesh with its lust and passions to death we are still called to do the same Gal 5:23,24
Notice where the Masters mind is?
John 8:23
John 8:28
John 8:34
John 8:43
John 8:46
John 8:47
John 8:51
The very nature Jesus was raised up out of was the very thing he had to destroy; he could see these people were from the dust and they had been eating it all there days of there lives; he came to put that "serpent on a pole" (his nature) and destroy it once and for all (styled the devil in Heb 2:14) - even for his enemies sake! Such was his love.
(Note: Jesus was born of a Woman and born under the Law) Gal 4:4
Gods Law was required to curse His Son allowing God to righteously remove it from His people (Col 2:14). This is another proof that Jesus cannot be God for God cannot be cursed!
The writer to the Hebrews pings this lesson for us here:
The God of peace will quickly crush Satan (the adversary ie. flesh Gen 3:15) under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Rom 16:20
A plain allusion to Gen 3:15 : "And I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Here, undoubtedly, the serpent, or "satan" (the adversary), means human beings: for in context it describes those who "by smooth talk and flattery" "deceive the minds of naive people". Particularly, this may mean the Judaizers, who sought to draw other believers - esp Gentile believers - away from their freedom in Christ into an enforced bondage to the Law of Moses.
The Writer understood the Judaizers would have their day in AD70 when the Temple and everything with it would be removed and their Law would be no more. Until such time the believer had to stay true to the Gospel of Jesus Christ until it was time to scatter from Jerusalem.
Though today we have stronger ecclesiastical powers at work, many of you have been enticed by them, your serpent and satan are they still deceiving minds today.
P.
When Jesus returns to establish his Kingdom on earth we can see why a baby will die one hundred years old and the serpents venom will not cause death.
Rev 20:7 Now when the thousand years are finished, Satan (Adversary, Sin, Serpent, Carnal Thinking etc...) will be released from his prison.
Where Sin is restrained in our nature we will not have disease and hunger and children will not die unnecessarily as they do today. The Kingdom age will be tremendously different place to live than today.
Beautiful vision to leave this short study on.
