Why is a bronze serpent used to save the Israelites in Numbers 21:8-9?

Answer

Throughout the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites, God was constantly teaching them things about Himself and their own sinfulness. He led them to the same mountain where He revealed Himself to Moses, to instruct them in His requirements. Shortly after the remarkable events at Mt. Sinai, God brought them to the border of the Promised Land. However, upon hearing the reports from the spies, the people’s faith faltered. They doubted God’s ability to overcome the giants in the land. Consequently, due to their unbelief, God sent them into the wilderness to wander until that generation passed away (Numbers 14:28-34).

In Numbers 21, the people became discouraged once more, and in their unbelief, they complained against Moses for leading them into the wilderness. They had already forgotten that their own sin had caused their situation and attempted to shift the blame to Moses. As a consequence of the people’s sin, God sent venomous serpents into the camp, resulting in deaths. This served as a reminder to the people of their sin, prompting them to confess and seek God’s mercy through Moses. Upon Moses’ intercession, God instructed him to craft a bronze serpent and place it on a pole for the people’s healing (Numbers 21:5-7).

God was imparting a lesson on faith to the people. It seemed irrational to believe that gazing at a bronze image could cure snakebites, yet that was precisely what God commanded. Healing required faith in God’s plan, and the serpent on the pole served as a reminder of their sin that led to their suffering. There is no connection between this bronze serpent and the serpent that Satan used to deceive in the Garden of Eden. This ser

Pent was symbolic of the serpents God used to chastise the people for their unbelief.

A couple of additional lessons are taught in the Bible regarding this bronze serpent. The people did get healed when they looked at the serpent, and the image was kept for many years. Many years later, when the Israelites were in the Promised Land, the serpent became an object of worship “He removed the high places, and broke the images, and cut down the groves, and broke 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 Nehushtan.”, (2 Kings 18:4). This shows how easy it is for us to take the things of God and twist them into idolatry. We must never worship the tools or the people God chooses to use, but always bring honor and glory to God alone.

The next reference we find in the Bible to this serpent is in John 3:14. Jesus indicated that this bronze serpent was a foreshadowing of Him. The serpent, a symbol of sin and judgment, was lifted up from the earth and put on a tree, which was a symbol of a curse “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree:”, (Galatians 3:13). The serpent lifted up and cursed symbolized Jesus, who takes away sin from everyone who would look to Him in faith, just like the Israelites had to look to the upraised symbol in the wilderness. Paul is reminding the Galatians that Jesus became a curse for us, although He was blameless and sinless—the spotless Lamb of God. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”, …Read more

Read the (2 Corinthians 5:21).