A wonder before the Gospels
The Bronze Serpent
Bitten by serpents in the desert, Israel was told to look at a bronze snake lifted on a pole and live. Jesus pointed to this strange cure to explain His own cross.
“And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.”Numbers 21:9
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:”John 3:14
What happened
What happened. In Numbers 21 Israel grew impatient on the long way around Edom and spoke against God and against Moses, complaining, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light bread. In judgment the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of Israel died. Then the people came to Moses and confessed, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. The LORD did not simply remove the serpents. Instead He said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. The cure was a look. The dying had only to turn their eyes to the lifted serpent and they were healed.
What it revealed
What it revealed. The bronze serpent revealed a God who judges sin and yet provides a way of rescue in the very midst of judgment. He did not remove the consequence at once but gave a remedy that required faith. Healing came not by effort, medicine, or worthiness, but by a look of trust toward the appointed sign. It revealed that salvation is God's design, not man's; no one would have guessed that gazing at an image of the very thing killing them would bring life. It revealed grace toward a people who had just cursed His provision. And it exposed the simplicity of faith. The proud might scorn so plain a cure, but the humble looked and lived. Centuries later this same bronze serpent had to be destroyed by King Hezekiah because Israel had begun to burn incense to it (2 Kings 18:4), a warning that even a God given sign becomes an idol when the eyes rest on the object instead of the God behind it.
How it points to Christ
How it points to Christ. Jesus draws this connection Himself, and explicitly. To Nicodemus He said, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:14-15). The lifting up of the serpent prefigures the lifting up of Christ on the cross. As the bitten were healed not by climbing to the serpent but simply by looking in faith, so the sinner is saved not by works but by believing in the crucified Christ. The serpent, the symbol of the curse, was raised so that those under the curse might live; Christ was made a curse for us, hanging on a tree, that the deadly poison of sin might have its remedy. The look of faith that healed Israel is the same look that saves now. Whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish. The remedy is still to lift the eyes and trust the One lifted up.
Questions people ask
Why did God use a serpent as the symbol of healing?
The people were dying of serpent bites, and the bronze serpent on the pole represented the very judgment they were under, now lifted up and, in effect, defeated. Jesus applies this to His cross, where He bore the curse we deserved (John 3:14). The image points to judgment carried and overcome, not to any power in the serpent itself.
Is the serpent to Christ link explicit?
Yes. Jesus makes it Himself in John 3:14-15, saying He must be lifted up as Moses lifted the serpent. It is not a later church invention but the Lord's own interpretation of the miracle.
Why was the bronze serpent later destroyed?
By Hezekiah's day Israel had turned it into an idol and burned incense to it, so the godly king broke it in pieces (2 Kings 18:4). A God given sign had become an object of worship. It warns that even good symbols must never take the place of God Himself.