After the Israelites were redeemed from Egypt they traveled for 40 years through the desert in a roundabout journey to the promised land. Many unusual things happened along the way and one of the strangest stories is when they got infested with venomous snakes and many people died. This was not a chance infestation, it was punishment from God because they began complaining again. This event happened near the end of their 40 year trek.
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The strangest part of the story is when God told Moses to fashion a bronze snake and raise it up on a pole. The deal was that if you got snakebitten (literally) and certain death seemed to be your destiny, you could look at the bronze snake and live. This was quite a miracle. No further explanation is offered in the Old Testament. However, that bronze snake was kept for many generations and eventually became an object of idolatry so King Hezekiah had it destroyed (2 Kings 18:3-4).
The snake on a pole had no magical or divine powers. God used this opportunity to establish the grounds for the concept of salvation by faith as opposed to salvation by works. The snake represented sin, and death is the result of sin (Romans 6:23). The rest of the story would not become known until the time of Christ’s earthly ministry. Christ himself bore the sin of the world in his body on the cross as he died (1 Peter 2:24). After that event, the people of the world would need to exercise faith upon hearing the Gospel of the death and resurrection of Christ who was lifted up on a cross much like the serpent was lifted on a pole. Jesus himself made the correlation between the two events and it’s a good thing he did because if it had come from anyone else it would be highly suspect. Let’s review the original record:
“They [the Israelites] traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!’
“Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, ‘We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people.
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.’ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.”
Numbers 21:4-9
Shortly after Jesus began his earthly ministry he was speaking with Nicodemus who was an important member of the Pharisees. The Gospel of John is the only place where the exchange between Nicodemus and Jesus was recorded. Part of this conversation included a direct reference to the bronze snake incident recorded in Numbers 21. Nicodemus was confused about the salvation that God was offering to mankind. He had no foundational understanding of salvation by faith which saves the soul, body and spirit of any individual who believes. He was thinking only of the physical salvation of the Nation Israel which would receive the earthly blessings as promised to Abraham, Moses and David. Salvation by grace through faith has eternal ramifications for both Jew and Gentile, individual salvation, not national salvation. It is obtained through faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Christ likened himself to being raised up on the cross in much the same manner as the bronze snake was raised on the pole. The Israelites looked at the snake and were healed. Hearers of the Gospel look to the finished work of Christ on the cross and are saved through faith in what he accomplished for us. Nicodemus wasn’t up to speed on that concept. Jesus was revealing information that was trustworthy and true. Nicodemus knew that Jesus was sent from God but was struggling with this new concept. We suspect he believed because later he is recorded as speaking up for Christ in the presence of the chief priests and other Pharisees (John 7:45-52). Even later, he accompanied Joseph of Arimathea to care for the body of Christ after his death (John 19:38-40).
“’You are Israel’s teacher,’ said Jesus, ‘and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.'”
John 3:10-15
The emphasis of Christ’s point was on belief. Belief and faith are synonymous. The Apostles took over the ministry of sound doctrine for the church following the resurrection of Christ. Faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross is the central theme of the new Gospel they preached.
Nicodemus had been thinking of Jesus as a man born like any other earthly man. However, Jesus was divinely conceived and born to the Virgin Mary. He was unique. He was indeed the only begotten son of God. He was from heaven (John 3:13). Because of that fact, the words he spoke and the teachings he taught were reliable and true. The New Testament records the gradual comprehension of this revelation from God. Salvation is gained through faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not by ethnic heritage, not by good works, and not any effort or deed by man. Salvation is by God and for God. It is an unmerited gift to mankind to be accepted by faith. Just like the snake represented sin and death, so also Christ bore the sin of the world in his body on the cross. Though Christ was holy, he became the sin-bearer for mankind and all the ugly sins of all the people of the world were placed on him for those few hours on the cross. It was so momentous that darkness covered the land (Matthew 27:45). God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
“‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’
1 Peter 2:24
The key to surviving the snake attack was to recognize you were bitten, acknowledge your helplessness and voluntarily do the one thing that was proven to help, look at the snake on the pole. The key to salvation is to give up on all other options and exercise faith in the one way to eternal salvation, Jesus Christ, our Savior! He was the one who shamefully bore our sin so he could present us holy and righteous in the Father’s presence. Explore the Bible to learn more about this great plan of salvation and believe – or face eternal death.
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New International Version (NIV)
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