And the Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of that place was called Hormah. (Numbers 21:3)
The Hebrews so utterly levelled the land that it took the name “Hormah” (Hebrew: “holy destruction”).
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. (Numbers 29:9)
This image is very descriptive and very strongly point towards Lord Jesus Christ.
There are 3 things about this picture that are important for us to clearly understand its meaning.
1.The metal, bronze or brass, was associated with judgment throughout the Old Testament.
2. A serpent was symbolic of the form satan took in the garden to tempt Eve.
3.The bronze serpent was hung on a pole, publicly, outside, in open view of everyone.
The people bitten by the serpents had only to look up to the image on the pole and they would live. In this, we see one of the clearest pictures of Jesus in the book of Numbers.
Both Jesus’ act of atonement, through the crucifixion, and the serpent on the pole were set in very clearly visible places. The serpent was in the center of camp, high on a pole, where nearly 1 million people could see it.
Likewise, the cross of Jesus was placed near the gate at Jerusalem and at the center of our calendar. The vast majority of cultures in the world still date history by Jesus’ birth.
In John 3, Lord Jesus used a historical illustration to teach Nicodemus about the importance of believing in His coming death. Jesus said, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life" (John 3:14-15).
The death of Jesus is the high light in New Testament preaching. The preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Chapters
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
- Chapter 26
- Chapter 27
- Chapter 28
- Chapter 29
- Chapter 31
- Chapter 32
- Chapter 33
- Chapter 34