Numbers 21:4

"And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loathed this light bread. And Jehovah sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, because we have spoken against Jehovah, and against thee; pray unto Jehovah, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a standard: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the standard: and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived."

"By way of the Red Sea ..." (Numbers 21:4). It seems almost incredible that so many current commentaries go out of their way here to insert comments such as the following: "This means Sea where the reeds grow! The word is [~Yam] [~Cuwph], or Reed Sea."[5] This is an example of how otherwise dependable scholars can be deceived by the persistent attack of liberal critics. (See the full discussion of this unconscionable error at the end of Exodus 13 in my commentary on Exodus.) Most of the scholars, even including Moffatt, who was one of the first to adopt this error, had the understanding that denied the use of it here! The place here spoken of is the head of the Gulf of Aqaba, at Ezion-Geber, where Solomon launched his navy, and common sense should, tell anyone that Solomon did not launch his great triennial Navy on "the Sea of Reeds"! The Hebrew term [~Yam] [~Cuwph] never meant "Reed Sea." It is impossible for the term "Reed" as used on ancient Egyptian monuments to modify any body of water. The words [~Yam] [~Cuwph] actually mean "Sea of the End" or "End Sea," a mid-second millenium B.C. name for all the great southern oceans (the Indian Ocean), including all of its adjacent gulfs, bays, straits, etc. That this is true appears in the fact that the Pentateuch gave the name of the sea where Israel crossed and Pharoah's army "went gurgling down" as the [~Yam] [~Cuwph] (the head of the Suez Gulf; and here the same [~Yam] [~Cuwph] is applied to the Gulf of Aqaba, the easternmost of the two great arms of the [~Yam] [~Cuwph] lying, one west (Suez), the other east (Aqaba) of the Sinaitic peninsula. (For the complete scientific refutation of the "Reed Sea" nonsense, see the article by Batto.[6])

The complaint of these verses was prompted by real need: "No bread ... no water ... a dislike of that `light bread'." Well, it was time to teach this nation of cry-babies the way of the rest of the human race. God commanded them to "dig a well" for the water, a signal that He would also shortly withhold the giving of the manna.

"Our soul loatheth the light bread ..." (Numbers 21:5). The words light bread do not convey the meaning of this term as used by Israel. Dummelow rendered it, "This vile food."[7] Wade translated it, "This contemptible food."[8] Plaut found the meaning as, "This miserable food."[9] Thompson read it as, "This worthless food."[10] Orlinsky declared that, "Just about any derogatory word will do!"[11]

God's response in this situation was swift and fatal for Israel; many of them perished from the poisonous venom of deadly snakes God sent upon His murmuring people. It was about time. Many, many times before this the sinful and unreasonable complaints of the people of God had long ago exceeded the merciful and understanding forbearance of God. The exact description of these snakes is not given, nor would it be helpful if we had it. Speculations about the exact species, or whether or not it can be identified with any of the snakes in that area today are worthless. As always, intelligent people are capable of responding to justly deserved punishment, and Israel promptly repented, apologized to Moses, confessed their sins, and requested Moses' prayers on their behalf. For once, they were on exactly the right track.

"Make a serpent of brass ... set it upon a standard ... everyone that is bitten, when he seeth it shall live ..." (Numbers 21:8,9). The great significance of this derives from Jesus' mention of it as follows:

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life" (John 3:14-15). Also John 12:32-33, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself. But this he said, signifying by what manner of death he should die."

It is nothing short of amazing that the Christ should have found foreshadowings in this event of his own redemptive work on the Cross, but there cannot be any doubt of it, and we therefore receive this event in certain particulars of it as a Type of Christ, "Not through the discernment of man, but by the preordination of God, being one of the typical histories, applied by the Saviour to himself."[12]

TYPICAL OF CHRIST

A. Man's enemy, Satan, appears here in the form of the venomous serpents, which like "That Old Serpent" (Revelation 12:9), were the cause of sin and death.

B. The uniqueness of the remedy God here proposed is like that of Christ himself, being no other.

C. The lifting up of the serpent foretold the manner of Jesus' death on Calvary.

D. Just as the brass serpent had the likeness and form of the serpents themselves, Jesus also was "made in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Romans 8:3). And just as the brass serpent which was lifted up was without any evil whatever; so was Christ.

E. Faith in what God commanded, demonstrated by "looking unto" the serpent was like the faith that obeys the Word of God with reference to what Christ commanded. Healing in both cases resulted from hearing, believing, and obeying the Divine commandments.

F. Some have equated "looking unto" with "faith alone" as the means of appropriating healing and salvation, but there is a fatal flaw in that analogy. "Looking unto" was a positive and obedient objective action. "Saving faith" as understood by solifidians is none of this!

G. The "lifting up of the serpent upon the standard" is typical of the "Lifting up of Christ," not solely restricted to this death on a cross, but also applicable to the worldwide, and perpetual "lifting up" of the Saviour himself in the worship and adoration of all nations and tribes and tongues and peoples.

The student is invited to contrast the marvelous richness of this great event set forth in the above analogies with the snide comments that see nothing here except, "that of sympathetic magic - the belief that the fate of an object or person can be governed by the manipulation of its exact image!"[13] This of course gives the same status to this event as that encountered in the Voodoo cults of Africa and the West Indies.

One other question of interest is that of "What became of the brass serpent?"

The brazen image of the serpent was taken by the Israelites to Canaan, and preserved until the time of Hezekiah, who had it broken in pieces because the idolatrous people presented incense-offerings to this holy relic (2 Kings 18:4).[14]