Why was the bronze serpent lifted up?

The bronze serpent was lifted up as a means of healing for the Israelites who were bitten by fiery serpents, and it served as a prophetic symbol of Christ’s crucifixion. God used it to teach repentance, faith, and the necessity of looking to His provision for salvation.

During their wilderness journey, the people again spoke against God and Moses:

“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.”
(Numbers 21:5)

As judgment, God sent fiery serpents:

“So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.”
(Numbers 21:6)

The people confessed their sin, and God gave Moses specific instructions:

“Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.”
(Numbers 21:8)

Moses obeyed:

“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 21:9)

The bronze serpent had no power in itself. It was a test of faith and obedience. Those who looked lived, not because of the image, but because they trusted God’s word.

Jesus referenced this moment when speaking with Nicodemus:

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
(John 3:14–15)

The serpent lifted on the pole pointed forward to Christ on the cross. Just as the Israelites were saved by looking in faith at what God provided, so sinners today are saved by looking to Christ in faith.

Help Support The Ministry:

________________

 

MORE ANSWERS TO BIBLE QUESTIONS:

________________

________________

 

BIBLE STUDIES YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN:

________________