The Bronze Serpent (Num. 21:4-9)

From Mount Hor they set out by way of the Red Sea, to bypass the land of Edom, but the people’s patience was worn out by the journey; 5 so the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!” 6 So the Lord sent among the people seraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of the Israelites died. 7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the Lord and you. Pray to the Lord to take the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people, 8 and the Lord said to Moses: Make a seraph and mount it on a pole, and everyone who has been bitten will look at it and recover. 9 Accordingly Moses made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever the serpent bit someone, the person looked at the bronze serpent and recovered.

Moses led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt and as they journeyed around the land of Edom on the way to the Promised Land they complained against Moses and God about the food God provided (v. 5); “If only we had died at the Lord ’s hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our kettles of meat and ate our fill of bread! But you have led us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of famine (Ex. 16:3)!”  God punished them by sending poisonous serpents among them and many died from the bites of the serpents.  The Israelites repented of their sin against God, understanding their need for God’s presence, guidance and power in their midst, and asked Moses to intercede with God on their behalf to remove the serpents.  God answered Moses’ prayer by having the Israelites make a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole.  Whenever someone was bitten, if they looked at the bronze serpent on the pole they would recover. 

Jesus made reference to the bronze serpent in the Gospel of John when he was speaking to Nicodemus (Jn. 3:1-21).  Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born from above (Jn. 3:7)” in order to enter the kingdom of God.  When Nicodemus did not understand, Jesus said, “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.  And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life (Jn. 3:13-16).”  The bronze serpent saved those who gazed at it from physical death, but the Son of Man will save those who believe in him and grant them eternal life.

Almighty God, in your mercy grant us hearts filled with gratitude and love for all you have done and continue to do for us so that there is no need for harsh correction to guide us to what is best for us.  This we pray through Christ our Lord.  Amen!

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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.