The Bronze Serpent of Jesus in the Book of Numbers

In Numbers chapter 21, the Israelites set out from Mount Hor along the road to the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom (Numbers 21:4). They entered the Arabah Valley, a deep, terrible gorge known as the Valley of Scorpions and Snakes. It was a place of drought, darkness, and swarming with snakes and scorpions. The Israelites complained bitterly against God and Moses, saying, “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” (the manna God had given them) (Numbers 21:5). God punished them by sending venomous snakes among them, and many people were bitten and died. Only then did they cry out to God, admitting that they should not have complained. They confessed their sin and asked God to take away the snakes. Instead of taking the snakes away, God commanded Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole, setting it on a hill overlooking the valley. Anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake on the pole and live. This was God’s antidote, and it worked.

In John 3:14-16, it is written, “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. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.” The revelation of the past was Christ’s substitutionary death, the efficacy of His shed blood, and justification by faith. The Lord Jesus being nailed to the cross is like the bronze serpent being lifted up on a pole. The Israelites were saved by looking at the bronze serpent, and sinners receive eternal life by believing in the Lord Jesus. The entire salvation was accomplished by the Lord Jesus; people do not need to do anything themselves. They only need to receive what He accomplished through faith to gain eternal life.

Although China is an atheist country, like the international medical community, the symbol of the “Rod of Asclepius” is also used in various medical logos. However, many people do not understand the meaning behind this symbol. It actually originates from this biblical account of the bronze serpent. The Bible has never been thousands of miles away from us but is closely related to our daily lives.

(Compiled and edited based on the Chinese Union Version and recordings from David Pawson’s “Unlocking the Old Testament” series.)