The Brazen Serpent as a Type of Christ

In the account of the brazen serpent we have a beautiful type of our Lord Jesus as He gave Himself for the healing of sinful humanity. Jesus used this very incident that had been enacted in the life of Israel as He talked to Nicodemus who was a teacher of Israel; so we need not hesitate as we study The Brazen Serpent as a type of Christ.

"And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived" (Num. 21:9). "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so -must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:14-15).

God commanded Moses to make the serpent of brass and put it upon a pole, that it might be the channel through which divine grace might flow to poor wounded sinners. We have before us a striking and beautiful type of Christ on the cross. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so MUST the Son of man be lifted up" Christ expressly teaches that He was the antitype of the brazen serpent- As the Son of God sent from the Father, He was the gift and expression of God's love to a perishing world- He was also to be lifted up upon the cross in atonement for sin, for only thus could divine love meet the necessities of the sinner. This is the great evangelical type of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

We are all familiar with the incidents that lead up to this scene of the serpent in the wilderness. The people spoke against God and against Moses, "Wherefore have ye brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? . . . our soul loatheth this light bread" (Num. 21:4, 5). It is the same sad story over and over again — "the murmurs of the wilderness." They were willing to escape out of Egypt when the terrific judgments of God were falling upon it in rapid succession, but soon were the plagues forgotten and the fleshpots alone remembered- They preferred to sit by the fleshpots, in the land of death and darkness, rather than to walk with God through the wilderness and eat of the bread from heaven. However, they were very speedily made to taste the bitter fruits of their murmuring spirit- "The Lord sent fiery serpents . . . . and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died" (Num. 21:6).

This scene brings before us first, the children of Israel setting forth man's need of salvation; second, the brazen serpent as God's remedy, and the application as the perfection of His remedy.

The children of Israel, when they spoke against God and against Moses, sinned against God. The serpent's bite brought Israel to a sense of their sin. "Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee" (Num. 21:7. Man, when he partook of the forbidden fruit, sinned against God- "Therefore, through one man sin entered into the world" (Rom. 5:12), "it is written, 'There is none righteous, no, not one' (Rom. 3:10), "for all have sinned" (Rom. 3:23).

The children of Israel were actually bitten by the serpents. It was not a wild flight of the imagination wherein they only thought they were bitten. It was a painful reality. "And the Lord sent fiery serpents . . . . and they BIT the people" (Num. 21:6). Man is also actually born in sin, with a sinful nature. Hear the Word of God: "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Ps. 51:5). It is not a case of man's making a mistake. It is the old, sinful heart. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" ("exceedingly corrupt" R.V.) (Jer. 17:9).

The serpents were the cause of death among the children of Israel "They bit the people; and much people of Israel died" (Num. 21:6). Sin is the cause of death among mankind. "Therefore, through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death -passed unto all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom. 5:12); and again it is written, "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23).

The children of Israel were powerless. Death was sure to follow the serpent's bite; but it (the serpent's bite) brought them to a sense of their sin. Therefore, they said, "We have sinned, . . . . pray unto the Lord that HE MAY TAKE AWAY THE SERPENTS FROM US" (Num. 21:7). Man is also powerless. His only source of help against sin is Jesus Christ. "For while we were yet weak, in due time Christ died for the ungodly" (Rom- 5:6). "No man cometh unto the Father but by me" (John 14:6).

Israel's need was the occasion for the display of God's grace and mercy. The moment they said "We have sinned," God could act, and a serpent was provided for the dying Israelites. "And the Lord said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live" (Num. 21:8). Likewise, the Son of man was sent to save lost sinners- "For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:17).

The brazen serpent was of divine appointment. "The Lord said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent, and set is upon a pole" (Num. 21:8). Jesus Christ was of divine appointment; "Him (Jesus Christ) being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23). God appointed both the serpent and Christ. The God of all grace provided the remedy.

The children of Israel were stung by one kind of serpent, and cured by another. "The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people" (Num. 21:6). "It came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass he lived" (Num. 21:9). In the one case, the serpent was the instrument of their wretchedness; in the other, it was the instrument of their restoration and blessing. The sting of death was brought to the race by the sin of a man, the first Adam; the cure for the sting was brought by the man, the second Adam. "Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin" (Rom. 5:12); "Even so through the obedience of the one shall many be made righteous" (Rom. 5:19); "For if . . . . death reigned through the one; much more shall they that receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:17). Here we see that man, the first Adam, is the instrument through which sin and misery came; but the man, the second Adam (I Cor. 15: 45), is the channel through which divine grace flows in rich abundance, to sinful men.

Again, we see the brazen serpent MUST be lifted up. "The Lord said . . . . make thee a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole" (Num. 21: 8). A striking type of Christ on the cross! Christ, too, MUST be lifted up. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so MUST the Son of man be lifted up" (John 3:14). He was the antitype of the brazen serpent, its great fulfillment.

The brazen serpent, too, was the only remedy for the children of Israel. "Moses made the serpent of brass, . . . . and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived" (Num. 21:9). If he refused or neglected to look to that, there was nothing for him but death. Jesus Christ is the only remedy for sinful men. "Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). The sinner is asked simple to look to Jesus as his Saviour from sin

"There is life in a look at the crucified One,
There is life at this moment for thee."

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Rom. 10:13), and "Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed." Believe, receive, live and live gloriously!

"I know a soul that is steeped in sin,
    That no man's art can cure;
But I know a name, a name, a name
    That can make that soul all pure.

"I know a life that is lost to God,
     Bound down by things of earth;
But I know a name, a name, a name
     That can bring that soul new birth.

"I know of lands that are sunk in shame,
     Of hearts that faint and tire;
But I know a name, a name, a name
     That can set those lands on fire."