The Serpent Upon A Pole

a reply to: DISRAELI

is it possible, do you think, that the fault is in later generations, who began looking towards the pole in a way which wasn't originally intended? Then Hezekiah would not be criticising what Moses erected, but what it had become in the interval between Moses and Hezekiah.

What surprises me is that this serpent was not intended to be everlasting by any sort of imagination and was carried about for well over seven centuries. It was intended to be for this one particular event and nothing more. Moses lived possibly a year from this event and yet did nothing to correct the sin of this being worshiped.

Then we have another problem here. Where were the Levites who were in charge of religious affairs? They also shoulder this sin? I am totally confused and taken aback in reading this abomination that most certainly was predominate in Judaic affairs. I am still looking into outside literature for an explanation.
Thanks DISRAEL, I appreciate your information.

Nu 21:4 ¶ And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
5 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, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8 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.
9 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.

If anyone was bit and did not have FAITH in what was told them (the good news((gospel)) Moses gave them on how to live if bitten), and did not do the WORK of looking upon the serpent of brass, they would not Receive the GRACE of God and be saved form the death of the Bite. They would pass on into eternally condemned in their own unbelief.

Very simple message. We all have been bitten by that old serpent the devil, it is in the nature we received from our first forefather Adam. And only the work of the second Adam can save.

a reply to: ChesterJohn

If anyone was bit and did not have FAITH in what was told them (the good news((gospel)) Moses gave them on how to live if bitten), and did not do the WORK of looking upon the serpent of brass, they would not Receive the GRACE of God and be saved form the death of the Bite. They would pass on into eternally condemned in their own unbelief. Very simple message. We all have been bitten by that old serpent the devil, it is in the nature we received from our first forefather Adam. And only the work of the second Adam can save.

Hello Chester and may God Bless you. Yes, I agree with all that you have said but I am not convinced that Moses was correct in his using a brass image to show his God. We both understand that Moses was wrong in striking the rock episode and God allowed the water regardless. This was the reason that Moses was punished by not entering the promised land. What we don't know is how many other times Moses was wrong.

Torah continuously warns of any image of anything in heaven or in the earth being used as a representative of God's sovereignty. If this brass image was simply mentioned this one time and nothing more said of the matter then I probably would not raise any fuss but that is not the case. The same image upon a pole was kept in the minds of not only Moses but also the Levites themselves and not for a short time only and evidently not for the short span of being in the land of vipers. It was revered for well over six to seven centuries after the reason for making it in the first place.

The thing that really bothers me is the fact that the Judaic structure had degenerated back to worshiping an image that was evil and had gone into captivity because of these very same things. And at this time it was not Israel but was Judah
who was the guardian of such an abomination.

a reply to: Seede

a reply to: Seede

I don't think Moses showing his God in a brass snake. In the context Moses is told by God to make the fiery serpent which Moses made of brass, it represents the sting of death received by those who are bit. Moses was not wrong in following what the Lord told him to do, he was just being obedient. It was not Moses decision to make the serpent it was the LORDS.

It was God’s remedy for their unbelief and sin. And it is not hard to figure out why the LORD told him to make a serpent when we consider Paul's teaching that the Jews require a sign. sign are connected with the work Moses was dong in dealing with the Jews.

1Cor 1:22a For the Jews require a sign, . . ..

This was an OT version of a STOP sign. You see the Jews would die rather quickly by the venom and the people wanted physical salvation from being bitten looking at the image was the only way to be saved and the death stopped. It shows their faith in the Lord to save them from death physically by looking on the brass serpent.

If God told him to do this we cannot fault Moses, and it is not about worship, but the image did in fact cause some to stumble. However, later in the line after Solomon the serpent was destroyed by Hezekiah King of Judah. For the Jew this became the symbol of healing, and a stumbling block to Israel.

2Ki 18:1-4 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

But I would not fault Moses for the perversion of it by the people. The LORD never told him to get rid of it, so it is to be surmised that God knew they would stumble at it and worship it. All things work to bring about God's will and in this case His will concerning the People of Israel which include the Judah.

a reply to: Seede

Hey Seede
I don't agree with you about the image making thing
I don't think it is about what you make but in the worshiping of the image
The bronze serpent wasn't the problem, maybe God wanted a serpent on a stick to say this is an image, don't worship it. I am using the image so you can see my power. The power was not in the image
Having come from Egypt, seeing God work in many ways, having seen the idols of the Egyptians, maybe God was saying, I can make images but I am God capable of doing more, not sure myself
The issue was the Judaic structure constantly went back to idol worship, the problem is never the idol, the ANE society was idol worship. The Hebrews were always following other societies beliefs
Again I don't think the image made by hand is ever the issue, it's always going to comeback to where the heart is at
God gives us things today, do we worship those things, science, medicine, money, family or do we worship the creator