Sunday Thoughts: Lifting up the Bronze Serpent

The similarities between the Old and New Testaments often appeal to me because they demonstrate how God rewards our diligent research with morsels like these.

One of my favourite Old Testament similarities to the history of Jesus was recently revealed in a sermon I just heard. Dr. Albert Mohler is preaching through the publication of Figures with his community. In book 21, we find this consideration:

They travel around the area of Edom from Mount Hor, crossing the Red Sea, and heading north. And the travelers waited patiently. Why did you bring us out of Egypt to death in the wilderness, Moses and the individuals questioned him. We detest this pointless meal because there is neither food nor water.

Numbers 21: 4-5 ( ESV )

Oh, what a surprise. In the forest, the Israelites once complained. But God made them repent their issue with, to offer the great Sandy Carroll from” Twister”, “imminent rueage”.

Numbers 21: 6 tells us,” Then the Lord sent blazing beasts among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died”.

Flaming beasts? That sounds harsh. Mohler explains:

So the Lord sends fiery beasts. And, you know, if you hear this, it sounds like beasts which are made of fire. No, the fireplace is the bit. The fireplace is the bit. And there are a lot of poisonous reptiles in this region of the world, as well as many dangerous reptiles. There are converters and there are marauders, There are creatures. It is possible that this was a floor snake, which was a real sight in the desert. And they bit horrifyingly.

And there are some of these reptiles that have slower-acting poison, giving the victim of a horrible, terrible death that may not be all that fast but is utterly horrible. &nbsp, We’re told that the Lord sent these lizards, these beasts.

Then realize, remember that the dragon has a specific unmistakable metaphor for God’s people. This is undoubtedly a plague, therefore. There are also those who are passing away.

Connected: &nbsp, Sunday Thoughts: From Rebellion to Sacrifice

Because, according to Mohler,” They understand that Moses the n’t offer them, and so they asked Moses to resolve before God that he would offer them relief,” Moses made the decision to stand in the space to confess for his people.

Then Moses heard a message from the folks,” We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you.” Ask the Lord to remove the beasts from us. But Moses prayed for the individuals. And the Lord said to Moses,” Create a fiery dragon and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, may live”. Therefore, Moses mounted a metal dragon on a shaft. And if a spider little someone, he would sit next to the metal dragon.

Numbers 21: 7-9 ( ESV )

This is just large, according to Mohler, in the context of both biblical history and biblical theology. Because Jesus may relate to it, this is significant.

Jesus mentioned the metal dragon to Nicodemus when he and him were meeting under the cover of night. ” And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the forest, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have perpetual life” ( John 3: 14-15, ESV).

After the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus told his followers,” And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” ( John 12: 32, ESV).

Mohler notes that we ca n’t deny that scripture is one big, full story:

I do n’t understand how anyone who has read the Bible can question the Bible’s divine inspiration at all. I just do n’t know how that’s possible. You’re right, it’s possible if we study a single word from an ancient religion and watch how it unravels as it goes along.

Well, we had only say,’ Well, that’s just a traditional representation of a people who tried to set a religion up, was n’t maintain their story right.’ There is no thinner narrative than the Old Testament’s passage.

He continues:

It’s like a great God-honoring point. It does so because it encourages us to consider the Bible as a whole and accept that this is n’t just a text. We do n’t just study a single chapter like it’s a book on its own, just one. It does n’t stand on its own.

It has to be related to God’s unfolding account. &nbsp, It has to be related to construction in fact. &nbsp, It has to be related to the Fall in hindsight. It has to do with the creation of Israel as God’s persons, the release of God’s people from slavery under Pharaoh and Egypt, and therefore their rebellion, also here.

And but what we see here is the requirement. In any way, this serpent was unable to keep anything. If they see and are saved, the blazing spider’s bite will still be the cause of death. And Christ is the one who makes it abundantly clear that he is the arbitrator of his greatest fulfillment.

It’s fascinating to watch how different Bible stories combine to uphold God’s story, and the huge narrative of the Bible is always entertaining.

Knowing that Jesus did for us something that a prophet and a dessert metal snake was n’t, is encouraging.

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