The Serpent on a Pole

I. THE PROBLEM (Numbers 21:4-6)

A. The Rebellion (Numbers 21:4-5)

1. The path (Numbers 21:4)
a. They journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom.
b. Their soul was discouraged because of the way (Proverbs 13:15).
2. The people (Numbers 21:5)
a. They spake against God.
b. They spake against the man of God.
3. The perception (Numbers 21:5)
a. No bread; yet, there was bread (see current verse)
b. No water; yet, there was water (see Numbers 20:11)

B. The Results (Numbers 21:6)

1. The sting of the serpents
a. The Lord sent fiery serpents.
b. The serpents bit the people.
2. The sting of death—“much people of Israel died”

II. THE PLEA (Numbers 21:7)

A. The Acknowledgement of the Problem

1. The people came to Moses.
2. They confessed their sins.

B. The Acknowledgement of the Solution

1. They requested prayer.
2. They understood only God could take away the serpents.

III. THE PROVISION (Numbers 21:8-9)

A. The Plan (Numbers 21:8)

1. Moses was to make a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole.
2. Once bitten, man was to look upon the serpent in order to live.

B. The Fulfillment (Numbers 21:9)

1. Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole.
2. Any bitten man, who behold the serpent of brass, lived.

IV. THE PICTURE (Numbers 21:4-9)

A. Of Sin and Judgment (Numbers 21:4-7)

1. Man is guilty of sin long before he is aware of the vileness of his own conduct (Numbers 21:4-5).
2. The introduction of the serpents was for the purpose of enlightening man to his need for God and for life (Numbers 21:6; Romans 7:9; Galatians 3:19).
3. The serpents did not discriminate in their biting (Romans 3:23) and the result of the bite was death (Numbers 21:6; Romans 6:23).
4. The Israelites recognized their condition, confessed it, yet this alone did not free them from the sting of the serpents’ bite (Numbers 21:7).

B. Of Hope and Salvation (Numbers 21:8-9)

1. The plan for Israel’s life was given before it was visibly implemented and fulfilled (Numbers 21:8). In like manner, the plan for Christ dying on the cross was in the mind of God long before it was accomplished before the eyes of men (Revelation 13:8).
2. The implementation of the plan offered hope to all who would obey the gospel (Numbers 21:9).
3. The serpent was to be placed upon a pole and lifted up in the sight of the bitten Israelites. In like manner, the Lord Jesus Christ spoke of his death and said that He must be lifted up (John 3:14-15; John 12:32-33). It was not enough that the serpent was on the pole. It still required man to come to the knowledge of his condition and trust God’s word for his life.
4. Just as the serpents had been indiscriminate in their biting, life was indiscriminate to all who would behold the serpent on the pole (Isaiah 45:22; John 1:29). Once the Israelites recognized their fallen condition, they still had to take God at His word and behold the serpent on the pole. In other words, it took both repentance and faith (Acts 20:21).
5. Concerning this serpent, Moses had to make it out of brass. The Lord did not tell him to take one of the other serpents and put it upon a pole. This serpent may very well have looked like the serpents who were biting the men, but it was altogether of a different substance and was provided for a different purpose.
a. The first serpents were sent to show man his sin and condemn him to death.
b. The serpent on the pole was provided to offer hope and life to those who would look to him in faith.
c. This is a great picture of the law bringing us to Christ (Galatians 3:24).