The Gospel Story of the Bronze Serpent (this post is incomplete at this time)
The Gospel Story of the Bronze Serpent.
“… And the people became impatient on the way and spoke against God and against Moses. ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food, and no water, and we loathe this worthless food!’ Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have spoken against Yahweh and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us!’ So Moses prayed for the people and interceded for them. And the Lord Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze (copper) serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.” (Numbers 21:4-9).
Lifting Up the Snake. How did Moses do it? How did he continue putting up with all the grumbling and complaining of the wandering Israelites? It was a sign of his singular leadership, though, that he went so far as to intercede for them, to pray to the Lord earnestly for these disgruntled ones in his midst. Numbers 21 shows us yet another time of bitter complaint. Believe it or not, this was their final time of complaint, which I’m sure relieved Moses and the Lord greatly. Once again, though, God here needed to show them who’s Boss and to whom the people are accountable, and the Lord sent poisonous snakes, “fiery serpents,” to reveal God’s displeasure with their attitude. The Lord called them “fiery” no doubt because these venomous snakes bit with a vengeance and left a poison that burned with a fury as the bit person died a slow, agonizing death. Many Israelites died from these punishing snake bites, and finally their hearts were struck, and the people repented. So during Moses’ intercession, asking God to forgive them, the Lord told Moses to fashion a bronze serpent and put it on a pole, high up in the air where all could see it. The same Hebrew word is used for both bronze and copper, so Moses’ serpent on the pole could very well have been made of copper. The result was miraculous… Whoever was snake-bit, all they had to do was look. That’s it, just look at the bronze serpent, and they would be healed. This so-called “look” was not just a casual glance at the bronze serpent, not merely a distracted or half-hearted glimpse at Moses’ pole. The Hebrew scholars say that the word for “look” here means to “look attentively, expectantly, with a steady and absorbing gaze.” The bronze snake wasn’t what healed the snake-bit Israelites. It was their trusting focus of sustained belief in God that healed them.
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” (John 3:15).
This important historical story from the Hebrew Scriptures proved unforgettable to the Jews down through the centuries. Jesus confirmed the story as another mini-gospel, another way in which He fulfilled what was so often hinted at in the Jewish Bible. Jesus took this familiar episode and, in his night-time talk with Nicodemus, made the bronze serpent a type, a picture of Jesus and His ministry. He told Nicodemus that the mercy of God for those Israelite whiners was a picture of God’s mercy for the world through Jesus. Sure enough, this wasn’t the last time Jesus hinted at the bronze serpent. “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.’ (John 12:31-33). The bronze serpent lifted up on Moses’ pole is a picture of Jesus being lifted up on the Cross. Jesus, represented by a snake of all things! What a vivid picture of Him, carrying the curse of sin for us on the Cross, as well as His healing of sin. Jesus, lifted up, brings healing and life to all those who are bit by that old deadly serpent. And all we have to do is look and believe.
Believe. To “believe” is not at all a simple intellectual acceptance of a list of doctrinal statements. The meaning of the Greek word for believe is to faithfully trust in; to desperately cling to; to have loyal faith in; to be persuaded to fully rely upon; to have complete confidence in; to be convinced of the truth of; to entrust one’s life and well-being to; to intimately cleave to; to bet your life on. The Amplified Bible translates “Pistis” as meaning “that leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence.”
A Description of Pistis from Hebrews 11:1: Trusting in the reality of what we hope for, and accepting what we need to prove the unseen; Being convinced of what is needed to bring our hopes into reality; Being fully persuaded that something is real even if we don’t see it; Accepting as real fact what is not revealed to the senses; Trusting in the hopes of our unseen foundation; Being confident of what we hope for, and convinced about things we do not see.
The Good News Summarized. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17). To “believe in Him” means to entrust one’s life to the God of Scripture, that what He said and did all through the Bible is true, that there is a commitment to put God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in charge of one’s life and destiny while leaning onto Him daily. “
Believing “into” Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world, that He gave us His only begotten Son, that whoever believes into Him, should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).
“En” and “Eis”. In the New Testament there are two little Greek words used constantly, en and eis. When “in” is intended, then the Greek term “en” is generally used. And when “into” is meant, the term “eis” is used. Eis literally means into or to, and implies motion into, union, and penetration.
With that in mind, this is how John 3:15-19, the most popular passage in all of Christendom, could be, and often is, translated: ”… whoever believes in (en) Him, should have eternal life. For God so loved the world (Kosmos) that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes into (eis) Him, should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into (eis) the world to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
“Everlasting life,” the promised eternal life, is all about quality just as much as quantity. Rabbinic tradition focused on the quality of life enjoyed for eternity, not just the idea of living forever. Jesus made it clear in His ministry that eternal life with Him begins the moment one begins to follow Him and accept Him into one’s life.
“In Christ Jesus, the most important aspect is faith (pistis) expressing itself in love. The only thing that matters, that really counts, is faithful trust as brought to perfection through the demonstration of agape love.” (Galatians 5:6).
Fleshing Out the Faith. Belief and trust is not just an idea or an intellectual conviction. To believe is not merely a head word, but instead is an active word. Any reliance on Christ must be fleshed out, it must be proven in one’s life. Genine faith is actively trusting in God as a lifestyle. This spiritual connection between the mental conviction and the fleshing out not only proves our faith to be genuine, but it also energized one’s faith. Faith is like a muscle that needs to be exercised to be useful. And like any muscle, when exercised it shows signs of life and is energized and strengthened. Our belief in the truth of Christ is truly authentic only when it is expressed outwardly in the way we live our lives. When we demonstrate our faith through love, we reveal if we even have any spiritual muscle at all.