Most hospital emergency rooms store antivenom in a medical refrigerator, ready to save lives. When someone is bitten by a venomous snake, they immediately administer the antidote—often derived from the very venom that’s killing the patient. This life-saving principle of using poison against poison finds its most profound expression in the book of Numbers.
The Israelites were once again complaining against God and Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” (v. 5). Their ingratitude after God’s faithful provision provoked divine judgment. “Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died” (v. 6).
Terror gripped the camp as people began dying from snakebites. The Israelites quickly recognized their sin and begged Moses for help: “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us” (v. 7). But God’s solution was unexpected. Rather than removing the snakes, His remedy required faith. “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live’” (v. 8). Moses crafted a bronze serpent and raised it high. The cure was simple: “When anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived” (v. 9).
This bronze serpent was a powerful symbol of God’s redemptive plan. The very thing that brought death—the serpent—became the instrument of salvation when looked upon in faith. Jesus referenced this moment, saying, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (John 3:14–15).
Go Deeper
How did the people sin? What was the remedy? How does this passage foreshadow the future death of Jesus as payment for our sin?
Pray with Us
We can picture it, Lord, a bronze serpent lifted high to heal everyone who looked at it. We pray today, Lord for our unsaved friends and family, to lift their eyes and see You, for their salvation.
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.John 3:14
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