Wanna know what the biggest takeaway from the “serpent on the pole” story is?
It’s really pretty simple actually.
It’s all about the gradual progression from a God-ordained object to full blown idol worship.
There is no question that the bronze serpent Moses mounted on the pole was a pure and good thing since God commanded it be made.
However, here’s what the ancient Israelites seemed to have misunderstood.
It was NOT the serpent on the pole in and of itself that brought about healing.
It was the OBEDIENCE IN FAITH of the people in regards to the serpent on the pole that brought about healing.
And I would say it is the same thing with Yeshua dying on the cross.
It is faith in Yeshua’s obedient act of suffering that brings about healing and salvation, not the the actual cross itself.
Another example was the rock Moses hit so that it would produce water for the people to drink.
It wasn’t like the rock Moses hit inherently had the capacity to produce water.
It was simply that at that particular time God chose that rock as His ordained instrument to be used to give the people living water.
Are you getting this?
The instruments God chooses to bring about healing and salvation whether it’s a rock, a serpent on a pole, or even a man dying on a cross are just that, they are INSTRUMENTS of God’s salvation.
They are not God Himself and they are NOT to be worshipped!!!
Why is this so frickin’ hard for some people to understand?!
How do you think God would have felt if the Israelites went ahead and began a rock (as in boulder, not music) worshipping cult?
Along the same line of reasoning, how do you think the Father feels about a “Jesus-worshipping cult” as represented by evangelical Christianity?
Well, the idolatrous mind is a hard thing to overcome.
I think it has to do with our human weakness to be so susceptible to the visible and the tangible.
We have this craving to want to project our deepest worries, hopes, and desires onto a physical object that we can see and if we could have our own way, I suspect even touch hear and smell.
I’ve often cried out to God, “Lord if I could just literally HEAR your voice I would believe!“
Well, it turns out, He didn’t grant my wishes.
And maybe that’s a good thing.
Because HASHEM is spirit.
And we’re supposed to worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Well, apparently, it took the ancient Israelites time to learn this lesson because they kept the bronze serpent on the pole around for five centuries after the Exodus era.
God never told them to keep the bronze serpent pole around and we have zero record that other healing incidents occurred after the one we read about here in Numbers 21.
But again, as I just said, the idolatrous mindset can be bloody hard to overcome.
No doubt, the Israelites kept the pole around because they viewed it as a magic wand they could use for healing in times of desperation.
As I mentioned in my last post, things had escalated to the point where the people had begun bowing down and presenting offerings to the bronze snake on the pole in the hopes they could be healed of whatever ailments they were suffering from.
They had taken to worshipping the object INSTEAD of worshipping the One who can actually heal.
Again, that is why King Hezekiah was ordered to destroy the original bronze serpent Moses had made and put on the pole.
It was authorized as a ONE-TIME-ONLY divine instrument of God but had tragically turned into an object of false worship, sorcery and idolatry.
I can sympathize with the ancient Israelites though.
If I had been one of the men bitten by a poisonous rattler and was on the verge of dying…
…and then, if I had instantaneously been healed by looking up to the serpent Moses had mounted up on the pole, I’m pretty sure I too would have developed an instant affection for the bronze serpent that may over time have escalated into full-blown idolatry.
When we’re suffering, we’ll do almost anything to be relieved, whether it’s taking drugs, buying a truckload of self-help books that promise us health, wealth and success, or go to temples and offer up sacrifices to false idols.
However, it is to cure mankind of this sick idolatry that God sent His only begotten son into the world.
It is Yeshua who came to teach us to pray to the Father and to worship Him in Spirit in Truth.
I find it ironic as hell that the very instrument God sent to mankind to cure the world of idolatry has himself been turned into an object of idolatry.
Well, as I said earlier, the idolatrous mind is a hard one to overcome.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
The devil led him up to a high place
and showed him in an instant
all the kingdoms of the world.
And he said to him,
“I will give you all their
authority and splendor;
it has been given to me,
and I can give it to anyone I want to.
If you worship me,
it will all be yours.”
Yeshua answered,
“It is written:
‘Worship the Lord your God
and serve him only‘
-Luke 4:5-8
“Yet a time is coming and has now come
when the true worshipers will worship
the Father in the Spirit and in truth,
for they are the kind of worshipers
the Father seeks.
God is spirit, and his worshipers
must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know that Messiah”
(called Christ) “is coming.
When he comes, he will explain
everything to us.”
Then Yeshua declared,
‘I, the one speaking to you—I am he.’”
-John 4:23-26
“Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.”
-Matthew 6:9
Great piece. Yeshua himself compared himself with the bronze serpent. It’s paradoxical that he would also turn out as object of worship just as the serpent.
Yes David. And quite an ironic paradox it is!
Rich,
You “stole” my message about the snake in the desert! (only kidding)
I am in total agreement about how both the brass snake and Yeshua have been idolized by the Christian world. I have written about this several times on my blog (here is a link to one of those messages, if you are interested: http://www.messianicmoment.com/parashah-chukkas-regulations-numbers-19-221/) and also in the chapter in my book called “Hidden Idolatry.”
Good message, good study, good word from you, as usual.
Thanks for the positive thumbs up Steven! Much appreciated coming from a fellow “Messianic author”. I will check out your article. Shalom brother!
This has such insight and clarity as to one of the biggest problems of mankind, idolatry. It is sad that many times as we look back over our lives we see our idolatrous ways and realize we were blinded to it and didn’t even recognize it at the moment. We then repent ( recognize our sin and turn from it) and make it right….. if we are allowed the opportunity. This is where his grace and mercy comes in. 🔥💜
Yes, Linda. My sincere prayer is that HASHEM will continue to lead us (including me) into all truth. Thanks for reading. Be blessed and Shalom!
Hello Rabbi Rich,
Your instruction of N21-10 is too hard (like a stone) for Christians to absorb. Why not give a web class on the writings of Apostle John?
This teaching of N21-10 sounds more like from the “crafty SARAPH” to me unless you can explain the Gospel of John and all his other writings, including the Revelation (from Jesus Christ.)