N21-9: Israel Would Have Viewed The Serpent As A Symbol Of Healing Due To Their Egyptian Influence

We are continuing our discussion about the bronze serpent that Moses made and mounted on the pole so that those who had been poisoned could be healed by simply looking up to it.

Today, let’s finally deal with the thorny question of why God would use a symbol representing the devil (or adversary) to bring about healing.

Unfortunately, I’m not so sure I’m going to be able to come to a clear cut and conclusive answer to this difficult question.

But I’m going to try.

So here goes.

If during the ancient era, you were bitten by a poisonous insect or animal, in order to be healed you would be brought to a sorcerer who would perform a ritual over you by waving a wand with a symbol of the animal that bit you attached to it.

Sounds laughable, right?

Well, stop laughing because in a sense that is the very same principle modern medicine adheres to in order to heal a person who has been bitten by a poisonous animal.

If you’re bitten by a snake for example, the venom from the snake is used to counteract the deadly effects of the poison now coursing through your veins.

If you think about it, it’s pretty much the same principle in action.

The only difference is that during ancient times, the principle was applied spiritually and today we apply this principle literally or physically.

Onward.

In ancient Egypt, not only was the serpent used as a symbol of royal authority, it was also seen as a symbol of fertility and healing.

Now before the Exodus, where did Israel reside for over 400 years?

Egypt, right?

Therefore, the Israelites would have automatically viewed the serpent as a symbol of healing.

In other words, it wouldn’t have seemed strange at all to the Israelites that God had Moses mount a serpent up on the pole to heal them of their snake bites.

Do you remember how I mentioned before that God sometimes uses things in our culture to bring about His Will because he knows we’re already familiar with those things?

Well, that’s what might be happening here.

So what conclusions can we draw from all of this.

Well, the first thing we should remind ourselves is that the pole with the SARAPH on it did not in and of itself possess magical healing powers.

Second, Moses didn’t use the pole with the serpent on it as a magic wand and perform rituals with it.

The people were told to simply look up to it in repentance and trust they would be healed.

Probably the reason this story has been given so much significance is because Yeshua referred to this event when talking about his coming crucifixion.

However, did Yeshua mean to communicate something much deeper beyond the comparison of being nailed to pole and that those who trusted in this act of God would be healed?

I don’t know and you don’t know either.

And neither does anybody else.

Any attempt to go beyond the simple comparison of being nailed to a pole is NOTHING BUT SPECULATION.

Why can I say this with such confidence?

Simple.

We’re just not given any more information.

Here are some of the ideas that have been proposed concerning the meaning of what Yeshua said.

-When the serpent was mounted up on the pole, the purpose was NOT for the people to look up to the serpent but to look THROUGH the serpent up the Father in Heaven.  And so we’re told it was the same with Yeshua.  We’re not supposed to look at him but through him to the Father who art in heaven.

-Just as the people dying of snakebites were healed by a snake held up on a pole, so are sinners saved by their sin by a man dying on a cross.

-If the serpent on the pole was made of bronze (which we’re told it was), that means it was reddish in color.  Well, some say the red color points to the atoning function of blood in Scripture and was also prophetic of the blood Yeshua would shed on the cross.

Again, as nice sounding as all of the above speculations sound, they are still nothing but that, just speculations.

Ultimately, no matter how we slice and dice the Scriptural data we have to work with, it really only comes down to one thing.

God decided to use an ordained object nailed onto a pole and lifted up into the air to deal with sin.

This was the case with serpent Moses held up.

And it was the case with Yeshua was impaled on a cross.

In both cases, the people would look upon the object of the pole and be “saved“.

And in both cases, it was all about repentance and a deep trust in the Lord’s provision.