In my previous blog (“Born Again” – Verb or Noun?), the discussion centered on the way into the Kingdom of God (John 3:3). As you might remember, the Lord Jesus presented the way to Nicodemus using the term, “You must be born again” and then He made reference to a serpent on a pole.
Nicodemus, a high-ranking leader of the Jews, a Pharisee, and the teacher of Israel, was having difficulty grasping the meaning of being “born-again”, which meaning the Lord unveiled verse by verse. Here are two such verses, which shed enormous light on what it means to be born-again: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.” (John 3:14 & 15) The Lord was referring to an unusual event that occurred when the Israelites were being led by Moses, through the wilderness, after their deliverance from bondage in Egypt.
Penalty of Sin & The Serpent on a Pole
As was the tendency of these Israelites, they often grumbled over one thing or another. Keep in mind, the Israelites first grumbled after three days of freedom from Egypt. This was astounding given the mighty works wrought by God in securing their deliverance.
The details of the grumbling are recorded for us in Numbers 21:4-9: “Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. The people spoke against God and 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 miserable food.’
The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.’ And Moses interceded for the people.
Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.’ And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.”
As the narrative reveals, the Israelites were impatient with Moses’ leadership as well as the lack of food and water. This, despite the fact that God had already miraculously provided sufficient water when Moses, at the command of God, struck the rock which produced a river of water. Regarding food, God miraculously rained down manna from Heaven six days per week for 40 years of their wandering in the wilderness. In the next breath, they acknowledge this fact with the words “…we loathe this miserable food.”
Serpent on a Pole – Avoiding Hell
Here we have a vivid picture of the ungrateful human race rebelling against God and His goodness towards them. Man’s sin nature alienates every human being from God and is the reason we must be born-again. Nicodemus was no exception to this human tragedy. He needed to learn the only way into God’s good favor. The serpent on a pole illustrates this wonderfully.
Follow the sequence:
1) the people rebelled against God
2) the Lord sentenced them to death using venomous snakes
3) the people confessed their sin and threw themselves on the mercy of God
4) God directed Moses to make a replica of the poisonous snakes, in bronze, attach it to a pole, and lift it up in the camp of the people
5) God told Moses to tell the people that if bitten they were to look upon the bronze snake
6) If they followed this simple instruction, they would live (salvation).
God didn’t provide a multitude of ways to be saved. Only one – the people had to look up to the serpent on a pole . First, though, they must acknowledge their sin and their need for a Savior. How could looking at a serpent on a pole effect their salvation? Simple – God was giving the Israelites a picture (shadow) of His Son, on the Cross of Calvary, bearing the sins of the world in His body, and bearing the judgment of God against those sins.
Understanding Grace
Obviously, Nicodemus, great teacher of the Scriptures that he was, would be very familiar with this episode in Numbers 21. He would know that the snakes were God’s method of judgment towards the rebellious Israelites. The Lord Jesus was telling him that He was not the instrument of judgment, but that He would be the object of judgment. Mankind must look to the cross and consider God’s wrath towards sin in the substitutionary sacrifice of His Son.
The term “lifted up” appears several times in the New Testament, three times by the Lord Jesus in reference to His crucifixion; once here in John 3 and again in chapter 8 and chapter 12. His death and how it would be accomplished was uppermost on His mind because this is the specific work He was sent to do.
There are two other significant references to being “lifted up”, both of which appear at the time of His departure from this earth. In Luke 24:50, we read, “And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.” His work now completed; His last earthly act was to bless His disciples.
In Acts 1:9, Luke states, “And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” One could say that He was lifted up on the cross to die and then, He was lifted up from the grave to live. Finally, He was lifted up from this earth to His Heavenly seat beside the Father.
Even then we read, “they were looking on.” We look to the Lord Jesus for salvation, but we continue to look to Him forevermore: “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)
The Serpent on a Pole Speaks to Eternal Life
Only when a person looks to Jesus for their salvation, will they find eternal life. There’s no other way – one judgment, one sacrifice, one Savior, one cross, one way. Nicodemus’ eyes must have opened widely when he made this connection.
The Israelites, who were bitten by snakes, were offered life by looking upon the “lifted up” bronze serpent. If they refused to look, because they disbelieved or rejected God’s solution, then they would die in the wilderness. The Israelites had the free will to accept or reject God’s plan of salvation. “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.” (Deuteronomy 30:15)
Choose wisely – dear reader!
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