Numbers 21:1 ¶ And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners. 2 And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. 3 And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.
Numbers 21:4 ¶ And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
This time the people fussed and fumed, complained and whined, showing their forgetfulness and ungrateful hearts God sent fiery serpents among them. The context of the phrase fiery serpent and its close proximity to bit the people, and much people of Israel died shows us the fiery is not a reference to some type of supernatural creature spitting actual fire but to a venomous snake. Fiery means it inflames, it burns, where it bites. The Latin Vulgate has burning. The Septuagint says deadly. Strong’s dictionary says poisonous. But the context here makes it clear.
Moses commands that an example of one of these creatures is placed on a pole and anyone who looks on it will live. This is a prophecy of Christ as well as an immediate remedy to a crisis.
John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Unfortunately, the rebellious Israelites will eventually worship this work Moses had built at God’s direction..
2Kings 18:4 He [Hezekiah] removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the
groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
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