Numbers 21:4-9
Chapter 21
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From Mount Hor, they set out by the Red Sea road to go around the land of Edom. The people were discouraged by the journey
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and began to complain against God and Moses:
“Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is neither bread nor water here, and we are disgusted with this tasteless manna.”
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The Lord then sent fiery serpents against them. They bit the people, and many of the Israelites died.
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Then the people came to Moses and said:
“We have sinned, speaking against the Lord and you. Plead with the Lord to take the serpents away.”
Moses pleaded for the people,
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and the Lord said:
“Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard; whoever has been bitten and then looks at it shall live.”
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So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. Whenever a man was bitten, he looked towards the bronze serpent and lived.
Various Stages and Victories
Commentaries
Snakes.
Although the victory over a Canaanite people likely brought joy to the Israelites (1-3), this story introduces new discouragement and ongoing murmuring. God’s response involves a punishment that threatens to wipe out the entire nation. Moses acts as a mediator, and once again, the people’s lives are spared and forgiven. This story probably reflects ancient legends of popular religious beliefs passed down from their ancestors in the desert. The serpent raised on the pole, which heals those bitten by poisonous snakes just by looking at it, is seen by the evangelist John as a symbol foreshadowing Christ raised on the cross, who saves humanity (cf. Jn 3:14; 8:28; 12:32).