The Bronze Serpent Explained: Why Did God Tell Moses to Lift Up a Serpent?
Why did God command Moses to lift up His serpent?
Bible Verses (KJV)
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make yourself a fiery serpent, and hang it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass that when any man is bitten by a fiery serpent, he shall look at it and live.
— Numbers 21:8 (KJV)
Additional Supporting Verses
And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole: and it came to pass, that if a serpent had been bitten by any man, he lived, when he saw the serpent of brass.
— Numbers 21:9 (KJV)
Just as Moses raised the snake up in the desert, so must the Son of man be raised up.
— John 3:14 (KJV)
He believed in the LORD God of Israel…
— 2 Kings 18:5 (KJV)
📅 Approximate Historical Period
Traditional date for the Israelites' journey in the desert: Second millennium BC.
The people of Israel began to be referred to by the name Israel.The name Israel was used for the people of Israel for the first time in Numbers.
* King Hezekiah's reign: approximately 715–686 BC
* Gospel of John: approximately AD 85–95
The bronze serpent is mentioned in Numbers 21 during the Israelites' wandering in the wilderness.
Initially the thing was connected with God's training for healing. However, the Israelites continued to maintain it, and they had started to worship it centuries later.
Hezekiah was succeeded by King Josiah, who destroyed it.
The bronze serpent is one of the most interesting of the many examples in the Bible of the object of worship that started off with a connection to God and then was transformed into an idol.
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What happened in the Wilderness? 🐍
The Israelites were wandering in the desert and were disheartened.
They spoke evil against God & Moses.
The people spoke against God, and against Moses.
— Numbers 21:5 (KJV)
This led to the emergence of fire snakes among the people and many became bitten, according to the Bible.
They realized that they had sinned and requested Moses to pray for them.
Moses prayed.
Then God gave Moses a strange command.
He was instructed to create a serpent, and position it on a pole.
If a person had been bitten they could see it and live.
Why would God use a Serpent?
In this story the snake represents a threat.
The people were being bitten by serpents.
But God told Moses to create a picture of a snake.
That is, no magical power was attributed to the object itself.
Healing was not by the hands of the man but by the hands of God.
To this God gave the command that the Israelites had to look at the bronze serpent.God said that the Israelites must look at the bronze serpent.
This separation is of great significance later in Israel's history.
Why Did They Have to Look at It?
The Bible doesn't teach that the bronze serpent possessed supernatural power.
Rather, God gave a definite command:
Anyone who is bitten shall live when he sees it.
— Numbers 21:8 (KJV)
To look at the serpent was thus an act of trust and obedience.
It was necessary for the person to trust God's word and obey what He said.
Technically it was easy.
It was the faith in the obedience that was important.
Why Did Jesus Compare Himself to the Bronze Serpent?
This is what makes the story so relevant for Christians.
When Jesus spoke with Nicodemus he spoke directly to the bronze serpent.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the Son of man be lifted up.
— John 3:14 (KJV)
Then Jesus made this picture refer to salvation:
Anyone who believes in him will never die," said Jesus.
— John 3:15 (KJV)
It's an interesting comparison.
In Numbers:
Bitten by the people: They looked at the serpent: They lived.
In John's Gospel:
Sin affects humanity → looking to Christ in faith → receiving eternal life.
The bronze serpent thus serves as a powerful Bible image that means to point to Christ.
The Bronze Serpent is a picture of the cross.The Bronze Serpent is a symbol of the cross.
Christians have always been aware that Jesus' statements in John 3 are linked to His crucifixion with the bronze serpent.
Jesus said:
Thus, the Son of man must be lifted up, even so.
In the phrase "lifted up" Jesus is referred to not only in the context of His crucifixion but also that of His exaltation.
A pole was used to lift up the snake.
Jesus was carried up on the cross.
Those who looked to God's provision in the Wilderness lived.
The person who believes in Christ is given eternal life.
It is one of the most easily understood parallels in the New Testament of Jesus explaining an Old Testament event in the context of His ministry.
I'm curious about why the Serpent, and not some other creature?
The Bible does not give all the specifics behind the choice of a serpent.
The context is important though, as it gives a connection to the above.
The snake symbolized the very threat God was offering to save the people from.
The point, therefore, was to place the object before the people and to show them the consequences of their rebellion, and the provision of God.
The same picture was later used by Jesus to illustrate salvation.
What became of the Bronze Serpent?
This is one of the most amazing aspects of the story.
It seems the Israelites passed on the bronze serpent to the next generation.
Later, however, they started to burn incense to Him.
The object that was once God's command had turned into an object of worship.
It was destroyed by King Hezekiah.
He destroyed the high places, and broke the images and brake the groves and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made…
— 2 Kings 18:4 (KJV)
The Bible says the Israelites had named it Nehushtan.
How can that which God commanded be idolatry?
This is one of the most profound teachings of the story.
God gave the instruction to Moses to create the bronze serpent.
However, God didn't say that the later generations should worship it.
The object was now the issue.
The Israelites started to worship a man-made thing.
This demonstrates an important biblical principle:
No symbol can ever stand for God.
Why Did Hezekiah Destroy It?
The Bible provides a very straightforward answer.
People were burning the incense before it.
Hezekiah, however, in his religious reforms, removed it.
The story shows us that we can become spiritually dangerous when we start to worship the symbol instead of the One it represents, even if it is a true biblical symbol.
Was the Bronze Serpent Scientifically Effective?
The Bible teaches that the healing was a miracle of God.
There is no evidence in modern medicine that one can look at the bronze serpent to cure snake venom.
No scientific mechanism has been identified that could neutralise the venom in the human body after watching a metal serpent.
So, it was a healing power from God, not from a doctor or nurse.
Should not be used as an alternative to contemporary medical treatment after a snake bite.
Real-World Example
Visualize someone getting an alert after an unsafe occurrence.
The sign itself has no power.
It's meant to lead the person to safety.
The bronze serpent had a different purpose than it did in that it was linked to God's command and promise, but the principle is the same:
It was not the ultimate means of salvation.
God was.
This difference is even greater when the Israelites took the object as an idol later on.
Easy Explanation
The bronze serpent was a bronze image that God commanded to be placed on a pole by Moses when the Israelites were stung by poisonous serpents.
Those that had been bitten were warned to look at it and live!
The serpent itself was not a god.
Not offered as a special object.
God used it as a way for the Israelites to respond in faith and obedience.
Centuries later, the people started worshiping it.
It was destroyed by King Hezekiah.
Later, Jesus used the bronze serpent as a symbol of His crucifixion and salvation.
What can we learn from the Bronze Serpent?
Obedience can be a matter of trust.
Even when the Israelites did not fully understand God's unusual instruction, they had to obey it.
God can use unexpected things!
The thing God selected was linked to the one thing the people were afraid of.
The Symbol Is Not the Source
The bronze serpent was not made into a god.
People came to Jesus for healing.
Good Things Can Turn into Idols
The bronze serpent originated by God's command.
Later generations made it into a place of worship.
5. Trust God, not only in religious objects
The story is about not mixing up the symbol with the One the symbol represents.
Jesus is the Completer of The Story
John 3 directly relates the bronze serpent with Jesus being lifted up.
Did You Know?
The bronze serpent is mentioned in Numbers 21:4-9.
In John 3:14-15, Jesus spoke directly about the event.
The Israelites finally started worshipping the bronze serpent.
During his religious reforms, King Hezekiah destroyed it.
According to the Bible, it was called Nehushtan.
It is one of the most clearly told Old Testament events in the New Testament that are clearly tied to Jesus.
It was not the bronze serpent itself that brought healing.
A legitimate symbol can turn into an idol when people's worship was misdirected, as in the case of the same object.
Why Is the Bronze Serpent Important to Christianity?
The bronze serpent is an explanation of a great biblical theme:
God offers salvation, but people have to respond in faith.
After being bitten, the Israelites were unable to help themselves in Numbers.
God gave them a way to be saved.
This is the same story that Jesus uses to explain salvation through Him in John.
Comparing does not imply that Jesus is sinful or that Jesus is sin.
Instead, Jesus is drawing a comparison between the lifting up and the gaze of the serpent for life and His lifting up and the gaze of His followers for eternal life.
The Connection to John 3:16
The bronze serpent is right before one of the most well-known passages in the Bible:
God loved this world, and gave his only begotten Son.
— John 3:16 (KJV)
It's a significant connection.
The verse in John 3:16 is not taught by itself.
The image of the bronze serpent has already come into the light of Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus.
The movement is:
Looked up: Serpent lifted up people looked people lived
and then:
The child of man was raised up → people believe → people get eternal life.
Spiritual Reflection
The bronze serpent reminds us that sometimes people can get attached to the symbol and lose sight of the God behind the symbol.
A cross can be a piece of decoration.
A Bible can be just a book.
A church building can be a landmark.
A religious way of life can turn into a habit.
None of these should be a substitute for a relationship with God.
The bronze serpent calls us to question:
Am I looking at the things that represent God or am I looking at God?
📌 Key Takeaway
The bronze serpent was made by God's command to Moses during the Israelites in the wilderness. Those that had been bitten by serpents were told to look at it and live. No god or magical source of healing was the object itself. The Israelites, centuries later, made it an object of worship and it was destroyed by King Hezekiah. The story of the bronze serpent was later used by Jesus as a symbol of His lifting up, representing the connection between the wilderness past and faith, salvation and life forever.
The lesson is that the symbol cannot become more important that the God to which it refers.
📚 References
Scripture
Old Testament: Old Testament, The Holy Bible, King James Version (KJV)
Numbers 21:4–9
Deuteronomy 8:2–5
2 Kings 18:1–6
Psalm 78:34–35
John 3:1–21
1 Corinthians 10:9
Biblical Background
The New Bible Dictionary
This resource is a dictionary for Biblical Imagery.
The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible
Classification
Scripture: James 1:26-27 (ESV)Bible Verse: James 1:26-27 (ESV): "Let him who would do good do it quickly; let him who would sin sin quickly.
Biblical References: Numbers 21:4–9; 2 Kings 18:4; John 3:14–16
Historical Context: The history of the bronze serpent is part of the biblical story of Israel's journey in the wilderness. The destruction of the bronze serpent by King Hezekiah is in specific mention in 2 Kings 18:4.
Biblical Status: Clearly Taught. The bronze serpent is mentioned specifically in Numbers and was clearly explained by Jesus in John 3.
Scientific Status: The Bible describes the healing with the bronze serpent as something God did. No scientific research has been done to validate that simply watching a bronze object can neutralize the venom of a snake.
Christians typically interpret Jesus' words in John 3 as the bronze serpent as a symbol of His being lifted up and the salvation that is found in faith. There are different possible views on what the symbolism of the serpent means.
Editorial Note: The King James Version (KJV) is used and the context of Scripture and Christian scholarship are considered. Guiding Verses does not equate the Bible story with theological interpretation or scientific claims, nor will it make the presentation of some symbolic or supernatural claims to be scientific fact.
