| Bronze Serpent | Creation date: 9-Feb-2019 |
Last updated: 11-Jun-2019 |
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| 1 | What was the Bronze Serpent? |
| 2 | Jesus Christ lifted up like the Bronze Serpent |
Bronze in the scriptures is a symbol of Judgment. The
significance is conveyed in the meaning of the Bronze Serpent which
Jesus Christ explains in John 3:14 discussed in this topic.
This is also why bronze was used in the
Bronze Basin and many
other scriptures such as description of the Resurrected Jesus
Christ's feet as where He goes will be in Righteousness.
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The Bronze Serpent was made by Moses so that when the people looked at it after being bitten by a deadly snake, then they were healed. At the time, there was a plague of snakes sent from God because Israel was murmuring against God. If a person was bitten and they did not look up to the Bronze Serpent, then they would die.
A problem arose later when Israel began to worship the Bronze Serpent, so Hezekiah the King destroyed it in 2 Kings 18:4. This signified a problem of setting up a manmade image to be worshipped. Anything man made is not to be worshipped as god, as an image of god or even as our real God. In the New Testament era within the Church, there has been much of the same sort of problems of worshipping images that convey a person selected by mankind as a saint, Mary, or even an image of the God of the Bible.
| Numbers 21:9 | So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. |
| 2 Kings 18:4 | He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.) |
Note that the "High Places", "Sacred stones" and "Asherah poles" where places of demonic worship of false gods besides Asherah. Often the poles were trees that were decorated and sometimes carved into a phallic symbol, a nude woman or a nude man. Israel was not only participating in the worship at the location but some of Israel would watch from the groves when sexual acts were underway, which is an old-world form of pornography. This is also where child sacrifice would occur. King Hezekiah was doing many great things to clean up Israel!
Recall the prophetic words spoken by Jesus Christ, that He was "to be lifted up like the Bronze Serpent" as read in John 3:14. The central message of the Gospel is Jesus Christ died for our sins which is analogous to the Bronze Serpent. All of us who look to Jesus Christ as our Savior will be saved and can enter eternity with God!
| John 3:14 Son of Man Title of Jesus Christ |
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up |
| Isaiah 53:8-9 | 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who among them considered that he was
cut off out of the land of the
living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was
due? 9 And they made his grave with the
wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no
violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Note that "cut off" indicates he was killed. He would die with two criminals but be in the grave of a rich man. |
| Luke 23:33 | When they came to the place called “The Skull,” they crucified Jesus there, and the two criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. |
| 1 Peter 3:18 | For Christ died for sins once and for all, a good man on behalf of sinners, in order to lead you to God. He was put to death physically, but made alive spiritually |
| Amos 8:9 |
On that day, I, the LORD God, will make the sun go
down at midday, and I will turn daylight into darkness.
Note that "midday" when the darkness was at the cross was 3pm when Jesus Christ died. |
| John 3:16-17 | 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him. |
Is okay to have pictures of Jesus Christ? What is Salvation? Is it is possible to lose Salvation? We have eternal life. Evolution is not real. When a Christian suffers is there benefits from it. Rewards in heaven. Do we Tithe? What does the 3rd Commandment tell us? What is Grace and Mercy? Is there an Age of Accountability? Is there a place of unending punishment and exile form God?