Nicodemus and the Story of Moses lifting the snake on the dessert

John Chapter 3 Tells us about the time when Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, a Pharisee member of the Sanhedrin. Interestingly is reported that he told Jesus:

 

 “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jon 3:2 NIV

 

Jesus explained several important things related to how to receive eternal life. Nicodemus was apparently impaired. He struggled to understand Jesus, even though he was a versed man in the faith of his forefathers. Jesus decides to tell him an analogy:

 

13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 17Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:13-17 NIV

 

Jesus made reference to a passage in the Torah, aiming to something Nicodemus would understand as a versed man on the Law. Jesus in verse 14 makes reference to the story included in Numbers 21, when the Israelites were on the way to the promised land after leaving Egypt:

 

[Num 21:1-9 NIV] 1 When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim, he attacked the Israelites and captured some of them. 2 Then Israel made this vow to the LORD: "If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will totally destroy their cities." 3 The LORD listened to Israel's plea and gave the Canaanites over to them. They completely destroyed them and their towns; so the place was named Hormah. 4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" 6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

 

As usual, this story is filled with symbolism. What did Jesus want to say? Let’s look back again to John 3:13-17. In verse 13 he says that as the son of Man he has been to heaven, and he knows very well about it. Then in verse 14 he says that if you reflect on  what is said in Numbers 21:1-9 you can understand what he’s talking about. He’s saying Numbers 23 even though was a real event, God did it to outline a prophecy. In numbers 21, it’s said Moses put a snake on a pole and people was cured. That is a symil with what is said in John 3:15 that the son of Man should be lifted up to something similar to a pole. That would be the cross. John 3:15 tells us why the son of Man should be lifted up to a pole, “ so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in Him”. It’s very similar to what happen to the snake on the pole, any one who looked at the snake on the pole was healed. If you see God told Moses in Num 21:8 “anyone who is bitten CAN look at it and live” it was up to the bitten person if they wanted to look at the snake or not. They had to believe. So happens with The Son of Man in the pole, you have to believe.

 

Now why was a snake used as a simil? I got an explanation looking at the Hebrew original words. In Numbers 21:6 what was biting people was “venomous snakes”, in Hebrew it says ha-nnehashim ha-sserafim ( הַנְּחָשִׁים הַשְּׂרָפִים ), literally THE fiery snakes. The word for snake is the same used in the garden of Even, the one who tempted Adam and Eve. So we can see that even though they were physical snakes biting and making people physically sick, this is also an analogy of people being tempted by fallen angels. The sickness of the temptation is sin, which is the act of disobedience to God.

 

But why did God ask to put a snake on a pole? Let us look at the Hebrew again. Num 21:8 says

 

 וַיֹּ֨אמֶר  יְהוָ֜ה  אֶל־  מֹשֶׁ֗ה  עֲשֵׂ֤ה  לְךָ֙  שָׂרָ֔ף  וְשִׂ֥ים  אֹת֖וֹ  עַל־  נֵ֑ס  וְהָיָה֙  כָּל־  הַנָּשׁ֔וּךְ  וְרָאָ֥ה  אֹת֖וֹ  וָחָֽי׃ 

Vayyomer Adonai YHWH ‘el Moshe ‘aseh likha Saraf; vesim ‘otu ‘al nes; vehayah kol ha-nnashukh vera’ah vachay

My translation: And YHWH said to Moses: Acquire for you a Saraf (this is the word used before as venomous or fiery) and make it a sign on a pole (a banner or something similar, something lifted up to show something); and it will come to happen that all who sees (the Saraf) would live.

 

So whomever looked at the Saraf on the pole would live. What is a Saraf? Hebrew is a very rich language. One interesting feature of Hebrew is that some words have multiple meanings. And in some cases they could be completely opposite ones. In the case of Saraf, the plural is Serafims, angels. In English is translated Seraphins. But the word also means fiery, serpent, flying dragon. Now this can help us understanding the analogy. God tells us that in the pole Moses set as a sign, there was a representation of a being that was both a Majestic being, but also could be seen as a fiery serpent. And I can’t avoid thinking of this as a representation of Christ. For the pole Moses had was a sign, this would be the cross. And the Saraf of the pole would be Jesus, the Majestic one who “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5:21)