Bronze Snake

What “snake” (John 3:14) is Jesus referring to?
The bronze snake that God told Moses to make as recorded in Numbers 21:8-9: 8 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery snake and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a snake had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze snake, he lived.

Why did God tell Moses to make a bronze snake?
The Jews sinned against God by saying that their “soul loathes” manna, the bread that God gave them, and by falsely accusing Him of making them “die” after He delivered them from slavery in Egypt. In response, God began to make them die using poisonous snakes: Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom, and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this light bread.” So the LORD sent fiery snakes among the people, and they bit the people, and many people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people (Numbers 21:4-7).

What did Moses do with the bronze snake after he made it?
He “set it on a pole” (Numbers 21:8) so that when anyone “looked at the bronze snake, he lived” (Numbers 21:9).

The bronze snake on a pole is an image of whom?
Jesus.

After what moment?
After He has been “lifted up” (John 3:14) on the cross, taken on our sins, cried out, “Why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) to God the Father, then, “It is finished!” (John 19:30), and died. The bronze snake wasn’t foreshadowing the baby Jesus in the manger. It was foreshadowing Jesus on the cross just after He paid the death penalty due for our sins.

Why would God do that?
See next page.