TYPES OF CHRIST IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
A
Bible Study - Commentary by Jim Melough
Copyright
2001 James Melough
THE BRAZEN SERPENT
“And as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life,” Jn
3:14-15. While there is possibly no Christian who can’t quote this portion of
Scripture, it is questionable whether all of them are familiar with the OT
incident referred to, and it is equally questionable whether all of those who
are, are aware of its spiritual significance. The details are recorded in
Numbers 21. As chastisement for rebellious murmuring, God sent serpents
amongst the Israelites; and then in response to their repentance, commanded
Moses, “Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come
to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live,”
Nu 21:8.
No one familiar with biblical
symbolism has any difficulty seeing in that brazen serpent suspended on the
pole, a figure of Christ suspended on the cross; but a problem for many is to
understand how that which is almost invariably the biblical symbol of Satan (Ge
3:1,14-15; Re 12:9; 20:22), can be also symbolic of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
should note, however, that this is not the only symbol used to portray both
Christ and Satan. The lion is another, for while the Lord is designated as
the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Satan is declared to be, “a roaring lion ...
seeking whom he may devour,” 1 Pe 5:8.
The propriety of the brazen
serpent as a type of Christ is comprehended in the light of 2 Co 5:21, “For he
hath made him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him.” We stand today before God in all the
acceptability of Christ, having imputed to us His righteousness; but only
because two thousand years ago He stood before God as our Representative, in
all our unacceptability, willing to have imputed to Him all our sin.
The method by which that
brazen serpent was produced, declares in symbol something of what it cost
Christ to make atonement for our sin. The brazen serpent hanging on that pole
in the desert was the product of the fire and the hammer, the one making it
malleable, the other giving it shape. It must be malleable before the hammer
could have any effect. In the malleability of that heated brass God bids us
see the perfect submission of His Son. It was love, not compulsion that led
Christ to Calvary to bear judgment due to us, to die a death we should have
died. The lifeless Form hanging on Calvary’s cross had emerged from the
furnace of Divine anger (anger that should have consumed us, but to which He
voluntarily submitted Himself); it had been produced by the blows of God’s
wrath against sin, that should have fallen upon us. The prophet, pointing
forward to Calvary, declared concerning Christ, “From above hath he sent fire
into my bones,” La 1:13; “Thy wrath lieth hard upon me,” Ps 88:7.
As one look at that suspended
brazen serpent was sufficient to annul the sentence of death for every bitten
Israelite, so is one believing look at the Christ suspended on Calvary’s cross
sufficient to annul the sentence of eternal death pronounced against every
sinner.