WHO's serpent represents worthiness to suffer

Numbers 21 has the very famous passage: [5] And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

[6] And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
[7] Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
[8] And the LORD said unto 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.
[9] And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

“At that crucifixion event, you know what some of those people did?” asks Alex Kurz. “They behold what just happened and recognize their unworthiness and the guilt of the nation.

“Listen, those fiery serpents represent us. The fiery serpent represents the rebellion and unbelief of the nation of Israel.

“By the way, the American Medical Association and the World Health Organization, you know what their official logo is? It’s a pole with a serpent. Where did they get that from?

“They would argue, based upon Greek mythology, ‘Well, that represents the rod of Asclepius.’ Some mythical God in Greek history who practiced the healing and medicinal arts. This is so cute.

“So the medical profession, they don’t go to the Book of Numbers to appreciate the origins of the serpent around the pole. They would rather go to Greek mythology: ‘Agh, it’s the rod of Asclepius.’ Well, who’s this guy? A god, small ‘g’, false, fictious god, who supposedly practiced medicine.

“Now, why don’t you just acknowledge the Bible is always right? Listen, the origins of the serpent on the pole, we’re reading it! Unbelievers unwittingly don’t even know they’re following the Word of God.

“Verse 8: [8] And the LORD said unto 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.

“God says, ‘I don’t want your works, I don’t want your achievements, I just want you to look at what I’m doing.’ What God’s reaffirming is, ‘I don’t want what you can do; I want you to acknowledge what I’m doing.’ That’s what happens after the crucifixion.

“Verse 9: [9] And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

“These fiery serpents represent the rebellion of Israel and Israel’s worthiness to suffer the eternal consequences of rebellion. Jesus is reminding Israel, ‘You deserve the all-consuming eternal wrath of Almighty God because you’re rejecting me.’

“Isaiah 66:23-24: [23] And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
[24] And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

“What does Moses do? The fiery serpent represents your worthiness to burn as a worm with the fire that is not quenched.

“What does Jesus do? He’s unloading, reminding Israel, ‘Guess what’s going to happen when I’m lifted up? You’re going to understand.’

“In Numbers 21:7, the problem is it’s in their heart. Peter actually indicts the nation of Israel: ‘You wicked, rebellious apostates. You took the anointed one and with wicked hands crucified Him.’

“If you go to II Kings 18, 700 years later, you know what Israel’s doing with that brass pole? They’re worshipping it!

“So King Hezekiah, you know what he says? ‘We’re destroying this!’ Verse 4 says, [4] He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

“Israel is guilty of apostasy. They take an object that symbolizes their worthiness to burn in hell and they’re worshipping it. This is 700 years later! Isn’t sin absolutely destructive?! They don’t even realize the symbolism.

"That tells you how destructive sin and rebellion are. It reminds me of Romans 1 where the sinner actually enjoys seeing other people guilty of sin. They actually relish the rebellion, relish their sin, accusing and excusing one another.”

(new article tomorrow. FYI, the ‘e’ key was cleaned at repair shop and it seemed to be back to normal, but as soon as I started writing again, using it frequently, it went back to being erratic, either not giving an ‘e’ unless you hit the key multiple times (up to 25 tries) or shooting out two ‘e’s’ upon striking it once.)