The Bronze Serpent

Numbers 21

4 From Mount Hor a they set out by the way to the Red Sea, b to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people c spoke against God and against Moses, d "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and e we loathe this worthless food." 6 f Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and g they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 h And the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. i Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." 9 So j Moses made a bronze 1 serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

  1. Cross References
    Numbers 20:22
    And they journeyed from Kadesh, and the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.
    Numbers 33:41
    And they set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.
  2. Cross References
    Judges 11:18
    Then they journeyed through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and arrived on the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab.
  3. Cross References
    Psalms 78:19
    They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
  4. Cross References
    Exodus 16:3
    And the people of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
    Exodus 17:3
    But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?
  5. Cross References
    Numbers 11:6
    But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.
  6. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 8:15
    Who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock.
    1 Corinthians 10:9
    We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents.
    Isaiah 14:29
    Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you, that the rod that struck you is broken, for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent.
    Isaiah 30:6
    An oracle on the beasts of the Negeb. Through a land of trouble and anguish, from where come the lioness and the lion, the adder and the flying fiery serpent, they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people that cannot profit them.
  7. Cross References
    Jeremiah 8:17
    For behold, I am sending among you serpents, adders that cannot be charmed, and they shall bite you," declares the Lord.
  8. Cross References
    Psalms 78:34
    When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly.
    Numbers 11:2
    Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down.
  9. Cross References
    Exodus 8:8
    Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, "Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.
    Exodus 8:28
    So Pharaoh said, "I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away. Plead for me.
    1 Samuel 12:19
    And all the people said to Samuel, "Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.
    1 Kings 13:6
    And the king said to the man of God, "Entreat now the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me." And the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king's hand was restored to him and became as it was before.
    Acts 8:24
    And Simon answered, "Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.
  10. Cross References
    John 3:14 - 15
    And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
    2 Kings 18:4
    He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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