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The Serpent on the Pole - Jesus or Satan?

Serpent on the Pole - Jesus or Satan?

As Moses lifted up the Serpent---John 3:14,15.

When Israel rebelled against God and were bitten by serpents, God said to Moses:
Make a snake (of bronze) and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live. Numbers 21:8.

What, or whom did that snake represent?
What light did Jesus, the original Source of Scripture, cast on this most peculiar text?

Have you ever received a deep wound in your inner being?
Do you know the sorrow, the pain of a wound that refuses to heal?
Does it travel through your memory in endless circles that you can't erase?
Has recalling the serpent-like fangs of that biting wound, become an addiction?

Have either emotional trauma or personal loneliness introduced you to an escape route that turned out to be an addictive treadmill leading to nowhere? Are you drowning in substance abuse? Do you feel like you are submerging for the last time? Before depression and dependency destroy you, listen to the words of the greatest Healer of all time:
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. John 3:14,15.

Take note of the word As = in like manner. Not the same subject, but a contrasting comparison between Jesus on the cross and the serpent on the pole.

Moses was told to lift up a picture, or representation, of the enemy that bit the Jews.
Take a good look at the enemy that bit you, he said. It is the snake!
In case you did not recognize him, he is the source of your trouble!
Since Eden, that serpent, Satan, has always been your enemy.

Jesus gave Israel the true meaning of "serpent on the pole." Snake symbolizes Satan! You allowed that snake to bite you, He said. Before you can be healed, you must face and admit the fact that you have fallen victim to his temptation!

The truth of salvation is in Jesus! He is the TRUTH with a capital T, who alone can heal us.
Our human condition is a lost condition - by nature we are tied to the serpent on the pole.

Before we can come to Jesus who is The truth - capital T, we must first look at, and admit the other truth - truth with small t - which says that we were born into trouble and need deliverance.

Only when we admit that we are in need of help from outside ourselves, will we turn away from the serpent and look to Jesus on the cross. Only He can set us free. Our natural life must be faced and surrendered before we can receive His new life. First, we must face and confess the truth that the snake is our enemy. Then turn and look to Jesus! He will heal you! Like David in 2 Samuel 12, we must first identify and turn away from the enemy that has victimized us. Only then can we be healed. What further evidence is there that the serpent represented Satan?
2 Kings 18:4 tells us that later, Israel used the serpent on a pole, a symbol of Satan, for worship.
They misunderstood God's purpose and thought that the serpent who bit them was also their healer and inadvertently worshipped their enemy.

Turn away from the serpent on pole (Satan) and look to Me. I am your Healer, Jesus said.

Parallel : 2 Cor. 3:7. The Law on stone, called the ministration of death -also meant death!

The Jews made the Law their central focus - Note Jesus' words in John 5: 39,40. : "you think that in them you have eternal life!"

They kept focusing on the Law, the ministration of death, and they missed Jesus, the Life Giver, whom they hung on a cross. Their focus and thinking were in the wrong place. First, they thought that healing came by looking at a snake on a pole, then at the Law on stone.
Because of the same mind set they thought that the Law on stone, the "thou shalt nots..." was the key to their salvation. Focusing on the negative never did, nor ever will bring healing.

We need not remain captives to the enemy and his painful snake-bite!
Jesus came to:
1. Open prison doors.
2. Set the captives free.
3. Heal the brokenhearted.
4. Deliver those who are bruised and imprisoned.
5. Celebrate the good news (Gospel) of redeeming grace.

Question: Are you tired of looking at your performance record? Is your focus on Jesus, who lives, or are you slavishly focusing on the Law that He nailed to the cross? Jesus warned us that we cannot serve two masters. Matthew 6:24. Remember, when Jesus was resurrected, the Law remained on the cross! Colossians 2:13-17. There is no record that the Law was resurrected with Him! He alone is the resurrection and the life.

To be restored, you must first come clean by admitting that you have fallen victim to the snake- bite, just as Eve had done before you. Face that fact squarely! Confess, and agree with God that you have sinned. How can you benefit from the remedy while you continue to ignore the source of your problem?
If we [freely] admit (agree) that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just... and will forgive our sins ... and continuously cleanse us from all unrighteousness - everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought and action. 1 John 1:9 (Amp).

So long as you are sold out to God, He will not only cleanse you, but He has promised to keep you pure in His sight. The blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin! 1 John 1:7.

Too many people are enamored with the wrong pole. To be healed you must first be honest enough to see yourself as you really are, a victim of the enemy. Then, turn and look to Jesus who died on the cross and He will heal and restore your broken life. He alone is your Healer! (Amp).

Samuel Pestes e-mail s.pestes@shaw.ca Web www.sendingthelight.com