Numbers 21:4-10
4 They (the Israelites) traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” (manna) 🤭
6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 😕 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.” 🙌🏻
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The children of Israel were very near to the end of their wanderings in the wilderness. 40…..actually 38…..years of murmuring and complaining, murmuring and complaining, murmuring and complaining.
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The First Of Many Evil Days.
Why do I say, “38?” Because it was 38 years from the time they were turned back from the Promised Land at Kadesh Barnea. From that point on, their wandering was a judgment on them. It was the 9th day of the month of Av; Tish B’Av in Hebrew.
Ask any of your Jewish friends about this date and they will tell you some hair-raising tales. So many evil things that have happened to the Jewish people occurred on this exact date, it cannot be a coincidence. It was on this, the first of many evil days, that the spies returned from gathering intel on the land of Canaan. 10 of the 12 brought back an evil report that all except Joshua and Caleb believed. The date was the 9th of Av, or Tish B’Av. 😭
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If you’d like to read the whole sad tale, you may follow the link below:
https://emmausroadministries.international/2017/01/16/tish-bav-an-evil-day/
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Miserable Food???
The opening passage records the 10th time the Children of Israel tested the LORD since that fateful day. They even went so far as to say they HATED the Manna He sent; called it “Miserable food!”
Miserable food??? Uh oh…..Not good! You see, “Manna” is a typology of Jesus, the Bread of Life; God’s beloved Son. Their rejection of it was a depiction their rejection of Him. 😲

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Why A Serpent, Not A Lamb?
As the perfect, sinless, Lamb of God, Jesus came down from heaven to became the final sacrifice for sins. No more bulls and goats, HALLELUJAH! So, why did God have Moses make a bronze SERPENT and not a bronze LAMB and put it on a pole? Because it would to be THE LAMB that would take away our sins: What we DO. But on the cross, Jesus became what we ARE: Snakes.
Yep, that’s right, folks. Without Christ, we’re all just a bunch of snakes.
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You see, God cannot forgive the flesh. Romans 8:4 says that God “CONDEMNED SIN IN THE FLESH.” That is why Jesus “BECAME” sin at the cross. He became what we are: A sin factory, basically. Though God could not forgive the flesh, He CONDEMNED it in the body of His Beloved Son on the cross. As we walk through life, we are under His covering, like a waterfall, so that when we occasionally sin, it is instantly cleansed instantly.
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(In case you don’t believe me, The Holy Spirit draws a beautiful picture of this truth in the story below about the Burnt Offering:
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Your True Identity.
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Secrets In The Hebrew Language.
The Hebrew word for “Look” in this passage is not the normal word for “Look.” You see, the person bitten had to look “With a positive expectation of being healed.” It’s a picture of the cross.
What is always God’s answer to us when we need healing, protection, and provision? Look to the cross with positive expectation of full provision!
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Now let’s look at what God has hidden in the text itself. You know how He loves to hide wisdom in plain sight. 😉
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Hebrew reads from right to left and is a form of picture writing, like Chinese. The word “pictures” of each letter tell us a story and show things you’d never find in any definition. What’s really cool is that they give us a window on God’s perspective.
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The Hebrew letters, from right to left, are “nun-chet-shin.”
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[נ] Nun is a picture of a “fish.” The fish is symbolic of believers and of the Church. That is why it was used as the symbol for “Christian” in the early Church.
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Put the meanings of all the pictures together and they tell a story. Church: What is it that the devil wants to do most of all? He wants to KEEP BELIEVERS FENCED OFF FROM ALMIGHTY GOD! That is God’s perspective or definition of a serpent.
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More Hebrew.
The word for “bite” in Hebrew is “nashak.” Below is its Hebrew spelling:
[נשך] Nun-Shin-Kaf
This word is used when the fiery serpents “Bit” the Israelites in the desert. It’s also the same word used to refer to the “Charging of interest” by lenders: Fiery little bites of poison. Pretty graphic picture if you ask me!
Nun and Shin you’ve already met. Whenever a word ends in “Kaf,” [ך] it is either something that belongs to you or happens to you. This letter looks like it has its back turned away from God.
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When you (the believer) [נ]ignore or turn your back [ך] on Almighty God’s [ש] instructions (that’s what Torah means) you can get “Bit – Nashak [נשך].”
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Your “fiery serpent” may be your debt, your depression, your disease, or some other seemingly insurmountable problem. How do you deal with your problems? How did God answer the people’s prayers to take the serpents away? Did He take them away? No. He had Moses make a “Fiery bronze serpent” and put it on a pole.
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This is a picture of Jesus on the cross. You see, God’s answer is always, “Look expectantly” to the cross. Your answer is always God’s provision through Jesus’ sacrifice.
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More Secrets In Hebrew.
Below is the Hebrew word for bronze and its Hebrew spelling:
“nachochet.” [נחשת]
The letters, from right to left, are “nun-het-shin-tav.”
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Today, because our precious Jesus selflessly sacrificed Himself for us on the cross, you and I can look expectantly for healing and every provision to His finished work because the cross has replaced the bronze serpent.
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Even More Hebrew.
As if all that weren’t cool enough, look at the word for Eagle and its Hebrew spelling:
Nesher [נשר]. Nun-shin-resh
Once again, the first two letters you already know. The letter on the far left of this word is, “Resh-[ר]. It means, “Leader or head.” “Rosh Hashanah,” for instance, means, “head of the year.”
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This is what it means to God to be an eagle: “When you accept the Lord as your leader or your head, you become an EAGLE!”
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EAGLES EAT SNAKES. Just like the eagle in the picture above, we will tread upon the lion and the cobra; the young lion and the serpent WE SHALL TRAMPLE UNDERFOOT!
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