Messianic Prophecy in the Pentateuch - Part 03

Chris Rodriguez: Shalom, and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinctly first-century Jewish point of view. Today, our Bible teacher, Stephen Ger, continues his five-part series on Messianic Prophecy in the Pentateuch. And now, with today's teaching, here's Stephen Ger.
Stephen Ger: Shalom, this is Stephen Ger, and we're continuing our conversation regarding Messianic prophecy in the books of Moses and in the Pentateuch. Today, we're going to look at Numbers 21. For some of you, you're going to have to blow the dust off of the book of Numbers because it's been quite some time since you've been in that book. In Numbers 21, we will see the story of the elevated bronze serpent. The elevated bronze serpent is as clear a Messianic typology, a prophetic picture of things to come regarding the Messiah, as the Bible records. But don't take my word for it. Let's see what the passage itself says and let's see how the New Testament uses this particular passage as a means of typology. Numbers 21, set in the context in verse 4, says, "Then they set out from Mount Hor, by way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. The people spoke against God and Moses, 'Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.'" I thought you said there was no food and no water, but you loathe nothing that you particularly like. But anyway, verse 6 says, "The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people so that many people of Israel died." So the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us." And Moses interceded for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it," in other words at the elevated serpent, "he will live." And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. So what's happening here during the nation of Israel's continuing wilderness desert sojourn? There's a combination they had of forceful impatience that met a wall of gross ingratitude. When their forceful impatience met their gross ingratitude, it resulted in a storm from God of divine punishment. The Israelites were plagued with a plethora of deadly, venomous snakes. Only after several Israelites had been struck down by these poisonous snakes did the nation finally repent from their sin—their impatience, their ingratitude, their grumbling—and finally seek Moses' intercession and pleading for the Lord to mercifully conclude this latest debacle, this disaster that they were presently experiencing. So Moses does this. He intercedes and he's instructed by God to fashion—what some translations say is bronze, but may well be copper—a copper replica of one of the serpents that had been biting these guys, and that replica should be mounted and raised up on a pole. That pole that has the serpent should be placed in a central location within the camp. From that moment on, whoever was bitten by a serpent could simply look intently with faith at the elevated bronze replica and receive healing. One had to look at the serpent, not just take a peek at it, but look intently with faith at the elevated bronze replica, and they would be healed. The New Testament is very specific in using this, and none other than Jesus Himself references the account of the elevated bronze serpent. He says it's a prophetic type that illustrates His Messianic mission. The bronze serpent account is a prophetic picture that illustrates the Messianic mission of Jesus. The way it works is just as Israel could look upon the bronze serpent and receive salvation from physical temporal death that would come about from being bit by the venomous snake, so could men look upon the Son of Man—in other words, the crucified Messiah elevated upon a cross—and receive eternal life. As Jesus says in John 3:14 and 15, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life." Jesus also alludes to this concept later on in John chapter 12, verses 32 and 33. He says, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." John tells us He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. There are three elements of typological correlation, of prophetic correlation between the bronze serpent and Jesus. There are three ways in which they are the same. First, the replica had the form of a deadly serpent but was without poisonous venom. So too, the Messiah possesses the likeness of sinful flesh and yet was without sin. It looked deadly, but it gave life. So too, the Messiah looked like sin and yet He was without sin. A second point of correspondence is just as the replica serpent seemed like some kind of counterintuitive solution for the Israelites' dilemma. Is there a doctor in the house or not? Why would I look at a serpent and be healed? It seems counterintuitive. So too, a crucified Messiah seems a very unlikely cure for the sin of mankind. Counterintuitive indeed. Someone else will die that we all may live? How does that work exactly? The third point: just as looking with faith upon God's provision for Israel—in other words, looking at the bronze serpent with faith—results in physical healing, so too looking with faith upon God's provision for mankind—in other words, the Messiah—results in spiritual salvation. You look on God's provision for Israel in this context, which was the bronze serpent, and they were physically healed. So too, we look with faith upon God's provision not just for Israel, not just for the Jewish people, but all humanity. That provision is the Messiah. Looking with faith upon Him results in spiritual salvation and eternal life indeed. In the time that we have left in this session, I want to introduce the subject of our next session, which are the prophetic oracles of a guy by the name of Balaam. The prophetic oracles of Balaam take a portion of Numbers from 23 to 24. Two chapters are devoted to this particular guy and what he has to say. Who was Balaam? He wasn't a Jewish prophet. Balaam was a Gentile seer, a soothsayer, and he was a syncretist. He would take the best from all the different traditions around from the region of Mesopotamia. When he saw the God of Israel, he incorporated some of that as well. He was commissioned by the king of Moab. The king of Moab is by the name of Balak. Balak hires Balaam. He's hired for a specific job: to supernaturally curse Israel. He's got such a renowned reputation as an effective seer and soothsayer that it was believed that whomever he blessed would indeed be blessed and whomever he cursed would likewise be cursed. That language should be familiar because it's a twisted echo of the Abrahamic Covenant's promise that whomever blessed or cursed Abraham's progeny would be reciprocally blessed or cursed in Genesis 12:3, the E=mc² of Scripture. When Balak sees Israel arriving at the nation of Moab's border, he gets to work and he designs an offensive strategy. He is so nervous that his strategy is built upon his expectation of Balaam's powerful sorcery and magic. That's his best offense against the children of Israel. Prior to Balaam even showing up in Moab, this guy's got three consultations that happen with the Lord—and not a pagan god, we're talking about the Lord. In the ancient world, it was believed that the particular gods that were worshiped by specific nations had the greatest power over those nations. So naturally Balaam, if he wants to throw the whammy at Israel, he's going to consult Israel's God. He's going to go straight to the source. Israel's God was probably one of many deities to whom Balaam gave some attention. In these encounters, Balaam is repeatedly told to speak only the word of the Lord, and specifically told not to curse Israel, whom God had blessed. Once Balaam arrives in Moab, not one of his efforts to curse Israel is going to come to pass or fruition, but is going to alternatively result in his prophetic blessing of God's chosen people. Israel's going to come out ahead in the transaction. Just what Balaam says and just how those prophetic oracles get turned around, we're going to see next time. Until then, I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave you in suspense.
Chris Rodriguez: Thank you, Stephen. If you missed part of this series, you'll be glad to know that it's available on one convenient compact disc for the suggested gift of just six dollars. Just point your web browser to our online store at MessianicSpecialties.com and search for "Messianic Prophecy in the Pentateuch" and place your order with our secure server. If you'd prefer ordering by phone, just call our toll-free order line at 1-800-926-5397, and our operator will be glad to assist you. Of course, you can still order by mail; just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, PO Box 345, San Antonio, Texas 78215. And as always, when you're in touch with us, whether it's through the mail, by phone, or even on the internet, if you would please mention the call letters of the station. This is Chris Rodriguez. Join us tomorrow for another edition of Messianic Prophecy in the Pentateuch, right here on Messianic Perspectives. Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries in San Antonio, Texas, and is made possible on this station by the free-will contribution of our listeners in this area.