the, was an image of polished brass, in the form of one
of those fiery serpents which were sent to chastise the murmuring
Israelites in the wilderness, and whose bite caused violent heat,
thirst, and inflammation. By divine command “Moses made a serpent of
brass,” or copper, 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,” Num. xxi, 6–9. This brasen serpent was preserved as a monument
of the divine mercy, but in process of time became an instrument of
idolatry. When this superstition began, it is difficult to determine;
but the best account is given by the Jewish rabbi, David Kimchi, in the
following manner: From the time that the kings of Israel did evil, and
the children of Israel followed idolatry, till the reign of Hezekiah,
they offered incense to it; for it being written in the law of Moses,
“Whoever looketh upon it shall live,” they fancied they might obtain
blessings by its mediation, and therefore thought it worthy to be
worshipped. It had been kept from the days of Moses, in memory of a
miracle, in the same manner as the pot of manna was: and Asa and
Jehoshaphat did not extirpate it when they rooted out idolatry, because
in their reign they did not observe that the people worshipped this
serpent, or burnt incense to it; and therefore they left it as a
memorial. But Hezekiah thought fit to take it quite away, when he
abolished other idolatry, because in the time of his father they adored
it as an idol; and though pious people among them accounted it only as a
memorial of a wonderful work, yet he judged it better to abolish it,
though the memory of the miracle should happen to be lost, than suffer
it to remain, and leave the Israelites in danger to commit idolatry
hereafter with it. On the subject of the serpent-bitten Israelites being
healed by looking at the brasen serpent, there is a good comment in the
book of Wisdom, chap. xvi, 4–12, in which are these remarkable
words:--“They were admonished, having a sign of salvation,” that is, the
brasen serpent, “to put them in remembrance of the commandments of thy
law. For he that turned himself toward it, was not saved by the THING
that he saw, but by THEE, that art the Saviour of all,” verses 6, 7. To
the circumstance of looking at the brasen serpent in order to be healed,
our Lord refers, John iii, 14, 15: “As Moses lifted up the (brasen)
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life.”
of those fiery serpents which were sent to chastise the murmuring
Israelites in the wilderness, and whose bite caused violent heat,
thirst, and inflammation. By divine command “Moses made a serpent of
brass,” or copper, 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,” Num. xxi, 6–9. This brasen serpent was preserved as a monument
of the divine mercy, but in process of time became an instrument of
idolatry. When this superstition began, it is difficult to determine;
but the best account is given by the Jewish rabbi, David Kimchi, in the
following manner: From the time that the kings of Israel did evil, and
the children of Israel followed idolatry, till the reign of Hezekiah,
they offered incense to it; for it being written in the law of Moses,
“Whoever looketh upon it shall live,” they fancied they might obtain
blessings by its mediation, and therefore thought it worthy to be
worshipped. It had been kept from the days of Moses, in memory of a
miracle, in the same manner as the pot of manna was: and Asa and
Jehoshaphat did not extirpate it when they rooted out idolatry, because
in their reign they did not observe that the people worshipped this
serpent, or burnt incense to it; and therefore they left it as a
memorial. But Hezekiah thought fit to take it quite away, when he
abolished other idolatry, because in the time of his father they adored
it as an idol; and though pious people among them accounted it only as a
memorial of a wonderful work, yet he judged it better to abolish it,
though the memory of the miracle should happen to be lost, than suffer
it to remain, and leave the Israelites in danger to commit idolatry
hereafter with it. On the subject of the serpent-bitten Israelites being
healed by looking at the brasen serpent, there is a good comment in the
book of Wisdom, chap. xvi, 4–12, in which are these remarkable
words:--“They were admonished, having a sign of salvation,” that is, the
brasen serpent, “to put them in remembrance of the commandments of thy
law. For he that turned himself toward it, was not saved by the THING
that he saw, but by THEE, that art the Saviour of all,” verses 6, 7. To
the circumstance of looking at the brasen serpent in order to be healed,
our Lord refers, John iii, 14, 15: “As Moses lifted up the (brasen)
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life.”