This past week’s parasha brings us to a very special place in the Scriptures. Again, the parasha is that weekly portion of the five books of Moses that is read every Shabbat in synagogues around the world. They go through reading the whole Torah, (the five books) in one year. These portions of Scripture no doubt play a role in touching the heart of the reader and directing him/her to one fundamental subject of the Bible, that is, the Messiah and the need for a reconciliation.
This particular parasha is called parasha houkah which means decree and is taken from Numbers 19:1 to 22:1. Found nestled in these three chapters, is one very small portion consisting of only 4 verses which certainly attracts the reader’s attention for it is so unusual. It stands out from those many laws and regulations we find in this book and brings out a foundational truth; salvation is by faith. The event in Numbers is stated so clearly that everyone, even a child can understand it.
The parasha begins as the Israelites have now reached the edge of the promised land, and it was at this point when they could see it in front of them. However, some of the native people, the Edomites and the Moabites, did not allow them to go through their territories to enter the land, so the Israelites needed to reroute. This is when some of them became so disappointed and so discouraged. Finally, after this long 40-year journey, and now approaching the threshold of the land, they were asked to turn around.
This is when a rebellion began to rise. In Numbers 21:4, it says the people became impatient. In the Hebrew we could read it as, they became short of breath, an expression meaning short tempered. They could not understand why at this point, they were heading away from, instead of towards the land. Why wouldn’t the Lord make it easy? After all, it had been a long and difficult journey.
But what many of them also discovered throughout their journey is this important truth. Good things rarely come without opposition, and there is no victory without struggles, no conquest without trials.
We see that each victory was hampered by an ensuing opposition. In the previous chapter, as soon as the Israelites drank the miraculous waters from the rock, we read of the long record of opposition coming from the Edomites and the Moabites. Also, right at the beginning of chapter 21 of Numbers, they were attacked by some Canaanites led by a king named Arad. It seemed to have been a surprise attack from the rear of the procession for these Canaanites also took some of the people captive. While not yet in their own territory from where they could more easily defend and strategically plan for war, here the Israelites had to go to fight and rescue these captives while still on the move, having only a temporary base.
And these things exasperated and depleted the people of their strength and energy. This is when they lost it and they put everything into question. This is what we read from Numbers 21:5, For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread. They had water and food, but not the way they wanted to have it. See what they said about the manna, that miraculous and precious food which God provided for them: they spoke of it as worthless bread. They belittled this great miracle of provision from the Lord. This was the final straw and explains why, as we read in the next verse, the Lord immediately sends them shiny serpents. So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. Nu.221:6
It must have created a panic in the camp of the Israelites, but this time, the judgment worked miracles for this is when many of them came to Moses and repented for their actions and words, something rarely seen before. In response, God blessed them as never before. See what they said vs. 7, Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
This is when the text becomes both surprising and amazing. See what the LORD decided to do. We read two powerful yet strange verses from Nu. 21:8-9. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
How could it be that just by looking at a strange object, one can be saved? How could looking at a pole with a serpent on it have spared lives? Can you understand this? When he looked at it, he lived. These words are repeated twice in both verses, the last one right at the very end of this account.
But this episode could also be titled: Salvation 101. First, see what triggered this salvation. It was when they confessed their sins to God and recognized their need for God through a mediator, that they were saved. Theologically one could not give a better answer. It is the same answer required for receiving salvation in Yeshua.
But it gets even better. See what they say next to Moses, pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us. They realized the need for a mediator.
And so, they got the process of salvation perfectly in 2 important steps:
Know you are a sinner, and that sin separates you from God.
Know that there is One Mediator who gave His life for you.
The cleansing from the pole was the physical salvation which occurred in vs.7. The serpent did not save, but obedience to the voice of God, demonstrated repentance on their part. The serpent hanging on a pole shows victory over the forces of evil. The serpent which bit, is dead on a pole. God provides the victory over evil.
And the wonderful thing is that Yeshua took this particular passage from the Torah and used it to explain the salvation we have in Him. During His conversation with Nicodemus, a famous rabbi of the time known in the Talmud by his Hebrew name, Nakdimon Ben Gorion, and known for His great knowledge of the Scriptures, Yeshua brought back this part from the book of Numbers where He correlates His death on the cross with this pole and says in John 3:14, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up
As Moses did by providing physical salvation, so the Son of Man will be crucified and also provide on the Tav. He will provide spiritual salvation so that whoever believes in Him will have everlasting life. This is how much these short four verses of Numbers teach concerning the nature of salvation.
And see how Yeshua calls Himself the Son of Man, a term known at the time. It is taken from the Book of Daniel a well-known book in that era. In it, Daniel gave the date of the first coming and many expected Him then; Yeshua here affirms that He is the Messiah of Israel.
Rabbinical commentaries on the passage of Numbers barely deal with this event. One famous commentator from the 16th century, Abarbanel, wrote: If looking at brazen serpent, was supposed to cure those who were bitten, that is extremely strange (Miqra’ot Gedolot).
But it should not be that strange, for salvation was always by faith, and never by works. From a human standpoint, it is definitely strange, but with a biblical view in mind, it all makes perfect sense.
It is our prayer that, as this portion of the Scriptures is read in every synagogue, Jewish people will all be touched by His gracious call to salvation, and especially in these difficult times for Israel. We pray that they will come and see that Yeshua is their Savior.