Ｄ
The bronze serpent in Numbers 21:4-9 is a type of the Lord Jesus (John 3:14-15), who was crucified in the likeness of the flesh of sin as our Substitute and Replacement that we might "look at" (believe into) Him and have eternal life:
１
When the children of Israel sinned against God, they were bitten by serpents; God told Moses to lift up a bronze serpent on their behalf for God's judgment, that by looking upon that bronze serpent all might live.
２
The Lord Jesus came in "the likeness of the flesh of sin" (Rom. 8:3), which likeness is equal to the form of the bronze serpent; the bronze serpent had the form of the serpent but was without the serpent's poison.
３
Christ was made in "the likeness of the flesh of sin," but He did not participate in any way in the sin of the flesh (2 Cor. 5:21).
４
When He was lifted up in the flesh on the cross, by His death Satan, the old serpent, was dealt with; this also means that the serpentine nature within fallen man has been dealt with (Heb. 2:14; John 1:29).
５
Day by day we can enjoy and apply the Lord to our being as the reality of the sin offering; He is the sin-dealing life, the life that deals with our sinful nature.
Morning Nourishment
Num. 21:7-8 And the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned...; pray to Jehovah, that He may take away the serpents from us. So Moses prayed for the people. Then Jehovah said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
Bronze signifies judgment. The bronze serpent is a type of the Lord Jesus, who was crucified in the likeness of the flesh of sin as our Substitute and Replacement that we might "look at" (believe into) Him and have eternal life. (Num. 21:9, footnote 1)
Today's Reading
In Genesis 3 Satan, the serpent, injected his nature into man's flesh. When the children of Israel sinned against God, they were bitten by serpents (Num. 21:4-9). God told Moses to lift up a bronze serpent on their behalf for God's judgment, that by looking upon that bronze serpent all might live. That was a type. Here, in John 3:14, the Lord Jesus applied that type to Himself, indicating that when He was in the flesh, He was in "the likeness of the flesh of sin" (Rom. 8:3), which likeness is equal to the form of the bronze serpent. The bronze serpent had the form of the serpent but was without the serpent's poison. Christ was made in "the likeness of the flesh of sin," but He did not participate in any way in the sin of the flesh (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). When He was lifted up in the flesh on the cross, by His death Satan, the old serpent, was dealt with (John 12:31-33; Heb. 2:14). This means that the serpentine nature within fallen man has been dealt with. When a man is regenerated with the divine life in Christ, his satanic nature is annulled.As a descendant of Adam, Nicodemus had been poisoned by the old serpent, and the serpent's nature was within him. He needed the Lord not only to be the Lamb of God to take away his sin (John 1:29) but also to be in the form of the serpent that his serpentine nature might be dealt with on the cross and that he might have eternal life. (John 3:14, footnote 1)
The bronze serpent first signifies the Lord Jesus. Second, it signifies the children of Israel, because they had sinned and should have been hung on the pole to be cursed and judged. Third, it signifies the serpent Satan. It was not that the children of Israel wanted to sin, but rather, the serpent in them caused them to sin. In judging the children of Israel, God actually was judging the serpent; therefore, the one hung on the pole was actually the serpent. Man sinned, but the serpent received the judgment. This shows that the one who sinned was actually the serpent in man, that is, the devil. In God's eyes the serpent and the children of Israel were one. Therefore, God's judging the serpent on the pole was also His judging of the children of Israel.
We also need to see that ultimately a Substitute, not the children of Israel themselves, was judged by God. This Substitute, Christ, was judged by being identified with the people for whom He was substituted. The cross of Christ indicates two identifications: the people redeemed by Christ were identified with Satan, and Christ was identified with His redeemed people.
Numbers 21:8-9 says, "Everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live....If a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived." This means that everyone who sees that he is inwardly serpentine, condemns Satan in him, and receives the cross of Christ will have life.
The principle of regeneration is that we see that we were identified with Satan as a part of Satan, and we see that the Lord Jesus has dealt with this identification on the cross; thus, we condemn this identification and receive the Lord's salvation with the result that we live and have the resurrection life operating in us. Only in this way can we enjoy resurrection and the resurrection life and live in the eternal life. (CWWL, 1960, vol. 1, "Synopsis of Numbers," pp. 312-314)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1960, vol. 1, "Synopsis of Numbers," ch. 26