民二一8~9　耶和华对摩西说，你制造一条火蛇，挂在杆上；凡被咬的，一看这蛇，就必得活。摩西便制造一条铜蛇，挂在杆上；蛇若咬了什么人，那人一望这铜蛇就活了。

　　约翰三章十四节说，“摩西在旷野怎样举蛇，人子也必照样被举起来。”主在这里是说到民数记二十一章四至九节所发生的事。五节说，百姓“就毁谤神和摩西说，你们为什么把我们从埃及领上来，使我们死在旷野？这里没有粮，没有水，我们的心厌恶这淡薄的食物”。这里我们看见以色列人发怨言且背叛。结果，“耶和华打发火蛇进入百姓中间，蛇就咬他们，以致以色列中死了许多人。”（6）于是百姓到摩西那里，承认他们怨讟耶和华和摩西，犯了罪。他们求摩西祷告耶和华，叫这些蛇离开他们。当摩西为百姓祷告，耶和华就对他说，“你制造一条火蛇，挂在杆上；凡被咬的，一看这蛇，就必得活。”（8）我们晓得摩西制造了一条铜蛇挂在杆上，“蛇若咬了什么人，那人一望这铜蛇就活了。”（9）（CWWL一九八二年第二册，一四一至一四二页）

　　这铜蛇预表基督（约三14），杆预表十字架（彼前二24）。在预表里，铜表征审判。民数记二十一章九节里的“望”，也可译为特意的看或注视（民数记生命读经，二五八页）。

　　Num. 21:8-9 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. And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the pole; and if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

　　John 3:14 says,”As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” Here the Lord referred to what happened in Numbers 21:4-9. Numbers 21:5 says,”The people spoke against God and against Moses, Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and there is no water; and our soul loathes this light bread.” Here we see that the children of Israel complained and were rebellious. As a result, the Lord”sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died” (v. 6). Then the people came to Moses and confessed that they had sinned in speaking against Jehovah and against him. They asked Moses to pray that Jehovah would take away the serpents from them. When Moses prayed for the people, Jehovah said to him,”Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live” (v. 8). We are told that Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. Then”if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived” (v. 9). (CWWL, 1982, vol. 2,”The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” p. 109)

　　This bronze serpent typifies Christ (John 3:14), and the pole typifies the cross (1 Pet. 2:24). In typology bronze, or brass, signifies judgment. The Hebrew word translated”looked at” in Numbers 21:9 may also be rendered”regarded,” or”looked intently at.” (Life-study of Numbers, p. 231)

　　我们这些亚当的后裔，都被魔鬼这条古蛇“咬”过。因此，我们都是属蛇的人，我们的性情里面有古蛇的毒素。在神看来，整个堕落的人类都是由毒蛇组成的。不但如此，这些蛇也都死了。我们这些死蛇需要一个代替，需要一个有蛇形却没有蛇毒的人。当然，这个代替就是基督。

　　照约翰三章十四节，基督成了一条铜蛇。……祂在形状上是蛇，但祂没有蛇的毒性。然而，事实上我们是蛇性的，因为在我们堕落的性情里面，我们乃是古蛇魔鬼的儿女（约壹三10）。因这缘故，主耶稣在马太十二章三十四节称法利赛人为“毒蛇之种”。在二十三章三十三节，祂称他们为“蛇类，毒蛇之种”，是最毒的一种蛇类的后代。主告诉法利赛人说，他们是小毒蛇。……魔鬼是那古蛇（启十二9，二十2），罪人也是蛇，是毒蛇之种。因此，在神看来，在我们堕落的性情里面，我们不仅仅是罪恶的，也是蛇性的（CWWL一九八二年第二册，一四二至一四三、一六九页）。

　　基于罗马七章，我们说撒但和罪是在肉体里。这一章告诉我们，罪是在我们的肉体里，而这里的罪是人位化的。这一章给我们看见，罪能诱骗并杀害人（11），罪能住在人里面，叫人作违反他们意愿的事（17、20）。罪相当活跃（9），也极其主动；因此，罪必定是撒但那恶者的邪恶性情，在堕落的人类里面居住、活动并作工。七章的罪是一个人位。这个人位乃是罪的根源，罪的起源。这罪，就是撒但，甚至在我们得救以后，仍然留在我们的肉体里，在那里生活、作工、行动。罪在我们的肉体里是一个人位，就如神圣的生命在我们的灵里是一个人位一样。这位作我们生命的人位乃是基督（西三4），就是三一神的具体化身（CWWL一九八四年第三册，二○二至二○三页）。

　　参读：新约总论，第四十三篇；民数记生命读经，第三十一篇；神新约的经纶，第三章。

　　As descendants of Adam, we all have been”bitten” by the old serpent, the devil. Therefore, we are all serpentine beings with the poison of the old serpent in our nature. In the sight of God, the entire fallen human race consists of poisonous serpents. Furthermore, all these serpents are dead. We as dead serpents need a substitute, someone with the form of a serpent but without the poisonous element of the serpent. This Substitute, of course, is Christ.

　　According to John 3:14, Christ became a bronze serpent…. He was a serpent in form, but He did not have the poisonous nature of a serpent. We, however, actually are serpentine, for in our fallen nature we are children of the old serpent, the devil (1 John 3:10). For this reason, in Matthew 12:34 the Lord Jesus called the Pharisees the”offspring of vipers.” In Matthew 23:33 He called them serpents and a brood of vipers, the offspring of the most poisonous kind of serpents. The Lord was telling the Pharisees that they were little vipers….The devil is the old serpent (Rev. 12:9; 20:2), and sinners also are serpents, the offspring of vipers. Therefore, in the sight of God, in our fallen nature we are not merely sinful—we are serpentine. (CWWL, 1982, vol. 2,”The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” pp. 110, 131)

　　Based upon Romans 7 we say that Satan and sin are in the flesh. Romans 7 tells us that sin is in our flesh, and in Romans 7 sin is personified. This chapter shows that sin can deceive and kill people (v. 11) and that it can dwell in people and do things against their will (vv. 17, 20). It is quite alive (v. 9) and exceedingly active; so it must be the evil nature of Satan, the evil one, dwelling, acting, and working in fallen mankind. Sin in Romans 7 is a person. This person is the source of sin, the origin of sin. This sin who is Satan still remains in our flesh, where he lives, works, and moves, even after we have been saved. The sin in our flesh is a person, just as the divine life in our spirit is a person. This person who is our life is Christ (Col. 3:4), the embodiment of the Triune God. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 3,”God's New Testament Economy,” pp. 146-147)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 43; Life-study of Numbers, msg. 31; CWWL, 1984, vol. 3,”God's New Testament Economy,” ch. 3