Excerpts from David L. Stubbs, Numbers (SCM
Theological Commentary; London: SCM Press, 2009):
serpent imagery elsewhere in the Bible leads one to see the
serpent as a symbol associated with evil and sin. Thus the sending of the
serpents and the lifting up of the bronze serpent become revelations or symbols
of Israel’s sin. This basic meaning opens up the episode in a different way, ultimately showing that God’s
healing occurs in conjunction with the people’s confession and repentance of
their sinful ways. (166)
Elsewhere in the Pentateuch, serpents appear in two other crucial
passages, both of which give the serpent a more-than-physical sense. In the
confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh (Exod. 4:3; 7:9, 10, 15), the serpent
likely symbolized Egypt and its gods. In that episode, the power of God
triumphs over the power of the gods of Egypt. In our passage, then, perhaps
snakes represented God’s punishment of Israel by a symbol of their object of
desires – life back in Egypt under the rule of the snake, Pharaoh, and the gods
of Egypt. “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt?” is part of the people’s
complaint. They seem to prefer life under the power of Egypt, the serpent
rather than life under YHWH. (167)
The other key reference in the Pentateuch is to “the serpent
[who] was more crafty than any other wild animal,” who tempts Adam and Eve in
the garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1,2,4,13,14). God’s judgment and punishment of Adam
and Eve is a result of their failure to resist the temptation of the serpent.
The punishment of Israel by God in Numbers might also reveal that they have
succumbed to the poisonous lies of the deceiver, who tempts them to both doubt
that God’s provision and ordering are really for their good (as seen in this
passage) and creates envy in them for the power of God to morally order the
world (as evidenced in the other rebellions.) … In sum, the serpents can be
seen to be a judgment upon Israel that reveals and symbolizes their sin. (168)
The bronze serpent represents to the people all that the
fiery serpents represent. In it they can see the sufferings of their journey.
But in it they can also see the judgment of God about them. Like the raising of
a battle standard, this action ironically represents who the people are truly
following: the serpent, rather than God…It is a fitting symbol for all the
rebellions of the people.
But the raised serpent is more than a sign of judgment. It
is also a sign of God’s victory over the serpent. Like the head of an enemy
placed on the tip of a spear and shown to the people, the serpent lifted up
shows that God is more powerful than the serpent. God is able to cure the
physical effects of the serpents’ poison. By offering to the people this symbol
of victory over the serpent, it also becomes a symbol of God’s compassion and
desire to heal them and do them good. It is a symbol that God did not send
Moses to his people in Egypt to condemn them, but to save them and bring them
to life…The bronze serpent lifted up suggests that, for those bitten by the serpent
in the wilderness, the way to the promised land is one of confession,
repentance, faith, and recommitment to God’s difficult yet healing ways. (169)
