As I read Numbers 21:4-9 again, I empathize with those Israelites who died because
they didn’t look at the snake. In fact, I believe that if I had lived during that time, I wouldn’t have looked at it either. Here’s why: looking at a bronze snake in order to receive healing seems to contradict God’s mandate not to make or worship idols (Exodus 20:45). Being the rule follower that I am, I would have done my best to obey God’s commands. Consequently, I would not have followed the instructions that God gave to Moses in Numbers 21:4-9. That is, in an attempt to obey God, I would have disobeyed Him and died.
In John 3:1-21, Jesus draws an analogy between Himself and the bronze snake to explain to Nicodemus the concept of a second birth. What a strange analogy, though! One of Jesus’ points, of course, was that people must look to His atoning sacrifice on the cross in order to experience a second birth and live eternally, just like the Israelites had to look at the bronze serpent on the pole in order to be healed and live. But why did He compare Himself to an idol-like object?
Well, I believe that Jesus was also addressing the issue of rule following. You see, looking to Jesus would have been difficult for Nicodemus and other rule-following Pharisees who were looking for a different Messiah, one with a different understanding of God’s rules. In other words, their dependence on their own understanding of God’s rules kept them from seeing Emmanuel—God with us—just like my dependence on my own understanding of God’s commands would have kept me from looking at the bronze snake. Through the analogy, Jesus tells Nicodemus not to let his own understanding of the rules keep him from following God. Take a moment to reflect on this more subtle point in Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus. In your attempt to obey God, are you actually disobeying Him?