(Bamidbar/Numbers 21:6-9) “In response, HaShem sent poisonous snakes among the people; they bit the people, and many of Israel’s people died. The people came to Moshe and said; “We sinned by speaking against HaShem and against you. Pray to HaShem that that He rid us of these snakes.” Moshe prayed for the people, and HaShem answered Moshe: “Make a poisonous snake and put it on a pole. When anyone who has been bitted sees it, he will live.” Moshe made a bronze snake and put it on a pole; if a snake had bitten someone, then, when he looked toward the bronze snake, he stayed alive.”

Here in this Torah portion, we see the situation of when the children of Israel were sinning by speaking against HaShem and against Moshe. By speaking against HaShem and Moshe, they are ultimately speaking out against the Torah which is God’s divine instructions which He gave to us through Moshe. This rebellion against the Torah resulted in punishment from God as a decree of judgement; the agents of judgement in this case were the poisonous snakes.

So, what does mean for us as believers in our Rabbi Maran Yeshua? In what way does this benefit us in terms of our eternal salvation from the fires of hell? Well with a deeper look into His teachings, we will see the bronze snake in a new light.

(Yochanan/John 3:14-15) “Just as Moshe lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that everyone who trusts in Him might have eternal life”

We see here a parallel within the scriptures which paint a beautiful picture of our salvation in our Rabbi Maran Yeshua. For those who do not know of the greatest miracle and gift from God, its promise was foretold in one of the most famous pieces of scriptures when proving Yeshua as the promised Messiah of Israel.

(Yeshua‘yahu/Isaiah 53:9-11) “He was given a grave among the wicked; in his death he was a rich man. Although he had done no violence and had said nothing deceptive, yet it pleased HASHEM to crush him with illness, to see if he would present himself as a guilt offering. If he does, he will see his offspring; and he will prolong his days; and at his hand HASHEM’s desire will be accomplished. After this ordeal, he will see satisfaction. “By his knowing [pain and sacrifice], my righteous servant makes many righteous; it is for their sins that he suffers.”

The children of Israel have always had the struggle with sin, as we saw above in the wilderness when they rebelled against God and Moshe and also in the prophecy about the Messiah. Sin is like the sting of a snake bite; it penetrates our souls just as the poison spreads through our bodies and eventually will leave us dead both physically and spiritually.

So what how do all these scriptures fit together into to paint a clear picture of our salvation in the one who was pierced? The answer for this question is hidden within Jewish rabbinical literature in the writings of Rashi and Ramban.

(Artscroll Chumash Parashas Chukas commentary Numbers 21:9) “God had not specified the material from which Moses was to fashion his serpent, but he chose נְחֹשֶת, copper, because it contains the letters נְחֹש, the serpent that was attacking the sinners (Rashi). It was a miracle within a miracle; the source of the destruction was the source of the healing (Ramban).”

In the wilderness, the source of the death of the children of Israel was the bite of the snake, in the bigger picture for humanity as a whole, the root of our spiritual death is the original sin of Adam. Using the rabbinical thinking of Rashi and Ramban, the source of our death spiritually is a man (Adam) and the source of our salvation and healing comes from a man (Maran Yeshua). The source of our destruction and death spiritually is Adam and his sin which results in the destruction of the soul, the miracle is the healing we receive from Maran Yeshua, which is the redemption of our souls from the eternal lake of fire. There is no other scripture which speaks of this healing other than the following.

(Yeshua‘yahu/Isaiah 53:4-5) “In fact, it was our diseases he bore, our pain from which he suffered; yet we regarded him as punished, stricken and afflicted by God. But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him, by his bruises we are healed.”

All scripture and even the wisdom of the Rabbi’s who deny Yeshua point to Him and him alone as our promised Messiah, Just as the children of Israel looked to the copper/bronze snake which was on the pole and received their healing and lived. All humanity, especially the children of Israel today need to look to the one who was pierced on the execution stake (the cross) and have faith in His death and resurrection to receive their healing from the one who lives forever and is coming soon to reign as king of kings and lord of lords in the holy city of Jerusalem. Remember it if from a man that we first were bitten with the deadly sting of sin, and it is by a man we receive the miracle healing and eternal salvation.