Read Numbers 21 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
21:1-3 {p} Destruction of the Canaanites of Hormah
21:4-16 {s} Complaint at the Way of the Red Sea
21:17-20 {p} Praise at the Well of Beer
21:21-22:1 {s} Defeat of Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan
The bronze serpent on the pole is a prophetic Natural Picture of Messiah Yeshua on the cross. We don’t have to speculate about this as Yeshua Himself taught this to us.
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Joh 3:14-15
In fact, the serpent was on the pole, because when Yeshua was on the cross, the sins of the whole world–the fruit of the serpent–were laid upon Him. Sin was crucified with Yeshua, and when He was raised to life again, sin stayed dead in the grave.
The Strong Theme of this chapter:
21:4-16 {s} Complaint at the Way of the Red Sea
21:17-20 {p} Praise at the Well of Beer
In the first paragraph, the children of Israel do what they have always done since leaving Egypt when faced with need, or lack, or an obstacle: complain. This Pattern has been well-established. In the second paragraph, the children of Israel do what they have not yet done since leaving Egypt when faced with need, or lack, or an obstacle: they give God praise in the face of their need!
As the praise at the well of Beer takes place toward the end of 40 years of wandering, this Break in Pattern is showing us a changeover of generation among the congregation. The elder unbelieving generation has died out, and the younger believing generation has taken its place.
That is,
21:4-20 {s+p} Strong theme: First generation’s complaint/ Bronze serpent/ Second generation’s praise
This is a complete picture of the Gospel of grace. The complaints reveal the heart of the old man, the old nature, here foreshadowed by the old generation of unbelief (Heb 3:17-19). But then, when eyes are opened to that unbelief, and it is confessed as sin and repented of, the old man looks to Messiah Yeshua on the cross (the bronze serpent by Prophetic Type and foreshadow), and his nature is radically changed. He becomes the new man with a new nature, here foreshadowed by the new generation of belief. The praise serves to reveal the heart of the new man.
If there are questions, this is a good resource:
Numbers 20:22-21:20, And the change of generation – Christine Miller
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