“And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.”
The LORD said to Moses, 'Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live' — God commands Moses to create a bronze serpent (nehustan) and affix it to a pole. The paradox is absolute: the cure is the object of disease; those bitten by serpents must look at a serpent to live. The action required is not medication or prayer alone, but faith-filled gazing. The mechanism is mysterious: looking effects healing. This ordinance becomes one of the most profound types of Christ in the Old Testament.
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