Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life! John 3:14-15, TLV

The two verses before one of the most well-known and well-loved passages of the Bible brings clarity to one of the great mysteries — the Nehushtan (Numbers 6:4-9).

One of the many times the Children of Israel grumbled against God and Moses, God sent fiery serpents that bit them. Many died. The people came to Moses and repented, so Moses went to the LORD on their behalf.

Adonai said to Moses, “Make yourself a fiery snake and put it on a pole. Whenever anyone who has been bitten will look at it, he will live.”

So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, and it happened that whenever a snake bit anyone and he looked at the bronze snake, he lived.

The bronze snake on the pole was called by the people, the Nehushtan. One day the Nehushtan would be revered too greatly and destroyed by King Hezekiah during his cleansing of paganism in Israel.

What do we focus on?

There is so much symbolism and content that I am getting lost in the magnitude of these few verses. Perhaps, I am to leave those thoughts for another day and focus on the simple message.

Those who repented looked upon the bronze serpent and were saved. We who repent and look upon Yeshua who took all sin, are saved.

Simple, yet profound.