The Cross in the Old Testament

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15)

This passage refers to a story in Numbers 21:4-9 and gives us a picture of Jesus and the cross in the Old Testament. Although God had been perpetually faithful to the Israelites, they still grumbled and complained against God and against Moses. So, God disciplined his people by sending fiery serpents among them to bite them, causing many of them to die. The people recognized their wrongs and went to Moses, asking him to pray to God to take away the snakes.

God commanded Moses to “make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live” (Numbers 21:8). Moses obeyed God, and the people of Israel were healed when they looked to this serpent on a pole.

While this may seem strange and superstitious, this act of looking at the serpent was actually an act of faith. While that lifeless piece of metal had no ability to heal, by looking to the serpent, the people of Israel were acknowledging their need and trusting in the God who could and would heal and save them.

This serpent on a pole is like Jesus. Those who look to Jesus, who look to the cross in faith, are saved and healed, just as those who looked upon the serpent were healed. Those who look to Christ’s work on the cross and believe in him will be saved.

But Jesus is greater than this serpent. Jesus is alive and is God in the flesh. He has the power to heal and to save. The people of Israel had only the promise and symbol of salvation, but we now have the fulfillment of that promise in Jesus Christ. Let us turn our faces to the cross and fix our eyes on Jesus for healing and salvation.