Dina John 3:14, ceuk Yesus, jeung sakumaha Musa ngangkat oray di gurun, sanaos kitu, kudu diangkat Putra Manusa: sing saha anu percaya ka Anjeunna ulah binasa, tapi boga hirup langgeng. Why was the serpent of brass on the pole a foreshadowing of Jesus’ death on the cross?
Why were the people of God attacked by fiery serpents?
The people of God were attacked by fiery serpents because they sinned: by speaking against God: And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
Therefore the people came to Moses, sarta ngomong, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. Sareng Gusti nyarios ka Musa, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: sareng éta bakal sumping, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived (Angka 21:4-9)
God led His people in a way they didn’t want to go, sareng kusabab éta, they became discouraged. They were not satisfied; ku sabab eta, they murmured and complained against Moses and God and came with the familiar ‘why’.
The Israelites were not satisfied and were not excited about God’s plan and all the things that were coming.
They didn’t trust the Lord and relied on His words, but they were dissatisfied with God’s plan, God’s leading, and God’s provision.
They complained about not having bread and water and they loathed the light bread, which God provided for every day.
Due to all their complaining and murmuring and speaking against God and Moses, they brought mischief (jahat) kana diri sorangan.
Because of the fact that God’s people turned against God, God turned against His people and took away His protection and gave them up to their ruler; oray, yén para dewa, to whom the people listened and were led.
When God sent fiery serpents among the people and the people were bitten by the serpents and many died, the spiritual was revealed in the natural.
The wicked have sharpened their tongues like a serpent
Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? o ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? Leres, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth. The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely (Jabur 58:1-5)
Deliver me, O Gusti, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man; Which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war. Aranjeunna parantos jelas pisan bahagia sapertos oray; dugian’ racun di handapeun biwir. Sela (Jabur 140:1-3)
God’s people were not transformed and had not renewed their minds with the words and commandments of God and had not delighted themselves in the law and made the law of God their own
Instead of submitting to God and being led by His words and by His will, the people were led by the will and the nature of the devil aka the serpent, and turned against God and sinned against God through their words.
The serpent of brass was lifted by Moses in the wilderness
But the Israelites repented of their sins, that they had spoken against the Lord and against Moses, and they asked Moses to pray unto God that He would remove the serpents from them.
Moses prayed to God for the people, and God heard Moses’ prayer and answered his prayer, and brought deliverance for the people.
God commanded Moses to make a fiery serpent and put it on a stake. Moses obeyed the words of God and made a serpent of brass and put the brass serpent on a pole, so that the serpent of brass was lifted in the wilderness.
Everyone that was bitten and looked upon the serpent of brass would live
Everyone that was bitten by a serpent and looked upon the serpent of brass on the pole, didn’t die, but lived.
And so God brought salvation (nyageurkeun) through the serpent of brass and those, who believed and obeyed the words of God and looked upon the serpent of brass, stayed alive.
Why did God command Moses to make a serpent of brass? The serpent is the father of (labuh) umat manusa. The generation of fallen man has the evil nature of the devil (serpent).
The serpent of brass on the pole, would remember the people of their rebellious behavior and their sin, how they spoke against God and Moses, and the fiery serpents and how God brought salvation (nyageurkeun) Ka anu, who obeyed His words and looked upon the serpent of brass on the pole.
The moment, when the serpent became the father of fallen man
Although Adam walked with God in the garden of Eden, there came a moment when Adam became disobedient to God and believed the words of the devil, which had come to him through the serpent and through Eve, above the words of God and obeyed the words of the devil by eating from the forbidden fruit.
Through his obedience to the devil (serpent), he yielded to the devil and death entered and his spirit died (and came under the authority of death) and lived in the power of the devil.
Through his deed of disobedience to God, Adam had fallen from his position and was (spinite) separated from God and had become an adversary of God.
The serpent, sétan, had become the father of fallen man and everyone, anu bakal dilahirkeun tina siki manusa, would be born as a sinner and live in the power of the devil and darkness.
From that moment sin and death reigned as king in the lives of fallen mankind (dosa dara).
But God had already a plan of redemption for fallen mankind, to deliver mankind from the power of the devil, jeung dosa jeung maot. God promised that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent and the serpent would bruise his heel (Kajadian 3).
Sanajan kitu, this didn’t happen immediately, but it took a long time, before God sent His Son Jesus Christ out of love to the earth to deliver fallen mankind from the power of the devil and reconcile man back to Himself (Baca ogé: What does it mean the head of the devil was bruised because the heel of Jesus was bruised?)
Jesus came to the earth to redeem the sinners from the power of the serpent
Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently, He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at thee; His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men: So shall He sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at Him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider (Yesaya 52:13-15)
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Pasti Anjeunna parantos nanggung kasedihan urang, jeung mawa kasedih urang: tapi urang teu ngahargaan Anjeunna stricken, digebruskeun ku Allah, jeung sangsara. Tapi Anjeunna tatu pikeun transgressions urang, Manéhna bruised pikeun iniquities urang: siksaan karapihan urang aya kana Anjeunna; jeung ku belang-Na urang cageur.
Sadayana urang sapertos domba parantos sesat; kami geus balik unggal hiji jalan sorangan; sarta Gusti geus diteundeun kana Anjeunna iniquity urang sadayana. Anjeunna ditindes, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not His mouth: Anjeunna dibawa salaku domba pikeun meuncit, jeung kawas domba saméméh shearers nya belet, so he openeth not His mouth.
Anjeunna dicandak tina panjara sareng tina pengadilan: jeung saha nu bakal ngumumkeun generasi-Na? for He was cut off out of the land of the living: pikeun ngalanggar umat Kami Anjeunna diserang.
And He made his grave with the wicked, jeung jeung beunghar dina pupusna-Na; sabab Anjeunna henteu ngalakukeun kekerasan, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Acan eta pleased Gusti mun bruising Anjeunna; Anjeunna hath nempatkeun Anjeunna kana duka: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, Anjeunna bakal ningali siki-Na, Anjeunna bakal manjangkeun dinten-Na, jeung pelesir Gusti bakal makmur dina leungeun-Na. Anjeunna bakal ningali tina travail jiwa-Na, sarta bakal wareg: by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; pikeun Anjeunna bakal nanggung iniquities maranéhanana.
Ku sabab kitu kuring bakal ngabagi Anjeunna bagian sareng anu hébat, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; sabab Anjeunna geus dituang kaluar jiwa-Na kana maot: sarta Anjeunna diitung kalawan transgressors; sareng Anjeunna nanggung dosa seueur jalma, sareng ngadamel syafaat pikeun jalma-jalma anu maksiat (Yesaya 53)
And so Jesus came in the likeness of man to earth to redeem man from the power of the serpent (sétan).
Jesus became equal to mankind and was tempted in all things, acan tanpa dosa, so that Jesus could become the Substitute for fallen mankind. Because if Jesus would not become equal to mankind, and had to be tempted in all things, Jesus couldn’t take the place of mankind and couldn’t become the Substitute for mankind and bear the sins and iniquities of mankind (Yesaya 53, urang Ibrani 2:14-18 (Baca ogé: The peace restored between fallen man and God jeung Naha Yesus sapinuhna Manusa?)).
Yesus, the Son of Man, was lifted on the cross
Jesus was scourged in such a horrible way, that his face was so marred and His appearance was no longer human. Saterusna Jesus was lifted on the wooden cross and carried all the sins and iniquities of humanity, which the Lord laid upon Him. Jesus was made sin and became a curse on the cross.
Although Jesus did the will of God and pleased the Father, and this was all part of God’s redemptive work for fallen man, the people esteemed Jesus stricken, digebruskeun ku Allah, jeung sangsara (Pikeun. Yesaya 53:4)
Jesus finished His work on the cross, entered Hades to take the power of death and Hell (Kadés) and redeem the prisoners of death, and rose from the dead with the keys of Hell and death (Wahyu 1:18).
Jesus was highly exalted by the Father
Hayu pikiran ieu aya dina anjeun, anu ogé aya dina Kristus Yesus: WHO, aya dina wujud Allah, Panginten sanes rampog janten sami sareng Gusti: Tapi ngajadikeun Dirina teu boga reputasi, sareng nyandak kana wujud hamba, sarta dijieun dina sasaruaan lalaki: Jeung keur kapanggih dina fashion salaku lalaki, Anjeunna ngarendahkeun diri, sarta jadi taat nepi ka maot, malah maot salib. Ku sabab eta Allah oge geus kacida ngaluhuran Anjeunna, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, tina hal-hal di sawarga, jeung hal di bumi, jeung hal-hal di handapeun bumi; Jeung nu unggal basa kudu ngaku yen Isa Al Masih teh Gusti, kana kamulyaan Allah Rama (Filiptips 2:5-11)
Sanggeus 40 poé, Yesus diganggu ka surga, where Jesus was highly exalted by the Father and took place on the throne at the right hand of the Father, luhureun sakabeh kapangéranan, kakuatan, meureun, sareng dominan (Efesians 1:19-21).
dulur, who believes in Jesus Christ and His redemptive work and repent and become born of water and Spirit, shall no longer live in the power of the devil (serpent) and the power of sin and death, dina henteu patuh ka Allah, but shall be transferred from the power of the devil to the Kingdom of God, Dimana Yesus Kristus nyaéta raja sareng kakuasaan, and shall be reconciled with God and be made righteous and inherit eternal life.
Through the disobedience of man to God, the serpent became the father of fallen man, but through the obedience of Jesus Christ to the Father, and Jesus being lifted on the cross, man would be reconciled with God and God would become the Father of the new man (Urang Romawi 5 jeung 6).
The serpent of brass points to Jesus Christ, Who brings salvation and eternal life
Jeung salaku Musa diangkat oray di gurun, malah jadi Putra Manusa kudu diangkat: That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, tapi boga hirup langgeng. Kanggo Gusti anu dipikacinta dunya, yén anjeunna masihan hiji putra, yén saha waé anu teu percanten ka anjeunna henteu kedah, Tapi gaduh kahirupan anu langgeng. Sabab Allah henteu ngutus Putra-Na ka dunya pikeun ngahukum dunya; tapi supaya dunya ngaliwatan Anjeunna bisa disimpen. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, sabab anjeunna henteu percanten kana nami Putra Tunggal Allah (John 3:14-18)
Jesus didn’t come to the earth to condemn man, but to save man Because every man is fallen. Every person is a sinner and is affected by evil (Alternatif alat), istilah sanésna, is bitten by the serpent, and therefore every man needs salvation. God has provided for the salvation of mankind through His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus came and gave (sareng tetep masihan) man a choice for life or death.
Because as the serpent of brass was lifted in the wilderness by Moses, brought deliverance from death, and gave life to those, who believed in the words of God and looked upon the serpent, sanaos kitu, does Jesus Christ, who was lifted on the cross on Calvary, brings deliverance from the power of the serpent (sétan), pupus, and darkness and gave eternal life to those, anu percaya ka Anjeunna sarta jadi lahir deui ka Anjeunna.
And so Jesus became the Substitute, Deliverer, Saviour, Dunagung, Pangarang, and Lord of the new man, who submits to the Word and listens to Jesus and obeys and does His words and lives in the will of the Father.
'Janten uyah bumi’
