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The precious meaning of the type is thus deduced by Luther from the three grand
peculiarities of this"symbol of salvation:" "First, the serpent which Moses made at the
command of God had to be ofbrass or copper, that is, red, and like those fiery
serpents, which were red, and burning in their bite -yet without poison. Secondly, the
brazen serpent had to be set up on a pole for a sign" (comp.Colossians 2:14, etc.).
"Thirdly, those who would be healed of the fiery serpents bite must look upto the
brazen serpent, lifted up on the pole" (perceive, and believe), "else they could not
recover norlive." Similarly a modern German critic thus annotates John 3:14:
"Christ is the antitype of this serpent, inasmuch as He took upon Himself
and vicariously bore sin, the most noxious of all noxious powers."
It is of the deepest interest to follow the march of the children of Israel, when every
day's journeybrought them nearer to the Land of Promise as their goal. To them it was
not, as to us, a land ofruins and of memories, but of beauty and of hope. To a people
who had all their lives seen andknown nothing but "the wilderness," the richness,
fertility, and varied beauty of Palestine, as it thenwas, must have possessed charms
such as we can scarcely imagine. Then every step in advancewas, so to speak, under
the direct leading of God, and, in a sense, a miracle, while every suchleading and
miracle was itself a pledge of others yet to follow. The researches of modern travelers
enable us almost to company with Israel on this their march. As already stated, the
wonderfultenacity with which old names keep their hold in the far East helps us to
discover the exact spots ofBiblical scenes; while, on the other hand, descriptions of
the localities throw most vivid light on theScriptural narratives, and afford evidence of
their trustworthiness.
The reader ought to remember that the route which lay before Israel was in part the
same as that stilltraversed by the great caravans from Damascus to Mecca. The
territories which they successivelypassed or entered were occupied as follows. First,
Israel skirted along the eastern boundary ofEdom, leaving it on their left. The western
boundary of Edom, through which Israel had sought apassage when starting from
Kadesh, (Numbers 20:18) would from its mountainous character andfew passes have
been easily defended against the Israelites. But it was otherwise with the eastern lineof
frontier, which lay open to Israel, had they not been Divinely directed not to fight
against Edom.(Deuteronomy 2:4-6) This, however, explains the friendly attitude
which the Edomites found itprudent to adopt along their eastern frontier,
(Deuteronomy 2:29) although their army had shortlybefore been prepared to fight on
the western. At Ije Abarim, "the ruins," or "the hills of thepassages," or "of the sides"
-perhaps "the lateral hills" the Israelites were approaching the wildernesswhich lay to
the east of Moab.
(^)