Bronze Snakes

Tim O’Connor – Center for the Preservation of Humanity – 2/25/2024

Bronze Snakes

To begin, I want to cite a Bible passage which clearly lays out how I see this. It’s likely that I’ll be charged with the same by anyone who disagrees with me; however, all I’m asking is that the reader ponder what is written here. The Bible passage is 2 Timothy 4:1-5:

1 I solemnly charge you before God and the Messiah Yeshua, who will judge the living and the dead when he appears and establishes his Kingdom: 2 proclaim the Word! Be on hand with it whether the time seems right or not. Convict, censure and exhort with unfailing patience and with teaching.

3 For the time is coming when people will not have patience for sound teaching, but will cater to their passions and gather around themselves teachers who say whatever their ears itch to hear. 4 Yes, they will stop listening to the truth, but will turn aside to follow myths.

5 But you, remain steady in every situation, endure suffering, do the work that a proclaimer of the Good News should, and do everything your service to God requires.

G-d charges us to stand in the Word here. He is telling us to teach and to teach correctly by His Word. We are not to go off preaching about whatever we want. G-d’s ways are not our ways. To us here on earth, G-d’s ways seem difficult at times and we, as humans, love to take shortcuts. There are no shortcuts. There is no easy way to set ourselves apart for G-d. At the same time, setting ourselves apart for G-d (not from G-d) is only difficult because of the internal desires of our hearts and the external temptations presented to us to test us.

Those evil inclinations in our hearts can be controlled. This is something we are supposed to be asking G-d for help with. This is why we pray for shalom, strength, and to do G-d’s will and forget about our own. When G-d stated that there was only evil in men’s hearts continuously (Genesis 6:5) He realized that they would never attempt to remedy the situation because the way to do that is to seek G-d’s will and not our own and these people never did that. G-d chose to allow people to have free will (not freedom from consequences) and these people used their free will to completely reject G-d. Then there was a flood sparing only Noach and his family. Far too little emphasis is place upon seeking G-d to pacify the evil inclinations of our hearts and that needs to change immediately.

Far too much emphasis is placed on external temptations. Satan, many claim, is the cause of their troubles. All Satan can do is tempt us, trick us, and manipulate the evil inclinations of our hearts. Even those who are the most well situated in the Word of G-d can be trapped in these tests if we are not careful. It is up to us to be knowledgeable of G-d by seeking Him. It is up to us to use our free will to seek Him and to request His guidance (Hosea 4 explains this well). Satan is just a tool of G-d used to test our resolve to seek G-d. Satan; however, has been used as a scapegoat to exonerate the bad actions and bad intentions of believers and this is not what Satan’s purpose is. His purpose is to test and then accuse us.

Yeshua is without blemish – he has no evil inclination in His heart. His heart could not and cannot lead Him astray because His heart is bound to the will of G-d by the Word of G-d. The only way Yeshua could be tempted was by an external source. A curious understanding of this is seen when Yeshua is fasting and is visited by Satan who took Him to the wilderness. While He was hungry, Satan offered Him bread. When Yeshua was weary Satan suggested He jump from a mountain to be saved by His Father. A third temptation was offered to Yeshua when Satan showed Him the whole earth and the kingdom’s in it and offered it to Yeshua. Yeshua rejected all of these temptations. All of Satan’s temptations were traps meant to get Yeshua to have a lapse in faith in His Father.

Think about this after you are done being angry for me having written it – Satan was not and has never been vying for the throne of G-d. Satan was rebelling against G-d because He wanted to be G-d’s most beloved and our salvation and Messiah. This is what Matthew 4:1-11 tells us. Satan was trying to get Yeshua to deny G-d so that Satan could accuse Yeshua and take His place.

But this major change in understanding doesn’t cause ears to itch. It causes people to call me and others who teach this a heretic. Is this teaching sound? Will you dare take the chance to challenge whatever it is you think about the relationship Yeshua has to the Father and Satan to Yeshua and the Father? If so, please keep reading. If not please keep reading….

Consider this passage and keep in mind that G-d shows both His mercy and His wrath in these few lines from Numbers 21:1-9:

1 Then the king of ‘Arad, a Kena‘ani who lived in the Negev, heard that Isra’el was approaching by way of Atarim, so he attacked Isra’el and took some of them captive. 2 Isra’el made a vow to Adonai, “If you will hand this people over to me, I will completely destroy their cities.” 3 Adonai listened to what Isra’el said and handed over the Kena‘anim, so they completely destroyed them and their cities and named the place Hormah [complete destruction].

4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor on the road toward the Sea of Suf in order to go around the land of Edom; but the people’s tempers grew short because of the detour. 5 The people spoke against God and against Moshe: “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? To die in the desert? There’s no real food, there’s no water, and we’re sick of this miserable stuff we’re eating!”

6 In response, Adonai sent poisonous snakes among the people; they bit the people, and many of Isra’el’s people died. 7 The people came to Moshe and said, “We sinned by speaking against Adonai and against you. Pray to Adonai that he rid us of these snakes.” Moshe prayed for the people, 8 and Adonai answered Moshe: “Make a poisonous snake and put it on a pole. When anyone who has been bitten sees it, he will live.” 9 Moshe made a bronze snake and put it on the pole; if a snake had bitten someone, then, when he looked toward the bronze snake, he stayed alive.

First Israel was attacked. Israel leveled their attackers because G-d approved of their request. These Keni’anim (Canaanites) refused to even acknowledge G-d despite knowing full well that He existed and is sovereign. This is a repeating story throughout the Bible and throughout human history. The Keni’anim were going about their lives in their own ways with their own set of teachings designed to set their people apart from G-d. This is why G-d permitted their utter destruction – they were no different than the people who were drowned in the flood.

After they destroyed the Keni’anim cities because of G-d’s blessing to do so, the Israelites in the desert raised their voices against G-d. G-d’s wrath flared against them and he sent snakes (which may not have been ordinary, earthly snakes at all) to punish their rebellion. While many died of their snakebites, G-d still proved to be merciful. Despite the rebellion of the Israelites as they traveled from place to place in the desert and were now being attacked by snakes G-d offered them salvation from the judgment they earned by having Moshe make a bronze snake. Those who were bit could look upon the bronze snake and have their lives spared.

This is a foreshadowing of Yeshua. We are instructed to look upon Yeshua so that our lives are spared. Yeshua not only saves our lives, he offers us eternal salvation. He can save our very souls. We need to look to Him for this salvation. By looking to Yeshua it means to believe in Yeshua and to trust in the authority given to Him by His Father to save our lives. The bronze snake was ordered by G-d to be made by Moshe to spare the lives of the Israelites; Yeshua was sent to earth by G-d to spare the lives of those who look to Him and follow the instruction of His Father – the same instructions Yeshua Himself followed.

But we can see in 2 Kings 18:1-8 what happened to this bronze serpent Moshe was commanded by G-d to make to save those bitten by snakes in the desert (bold mine):

1 It was in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Isra’el, that Hizkiyahu the son of Achaz, king of Y’hudah, began his reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Yerushalayim. His mother’s name was Avi the daughter of Z’kharyah. 3 He did what was right from Adonai’s perspective, following the example of everything David his ancestor had done. 4 He removed the high places, smashed the standing-stones, cut down the asherah and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moshe had made; because in those days the people of Isra’el were making offerings to it, calling it N’chushtan.* 5 He put his trust in Adonai the God of Isra’el; after him there was no one like him among all the kings of Y’hudah, nor had there been among those before him. 6 For he clung to Adonai and did not leave off following him, but obeyed his mitzvot, which Adonai had given Moshe. 7 So Adonai was with him. Wherever he went out to battle, he did well. He rebelled against the king of Ashur and refused to be his vassal. 8 He drove the P’lishtim back to ‘Azah and laid waste to their territory from the watchtower to the fortified city.

These people replaced G-d with the serpent. They replaced G-d so completely that they were leaving offerings to this metallic object instead of G-d. They took a physical representation of G-d’s mercy and worshiped it. The bronze serpent became a stumbling block. Not only did it become a stumbling block, it represented all of the stumbling blocks which can come out of one’s possessions. The teaching regarding smashing the statue is exactly the same teaching proffered by Yeshua in Matthew 5.

The statue was given to men to save their lives. Yeshua was given to mankind to save our lives. The Israelites started to worship the statue and, in doing so, rejected Adonai. There are many who claim Yeshua is Adonai and have replaced Adonai with Yeshua. For how much greater Yeshua is than the bronze statue, the false equivalency of Yeshua being Adonai is that much more difficult to correct.

The reason for the difficulty is that Yeshua is given the authority to determine our salvation. Yeshua is holy and unblemished meaning he is completely set apart for G-d and perfect. Yeshua is also completely real. The understanding of Yeshua is what has been perverted. He is the Word in the flesh. The Word is the Torah, the teachings of G-d. The problem comes in when people decide that Yeshua is Adonai and thus, the Word of Adonai no longer needs to be acknowledged. A lot of that Word is the proper way to worship Adonai. Yeshua did this while He was on earth. And He told us to do so as well.

He told us this when He rebuked the man who called Him good (Mark 10:17-18). He told us this when He told us how to pray (Matthew 6:6), what to pray (Matthew 6:9-13), who to pray to (John 14:13-14), and why we are to do pray the way He instructed us to pray (Matthew 6). Prayer is an important component of worship (1 Chronicles 16:8-36). He told us this when He warned us to not forget the Word in Matthew 5:17-20. He warned us in Matthew 24:10-12 about why Daniel’s troubles will manifest and flourish.

So, I ask, what is the difference between those Hebrews during the time of Hezekiah’s reign worshiping the bronze snake and the people who are today worshiping Yeshua? I cannot see a difference. Yeshua is our salvation. He is our heavenly intercessor with access to G-d. He is holy – so holy He sits at the right hand of G-d, something no one earthly being will can attain. Even the holiest of men have only ever seen glimpses of G-d’s throne because of the blemishes in our hearts and our proclivity to sin. What G-d is looking for is repentance. What Yeshua is telling us is to repent and to look upon Him for forgiveness to receive salvation. Adonai has provided this mercy and this salvation to all of us. Adonai never meant for us to ignore Him. Adonai sent His Son to glorify Him not to replace him.

Those stating that Yeshua is G-d have fallen for a lie. And it is a dangerous lie. It takes the believer away from the truth and knowledge of the Word. Believing that Yeshua is G-d is a stumbling block which requires a careful reconsideration of what G-d did when He sent His Son to come to earth top offer mankind salvation. The idea that Yeshua is G-d is a wrong teaching which has become so entrenched in some circles that it seems impossible to dissuade those who hold it from continuing to hold it.

The belief is a far ‘easier’ understanding of Yeshua than what the Bible states. It allows all sorts of evil inclinations to enter into the minds of men without being able to be refuted because their hearts nor their minds are tuned to detect, let alone reject, the wiles of their hearts. More, those who believe Yeshua is G-d are literally rejecting G-d and G-d’s teachings just like those who were submerged beneath the waters of the flood Noach survived and the Keni’anim who were blotted out by the Israelites. The result? The fruition of Matthew 24:10-12 as well as John 16:1-5.

The point here is that false teachings will be smashed just as the brass serpent was. The false teachings will be corrected by G-d when He tells Yeshua, ‘return and establish my Kingdom upon the Earth itself.’ We are told to – all of us, Jew and Gentile, alike – be looking upon Yeshua for salvation and following the teachings of the Father, Adonai.

From my perspective all of this is a result of replacement theology – the idea that Jews are no longer the chosen people of G-d and have been replaced by those who have dumped the Torah entirely (the teachings of G-d). That is not what Yeshua taught. It’s not what the Bible teaches. It’s not what G-d desired anyone to teach. It is; however, what the world teaches…. 1 John 5:18-21 tells us:

18 We know that everyone who has God as his Father does not go on sinning; on the contrary, the Son born of God protects him, and the Evil One does not touch him.

19 We know that we are from God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the Evil One.

20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us discernment, so that we may know who is genuine; moreover, we are united with the One who is genuine, united with his Son Yeshua the Messiah. He is the genuine God and eternal life.

21 Children, guard yourselves against false gods!

Satan couldn’t tempt Yeshua. He can certainly tempt us though. Conflating Yeshua with Adonai creates an evil inclination in our hearts which offers Satan a powerful hook to latch onto to drag us in all sorts of ways, all further from G-d and His ways.

Why do people worship Yeshua as G-d? Because they think they can gain salvation without knowledge of G-d nor obedience to his ways. Look at the world around us, the violence, the evil applications of technologies, the demand that G-d be removed from all aspects of life including within churches, and that we follow all kinds of new manifestations of the bronze serpent. These are all fruits of refusing to worship G-d as He told us to do, rejecting G-d’s omnipotent sovereignty, and abusing the Torah.

All I’m asking you to do is to consider these things not for my sake but for your own.

Bless G-d and G-d bless.