Numbers 19-21 - Bronze Serpent

Statute of the Red Heifer

Num 19:5 LSB - [5] 'Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its hide and its flesh and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned.

Num 19:9 LSB - [9] 'Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as water to remove impurity; it is purification from sin.

Num 19:17-19 LSB - [17] 'Then for the unclean [person] they shall take some of the ashes of the burnt purification from sin and flowing water shall be added to them in a vessel. [18] 'And a clean person shall take hyssop and dip [it] in the water and sprinkle [it] on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there and on the one who touched the bone or the one slain or the one dying [naturally] or the grave. [19] 'Then the clean [person] shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify him from uncleanness, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe [himself] in water and shall be clean by evening.

There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Emmanuel's veins (Cowper)

Author: William Cowper (1772)

1 There is a fountain filled with blood

Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;

And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,

Lose all their guilty stains:

Lose all their guilty stains,

Lose all their guilty stains;

And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,

Lose all their guilty stains.

2 The dying thief rejoiced to see

That fountain in his day;

And there may I, though vile as he,

Wash all my sins away:

Wash all my sins away,

Wash all my sins away;

And there may I, though vile as he,

Wash all my sins away.

3 Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood

Shall never lose its power,

Till all the ransomed ones of God

Be saved, to sin no more:

Be saved, to sin no more,

Be saved, to sin no more;

Till all the ransomed ones of God,

Be saved to sin no more.

4 E’er since by faith I saw the stream

Thy flowing wounds supply,

Redeeming love has been my theme,

And shall be till I die:

And shall be till I die,

And shall be till I die;

Redeeming love has been my theme,

And shall be till I die.

5 When this poor lisping, stammering tongue

Lies silent in the grave,

Then in a nobler, sweeter song,

I’ll sing Thy power to save:

I’ll sing Thy power to save,

I’ll sing Thy power to save;

Then in a nobler, sweeter song,

I’ll sing Thy power to save.

No Water for the Congregation

Num 20:7-8 LSB - [7] and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, [8] "Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink."

Moses Strikes the Rock

Num 20:11-12 LSB - [11] Then Moses raised high his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. [12] But Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."

Speak to the Rock

Author: Albert B. Simpson

1 Fainting in the desert,

Israel’s thousands stand

At the rock of Kadesh.

Hark! the Lord’s command,

Speak to the Rock,

Bid the waters flow,

Strike not its bosom

Opened long ago.

Speak to the Rock,

Till the waters flow.

 

Speak to the Rock,

Bid the waters flow,

Doubt not the Spirit,

Given long ago;

Take what He waiteth,

Freely to bestow,

Drink till its fulness

All Thy being know.

2 Blessed Rock of Ages,

Thou art open still;

Thy blest Holy Spirit

All our being fill;

Still Thou dost say,

Wherefore struggle so?

Call for the Spirit,

Whisper soft and low,

Speak to the Rock

Bid the waters flow.

3 Oh, for trust more simple,

Fully to believe;

Oh, for hearts more childlike,

Freely to receive;

E’en as a babe,

On its mother’s breast,

So on Thy bosom

Let my spirit rest,

Filled with Thy life,

With Thy blessing blest.

Edom Refuses Passage

Num 20:21-22 LSB - [21] Thus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; so Israel turned away from him. [22] Then they set out from Kadesh, and the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.

The Death of Aaron

Num 20:23-24 LSB - [23] And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying, [24] "Aaron will be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel because you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah.

Num 20:28-29 LSB - [28] And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar, and Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. [29] So all the congregation saw that Aaron breathed his last, and all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.

Destruction of Canaanite Cities

The Bronze Serpent

Num 21:5-6 LSB - [5] And the people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food." [6] So Yahweh sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people so that many people of Israel died.

Num 21:9 LSB - [9] And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it happened, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

Jhn 3:14-15 LSB - [14] "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; [15] so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

 

Serpent of Brass
Dr. Watts

1 When Israel's grieving tribes complain'd,
With fiery serpents greatly pain'd,
A serpent straight the prophet made
Of molten brass, to view display'd.

2 Around the fainting crowds attend,
To heaven their mournful sighs ascend;
They hope, they look, while from the pole,
Descends a pow'r that makes them whole.

3 But, O, what healing to the heart,
Doth our Redeemer's cross impart!
What life, by faith, our souls receive!
What pleasures do his sorrows give!

4 Still may I view the Saviour's cross,
And other objects count but loss:
Here still be fix'd my feasted eyes,
Enraptur'd with his sacrifice.

5 Jesus the Saviour! balmy name!
Thy worth my tongue would now proclaim;
By thy atonement set me free,
My life, my hope, is all from thee.

Sihon and Og Struck Down

Num 21:34 LSB - [34] But Yahweh said to Moses, "Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon."