FOUR TITLES: NO ROOM AT THE INN THE DEADLY TRAIL OF THE SERPENT THE BEGINNING OF SIN AND THE END OF SIN WHY THE POISONOUS SERPENT DID NOT HARM PAUL 01-09-11 (REVIEW FROM THE MESSAGE OF 01-02-11) (Gen 3:1) Now the serpent [Heb: snake] was more subtle [Heb: cunning (usually in a bad sense): crafty] than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? [questioning and challenging the Words of God]
(Exo 4:1-5) And Moses answered [God] and said [while Moses was attentively standing barefoot near the bush that burned with fire, and was not consumed], But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod [Whose rod was it?]. And he said, Cast it on the ground [i.e., separate yourself from it]. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent [a symbol of sin; most likely the poisonous cobra, a primary symbol of Egyptian power]; and Moses fled from before it [fled from the threat of it]. And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail [by this command God empowered Moses to succeed]. And he put forth his hand [he obeyed], and caught it [Heb: he bound it: conquered it, prevailed over it] [illustrating godly obedience, righteous discernment, and self-control], and it became a rod in his hand [symbolizing his death, burial, and resurrection - with power over sin]: That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.
THE PEOPLE DISPARAGE THE WORDS OF GOD AS BEING INEFFECTIVE (syn: belittle, pour scorn upon, sneer at, criticize, vilify, denigrate) (Num 21:4,5) And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea [Heb: a reed, espec. the papyrus: flag, weed] [an allusion to the written word of God, the Bible], to compass [Heb: go around] the land of Edom [who were related to Jacob-Israel thru Esau who gave up his birthright]: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way [Heb: road, course of life]. And the people spake against God, and against Moses [a type and shadow of Jesus Christ, our Mediator], Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread [but they received “manna” Exo 16:15, therefore this is an ungrateful falsehood], neither is there any water [but they received water of “the rock” (Exo 17:6), therefore this is another ungrateful falsehood]; and our soul loatheth [Heb: to be disgusted: abhor, grieved, wearied] this light bread [a highly disparaging reference to the manna: “Man did eat angels' food” Psa 78:25; symbolically, the Words of God]. 1. Commentary: “much discouraged” = Where were they going? Even if the way into Canaan (a type of the Promised Land, a type of Heaven) is truthfully hard, it is a temporary hardness leading to eternal (permanent) love and goodness; and it is through Father God’s undeserved and unearned mercy that there is a way into Heaven for us at all. “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Mat 11:30)
FIERY SERPENTS = BUT THE WORDS OF SATAN EFFECTIVELY BITE “MUCH PEOPLE” (Num 21:6-9) And the LORD sent fiery [Heb: burning, i.e. (fig.) poisonous] serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died [“the wages of sin is death” Rom 6:23]. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, 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. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole [i.e. a cross]: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it [Heb: considers, discerns, takes heed, regards, X think], shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass [Heb: copper: filthiness] [ref. Goliath’s armor], and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten [i.e. penetrated into] any man [not all men are bitten; Moses eluded the serpent’s bite in Exo 4:1-5. How did he do that? Heb 5:14], when he beheld the serpent of brass [Heb: looked intently at it; by impl. to regard with pleasure: considered, regarded, had respect for], he lived [Heb: he revived]. 1. Commentary: The image of the fiery serpents that first comes to mind is flying poisonous snakes. This image is supported by the prophet Isaiah who speaks of “a fiery flying serpent” (Isa 14:29), and by Satan’s temptations that are called his “fiery darts” (Eph 6:16) that fly through the air. In spiritual reality, these fiery serpents represent evil demons (unclean spirits, devils) which are the thoughts of Satan sent usward through the air in sentences of words, or sent via the written page in the form of sentences of words. 2. revive = Dict: 1. to set going or in activity again. 2. to make operative or valid again. 3. restore to life or consciousness. 4. to reanimate or cheer (the spirit, heart, etc., or a person). 5. to quicken or renew in the mind; bring back. 3. pole = Heb: a signal: banner, ensign, standard /// to gleam from afar, i.e. to be conspicuous as a signal; to raise a beacon:--lift up as an ensign, standard bearer. 4. (John 3:14,15) And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 5. Commentary: Unlike the fiery serpents, the sentences of words sent by Satan, the brazen serpent, representing the bodily flesh of Jesus Christ (“the Word was made flesh” John 1:14) who was sent by God, had no poison inside it, thereby portraying the purity and innocence of Jesus in a man’s (in a serpent’s) body. 6. Commentary: We would do well to come to the understanding that the Bible is sentences of words composed completely of the living bodies of good angels that are messages from God.
THE POISONOUS SERPENT DOES NOT HARM PAUL (Acts 28:1-6) And when they [all 276 presumably men] were escaped [from the shipwreck alive], then they knew that the island was called Melita [Malta]. And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper [Gk: an adder or other poisonous snake] out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. And he shook off the beast [Gk: a dangerous animal: (venomous, wild) beast] into the fire, and felt no harm. Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god. 1. Commentary: Why did the poisonous serpent not affect Paul? Hint: clearly because there was no room at the inn. J Praise God! 2. (Psa 82:6) I have said, Ye are gods [Heb: 'elohiym (plural)]; and all of you are children of the most High. 3. (Gen 1:1) In the beginning God [Heb: 'elohiym (plural)] created the heaven and the earth.
4. (John 10:33) The [unsaved] Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God [the natural unsaved man’s point-of-view, or, understanding of God without the assistance of the Holy Spirit]. 5. (John 10:34) Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law [Psa 82:6], I said, Ye are gods? 6. (John 10:35) If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; a. (John 10:35 Amplified Bible) So men are called gods [by the Law], men to whom God’s message came [i.e. saved, born-again men] – and the Scripture cannot be set aside or cancelled or broken or annulled- 7. (John 10:36) Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
Amen
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