Sunday School Lesson

1. Numbers 21:4-9
John 3:1-17
God Saves
December 22, 2019
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi
USA

2. What’s the number one thing?
The Glory of God!
1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you
do, do all to the glory of God.

3. References
•MacArthur, John, The MacArthur Study Bible
(Nashville, Nelson Publishing, 1997).
•Palmer, Edwin H., The NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids,
Zondervan, 1985).
•Piper, John, “The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up,”
3/15/2018, Sermon on YouTube Video.

4. Introduction to Book of Numbers
• Written by Moses in 1405 BC during his last year of life to
describe the journey of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt
to arrival at Canaan (the Promised Land).
• Israel initially refused to enter Canaan because of fear of
the enemies who were living there.
‒ Numbers 14:1-10
• The Israelites wandered in the wilderness 40 years until
those who were 20 years or older had died.
‒ Numbers 14:26-38

5. Introduction to Numbers 21:4-9
• The Israelites began their journey to Canaan to claim the
Promised Land.
‒ Numbers 20:1-13
• The king of Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through
their land.
‒ Descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob.
‒ Numbers 20:14-21
• God had forbidden Israel from engaging in warfare with
Edom.
‒ Deuteronomy 2:4-6

6. The Detour Around Edom
Numbers 21:4 NKJV
4 Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of
the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the
soul of the people became very discouraged on the
way.
•Since the way through Edom was barred, Moses
turned to the south toward the Gulf of Aqabah (Red
Sea).
•This was a long, difficult and circuitous route.

7. “We are tired of this!”
Number 21:5 NKJV
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 our
soul loathes this worthless bread.”
•The people’s impatience led them to despise the
manna.
•They blasphemed God and His provisions for them.

8. The Serpents
Number 21:6-7 NKJV
6 So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and
they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel
died. 7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said,
“We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord
and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the
serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
•God sends punishment for their blasphemy.

9. What was required to live
Numbers 21:8-9 NKJV
8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent,
and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is
bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made
a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if
a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the
bronze serpent, he lived.
•An action was required to live – “look at the bronze
serpent.”

10. The significance of bronze
•Bronze – a metal composed of 88% copper and 12%
tin with some minor alloys (brass has more zinc than
tin).
•The Altar of the Tabernacle was overlaid with bronze
to withstand the heat.
•The Laver of the Tabernacle was bronze – washing
before entering the Holy of Holies.
•Bronze (brass) is considered an idiom for judgment.

11. John describes Jesus’ feet
Revelation 1:13-15 NKJV
13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son
of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded
about the chest with a golden band. 14 His head and hair
were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a
flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a
furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters;
• The glowing hot brass (bronze) feet is a reference to divine
judgment.

12. Observations on Number 21:4-9
1. The serpent on the pole was the antidote if gazed
upon by those poisoned and dying.
2. The serpents in the camp were sent by God
because of God’s wrath on their blasphemy.
‒ Looking at the serpent on the pole removed
God’s wrath and they were saved when they
looked.

13. Observations on Numbers 21:4-9
3. God is rescuing his sinful people from His own
curse with a symbol or picture of the curse.
‒ God could have used another symbol, such as a
lamb, as the other sacrifices.
4. All the Israelites had to do was “LOOK” at the
serpent pole.
‒ Looking was an act of the will if one wanted to
be healed and live.

14. The bronze serpent pole shows up again
almost 1000 years later (729 BC)
2 Kings 18:4 NKJV
4 He (Hezekiah) removed the high places and broke the
sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in
pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for
until those days the children of Israel burned incense to
it, and called it Nehushtan.
•It was probably kept in the Tabernacle.
•Judah (Southern Kingdom) was worshipping it as an
idol because snakes were fertility symbols in Canaan.

15. Connecting the Old Testament and the New
Testament
1 Corinthians 10:11 NKJV
11 Now all these things happened to them as examples,
and they were written for our admonition, upon whom
the ends of the ages have come.
•Examples ― images, patterns, prototypes.

16. Jesus uses the serpent on a pole in teaching
Nicodemus
John 3:1-2 NKJV
1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus,
a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night
and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a
teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs
that You do unless God is with him.”
•Nicodemus makes only a statement, but Jesus read
the questions in his mind.

17. Jesus uses the serpent on a pole in teaching
Nicodemus
John 3:3-4 NKJV
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to
you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of
God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he
is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb
and be born?”
• “born again” means “born from above”, which is a spiritual
transformation.

18. Jesus uses the serpent on a pole in teaching
Nicodemus
John 3:5-6 NKJV
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is
born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of
God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit.
• Jesus is referencing the OT spiritual cleansing with the
reference ‘of water and the Spirit.’
• Verse 6 Flesh = physical birth; Spirit = a born again spiritual
transformation at the calling of the Holy Spirit.

19. Jesus uses the serpent on a pole in teaching
Nicodemus
John 3:7-9 NKJV
7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born
again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear
the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and
where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these
things be?”
•Those who are not born again are unable to
understand the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.

20. Jesus uses the serpent on a pole in teaching
Nicodemus
John 3:10-11 NKJV
10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher
of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most
assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and
testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our
witness.
•The Pharisees had witnessed Jesus’ miracles and still
did not believe.

21. Jesus uses the serpent on a pole in teaching
Nicodemus
•“you do not receive Our witness”
‒ John 1:11-13 NKJV
11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive
Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He
gave the right to become children of God, to those
who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God.

22. Jesus uses the serpent on a pole in teaching
Nicodemus
John 3:12-13 NKJV
12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe,
how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one
has ascended to heaven but He who came down from
heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.
• One is unable to see the kingdom of God until you are born
again.
• The link between verses 12 & 13 is Jesus teaching about
“heavenly things & heaven.”

23. Jesus uses the serpent on a pole in teaching
Nicodemus
• Jesus shifts the focus to the truth of salvation at verse 13.
‒ Jesus will now turn away from Nicodemus’ questions
and address the true meaning of salvation.
‒ The key word in the following verses is “believe.”
‒ The new birth must be appropriated by an act of faith.
‒ Jesus begins to refer to himself and focuses on the
actions of the Son of Man in salvation.

24. Jesus uses the serpent on a pole in teaching
Nicodemus
John 3:14-15 NKJV
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
eternal life.
•These verses in the OT are foreshadowing Jesus’
crucifixion.

25. Jesus uses the serpent on a pole in teaching
Nicodemus
John 3:16-17 NKJV
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send
His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through Him might be saved.

26. Observations on John 3:1-17
1. Jesus is the Son of Man – the incarnation of God
becoming man on earth.
• John 9:35-38 NIV
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when
he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of
Man?”
36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I
may believe in him.”
37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the
one speaking with you.”
38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he
worshiped him.

27. Observations on John 3:1-17
2. Jesus, in the place of the serpent, is the source of
healing and the rescue from the poison of sin and
wrath of God.
•Jesus is the cure for our sins and the source of
eternal life.
•As Moses lifted up the serpent on the pole, Jesus
was lifted up on the cross.

28. Observations on John 3:1-17
•Who lifted up Jesus on the cross?
‒ John 8:28 NKJV
28 Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the
Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and
that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father
taught Me, I speak these things.”
‐ The Pharisees gave authority to the Romans to
lift up Jesus on the cross!
‐ However, it was God’s plan and Jesus’ choice.

29. Observations on John 3:1-17
•Jesus lifted up and crucified.
‒ Jesus was lifted up so that men bound by sin and
death can live eternally when they look and
believe.
‒ Just as those affected by serpent bites and dying
were saved by looking at the bronze serpent, man
dying from the penalty of sin and death can be
saved by believing in Jesus.

30. Observations on John 3:1-17
3. In the place of the serpent, Jesus takes on our sins
and its curse.
•2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for
us, that we might become the righteousness of
God in Him.
‒ God placed our sins on Jesus while on the
cross so that believers may appear righteous
before God.

31. Observations on John 3:1-17
3. In the place of the serpent, Jesus takes on our sins
and its curse.
•Galatians 3:13 NKJV
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the
law, having become a curse for us (for it is written,
“Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)
‒ Jesus took upon Himself the curse on sinners
and bore the wrath of sin for believers.

32. Observations on John 3:1-17
4. What Jesus gives, by taking on our sins and the
curse for us, is eternal life.
•John 3:15 NKJV
15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish
but have eternal life.
‒ The poison of sin and death is taken away.
‒ The joy of heaven is ours because the Son of
Man was lifted up.

33. Observations on John 3:1-17
5. What do you share with those who are not born again, like
Nicodemus?
• John 5:15 NKJV
15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
eternal life.
• Numbers 21:9 NKJV
9 and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
• John 1:14 NKJV
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and
we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of
the Father, full of grace and truth.

34. Behold and Look!
The Message of Christmas!
•John 1:29 NKJV
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him,
and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world!
•Isaiah 45:22 NKJV
22 “Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.”
•This is why we celebrate the birth of Jesus!

35. The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
John 3:16-17 NKJV
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His
Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the
world through Him might be saved.”
John 14:6 NKJV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through Me.”

36. The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
Romans 3:23 NKJV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23a NKJV
23a For the wages of sin is death,
• Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.
• Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve death, died in this
life to pay the penalty for our sin.
• The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the “second death”
explained in Revelation 21:8.

37. The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
Revelation 21:8 NKJV
8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral,
sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns
with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
• Anyone who’s lifestyle is one or more of the sins listed in Revelation 21:8,
will experience the “second death,” if they do not repent.
• To Repent means to turn around, to go in the opposite direction, to turn
away from sin and believe in Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:8 NKJV
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.

38. The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
Romans 6:23b NKJV
23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
Revelation 21:7 NKJV
7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will
be his God and he shall be My son.”
• Romans 10:9-10 explain to us how to be overcomers.

39. The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
Romans 10:9-10 NKJV
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and
believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.
Romans 10:13 NKJV
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

40. The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
Do you have questions?
Would you like to know more?
Please, contact First Baptist Church Jackson at 601-949-1900
or http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/