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Five seemingly unrelated items—the bronze serpent, the one hanging on a tree, the hind of the dawn, and the bridegroom and the bride—are considered together in this lesson. In the Old Testament these five items typify Christ in different aspects. The first two items signify the crucified Christ, the third item signifies the resurrected Christ, and the last two items signify Christ in His resurrection as the Bridegroom gaining the church as His bride. In the typology of the Old Testament these five items seem unconnected, but in the spiritual significance of the New Testament they are connected—Christ died and resurrected as the Bridegroom to obtain the church as His bride.
In Numbers 21 the people of Israel became impatient because the way in the wilderness was very difficult, and the people spoke against God and Moses. Then God sent fiery serpents among the people, and the people were bitten by the fiery serpents so that many of them died. When the people repented and confessed their sins, God commanded Moses to make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, lifting it up, to suffer God’s judgment as a replacement for the people and to redeem them from their sins. When they would look at the bronze serpent, they would live and not die (vv. 4-9).
The bronze serpent had the form of the fiery serpent but was without the fiery serpent’s poison. When the children of Israel were bitten by the fiery serpents, they became serpents in the eyes of God. They were serpentine and had the serpentine nature. The bronze serpent, however, had only the form of a serpent, not the nature of a serpent. Hence, it was qualified to suffer God’s judgment as a replacement for the people of Israel, who had the serpentine nature.
The bronze serpent was lifted up on a pole so that the people could look at it and live. The people of Israel, who had become serpentine, should have suffered God’s judgment unto death. However, according to God’s saving way, when the bronze serpent, which had only the form but not the poison of a serpent, was lifted up on the pole, it became their replacement to suffer the judgment of God. They lived by looking at the bronze serpent.
In John 3:14 the Lord said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” This shows that the bronze serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderness typifies Christ, who was made sin on our behalf so that He might deliver us out of death into life (2 Cor. 5:21). We were bitten by the old serpent and have the poisonous element of sin. Sin came from Satan, who rebelled against God (Isa. 14:12-14). This sin, which came out of the evil one, entered into man and made man not only a sinner but also sin itself under God’s judgment; hence, when Christ became a man in the flesh (Rom. 5:12; John 1:14), He was made sin (not sinful) on our behalf to be judged by God (Rom. 8:3).
The bronze serpent had the form of a serpent but not the poisonous element of a serpent. This is a full type of Christ coming in the likeness of the flesh of sin to be our replacement (v. 3). The flesh is of sin, yet Christ became flesh (John 1:14; Heb. 2:14). However, He was only in the likeness of the flesh; He did not have the sin of the flesh (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). He was the same as a sinful man in His outward form, but He did not have the nature of sin within Him. This is like the bronze serpent, which had the form, the likeness, of a serpent but not the poison of a serpent. Only such a Christ, who did not know sin, could bear God’s judgment on behalf of us sinners, who were poisoned by sin, and could deal with Satan, who poisoned us.
Christ became flesh for us, and in the flesh He was judged by God on behalf of us who have the sinful nature. In Christ’s crucifixion God caused Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:21). Through this, God condemned sin in the flesh, judged sin for us, and dealt with the sin in our nature and the sinful nature to which it belongs (Rom. 8:3). As a result, we have the eternal life by believing in Him (John 3:15). This can be compared to the people of Israel, who were poisoned by the serpents and lived by looking at the bronze serpent on the pole. Our sins have been taken away, our serpentine nature has been dealt with, and Satan has been destroyed in us; thus, we have the life of God.
In reiterating the statutes of the law of God in Deuteronomy 21:22, Moses said, “If in a man there is a sin, a cause worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree.” Hanging on a tree was punishment for one who committed a crime worthy of death.
In the same chapter Moses said that a person who committed a crime worthy of death and was hanged on a tree was accursed of God (v. 23).
A person who was cursed and hanged on a tree to die is a type of the crucified Christ.
First Peter 2:24 speaks of Christ, who “bore up our sins in His body on the tree.” As prophesied in the Old Testament, when Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins (Heb. 7:27), it was in His body that He was hanged on the tree for us, who have sinned and who deserve death; He bore up our sins on the cross, the true altar for propitiation, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness.
After the fall of Adam, sin entered into the world through one man (Rom. 5:12). Furthermore, through the disobedience of one man all were constituted sinners (v. 19). Hence, before God we all are sinners who deserve death and the curse of death. Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf; because it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone hanging on a tree’.” As our Substitute on the cross, Christ not only bore the curse for us but also became a curse for us. The curse of the law issued from the sin of man (Gen. 3:17). When Christ suffered the curse of death on the cross for us sinners, who deserve death, He redeemed us out of the curse of the law.
Galatians 3:14 goes on to say, “In order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” When Christ suffered the curse of death before God for us sinners, who deserve death, He delivered us out of the curse of the law so that we might receive the life-giving Spirit with the eternal life of God. In the gospel we have received not only the blessing of forgiveness, washing, and cleansing; we have received the greatest blessing, which is the Triune God—the Father, Son, and Spirit—as the processed, all-inclusive life-giving Spirit dwelling in us in a most subjective way for our enjoyment. What a blessing that we can enjoy such an all-inclusive One as our daily portion!
Psalm 22:1-21 speaks of Christ standing for God and being put to shame by people in His crucifixion. Then it speaks concerning His coming in resurrection to declare the name of God the Father to His brothers, whom He produced in resurrection, as the church (v. 22; Heb. 2:12). The title of Psalm 22 refers to “the hind of the dawn.” According to the contents of this psalm, the hind of the dawn refers to the resurrected Christ.
The dawn, referring to the morning, is the new beginning of a day, denoting the freshness of resurrection. The life of Christ in His resurrection is fresh. The hind usually runs on the mountaintop and is very active and full of energy. This denotes Christ in His resurrection as the One who is active, lively, and powerful. With the moving strength of His resurrection life, He is able to walk steadily in high places. There is nothing that can hinder Him.
Song of Songs 2:8-9 speaks of Christ as the Bridegroom who is like a young hart, leaping upon the mountains and skipping upon the hills, denoting His freshness and vigor. Leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills indicates being full of liveliness and full of power. A young hart has a lowly appearance and is lovable and endearing. The Lord is full of liveliness and power, yet He is neither dreadful nor fearsome but endearing and desirable. He seeks us in this way to have fellowship with us; He does not want to be separated from us (v. 17).
Song of Songs 8 ends with Christ as the Bridegroom who is like a young hart upon the mountains of spices (v. 14). This typifies that Christ in His coming back will descend in His kingdom as the resurrected One and will receive us into the kingdom of God to enjoy His presence. This kingdom is brought in through the lovers and pursuers of the Lord in their fellowship and union with Him.
According to Song of Songs, the king is the bridegroom and the maiden who adores and pursues him is his bride (1:13-16). This is a type of Christ and the church as the universal couple. The Bible reveals that God in Christ is the Bridegroom of His elect as His bride. Ephesians 5:22-33 shows that the husband and the wife are a type of Christ and the church as the great mystery. Hence, 2 Corinthians 11:2 shows that the church, constituted with all the believers, is the wife betrothed to Christ.
The church as the bride of Christ is produced by Christ in His resurrection. Christ regenerated all the believers in His resurrection (1 Pet. 1:3) so that the believers were begotten with Him of the same Father and have the same life and nature to constitute the church as His counterpart to match Him (John 20:17; Heb. 2:11-12).
Song of Songs 5:10-16 portrays Christ in resurrection as the lovely Bridegroom. In His resurrection He is full of life and full of power; He is the One whom we look to and follow and who is leading us in a triumphal procession (John 12:32; 2 Cor. 2:14). Furthermore, He has God’s nature and glory, and He is our Head. He is rich in power and never fading, and He is intimately affectionate toward us.
All that He has is firm and unshakable because it is based upon God’s nature and because of His righteousness. He is transcendent and heavenly, and He is the resurrected and glorified One. He transfuses into us all that He has received and tasted of God. With such a Christ in resurrection, we cannot but be burning in our heart and cry out, “He is altogether desirable!” This One is “my Beloved!”
John 3:29 says, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom.” Christ, who is the Bridegroom, has the divine life and nature. Through His resurrection He produced the church that the church may have His divine life and nature and be qualified to match Him, that is, to become His bride to match Him, the Bridegroom. Now we need to live with Christ and live to Christ (2 Cor. 5:15), taking Him as our person that we may grow and become His satisfaction. Then at the end of this age, Christ will come to marry His bride and enjoy a married life together with His bride for eternity (Rev. 19:7; 21:9).
In the typology of the Old Testament, five items—the bronze serpent, the one hanging on a tree, the hind of the dawn, and the bridegroom and the bride—are seemingly different from one another. However, in the spiritual significance of the New Testament they are connected—Christ died and resurrected as the Bridegroom to obtain the church as His bride.
The bronze serpent had the form of the fiery serpent but was without the fiery serpent’s poison. When the children of Israel were bitten by the fiery serpents, they became serpents in the eyes of God and deserved God’s judgment unto death. However, according to God’s saving way, when the bronze serpent, which had only the form but not the poison of a serpent, was lifted up on the pole, it became their replacement to suffer the judgment of God. They lived by looking at the bronze serpent. This is a type of Christ being made sin on our behalf to be the same as a sinful man but having only the form of the flesh of sin and not the poison of sin. Through Christ’s crucifixion in the flesh, God condemned sin in the flesh, judged sin for us, and dealt with the sin in our nature and the sinful nature to which it belongs. Furthermore, He annulled Satan in us that we may have eternal life by believing in Christ.
The one hanging on a tree is a type of Christ, who was hanged on the tree as the replacement for us, who have sinned and deserve death. He bore up our sins on the cross that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. Moreover, He suffered the curse of death for us sinners, who deserve death, and thus redeemed us out of the curse of the law that we may receive the Spirit promised by God.
The hind of the dawn typifies the resurrected Christ. The life of Christ in resurrection is fresh, active, lively, and powerful, and He is able to walk steadily in high places. There is nothing that can hinder Him. Christ is likened also to a young hart, indicating that Christ is fresh and vigorous, yet He is neither dreadful nor fearsome but endearing and desirable for having fellowship with us and also for coming back to meet with us and to receive us into the kingdom of God to enjoy His presence.
The bridegroom and the bride are a type of Christ and the church as the universal couple. The Bible reveals that God in Christ is the Bridegroom of His elect as His bride. Ephesians 5:22-33 shows that the husband and the wife are a type of Christ and the church as the great mystery. The church as the bride of Christ is produced by Christ in His resurrection. Christ regenerated all the believers in His resurrection so that the believers were begotten with Him of the same Father and have the same life and nature to constitute the church as His counterpart to match Him.
