But again to the history. These serpents which God sent are called ' fiery serpents,' partly for their colour, being of a shining glistering skin ; the word in the original is serapliim-hurners, a name given to the angels : Isa. vi. 2, ' Above it stood the seraphims,' which angels are called elsewhere ' flames of fire,' Ps. civ. 4 ; partly because their venomous stinging and biting did cause a raging heat and grievous burning in the bodies of the Israelites. And it seemeth they were a kind of serpents with wings, not of feathers, but of a cartilaginous substance, like the wings of a bat, and did here and there seize upon them and bite them ; or at least they are said to fly because of their swift motion, where by suddenly jerking they shoot themselves forward, or dart themselves out of trees on men or beasts as they pass by them. There is a plain allusion to those flying serpents, Isa. xiv. 29, ' Out of the serpent's hole shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.' And indeed that wilderness through which the Israelites passed did abound with many sorts of these serpents ; there- fore it is said, Deut. viii. 15, ' Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions.' Well, then, they go to Moses, and said, ' We have sinned ; for we have spoken against God, and against thee : pray to God for us, that he take away the fiery serpents.^ In adversity men will own the faithful servants of God, against whom they have murmured when all is well. Moses forgetteth the injury, and prayeth to God for them ; and God, though he doth not take away the serpents, yet he provideth a remedy unlikely in appearance, a brazen serpent to cure the bites of living serpents ; but divine institution conveyeth a blessing. The word of command is that they should ' look upon the brazen serpent ; ' and the word of pro- mise is ' that they should be healed ; ' Num. xxi. 8, ' Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass, that every one when he is bitten, that looketh upon it, shall live.' This is, in short, the history.
Secondly, The mystery, or typical use of the brazen serpent. The chief things represented in it are sin, Christ, and faith ; the deadliness of sin, the manner of our deliverance by Christ, and the nature of faith.
1. The Israelites' deadly sin and misery occasioned the setting up of the brazen serpent ; so the occasion of Christ's sending into the world was man's sin and misery, we being all bitten by the old serpent, and so liable to the curse. The devil is called 'the old serpent,' Kev. xii. 9 -, and in the appearance of a serpent he deceived our first parents ; therefore we read that ' the serpent beguiled Eve,' 2 Cor. xi. 3. Human
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nature was then stung to death by Satan, and the venom dispersed itself throughout the whole race of mankind. Among the Israelites there were but a few stung, here all ; there their bodies, here the soul ; there temporal death followed, here eternal. In the sting of these fiery serpents two things representeth our misery by sin — (1.) It is painful ; (2.) Deadly.
[1.] This sting is painful. The bitings did presently cause pains, and an intolerable thirst and burning, which was very grievous to them ; so the sting of sin is painful ; not always felt, but soon awakened. In spiritual things we are more stupid, and are not so sensible of the maladies of the soul as they were of the pains of the body. We are 'subject to bondage,' Heb. ii. 14. Though we do not always feel actual horror, there is a fire smothering in our bosoms, though it be not blown up into a flame. One of our spiritual diseases is a lethargy, and it is a great part of our misery not to know our misery. If con- science were not lulled asleep we would be more sensible. Surely Satan's bites are more painful than those of these serpents. His darts are called ' fiery darts,' Eph. vi. 16. His darts are dipped in the gall of asps and vipers. Boiling lusts will in time awaken raging fears and despair. Oh ! what horror and torment will sin procure to us if it be not speedily cured ! Sin is an evil and a mischief, whether we feel it, yea or no ; but we shall soon feel it an evil, as the stung Israelites felt the biting of the serpents. Sin in the life will make hell in the con- science ; it seemeth a sweet draught while we are taking it down, but there is rank poison at the bottom. A wounded spirit findeth it now : Prov. xviii. 14, ' A wounded spirit who can bear ? ' Horror and anguish of conscience is insupportable. Ask any man whose heart is well awakened, and he will tell you that the sense of the guilt of sin is more bitter to the soul than the gall of asps ; no terror comparable to the terror and sting of an accusing conscience. God's terrors are compared to a fire that drinketh up the blood and spirits : Job vi. 4, 'The arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit ; the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.' No poison more burning than sin in an awakened con- science. It may lie asleep till you come to die in sin, stupid and be- numbed creatures ; but then ' the sting of death is sin,' 1 Cor. xv. 5Q. Death is made terrible by those sad horrors and apprehensions which sin raiseth in us.