Num 21:7-9 And 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. And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
Psalms 78:34 When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly.
1 Samuel 12:19 And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.”
Exodus 32:30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
John 3:14-15 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
John 12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
Isaiah 45:22 “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
“Their quick recognition of its source and purpose, and their swift repentance, are to be put to their credit. It is well for us when we interpret for ourselves God’s judgments, and need no Moses to urge us to humble ourselves before Him.” (Maclaren)
Even among miracles, this was unusual. There was no immediate logical connection between merely looking at a serpent on a pole and living, or refusing to look and dying. But God commanded that such an unusual thing – even a foolish thing – be used to bring salvation to Israel. Jesus referred to this remarkable event in 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 whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Jesus clearly said there is a similarity between what Moses did here and what Jesus did on the cross. The people were saved not by doing anything, but by simply looking to the bronze serpent. They had to trust that something that seemed to be as foolish as looking at a serpent on a pole was enough to save them. It is likely that some in Israel perished because they thought it was too simple, too foolish to simply look and live. The saving power represented by the serpent could not be exhausted. There was no limit to the number of those who could look and live. Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. We might be willing to do a hundred things to earn our salvation, but God commands us to only trust in Him – to look to Him. (Guzik)
Without seeing a need to repent – people don’t. There is a growing blindness in the world that sees no need for repentance. Sin is just a word religious people use to believe in a fake god that does not exist. Being bitten by a snake with death a certain outcome might give motivation to repent as you see others dying from their lack of repentance and trust in looking at the bronze snake on the pole to save them. Those who did not repent died because of their hardened heart. Though they could see others dying and others living, they gave no thought to belief in what Moses had said to them and they perished for this stubbornness.
Oh that we would see the sinfulness of our sin and the greatness of God’s holiness that would cause us to live out our days with eagerness to know our sin and repent from it for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ