Yes—the brazen serpent is a brass symbol of judgment on sin; looking at it brought life to bitten Israelites, and Les Feldick connects this judgment to the cross.
Les Feldick uses the brazen serpent to show how brass in Scripture always points to judgment. When Israel was dying from snakebites, God told Moses to raise a brazen serpent, and as the people looked at it, their sin was judged. The Bible records that those who looked lived. Les applies the same truth to the cross: the reality of the work of the cross is that sin was judged.
Numbers 21:8-9 — These verses record the original wilderness event: God told Moses to raise a brazen serpent on a pole, and every bitten Israelite who looked on it lived.
John 3:14 — Jesus Himself interpreted the wilderness serpent as a picture of His own being lifted up.
In Numbers 21, after Israel spoke against God and Moses, the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and many died. When the people confessed their sin, the LORD told Moses to make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, promising that everyone who was bitten and looked on it would live. Moses made a serpent of brass and put it on a pole, and whoever was bitten and beheld the serpent of brass lived. Jesus later referenced this same event when He said in John 3:14, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up."
Les Feldick explains that the brazen serpent in the wilderness is a vivid picture of judgment on sin. He notes that brass consistently speaks of judgment throughout Scripture—the brazen altar was covered with brass, and the serpent Moses raised was also made of brass. When the people of Israel were dying from snakebites, God told Moses to erect a brazen serpent, and as they looked at it, their sin was judged. Les connects this directly to the cross. Just as the brazen serpent judged Israel's sin, so the work of the cross is that sin was judged. The brazen serpent therefore points to the cross as the place where sin's judgment was accomplished.
The event is recorded in Numbers 21:8-9. The LORD instructed Moses to make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and Moses made a serpent of brass. The narrative says that every bitten person who looked on it lived. Jesus later referenced this wilderness event in John 3:14.
Les says that brass always speaks of judgment throughout Scripture. The brazen altar was constructed with brass, and the wilderness serpent was likewise a brazen serpent. That is why the serpent was made of brass—it was to show that sin was being judged. As the Israelites looked at it, their sin was judged.
Les connects the brazen serpent directly to the cross. The serpent was raised on a pole, and Israel's sin was judged as they looked at it. In the same way, the reality of the work of the cross is that sin was judged. The brazen serpent is therefore a picture of that greater judgment for sin.
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And whenever you go in to abject pagan idolatry, or the mythologies, the Greek gods, and so forth, you always have rank immorality. It's just part and parcel of it, because of course it's satanically controlled. And here's the evidence. So when Moses looks a little bit further, what does he see? That the people were naked, for Aaron had made them naked to their shame among their enemies.
Brass and Judgment
Les teaches that brass always signifies judgment in Scripture, and the brazen serpent God told Moses to raise judged Israel's sin as they looked at it—just as the work of the cross is about sin being judged.
Why the Cross Is Foolishness to the World — 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
We know that since there were those who were adhering to Peter here in Corinth, there must have been a Jewish element. Now, you go all the way back to the onset of God's dealing with the nation of Israel. How does he always prove to those people that he is in whatever is taking place? Signs. Absolutely. And I'm always reminding people. I have to do it on the phone almost every day.
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He sends them back to the people under slavery in Egypt, and God says, if they don't believe you, throw this rod on the ground, and it'll become a serpent. And pick it up, and it'll become your rod. Now then, let's read on in just a few minutes.
Who Spoke from the Burning Bush? The Mystery of "I AM" Revealed
He said, but God, they behold, they'll not believe me. Hey, I've been gone 40 years. I've been on the backside of the desert. I'm a shepherd. They won't believe me when I tell them. Now, what else did he remember? He went to him when he had all the pomp and circumstance of Egypt, and he thought he could have had everything going for him, and they didn't believe him.
Tongues, Prophecy & Order in Worship - 1 Corinthians 14:14-40 Explained
This is what the Book says. I Corinthians 1, verse 22, "...for the Jews require," what? "...a sign." Now stop and think. How long has Israel been demanding signs? Well it goes all the way back to when Moses was first called out of the desert, and even Moses, the Jew, did not believe that he was supposed to do what God wanted him to do.
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I mean, it's just the way God works. We are never saved to walk a rose -petaled pathway. We're going to have trials, we're going to have difficulties, just like Israel did. Israel comes now down into that forbidding desert, and God doesn't just give them a hunk of roses. They're going to go through some very trying times, and here was the first one, right off the bat.
Water Baptism vs. Spirit Baptism: What Places You in the Body of Christ?
In other words, they've crossed it, the waters have come back, drowned the Egyptians, and now Moses begins to lead that multitude down toward Mount Sinai. And so he brings Israel out from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur, and they went out three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
Numbers 21:8: And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
God's command to Moses explains the purpose of the pole serpent: looking at it would bring life to the bitten.
Numbers 21:9: And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Moses' obedience fulfilled God's command, and the brass serpent became the means of recovery for Israel.
John 3:14: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Jesus uses the wilderness serpent as a deliberate type of His own crucifixion.
Les says that as Israel looked at the brazen serpent, their sin was judged. The biblical record adds that those who were bitten and looked on the brazen serpent lived.
Les explains that brass is the Scriptural metal for judgment. The brazen altar and the brazen serpent both carry that judgment meaning.
Les draws the connection: the brazen serpent judged Israel's sin, and the reality of the work of the cross is that sin was judged.
Watch the Teaching: Why the Golden Calf Still Matters — 1 Corinthians 10:5-13 Explained