BOTTOMLESS PIT
The bottomless pit is in the earth (Revelation 9:1). This is the same word that is translated “the deep” in Luke 8:31 and is believed to be the “great gulf” that is between hell and “Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:19–31).
BRASS SERPENT “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” (Numbers 21:8–9). It was made by Moses when the children of Israel were in the wilderness and were bitten by poisonous snakes. And whenever anyone who was bitten would look at the brass serpent, they would be healed and live. This is given as a type of salvation by Christ, who said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14–15).
No doubt some of the Israelites in the wilderness thought, There is nothing that a brass serpent on a pole can do for us. And those who believed like this were right—it did nothing for them. And those who believed may have thought, I do not understand it, but if this is God’s way, I am not going to argue with Him, but look and live. And they also would be right, for at the moment they looked to the serpent, they would be healed. So is everyone who looks to Christ to save his or her soul.
Later this brass serpent was destroyed by a good king named Hezekiah, because he hated idolatry: “He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan” (2 Kings 18:4). Strong’s gives for the word “Nehushtan” = “a thing of brass”; it had no power of itself—it was only a piece of metal. If King Hezekiah had not done this, then people today might still be using it as an idol and worshiping it, just as some religions today bow before and burn incense to statues (idols) or worship anything instead of the Person Who died for us and rose from the grave. (see CROSS)
The bottomless pit is in the earth (Revelation 9:1). This is the same word that is translated “the deep” in Luke 8:31 and is believed to be the “great gulf” that is between hell and “Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:19–31).
BRASS SERPENT “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” (Numbers 21:8–9). It was made by Moses when the children of Israel were in the wilderness and were bitten by poisonous snakes. And whenever anyone who was bitten would look at the brass serpent, they would be healed and live. This is given as a type of salvation by Christ, who said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14–15).
No doubt some of the Israelites in the wilderness thought, There is nothing that a brass serpent on a pole can do for us. And those who believed like this were right—it did nothing for them. And those who believed may have thought, I do not understand it, but if this is God’s way, I am not going to argue with Him, but look and live. And they also would be right, for at the moment they looked to the serpent, they would be healed. So is everyone who looks to Christ to save his or her soul.
Later this brass serpent was destroyed by a good king named Hezekiah, because he hated idolatry: “He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan” (2 Kings 18:4). Strong’s gives for the word “Nehushtan” = “a thing of brass”; it had no power of itself—it was only a piece of metal. If King Hezekiah had not done this, then people today might still be using it as an idol and worshiping it, just as some religions today bow before and burn incense to statues (idols) or worship anything instead of the Person Who died for us and rose from the grave. (see CROSS)
