probably of the species of the "fiery flying serpents" mentioned by Isaiah. It is supposed that they hovered in swarms over the camp and suddenly darted upon their prey; none of the congregation being able while on their march, and few being able in their encampments, to defend themselves against the fell attack. What a scene of distress was here! Hundreds lying dead in the camp; hundreds more writhing in torture and crying in vain for relief; every one trembling for himself; now a child and then a wife and then a brother crying out under the tormenting bite; and swarms of the enemy still hovering over the camp. What could they do? They hasted away to Moses and said with tears, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us." And Moses prayed for the people, and the Lord said to him, "Make thee a fiery serpent, [that is, the image of 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. And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole, [so that it could be seen from every part of the camp] and it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass he lived." Glorious emblem of him who was "lifted up that whosoever, believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life."

This brazen serpent was preserved with great veneration seven hundred years, until it had become so much the object of idolatrous worship, that He

zekiah broke it in pieces about a century before the Babylonish captivity.

Let us trace a little more particularly the resemblance between this type and the antitype.

1. It was provided for people in a condition somewhat resembling that of the race to whom the Saviour was sent. Many of them were groaning under the anguish of their wounds and ready to die, others heard the cries of their parents and children around them, and could neither snatch them from death nor afford them a moment's relief. Such is the state of those for whom a Saviour was provided. They are dying under the tormenting inflictions of sin; panting with restless desires which nothing can satisfy; or tossing under anguish of conscience and a "fearful looking for of judgment." They behold around them the wide ruins which sin has made. They contemplate the present and endless misery of their parents and children, without being able to afford them any relief. The whole race lie in ruins, amidst the wide and frightful ravages of the curse, amidst misery and death in a countless variety of forms; walking over clods once animated with human life,-seeing their brethren huddled together in the grave, and all the living going down after them,—sinking, sinking, till they are out of sight;-death temporal and death eternal swallowing up all. Such is the ruin of a world smitten with the curse of the Almighty. What need there was of a Saviour to seize a race going down to hell, to force death to resign its prey, and to call sleeping nations from the tomb.

Vol. II.

Another resembling circumstance in the condition of the people was, that they appeared penitent. They confessed their sins and implored forgiveness. As soon as these symptoms of contrition appeared, (and nothing could be done before,) God ordered the remedy to be presented. In like manner the Saviour is revealed to none but to those who are humbled. He came to preach good tidings only to the meek, to bind up none but broken hearts.

2. The brazen serpent had the form of the fiery serpents, but not their poison. So Christ, though he came "in the likeness of sinful flesh," and possessed both the body and the soul of a man, had none of our depravity.

3. The bite of the serpents must be cured by the lifting up, not of an eagle, but of a serpent. So Christ must take upon himself, not "the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham." "In all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren." It must be man that is lifted up to atone for the sins of man.

The serpent must be lifted up conspicuously in the midst of the camp, where all the eyes of Israel might centre upon it: and the Son of man must be lifted up in the centre of the world, on the top of Jerusalem, environed with proofs drawn from heaven and earth, brought in from the whole body of the Old Testament and confirmed by the miracles of the New; and there, in the midst of the world, in the centre of light, where all nations might see the reality and the divine appointment of the sacrifice, he made expiation for the sins of the world.

This is the chief meaning of his being lifted up. The phrase is twice used, in this sense, in other parts of the same Gospel. "When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he." "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said signifying what death he should die. The people answered him, [for they understood him,] We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever, and how sayest thou, the Son of man must be lifted

up?" There is another sense in which the Son of man was to be lifted up in order to be the Saviour of the world. He was to be raised from the dead, and thus openly acquitted and accepted, that in his justification we might be acquitted and accepted. He "was raised again for our justification."

There is yet another sense in which he was to be lifted up. He was to ascend into heaven, there "to appear in the presence of God for us;" there to receive and distribute the whole inheritance; there to rule the universe and complete the salvation of his people. Thus he was to be exalted "to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins."

Had not the brazen serpent been lifted up, all who were bitten must have died. Not all the physicians in Israel could have brought relief. Had any caviller been disposed to say, "What is a brazen serpent? and cannot God heal his people without it?" yet, when bitten himself, he must have died if he had not looked to that remedy. And although the cross of Christ is to some "a stumbling block”

and to others "foolishness," yet without it no child of Adam could have been saved; and without a believing application to it, all must perish still.

their

4. The serpent being thus erected in full view of the camp, the people, when bitten, had only to fix eyes upon it and they lived. Wounded to death and racked with pain, they had only to cast their languishing eyes on this serpent of brass, and all the fire within them was quenched, all their anguish relieved. Precious symbol of a precious Saviour! When the soul, under conviction of guilt, sees hell naked before it and destruction without a covering, let it then catch one view of Christ atoning for the sins of the world,—of Christ exalted to the seat of intercession and rule; let there be opened upon it one sun-shine of God's mercy and truth; and all its anguish and fear are soothed, and the dying sinner lives: his sense of guilt and wrath is changed to a sense of pardoning love,-his midnight darkness to a morning without clouds. Instead of lying, weak and helpless, under the feet of trampling foes, he feels omnipotence growing up within him, and he can march boldly against earth and hell combined. All that is wanting to bring everlasting relief to the most abject guilt and wretchedness, is to fix a believing eye on Christ,-is to embrace him as a complete Saviour, and to take, with him, all that God has tendered to men,—is to rely on him as the great High Priest appointed by God to atone and intercede, and whose offering God has sworn to accept,-is to confide in the sincerity of God in this appointment and oath. When