In punishment the LORD sent among the people seraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died. These are emissaries of Yahweh to execute His judgements. Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us. God is the one who does the healing. 9 Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he recovered.
Bronze is a symbol of judgement.
Archaeology has shown that the cult of the snake was widely practiced in Canaan, probably in connection with fertility rites. This incident is believed to have taken place in the vicinity of Punon which was one of the great copper sources in ancient times. St. Paul wrote from prison to thank the Philippians for their generosity and because he had learned that Judaisers were in the area, to warn them against falling under their influence. We hear today from his exhortation to humility. Jesus, in becoming man, divested Himself, not of His divinity, but of the status of glory to which He had a right and which would be restored at His exaltation.