This particular episode in Numbers is a fascinating one, I think, especially considering this incident with the snake statue is cited by Jesus himself immediately before the most famous verse in all of Scripture, John 3:16. So the question becomes: what’s with the snake idol? And why did God choose that as the thing to bring healing?
The funny thing is that the snake as a form, I think is only to remind the people of what caused this issue. The actual healing is the cool part of this. It seems at first blush like some weird voodoo magic thing. But — as I love to highlight — our God is super practical.
Turns out that when a snake bites you (depending of course on how much venom was injected) your body will try to fight off the venom by itself, but typically people will freak out, which raises their heart rate. Not good. And the temptation might also be to try and get somewhere or do something, which also would bring the heart rate up. Also not good. So what does our practical God do?
He tells the people to look upon (רָאָה) the snake. This word means to gaze upon, to consider, to ponder. This is God having the people stop, focus, slow their circulation rate and let their bodies work to heal the poison. Now it’s certainly possible that God also provided some miraculous intervention, and while I do not discount this, I also don’t think it’s necessary.
I think this is a good reminder of what an amazingly practical God we serve, and how he has designed us from the beginning with thoughtfulness, foresight, and care.