挂在神迹上的铜蛇
安息日妥拉
Chukat — חוקת
民数记（Num）： 19:1 – 22:1
士师记（Jug）： 11:1 – 33
希伯来书（Heb）： 9:11 – 28
约翰福音（Jhn）： 3:10 – 21
约翰福音（Jhn）： 19:38 – 42
本周妥拉摘要
Chukat (חוקת)是妥拉第三十九段的阅读部分。Chukat (חוקת)一词意味“律例"，它来自这段经文的第二节：”耶和华命定律法中的一条律例"（民数记19：2）。Chukar还呈现了一条神秘的律法，接触死尸后要用红母牛来进行洁净仪式。该部分经文也讲述了摩西击打磐石、亚伦和米利暗去世、以及与亚摩利人的争战，最后说到以色列人在应许之地边缘安营。
Chukat is the thirty-ninth reading from the Torah. The word chukat (חוקת) means "statute." The name is derived from the second verse of the reading: "This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded" (Numbers 19:2). Chukatpresents the mysterious laws of the red-heifer ceremony for purification after contact with human death. This reading also contains the story of Moses striking the rock, the stories of the deaths of Aaron and Miriam and the wars with the Amorites. The portion concludes with the host of Israel encamping on the edge of the Promised Land.
妥拉纲要
妥拉
民数记 19:1 ｜ 红母牛的洁净仪式
民数记 20:1 ｜ 米利巴磐石出水
民数记 20:14 ｜ 以东王拒绝以色列人
民数记 20:22 ｜ 亚伦去世
民数记 21:1 ｜ 铜蛇
民数记 21:10 ｜ 去摩押的旅途
民数记 21:21 ｜ 打败西宏的王
民数记 21:33 ｜ 打败巴珊王噩
先知书
士师记 11:1 ｜ 耶弗他
士师记 11:29 ｜ 耶弗他的誓言
TORAH
Numbers 19:1 | Ceremony of the Red Heifer
Numbers 20:1 | The Waters of Meribah
Numbers 20:14 | Passage through Edom Refused
Numbers 20:22 | The Death of Aaron
Numbers 21:1 | The Bronze Serpent
Numbers 21:10 | The Journey to Moab
Numbers 21:21 | King Sihon Defeated
Numbers 21:33 | King Og Defeated
PROPHETS
Jdg 11:1 | Jephthah
Jdg 11:29 | Jephthah's Vow
挂在神迹上的铜蛇
当耶稣说“摩西怎样在旷野举蛇，人子也必照样被举起来”（约翰福音3:14）时，祂暗示了自己将以同样的方式受难；但此外，话中还有另一层含义。祂不仅在讲述自己的受死，还有复活四十天后的升天。
神对摩西说“你制造一条火蛇，挂在杆子上”（民数记21:8）。杆子指的是一个支柱，顶端会展现一些标志。而希伯来语中“杆子”用的是nes（נס）这个词，但nes同样可以翻译成“神迹”。神告诉摩西去“制造一条铜蛇，并把它挂在神迹（nes）上……”，文士们当时很想知道摩西究竟是如何把铜蛇挂在“神迹”上的。把“神迹”一词代入文章中后，他们的解读是，摩西当时把铜蛇抛到了空中，而铜蛇竟一直悬浮在空中，让全以色列人都能仰望它，这样便将铜蛇“挂在了神迹上”。
摩西造了一条铜蛇，并把它挂在了神迹上（nes, נס）（民数记21:9）。意思是他把铜蛇抛向天空，铜蛇一直挂在空中。（民数记拉比解经 19:23）
这段稀奇的希伯来文解释恰巧对应了约翰福音3章的语境。耶稣当时在正向尼哥底母解释，人子必要“被举起”。他告诉尼哥底母说，“除了从天降下仍旧在天的人子、没有人升过天”（约翰福音3:13）。在与之相似的一段经文中，他也告诉了一些加利利人他是从天上降下来的。当他们厌弃这话时，祂回答到，“这话是叫你们跌倒么。倘或你们看见人子升到祂原来所在之处，怎么样呢？”（约翰福音6:61-62）
在约翰福音3章，他告诉尼哥底母没有人曾升过天，但祂会被举起来，因为祂是从天上降下的，之后祂解释到，“摩西在旷野怎样举蛇，人子也必照样被举起来”（约翰福音3:14）。根据上下文，祂说的”被举起“正指向祂的升天。是耶稣的升天——祂回到自己原来的荣耀以及在天父身旁的位置——才成就了信者得救的应许。
祂的升天将怎样成就呢？正如摩西将铜蛇抛向空中，于是它便挂在空中、让所有人望见便可得救；同样，人子也会升天，并持续“被高举”，让每个仰望祂的人得救。
耶稣对尼哥底母的这番话，其实对祂的十字架受死和升天作出了双重暗示。人子被挂在杆子（nes）上的受死，同样带出了人子被举在神迹（nes）里的升天。
Lifted on a Miracle
When Yeshua says, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up" (John 3:14), He was hinting about the kind of death He was going to die, but there is a second meaning to these words as well. He was speaking not only of His death, but also of His ascension forty days after the resurrection.
God told Moses to "make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard." (Numbers 21:8) A standard is a pole atop which an emblem is displayed. The Hebrew word nes (נס) may also be translated as “miracle.” God told Moses to “make a bronze serpent, and set it on a nes …” The sages wanted to know the particular “miracle” Moses was to set the serpent upon. By reading nes as “miracle” instead of “pole,” they explained that Moses set the serpent on a miracle by tossing it into the air where it remained hovering above the ground so that all Israel could look upon it:
“Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a miracle (nes, נס)” (Numbers 21:9). That means he cast it into the air and it stayed there.” (Numbers Rabbah 19:23)
This fanciful explanation of the Hebrew also fits the context of John 3. Yeshua was explaining to Nicodemus that the Son of Man must be “lifted up.” He had just told Nicodemus, “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man” (John 3:13). In a similar passage, He told the Galileans that He had descended from heaven. When they objected, He replied, “Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?” (John 6:61-62).
In John 3, He told Nicodemus that no one has ascended to heaven, but He will be lifted up because He descended from heaven. Then He explains, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14). In this context, His words seem to point toward His ascension. It is the ascension of Yeshua—His return to His former station of glory with the Father—that holds the promise of salvation for everyone who believes.
How will this ascension be accomplished? Just as Moses tossed the serpent into the air and there it remained for all to look unto for salvation, so too, the Son of Man will ascend and remain “lifted up” for the salvation of all who will look to Him.
Yeshua’s words to Nicodemus imply both His cross and His ascension. The lifting of the Son of Man upon the pole (nes) will bring about the lifting of the Son of Man through the miracle (nes) of His ascension.
First Fruits of Zion