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Fiery Serpents
[Bible]The fiery serpents were venomous snakes that bit the Israelites, killing many, after the people murmured against God in the wilderness, as recorded in Numbers 21. The episode forms the background to the account of the bronze serpent that Moses made.
Numbers 21:8–9
[Bible Verses]This passage records how God commanded Moses to set a bronze serpent on a pole for the Israelites who had been bitten by fiery serpents in the wilderness; whoever looked at it lived. It is frequently cited because in John 3:14 Jesus compared his own crucifixion to this event.
Genesis 3:15
[Bible Verses]Genesis 3:15 is God's declaration to the serpent that the seed of the woman "shall bruise thy head." The church has called this verse the Protoevangelium, the first announcement of Christ's victory, and interpreters differ over the identity of the seed.
Eating of the Forbidden Fruit
[Bible]The eating of the forbidden fruit is the event recorded in Genesis 3 in which Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had forbidden, and were driven out of the Garden of Eden. Christianity understands it as the beginning of the fall of humanity.
Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
[Bible]The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the tree in the midst of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2–3 whose fruit God commanded Adam not to eat, but which Adam and Eve ate.
Fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
[Bible]The fruit of the knowledge of good and evil is the fruit of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil," which stood in the midst of the Garden of Eden. God commanded that it not be eaten, and Adam and Eve's eating of it is read in Scripture as the beginning of humanity's fall.
Nehushtan
[Bible]Nehushtan is the name given to the bronze serpent that Moses made in the wilderness, in connection with its destruction by King Hezekiah of Judah. It appears only once, in 2 Kings 18:4, which records that Hezekiah broke the serpent in pieces to put an end to idolatry because the people had been burning incense to it.
John 3:16
[Bible Verses]John 3:16 declares that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him should have everlasting life. Widely regarded as a summary of the gospel, it is the best-known verse in the Bible. Calvinism and Arminianism interpret the scope of "the world" and "whosoever believeth" differently.
Genesis 3
[Bible]Genesis 3 recounts how the woman, tempted by the serpent, and her husband eat the fruit of the forbidden tree, hear God's word to them, and are driven out of the Garden of Eden.
Eve
[People]Eve is the first woman recorded in the Book of Genesis and the wife of Adam. She is known for the account of her eating the forbidden fruit after being tempted by the serpent and as the mother of Cain, Abel, and Seth.
Genesis 3:16
[Bible Verses]Genesis 3:16 records God's words to the woman after the Fall, in which He increases her pain in childbirth and declares that her husband "shall rule over thee." In discussions of the relationship between men and women, interpreters disagree over whether the verse establishes an order ordained by God or describes a distortion produced by sin.
Messianic Prophecy
[Bible]Messianic prophecy refers to Old Testament passages understood to point to the anointed deliverer who was to come, the Messiah. The New Testament regards these prophecies as fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Genesis 3:17–19
[Bible Verses]The sentence God pronounced on Adam after the Fall: the ground is cursed, man must labor by the sweat of his face in order to eat, and he will finally return to the dust. The passage is frequently cited in discussions of sin, death, and the meaning of work, and it is often read at funerals.
Coats of Skins
[Bible]The coats of skins are the garments that God made to clothe Adam and Eve after they ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:21). They stand in contrast to the aprons of fig leaves and have been interpreted both as a sign of God's care and as a foreshadowing of atonement.
2 Corinthians 11
[Bible]2 Corinthians 11 is the chapter in which Paul defends his apostleship against the false apostles who had entered the Corinthian church, boasting of himself "as a fool." He lists the hardships he has endured and declares that he will glory in his infirmities.
John 3:17–18
[Bible Verses]A passage stating that God sent his Son not to condemn the world but to save it, and that whoever believes is not condemned, while whoever does not believe is condemned already. Together with John 3:16, it is frequently cited to explain the relationship between salvation and judgment.
Bronze Serpent
[Bible]The bronze serpent was a serpent of bronze that Moses made at God's command and set on a pole so that Israelites bitten by fiery serpents in the wilderness might live. The account appears in Numbers 21, and in John 3 it becomes an image pointing to the cross of Jesus.
Leviathan
[Bible]Leviathan is a great sea creature mentioned in Job, Psalms, and Isaiah. The name serves as a symbol of a power beyond human control or of the chaos and evil that stand against God.
Revelation 12:9
[Bible Verses]Revelation 12:9 belongs to the vision of war in heaven in Revelation 12. In it the great dragon is cast down to the earth and identified as "that old serpent," the Devil, and Satan. The verse is frequently cited in discussions of the Devil's identity and origin and of when Satan was cast out.
Numbers 21
[Bible]Numbers 21 records Israel's defeat of the king of Arad, the plague of fiery serpents and the bronze serpent, the journey toward the plains of Moab, and the victories over Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan.