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NASB | Exodus 20:4 ¶ "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Exodus 20:4 ¶ "You shall not make for yourself any idol, or any likeness (form, manifestation) of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth [as an object to worship]. |
Subject: How do we lift up Christ for healing? |
Bible Note: Dear Ed, I agree and you have provided an excellent answer! The New American Bible is a translation that is widely used by Catholics and their commentary may differ slightly as to the meaning of this verse. Here is some support for what you have already presented.. "3:14 so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Cf 8:28; 12:32,34; 18:31,32. This is a veiled prediction of Jesus' death on the cross. Jesus referred to the story of Num. 21:5-9 where the Israelite people who looked at the serpent lifted up by Moses were healed. The point of this illustration or analogy is in the "lifted up." Just as Moses lifted up the snake on the pole so that all who looked upon it might live physically, those who look to Christ, who was "lifted up" on the cross for the sins of the world, will live spiritually and eternally." (The MacArthur Study Bible) John 12:32 "lifted up. The cross was the supreme exaltation of Jesus." (Zondervan NASB Study Bible) "Like the serpent placed on a pole by Moses to free Israel from the deadly consequences of their disobedience in the wilderness (Num 21:4-9), Jesus will be lifted up on the cross for the deliverance from death of all who look to him in faith." (Cambridge Annotated Study Bible with Apocrypha) "Every time the words lifted up occur in the Gospel of John there is a reference to Jesus’ death (8:28; 12:32, 34). When Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness (see Num. 21:9), those who looked at it lived. So it is with the Son of Man (1:51)." (Nelson NKJV Study Bible) "Jesus Christ came to save us by healing us, as the children of Israel, stung with fiery serpents, were cured and lived by looking up to the brazen serpent, Numbers 21:6-9. In this observe the deadly and destructive nature of sin. Ask awakened consciences, ask damned sinners, they will tell you, that how charming soever the allurements of sin may be, at the last it bites like a serpent. See the powerful remedy against this fatal malady. Christ is plainly set forth to us in the gospel. He whom we offended is our Peace, and the way of applying for a cure is by believing. If any so far slight either their disease by sin, or the method of cure by Christ, as not to receive Christ upon his own terms, their ruin is upon their own heads. He has said, Look and be saved, look and live; lift up the eyes of your faith to Christ crucified. And until we have grace to do this, we shall not be cured, but still are wounded with the stings of Satan, and in a dying state. Jesus Christ came to save us by pardoning us, that we might not die by the sentence of the law. Here is gospel, good news indeed. Here is God’s love in giving his Son for the world. God so loved the world; so really, so richly. Behold and wonder, that the great God should love such a worthless world! Here, also, is the great gospel duty, to believe in Jesus Christ. God having given him to be our Prophet, Priest, and King, we must give up ourselves to be ruled, and taught, and saved by him. And here is the great gospel benefit, that whoever believes in Christ, shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, and so saving it. It could not be saved, but through him; there is no salvation in any other. From all this is shown the happiness of true believers; he that believeth in Christ is not condemned. Though he has been a great sinner, yet he is not dealt with according to what his sins deserve." (Matthew Henry Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible) |