Nehushtan: The Glory and Desolation of the Abomination.

[1137]

So now we can get to Nehushtan in Numbers, and hopefully the reason why this snake on a wooden pole isn't just some random or Hebrew specific thing is now clear. It descends from the Uraeus of Egypt, Ningishzida of Mesopotamia, the healing staffs of Greek gods, and especially Asherah who's connections will deepen as we go on, not to mention the Serpent from Eden. These are all the same being and symbol! It is thought that the story in Numbers was actually written far later and as a way to explain away the worship of Serpents in a manner that gave power and credit to Yahweh[18].

The name "Nehushtan" finally appears in 2 Kings, in which the son of Hezekiah wrote about the cultural revolutions Hezekiah supposedly brought about. Yet history shows Hezekiah made no such cultural changes, his son simply rewriting history to fit his Deuteronic needs. In fact, for most of Hezekiah's reign he was friendly with and allied to Egypt, not to mention fond of their symbolism. Many leaders at the time even utilized the winged Uraeus in their own symbolism[19]. Based on 2 Kings we learn that Nehushtan was still worshipped by the people, and that Asherah trees/poles often stood along with altars to Ba'al at the same time.

It is only after the Assyrians defeated Hezekiah and his allegiance changed that it's implied by his son the king tore down the Asherah trees and Serpents on staffs. However, even here it is not known that Hezekiah truly tore these down as a form of iconoclasm, for the Assyrian loot record from him attests to staffs topped with winged serpents[20]. Based on all of this information it is unlikely Hezekiah would have insulted the image of Nehushtan for some reason, even the Assyrians wouldn't have a reason to make him cast down these specific symbols. So where did the name Nehushtan come from? It was its name! It's proper name!

If all the numerous ties and connections to history and other pantheons from above isn't enough to show the much greater significance of Nehushtan than most give it, perhaps etymology will do the trick. If "Nehushtan" was indeed a descriptive term rather than a name, it would be the only example of such a Hebrew adjectival suffix known[21]. Yet there is one other serpentine entity whose name would be the only other example of such an adjectival suffix were it not a proper name - Leviathan. They are even more deeply connected as Leviathan was the chaos sea serpent that Ba'al defeated and Asherah tamed. This gives us a positive and negative Serpent, Nehushtan and Leviathan/the Chaos Serpent. It would be extremely strange for Leviathan to be a name but Nehushtan to be the only such adjectival suffix.

[22]

A group or collection of groups known to us as the Ophites, some of the first Hebrew Gnostics, seem to have been aware of much of this[23]. They worshipped this Serpent above god, and later either honored it as or above Christ. They believed that Yahweh imitated the Serpent's power rather than the other way around. Central to their symbolism was a snake on a pole or cross, which itself was an image the church tried to repurpose. In the book of John it is stated: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." Christ was often envisioned as a shining being, even being called the “Bright Bringer of Morning” in Revelations. The Ophites, like most Gnostics, saw the demiurge Yahweh as the ignorant – if not malevolent – Creator of or Orderer of the material world. He created and/or ordered the world of matter in his own heinous image and then, either idiotically or with full intent, declares himself the one god and source of all (like the Aten). They rejected this god in favor of higher beings, and recognized him as an imposter simply copying the Serpent.

This Serpent is Nehushtan. Nehushtan is the Uraeus Serpent, he is Ningishzida Lord of the Good Tree, the consort of Asherah (Set/Ba'al) who drives back Chaos, the Serpent who gave mankind the Apple, he who was worshipped in almost every culture, a divine, shining being that stood above even the throne of Yahweh and was so powerful Yahweh tried to steal his roles and powers, but who eventually faced Yahweh's wrath.




[1] (Easton, 1897)



[2] (Wilkinson, 2003)



[3] (Lansberry, n.d.)



[4] (Britannica, n.d.)



[5] (Asher-Greve, Westenholz, 2013)



[6] Image of Ningishzida - Ernest de Sarzec - Choquin de Sarzec, Ernest (1832-1901) (public domain) obtained from Wikipedia – Ningishzida - Wikipedia



[7] (Ackerman, n.d.)



[8] (Kletter, 1996)



[9] Image: Asherah holding snakes – “A Relief of Qudshu-Astarte-Anath in the Winchester College Collection” - I. E. S. Edwards, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1, Henri Frankfort Memorial Issue (Jan. 1955) – picture by Camocon obtained from Wikipedia (public domain) - Asherah - Wikipedia




[10] (Ogden, 2013)



[11] Caduceus - Johann Froben - The front page of the 1549 Froben Printing House edition of Naturalus Historia by Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D.) – obtained from Wikipedia (public domain) - File:Johann Froben's printer's symbol.jpeg - Wikimedia Commons



[12] Rod of Asclepius/Star of Life – artist Verdy P, obtained from Wikipedia (public domain) - Rod of Asclepius - Wikipedia



[13] Multiheaded kundalini of a yogi in mediation – unknown artist, obtained from Wikipedia (public domain) - Kundalini - Wikipedia



[14] (Lederman, n.d.)



[15] (Lederman, n.d.)



[16] (Lederman, n.d.)



Image: Hans Baldung Grien’s “Eve, Serpent and Death” – obtained from Wikipedia (public domain) - Eve, the Serpent and Death - Wikipedia



[18] (Lederman, n.d.)



[19] (Lederman, n.d.)



[20] (Lederman, n.d.)



[21] (Suchard, 2019)



[22] The Brazen Serpent, as in Numbers 21:9, by James Tissot – obtained from Wikipedia (public domain) - File:Tissot The Brazen Serpent.jpg - Wikimedia Commons



[23] (Mead, n.d.)

 

[John D. Brey]

[6] Image of Ningishzida - Ernest de Sarzec - Choquin de Sarzec, Ernest (1832-1901) (public domain) obtained from Wikipedia – Ningishzida - Wikipedia

I don't necessarily disagree with anything you posted. Much of it's been covered in the thread. I like the link to Wikipedia on Ningishzida. And I particularly like the image associated with Ningishzida here.

In my opinion, all of these symbols, personages, and myths, have a true source. For me, the Bible is the divine revelation of these things. Which isn't to say that the true nature of the revelation is uncovered in the text of scripture. That's clearly not the case. Nevertheless, this thread is trying to reveal not general information about Nehushtan (as your posts have succeeded in doing), but rather, a unique, biblical uncovering of Nehushtan required as a giant piece of the entire puzzle that is the Holy Bible.



John

 

[1137]

I don't necessarily disagree with anything you posted. Much of it's been covered in the thread. I like the link to Wikipedia on Ningishzida. And I particularly like the image associated with Ningishzida here.

In my opinion, all of these symbols, personages, and myths, have a true source. For me, the Bible is the divine revelation of these things. Which isn't to say that the true nature of the revelation is uncovered in the text of scripture. That's clearly not the case. Nevertheless, this thread is trying to reveal not general information about Nehushtan (as your posts have succeeded in doing), but rather, a unique, biblical uncovering of Nehushtan required as a giant piece of the entire puzzle that is the Holy Bible.



John

I suppose one debate between us Nehushtan fans would be what the story says about Yahweh. For example I would say it shows a petty, demiurgic being not really worthy of worship, simply trying to be as divine as the Serpent. What do you think of that take?

I'm also curious why Nehushtan? So few of us seem drawn to this specific symbol, but so Intensely. I can't really say myself, been interested in it since Hebrew school.

 

[John D. Brey]

I suppose one debate between us Nehushtan fans would be what the story says about Yahweh. For example I would say it shows a petty, demiurgic being not really worthy of worship, simply trying to be as divine as the Serpent. What do you think of that take?

I'm also curious why Nehushtan? So few of us seem drawn to this specific symbol, but so Intensely. I can't really say myself, been interested in it since Hebrew school.

To your last statement, I can point out that I've been perusing the lectures of Chuck Missler of late, and in listening to various studies on various topics (Spotify) he keeps coming back to Nehushtan as some kind of weird, or strange, code, or key, linked to the deeper meaning of various other important passages of scripture throughout the Tanakh and the New Testament.

Errantly, in my opinion, Missler claims that Moses and the prophets probably didn't know what the heck God had in mind in commanding the construction of Nehushtan. I totally disagree. I believe Isaiah, for instance, knew precisely what Nehushtan represents, and that that knowledge both undergirds, and is required, to really exegete Deutero-Isaiah properly. Most of the meaning of Deutero-Isaiah is related to Isaiah's deep and explicit understanding of what Nehushtan signifies: Nehushtan is the very axle around which Deutero-Isaiah, if not the entire Bible, revolves.

Your first statement is the gist of everything important about Nehushtan since in Nehushtan we glimpse the paradoxical syzygy of God's two hands: his left, Judgement (Gevurah/Samael, aka, the angel of death), and his right, Hesed (mercy, grace, and life). That these two elements of the godhead are co-mingled in the symbol of Nehushtan is likely why insightful persons are drawn to it, and why those disinterested in even the most interesting psychic phenomenon known to man aren't.

In Nehushtan, God's two hands, his two sons, are locked in mortal (and immortal) combat to the death and or everlasting life. We find this cosmic battle throughout the ancient mythologies for the simple reason that it's the basis for our whole reality in this current aeon. As Martin Heidegger implied, the very existence of human Being-ness is a by-product of this cosmic battle. This Being-producing combat is pictured explicitly when Moses lifts his bronzed serpent-rod up as a wholy sanctified form of sheer, unadulterated, undeniable, idolatry. Even as Abraham was required to abort, murder, his firstborn to show his obedience to a lawgiver who would, paradoxically, condemn him for his faith-act, so too, the true, blue, non-idolater, must practice faith in the preeminent idol of history, Nehushtan, and what it represents in John 3:14, or be denied access to the approaching Kingdom of God.



John

 

[1137]

To your last statement, I can point out that I've been perusing the lectures of Chuck Missler of late, and in listening to various studies on various topics (Spotify) he keeps coming back to Nehushtan as some kind of weird, or strange, code, or key, linked to the deeper meaning of various other important passages of scripture throughout the Tanakh and the New Testament.

Errantly, in my opinion, Missler claims that Moses and the prophets probably didn't know what the heck God had in mind in commanding the construction of Nehushtan. I totally disagree. I believe Isaiah, for instance, knew precisely what Nehushtan represents, and that that knowledge both undergirds, and is required, to really exegete Deutero-Isaiah properly. Most of the meaning of Deutero-Isaiah is related to Isaiah's deep and explicit understanding of what Nehushtan signifies: Nehushtan is the very axle around which Deutero-Isaiah, if not the entire Bible, revolves.

Your first statement is the gist of everything important about Nehushtan since in Nehushtan we glimpse the paradoxical syzygy of God's two hands: his left, Judgement (Gevurah/Samael, aka, the angel of death), and his right, Hesed (mercy, grace, and life). That these two elements of the godhead are co-mingled in the symbol of Nehushtan is likely why insightful persons are drawn to it, and why those disinterested in even the most interesting psychic phenomenon known to man aren't.

In Nehushtan, God's two hands, his two sons, are locked in mortal (and immortal) combat to the death and or everlasting life. We find this cosmic battle throughout the ancient mythologies for the simple reason that it's the basis for our whole reality in this current aeon. As Martin Heidegger implied, the very existence of human Being-ness is a by-product of this cosmic battle. This Being-producing combat is pictured explicitly when Moses lifts his bronzed serpent-rod up as a wholy sanctified form of sheer, unadulterated, undeniable, idolatry. Even as Abraham was required to abort, murder, his firstborn to show his obedience to a lawgiver who would, paradoxically, condemn him for his faith-act, so too, the true, blue, non-idolater, must practice faith in the preeminent idol of history, Nehushtan, and what it represents in John 3:14, or be denied access to the approaching Kingdom of God.



John

This is really fascinating insight and I agree a lot, especially with the hidden importance and who is drawn to it. I don't remember the podcast but I was just listening to one about the Twin Serpents, that all this Serpent confusion, Egypt to Judaism to Gnosticism and everything else, is simply explained by there being twin, opposing serpents.