CHAPTER III.. Contents.

CONTENTS.

The flying and fiery Serpents. Ungrateful Israel wounded by them, and healed by the Figure of a Serpent. God hears the Intercession of Moses, when deaf to the Cries of that rebellious People. Conjectures why healed by a Machine in the Form of a Serpent. Sin in all its Appearances, the Venom of the old Serpent. The brazen Serpent a Representation of the Messiah. The Cures wrought by both were by very unlikely Means. The Wonders of Salvation. Why Israel was healed by a Serpent made of Brass; Opinions about it. The brazen Serpent was no Talisman, or a magical Image. The fatal Catastrophe of the brazen Serpent. Destroyed, when abused to Idolatry. The Serpent shewed in St. Ambrose’s Church at Milan, for that of Moses, a Cheat. Martyrs from the Catacombs of St. Sebastian. Divine Institution necessary to acceptable Worship. May the Destruction of the brazen Serpent, when abused to Idolatry, warrant us to guess at the Fate of a Cross abused to Idolatry!

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