Thought from today’s Bible reading from 2 Kings 18:1-8; 2 Chronicles 29-31; Psalm 48.
Hezekiah was one of the righteous kings of Judah. He did something interesting as he attempted to purge the land of sin.
“He did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.
“He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. For he clung to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses” (2 Kings 18:3-6).
The bronze serpent was originally made by Moses according to God’s instructions as a way to save the people from a plague of fiery serpents (Numbers 21:6-9). The people still had this at the time of Hezekiah, though there was no longer a divinely prescribed use for it. The people turned it into an idol, violating the commandment against having graven images (Exodus 20:4). Hezekiah, in faithfully serving the Lord, was willing to destroy this object. This should remind us of a few points.
- Anything can become an idol. This bronze serpent was not an idol when it was first fashioned. But it became an idol, not because the physical appearance or composition had changed, but because they people began to view it as something to be honored. An idol is anything that is being honored and/or served so that it prevents one from serving God wholeheartedly.
- That which causes one to sin ought to be destroyed. The fact that this serpent was once used for something good was irrelevant. The possibility that there might be some sort of sentimental attachment to this object did not matter. And the fact that there was nothing inherently evil about this inanimate object was not a factor, either. The only thing that mattered was that the people were using it to sin against God.
We must guard ourselves from idols (1 John 5:21). If something leads us to sin, we must not hesitate to cast it from us (Matthew 5:29-30).
Tomorrow’s reading: Hosea 1-7
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
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