Objects of God Becoming Objects of Idolatry - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Kings 18:3-5,

"He [King Hezekiah of Judah] did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.) Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him."

Hezekiah was one of the good kings of Judah - the most godly according to this passage. This text provides for us some of the actions of Hezekiah that demonstrated his contempt for those things the Lord had contempt for - the trappings of idolatry.

One of these actions, I notice, was to break into pieces Moses' bronze snake. We read of this bronze snake being made by Moses at God's command in Numbers 21:4-5.

Following the exodus from Egypt, and having to travel around Edom, the Israelites became impatient and spoke against God and Moses. Due to this, the Lord sent poisonous snakes among them that caused a number of casualties. They came to Moses and begged him to ask the Lord to remove the snakes.

When Moses approached the Lord, the Lord told Moses to make a bronze snake, put it on a pole so that if any Israelite was bitten, if they looked to the snake they would survive. (I note the Lord didn't remove the snakes, but provided a "healing" if anyone might be bit - there is a whole thought that should be given to that.)

Fourteen hundred years later, Jesus used the account of the bronze snake as a metaphor in his conversation with Nicodemus, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him." John 3:14-15. Here we recognize the purpose the Lord had in mind all along when he had Moses make the snake and put it on a pole - it was a "type", prophetic of Jesus Christ. We are all bitten by the poison of sin, however, if anyone "looks" to Jesus Christ, he will be spared his eternal life.

What comes to my mind this morning is how something - even something provided by God or commanded by God can become an object of idolatry and sin. Where an initial purpose for something may have been good and appropriate, man, in his lost and fallen condition finds a way that perverts those kinds of things such they become in themselves idolatrous or sinful in some way. The Israelites did it in their day and the church does it today. The perversion of many sacraments and ordinances in the church, the revering of saints with a devotion that is only appropriate for the worship of God, the veneration of relics etc. all demonstrate the proclivity of sinful man to drift to idolatry.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.