Hezekiah... broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the people had been burning incense to it. 2 Kings 18: 4
If you have ever visited the Basilica of St Peter in Rome, the central church of Roman Catholicism, you will probably have seen the famous statue of Peter. He sits enthroned on a plinth; and what particularly catches the eye is his right foot. Why? Because much of it has been worn clean away by the millions of pilgrims (it’s been there for eight hundred years) who have touched and kissed it as they have come to pray. (Peter is, of course, regarded by Catholics as the first pope.)
Personally, I would question whether such a statue should ever have been made in the first place. But certainly the fact that it has become an object of veneration, almost of worship, seems worrying. Isn’t this just plain superstition?
Human beings seem so often to need physical objects as props to their religion. Well, it happened to the nation of Israel in Old Testament days as they fell away from pure spiritual worship. And Hezekiah, one of the few good kings we read about, decided to do something about it.
2 Kings 18: 4 tells us that he “removed the high places [sites of unauthorised worship], smashed the sacred stones [stones set up to mark places where people felt they were specially close to the gods], and cut down the Asherah poles [likewise, objects viewed as holy and sacred].”
Good for Hezekiah! we might say. But then... what’s this? Hezekiah also “broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made...” What’s this about!
If you go back to Numbers 21:4-9 you find that this bronze snake was made by Moses at God’s command centuries earlier as a means of healing from venomous snake bites. So how can it have been right for Hezekiah to destroy it? - something created at the command of God!
Well, the writer of Kings explains it for us: “... for the Israelites had been burning incense to it.” Ah! That bronze snake had become an object of veneration, attracting superstitious attention - rather like Peter’s stone foot. So - it had to go!
You may feel I am wrong to compare the bronze serpent with that statue in Rome. If so, I respect your conviction, and mean no offence. But I think there is a parallel which can be a real challenge to all of us, Roman Catholics or not.
Putting it simply, each of us may have a personal “bronze snake” in our lives - perhaps, in fact, several such snakes. By which I mean this: it’s tragically easy for us to allow something good and wholesome, perhaps something given by God himself, to become a little idol, something which whittles away at our worship and service of God.
It could be something healthy that you are particularly good at or particularly interested in - a sport, perhaps, or a skill like playing an instrument or creating some form of art. At first this was something you simply enjoyed, part of your God-given pleasure in life. But little by little - oh so gradually! - it took over the lion’s share of your time and squeezed out your devotion to God.
It could be something quite surprising. A Christian couple can become so besotted with one another that they gradually forget and neglect the God who brought them together in the first place. A parent may become so proud of, and obsessed with, a gifted child that they pour all their time and energy into that child’s development, and God is pushed more and more to the sidelines. Yes, even precious relationships can descend into idolatry.
Or, of course, it could be much more routine things - money, career, material prosperity, physical fitness, beauty, health. (I once knew a group of fine Christians who got hooked onto the need to keep our bodies fit as homes for the Holy Spirit. That, surely, was in principle a good thing. But then it reached the point of them running a leaflet campaign in the neighbourhood aimed at persuading people to avoid caffeinated drinks... and, even if you feel that caffeine is indeed best avoided, it was hard not to think something had gone seriously wrong.)
Almost anything can become a bronze snake. I sometimes wonder about the majestic buildings around our world which, for all I know, really were created originally to honour and glorify God. How magnificent many of them are! But what if they have now become little more than working museums, complete with turnstiles, queues of camera-toting tourists and souvenir sales? I sometimes wonder how Jesus views these places? - the same Jesus who viewed the glorious Jerusalem temple and sadly predicted its destruction.
Well, we must leave that to the judgment of God.
The question for us is: Is there a bronze snake in my life? And if there is, is it time I took a sledge-hammer to it?
Lord God, please show me any habit, taste or activity which has become part and parcel of my life without me realising that it has hardened into a little idol - and give me strength to deal with it as vigorously as Hezekiah dealt with the bronze snake. Amen.
If you have ever visited the Basilica of St Peter in Rome, the central church of Roman Catholicism, you will probably have seen the famous statue of Peter. He sits enthroned on a plinth; and what particularly catches the eye is his right foot. Why? Because much of it has been worn clean away by the millions of pilgrims (it’s been there for eight hundred years) who have touched and kissed it as they have come to pray. (Peter is, of course, regarded by Catholics as the first pope.)
Personally, I would question whether such a statue should ever have been made in the first place. But certainly the fact that it has become an object of veneration, almost of worship, seems worrying. Isn’t this just plain superstition?
Human beings seem so often to need physical objects as props to their religion. Well, it happened to the nation of Israel in Old Testament days as they fell away from pure spiritual worship. And Hezekiah, one of the few good kings we read about, decided to do something about it.
2 Kings 18: 4 tells us that he “removed the high places [sites of unauthorised worship], smashed the sacred stones [stones set up to mark places where people felt they were specially close to the gods], and cut down the Asherah poles [likewise, objects viewed as holy and sacred].”
Good for Hezekiah! we might say. But then... what’s this? Hezekiah also “broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made...” What’s this about!
If you go back to Numbers 21:4-9 you find that this bronze snake was made by Moses at God’s command centuries earlier as a means of healing from venomous snake bites. So how can it have been right for Hezekiah to destroy it? - something created at the command of God!
Well, the writer of Kings explains it for us: “... for the Israelites had been burning incense to it.” Ah! That bronze snake had become an object of veneration, attracting superstitious attention - rather like Peter’s stone foot. So - it had to go!
You may feel I am wrong to compare the bronze serpent with that statue in Rome. If so, I respect your conviction, and mean no offence. But I think there is a parallel which can be a real challenge to all of us, Roman Catholics or not.
Putting it simply, each of us may have a personal “bronze snake” in our lives - perhaps, in fact, several such snakes. By which I mean this: it’s tragically easy for us to allow something good and wholesome, perhaps something given by God himself, to become a little idol, something which whittles away at our worship and service of God.
It could be something healthy that you are particularly good at or particularly interested in - a sport, perhaps, or a skill like playing an instrument or creating some form of art. At first this was something you simply enjoyed, part of your God-given pleasure in life. But little by little - oh so gradually! - it took over the lion’s share of your time and squeezed out your devotion to God.
It could be something quite surprising. A Christian couple can become so besotted with one another that they gradually forget and neglect the God who brought them together in the first place. A parent may become so proud of, and obsessed with, a gifted child that they pour all their time and energy into that child’s development, and God is pushed more and more to the sidelines. Yes, even precious relationships can descend into idolatry.
Or, of course, it could be much more routine things - money, career, material prosperity, physical fitness, beauty, health. (I once knew a group of fine Christians who got hooked onto the need to keep our bodies fit as homes for the Holy Spirit. That, surely, was in principle a good thing. But then it reached the point of them running a leaflet campaign in the neighbourhood aimed at persuading people to avoid caffeinated drinks... and, even if you feel that caffeine is indeed best avoided, it was hard not to think something had gone seriously wrong.)
Almost anything can become a bronze snake. I sometimes wonder about the majestic buildings around our world which, for all I know, really were created originally to honour and glorify God. How magnificent many of them are! But what if they have now become little more than working museums, complete with turnstiles, queues of camera-toting tourists and souvenir sales? I sometimes wonder how Jesus views these places? - the same Jesus who viewed the glorious Jerusalem temple and sadly predicted its destruction.
Well, we must leave that to the judgment of God.
The question for us is: Is there a bronze snake in my life? And if there is, is it time I took a sledge-hammer to it?
Lord God, please show me any habit, taste or activity which has become part and parcel of my life without me realising that it has hardened into a little idol - and give me strength to deal with it as vigorously as Hezekiah dealt with the bronze snake. Amen.
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