Day 112 - 2 Kings 18-19 (Why God was Pleased with King Hezekiah for Destroying the Bronze Serpent God Had Commanded Moses to Make Almost 700 Years Before)
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"Hezekiah removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan." (2 Kings 18:4)
We are told in our Scripture passage for today that Hezekiah "he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done." (2 Kings 18:3) Thirty kings from Solomon to Hezekiah failed to remove the high places of idolatry practiced in Judah and Israel. Only Hezekiah had the will and dedication to God to rid his kingdom of idolatry.
Hezekiah's zeal for God in ridding his kingdom of idolatry went so far as to destroy what was considered as sacred to the Jews - the bronze serpent which God commanded Moses to make so that all who were bitten by the poisonous snakes that God sent to punish those who rebelled against Him would live if they simply looked at the snake.
The bronze snake was later described by the apostle John as a type of Christ so that "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." (John 3:14-15)
Being that the bronze serpent bore tremendous significance for both Judaism and Christianity, why did Hezekiah destroy it? We read in our text above that Hezekiah was commended for his action in breaking the bronze serpent because it had become an idol that the people worshipped.
Wow, how many today would dare destroy something as significant as the bronze serpent if it proved to be an idol that lead people from worshipping only the true God? Imagine the Pope ordering the destruction of the Shroud of Turin because it has become a thing that people worshipped as an idol. That would be world-shaking news!
Making our lesson for today more personal, is here anything in your life that you have elevated as an idol before God? Could it be going on vacation or your house or car? Whatever you place more importance than spending time with God in prayer and in the study of His Word the Bible is an idol. I pray that you may have the will and dedication like Hezekiah to break any idol in your life that keeps you from worshipping the one true God.
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