Worshipping The Snake

“In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses. And the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.” [1]

Few situations generate stronger emotions than perceived threats to beloved institutions. Religion generates a strong emotional response. All one needs do to verify this fact is consider the response of Muslims to perceived insults to their religion. Even a rumour that American guards flushed a copy of the Koran down a toilet precipitated outrage and riots throughout the Muslim world. [2] Even what Muslims assume to be a misspelling of the name of their holy book can precipitate riots! [3] Muslim rioting in Bangladesh began when a report circulated that a copy of the Koran was placed on the knee of a Hindu idol. [4]

One should not imagine that Muslims are alone in extreme response to what is perceived as slights. History and even recent events detail violent responses to what adherents decided were insults to their religion among Buddhists, [5] Hindus, [6] Sikhs, [7] Jews, [8] and numerous Christian sects and cults. The persecution of non-state churches by both Catholics and Protestants is only too well known. Seeking to embarrass those who profess the Faith of Christ the Lord, opponents of the Faith are quick to point to the Inquisition, the public burning of heretics in Great Britain, John Calvin’s approval of the execution of Michael Servetus, and the Salem witch trials. Admittedly, at various times and despite biblical proscription, various sects of the Faith have employed violence to advance their particular version of the Faith.

Unfortunately, we are no better than many who preceded us in the Faith. We are still emotional creatures, and we respond with choler when we imagine someone is attacking beloved institutions. Our response reveals that we live by our feelings rather than by our convictions. Our church, the congregation with which we worship, even the name by which our particular branch of the Faith is identified is dear to us; and we react viscerally to any threat, actual or alleged. The building in which we meet is more than simply wood and stone; the church building represents dreams and hopes purchased with our sweat and blood, and through the efforts of our family who once worshipped here. The denomination to which we belong, the seminaries or schools we support as a church, the missionary organisations to which we send our moneys, all alike are vigorously defended against any slight, real or perceived. We say we recognise the flaws and the weaknesses, but we dismiss them as though they were minor foibles.

However, our defence of institutions and buildings can lead us into idolatry. Though the idolatry “feels” good, idolatry is nonetheless opposed to righteousness and in conflict to the will of God. In order to understand this subtle insinuation of the tendency to idolatry, I invite you to consider an incident that occurred early in the reign of Hezekiah, the 14th King of Judah. The account of the early years of his reign is provided in the historical book of 2 KINGS. Among his initial acts was removal of an idol—an idol that God commanded the people to make. Let me explain by studying the Word of God.

THE CURSE OF THE LURE — In order to understand the incident that is recorded almost in passing in our text, it will be helpful for us to review how the bronze serpent came to be. An old saying teaches that good is enemy of the best, and that was certainly true in this instance. Some may not be aware of the particular account of the incident in Israel’s history when God commanded Moses to make a bronze serpent on a staff. The specific account is provided in NUMBERS 21:4-9. The account informs us that people of Israel “set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.’ Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.’ So, Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.’ So, Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”