In Numbers 21, the people of Israel had begun once again to murmur and complain against the Lord. "And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died."

How absolutely TERRIFYING! that must have been! Sure, they were complaining against God, but doesn't everybody? A little murmur here, and a little there. . . it's just being human, right?

And then the snakes came! Poisonous snakes! Imagine one of the plagues of Egypt when you read this sentence: "And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people." Snakes in their tents, in their clothes, in their food baskets! Snakes everywhere!

The snakes represented their sin. It was prevalent and so were the snakes!

People were being bitten, and many died. Little children died. Old men died. Healthy adults died. The wrath of God was slithering through their camp, and there was no protection from it.

The people cried out to Moses for mercy, and Moses cried out to God. "And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. "

So Moses made a serpent of brass ("Why is he taking so long?" they must have cried. "Hurry up, Moses! Hurry!"). And then he placed it on a very tall pole, a pole that reached high so that even those who were far off could see it. And the people began to look. The burning of the poison cooled. The swelling began to go down. They sat up. And, they lived.

Look and live. A simple illustration of salvation by faith alone. The Lord Jesus even refers to it John 3:14, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: "

Then what? The people had a party perhaps? A celebration of God's mercy? Doubtless, they rejoiced and held each other, weeping tears of relief.

And then they buried their dead. And they cried, and mourned. And they held each other again.

But what of the brazen serpent? This metal 'savior' of theirs? Did they melt it down? Did they keep it? Whatever became of this blessing?

It became part of a tradition. At first, surely, people would look at it and just remember that wonderful day that they had been saved from the plague of poisonous snakes. But as surely as men make idols, it began to take on a different place in their hearts.

Until one day, some well-meaning worshiper did something that had never been done before. He burnt incense to the brass serpent. Nobody gasped. Nobody shouted, "No!" Somebody smiled.

And then he did it again. And again. And some friends joined in, or a family member.

Have you ever thrown a dog a treat, and the dog doesn't see you throw it? You point toward the treat and say, "There it is." And what does the dog do? It comes and sniffs your finger. It doesn't follow your pointing finger and go to the treat; it sniffs your finger. It doesn't make the connection between the two.

The children of Israel were a lot like that. They thought that somehow a piece of hard metal was responsible for their rescue. Of course, it was God, but he used that brass serpent, so it must be special somehow. Rather than worship the LIVING God, their true Redeemer, they worshiped a method, a tool that he had used to redeem them.

And what had been a blessing became a tradition, and eventually a corruption.

And it stayed that way for EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS!

Nobody did anything about it. It wasn't done in private, this false worship. It was done in public! By the BEST people! With ceremony!

It was unquestioned.

For EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS!

What could the righteous do? Destroy the thing? But Moses made it . . .with his own hands! Their ancestors had been rescued by the thing, for crying out loud! So what if some incense is offered to it now and then?

"You can't get rid of it. Grandpa offered incense there. So does Dad. And Mom. And my Uncle, and my Aunt. All my sisters and brothers. It's not as bad as you think it is."

But then, ". . . Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. " This 25-year old king saw things a little differently. His dad had been one of the wicked kings of Israel, and he had seen what wickedness was like.

He made up his mind early, and he "did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.

He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan."

He saw that the serpent could not be reformed. He couldn't ever get the people to see that God was the true Blessing, and that the serpent was just a tool. The people were too far gone.

So he broke it in pieces!

"How dare you!" they cried.

"Moses gave us that serpent!"

"Do you think that you are better than Moses?"

"You think you know God, but you don't. If you did, you wouldn't do such things!"

But he just continued on, breaking it to pieces.

Sometimes, that which was a blessing is no longer a blessing. Some things stay around too long, and they hinder rather than help. Traditions become corruptions. It's the sad story of mankind's relationship with the Father.

Raise up some Hezekiahs, Lord.

I smell incense.

p.s. Nehushtan means "a thing of brass." Hezekiah called it what it was, "It's just brass people. It's just brass."