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‘He … brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.’
2Ki_18:4
I. A blind veneration for the past is always an obstacle in the path of progress.—An intelligent regard for the past is, of course, a help and not a hindrance in the direction of all true advance. But there are always multitudes who cling with unintelligent grasp to institutions and customs, simply because these have come down to them from their fathers.… If there be a tendency to worship the brazen serpent instead of the living God, then, whilst it may be lawful enough to preserve the image as a memorial, yet, inasmuch as, after all, the thing is only a piece of brass, it may be, on the whole, the truest wisdom to grind it to powder.
II. Even that which has been ordained by God Himself for a blessing may be so misused as to become a curse.
(1) Art and science, for example, are intended by God to be handmaids of true progress; but the worship of science tends only to materialism, and the worship of beauty tends ultimately to sensuality.
(2) The weekly day of rest; that, too, is a gift of God, and fitted to be a source of blessing. But it may be so misused as to become a hindrance. May be spent in idleness or debauchery. May be misused by being idolised.
(3) The Bible, again, what a blessed boon it is, containing, as it does, a revelation of the character and will of God! But the Bible will not bring us all the good which it is fitted to impart if we begin to worship itself instead of Him Whom it reveals.
(4) Our sanctuaries, too, with their ordinances of common worship, are of Divine appointment. But the ordinances of the sanctuary can do us good only as in and through them we draw near in spirit to Him Who ‘dwelleth not in temples made with hands.’
III. Every symbol loses its significance and value in proportion as it is converted into an idol.—The significance of a symbol lies in its pointing to something more precious than itself, which it expresses or enshrines.
Illustration
‘The serpent of brass, reared up by Moses, when the tribes were on their weary march from Mount Hor to Oboth, was not in itself miraculous, though it wrought cures of that nature upon the wounded Israelites. To the bitten and unbitten alike, as a teaching object, its lesson was, that faith should be both simple and prompt; whoever the sufferer might be, no preparation was required; by a straightforward look at the serpent he lived. Hearers ought to be cautioned against the common error of calling the brazen serpent a “type of Christ.” As, from the Fall to the closing apocalyptic visions, the serpent symbolises the great spiritual foe of man, such a representation appears to be objectionable, and unsanctioned by Scripture. All that is implied in St. Joh_3:14 is that Moses’ serpent, and Christ upon the cross, resembled each other in this particular, that they were both elevated to draw and fix the attention of men. Could Moses have anticipated the mischief that was afterwards to arise from his brazen serpent, he would doubtless have destroyed it when its special work was done. Kept reverently at first as a mere relic, at length it became the object of blind superstition, until Hezekiah, some seven hundred years later, broke it up, giving it the contemptuous name of Nehushtan, a “bit of brass.” ’
‘He removed the high places.’
2Ki_18:4
I. The first lesson we are taught is how a good son may come from a bad home.—That home must have been a very den of vileness which had a man like Ahaz at the head of it. There were many worthless kings on David’s throne, but there were few if any who were worse than Ahaz, and Ahaz was Hezekiah’s father. There had been kings distinguished for their courage, though they were sadly wanting in their piety; but Ahaz was as far from being brave as he was from being a worshipper of God—and it was under the control of such a father, and within the influence of such a home, that Hezekiah ripened to his manhood. Eli had been a holy man, yet his two sons were terribly degraded. Ahaz was one of the wickedest of men, yet his son was a bright example of true goodness. From which we learn that you do not explain everything by harping on the one word environment, for sometimes, into the good olive tree, there is grafted that which would be wild by nature. Let us never forget what Hezekiah had to contend with in his youth. He was not encircled with examples such as make goodness beautiful. And it adds to our admiration of the man, and of the noble stand he made for God and righteousness, to think how little he owed to these sweet influences which have had such quiet power in moulding us. If it was possible for this boy to be good, then it is possible for every boy to be good. There is no excuse to think they would be better, had they been born and bred in different homes. The grace of God can save and keep so mightily, even within a home like that of Ahaz, that the child shall be sheltered in the evil day, and grow into the strength of Hezekiah.
II. We ought to note how Hezekiah gave to spiritual things the foremost place.—We read in Chronicles how in the first year of his reign he set about the renovation of the Temple. There was a vast deal lying to be done, and Hezekiah was not the man to shirk it. There was an army to reorganise, and an emptied treasury to fill again. Yet the first concern of the king was not the taxes, nor was it the re-creating of his forces; his first concern was the worship of Jehovah and the honour that was due unto His name. It is always the mark of a great and noble mind that it sees things in their relative proportions. Greatness can seize the things that really matter, however they be obscured to other eyes. And this is one sign of Hezekiah’s greatness that, with so many matters clamouring for attention, he should have given his first and freshest thought to what concerned the worship of Jehovah. Are there not multitudes who place religion among the things they will see to by and by? Some day they fully intend to be religious, but meantime they are otherwise engaged. There is no more tragical mistake than that—none more certain to issue in disaster—none that more surely brings the life to ruin by inverting the true order of its interests. ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.’ That was the course which Hezekiah took, and for him it was most literally true. Nor will it prove itself less true for us, with tasks to do that are quite commonplace, and battles to fight of which no one ever hears.
III. We learn that good things may become a snare.—We read that Hezekiah ground to powder the Brazen Serpent of the wilderness. What sacred memories clustered round that emblem! It was one of the most precious relics of the past. It had been fashioned by Moses when the people were dying, and in a look at it there had been life. But this very sacredness became its peril, for the people had begun to worship it, and had grown to regard it with an awe and reverence that were the just prerogatives of God. It was for that reason that Hezekiah destroyed it. It was very precious, yet it was doing harm. Better that it should be ground to powder, than prove a stumbling-block to any little ones. Was it not actions such as this that Jesus thought of, when He said, ‘If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out: for it is better that one member should perish than that the whole body should be cast into hell?’
Illustrations
(1) ‘The worship of relics has in all ages been a favourite form of superstition and idolatry. Men have sought in old bones, in locks of hair, in the fancied blood of martyrs, and a thousand other sources, the blessings which they can find only in God.’
(2) ‘By that act of the reforming Hezekiah, recorded in the Word of God, we are taught to endure nothing in religion but what God has appointed. If ever there was a case where respect for relics could have been sanctioned, it was in regard to that symbol or type of Christ which Hezekiah destroyed. But no! it had become a snare, and must perish; it was put in God’s place, and inexorable destruction was therefore its doom.’