Most people don’t think of something good turning into something bad. But that’s exactly what happened in 2 Kings 18:4.
“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.”
That brass serpent came from God! Moses made it in the wilderness when God told him to. Back in Numbers 21, the people were dying because of their sin, and when they looked at that serpent, they were healed. It was a symbol of God’s mercy & a picture of Christ being lifted up on the cross.
So why would Hezekiah smash it into pieces?
Because the people had turned it into an idol. They started burning incense to it. They treated it like it had power in itself. Hezekiah looked at what used to be a powerful tool from God and called it Nehushtan, which means “just a piece of brass.”
He wasn’t being disrespectful to Moses or to what God had done in the past. He was trying to remind the people that nothing, not even something from God, is more important than God Himself.
Here’s where this hits home:
It’s easy to think idols are golden statues or pagan gods. But that’s not always how it works.
Sometimes an idol is a good thing that’s been lifted up too high.
Our family can become an idol if we care more about pleasing them than we do about pleasing God.
- A church building or program can become an idol if we trust it more than we trust the Lord.
- A pastor or leader can become an idol if we follow them blindly instead of checking what the Bible says.
- Even our past experiences, blessings, or ministries can become idols if we start to think they’re what gives us strength, instead of the Lord.
Hezekiah had to do something hard. He broke something people loved. But it was the right thing. He reminded them that God is the One we worship, not the tools He’s used in the past.
If we’re not careful, we’ll hold onto something God gave us, and turn it into something He never meant it to be.
So here’s the question: Is there something in your life, even something good, that you’ve put above the Lord?
If so, it might be time to say what Hezekiah said: It’s just a piece of brass.
