Easter Devotional - Day 26

"Hezekiah obeyed Yahweh, just as his ancestor David had done. He destroyed the local shrines, then tore down the images of foreign gods and cut down the sacred pole for worshiping the goddess Asherah. He also smashed the bronze shake Moses had made. The people had named it Nehushtan and had been offering sacrifices to it." 2 Kings 18:3-4

Who wants to worship a snake? Most people I know would rather have nothing to do with snakes. I know all too many people who are deathly afraid of any and all snakes. Their first thoughts are to kill a snake or to run from it. Worshiping a snake would appear to be a rather foreign concept to us. Fearing them is an easy thing to accomplish. Why would a people who lived where snakes abounded and had a history with snakes as threats to their society worship the image of a snake?

Backing up to Number 21, we find the story of this particular snake. This serpent had a special history with the people that went beyond their generalized association of snakes with fear and danger. This was the bronze serpent Moses had cast when a plague of poisonous snakes was biting the Hebrews in the wilderness. They were dying, and Moses had pled their case before Yahweh, asking for deliverance. God had him fashion a snake of bronze and place it on a pole in the midst of the camp. Any who were bitten might look to the snake and receive healing from Yahweh.

This snake had a history of connection with the redemptive action of God. It had been stored in the Ark of the Covenant to preserve it as a symbol of Yahweh coming to the rescue of a people bowing in repentance for their sin. God had overlooked the command to have no graven images in the case of this serpent. It seems, however, the rationale behind the commandment had risen up to strike the people. Instead of using this bronze serpent as a reminder of Yahweh's redemption, they had begun worshiping the snake as though it were God. They confused their Redeemer with the means of redemption, the message with its container.

I am reminded of a pastor who took a cheap copy of the New Testament during his sermon and began ripping out sections. He would read a text like, "If your eye causes you to sin, rip it out and throw it away." Then he would rip it out saying, "Oh, we don't really believe in that part of the Bible." He would read another text like "Love your enemies" with the same action and response. He whittled the book in his hands down to portions we better tolerate, saying, "This is the Bible we believe, but some of you are sitting there more upset by the fact that I have torn pages from this book than with the fact that we ignore and disbelieve what it says."

It is too easy to turn something good into an idol. For some that idol may be the very Bible on which we base our faith. We may shift our worship to a book from the One to whom that very book points. For others it is a set or style of songs, rather than their message. To others, it is one of various others structures of our faith: buildings, programs, traditions, or modes of worship. These are not God, however. At best, they point to God. True worship goes far beyond the codes and structures we use to express our faith. It is turning to God and allowing God to turn us to His will. Are we ready for that kind of intimate connection beyond the crutches on which we hang our faith?

Allow God to help you review the patterns of your worship to seek him beyond their structures.

"Lord, help me to worship you, refusing any substitute for you as Lord and God."


—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin

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