Devotional 76
Aug 18, 2014 1996
“He broke into pieces the Bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it” (2 Kings 18:4).
Israel’s desert rebellion had born fruit in much pain and grief because of the poisonous snakes that infested their camp. God instructed Moses to forge a bronze snake and put it on pole where the people could see it, and those who looked to it were saved. The Israelite kept the bronze snake as a reminder of what God had done for them. In time, however, they began to worship the bronze object itself. It became just another idol along with the sacred stones and Asherah poles. We must beware the temptation to worship the forms and symbols of our salvation. God is greater than our church, its buildings and institutions. God is other than, and better than the instruments that we use to acknowledge and serve him.
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