II Kings 18:4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and 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.
At my office I have a cornerstone that reads “Fundamentalist Baptist Church, Bill Rice Pastor, 1936.” It comes from a church my grandfather pastored almost 100 years ago. It is a good reminder of what God has done in the past, and it should also be a reminder of what God is still able to do today.
Do you believe in old-time, old-fashioned religion? Well, here are two questions. One is, “Do you believe in the substance of it?” and the other is, “What do you mean by old-fashioned or old-time?” I don’t object to people referring to old-time and old-fashioned religion as long as they realize what they are talking about. Old-Fashioned is not a reference to 1974. Old-time is not a reference to the 1930s. God is not old, He is ancient, and He is not merely ancient, He is eternal. We need to remember that because to make a fetish of the past is to miss God’s presence today. We ought see God in the past and realize that His power is undiminished right now.
King Hezekiah of Judah began to reign, and “he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.” So, it should be obvious that history was not insignificant to King Hezekiah. King David had been king generations before Hezekiah came to the throne. The Bible specifically notes that Hezekiah did that which was right like David had done in history.
Among the things that Hezekiah did was he “brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made.” God had used this brazen serpent to provide deliverance for Israel during judgment that He had sent, fiery serpents in the camp. God had commanded Moses to fashion this brass serpent and those who would look on it would live. It was a remarkable reminder of God’s provision and God’s character. But all those years later Israel had kept this brass serpent, and as is so typical of people, they began to cherish it and to forget the God Who made it cherishable. The Bible says, “Unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.”
Hezekiah saw this for what it was. The serpent had been devised by the commandment of God and had been used wonderfully as God’s provision in the past. But now Israel had forgotten the God Who was still with them and had made a fetish of the past. Hezekiah had the gall to call it “Nehushtan,” which means, “a piece of brass.” In other words, it was nothing more than a worthless hunk of metal.
The Bible goes on to clarify why he did this. Verse 5 says, “He trusted in the LORD God.” That was important because Egypt was not the world power she had been. Now it was Assyria. Moses was dead. Now it was Hezekiah who was leading this part of God’s people, but the point to be had was that God’s power was undiminished. God’s grace was still available.
God wants you to be discerning and active today. We need to know the past so we know how we got where we are, and if we don’t know the past, we don’t have a clue where things may be going in the future. In that regard we need to honor that honorable past. We need to be aware of what God has done in the past, but we need to make sure we are worshipping God and not merely what God has done in the past.
To make a fetish of the past is to miss God’s presence in the future. God’s power is undiminished, God’s character is unchanged, and God’s character is not something that is to be ignored today. We should look at the past, realize that God is still God, and that He will help us today if we will worship Him alone.