Numbers 21:8-9
8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
9And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
2 Kings 18: 1-4
And it happened in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.
And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.
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.
The people of God had rebelled against Him in the wilderness. God sent serpents among them to judge them. When they cried out to Him, He instructed Moses make a bronze serpent as a medium for healing. Many years later God’s people began to worship the bronze serpent. It became their savior. They began to worship the creation instead of their creator. They had soon forgotten how God bore them on His wings throughout their journey in the wilderness. Like the people of Israel, God still judges His people when they are in rebellion. He may cause famines, sickness, economic depression and many other forms of judgement to awaken His people from sin. Many of God’s people are deceived into thinking He no longer judges His people. Many may spend hours binding and casting out demons but they forget the root cause of their problem is their rebellion.
If God withholds His goodness from an individual or a nation then they should get on their knees and seek Him wholeheartedly. He says if we seek Him with all our hearts we shall find Him. During my rebellion I developed a health condition through a sinful habit which I blamed on other forces. I couldn’t discern until when I came back to Him then He revealed the cause of my problem. If God’s people set their hearts to seek Him wholeheartedly, He will heal them as promised in His word. He is faithful. If we fulfill our part of the covenant, He will also fulfill His own. God had instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent to heal His people. The serpent on the pole is a shadow of Christ on the cross.
John 3:14-15
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Even in our time God uses mediums to heal and bless His people. Our God doesn’t operate dogma. The question is was the bronze serpent an idol? Today there are many tools that the people of God use. We use oil to anoint. We use water for many purposes in the house of God. One may use any medium as directed by The Holy Spirit but the issue is what is in the heart of God’s people? Is the anointing water a sin? Is the anointing oil a sin? Are the handkerchiefs, wrist band and other mediums a sin? One may say the blood of Jesus is all that we need. That is absolute truth but as I stated earlier God is not dogmatic.
Idolatry begins when God’s people begin to put their trust in the medium instead of putting their trust in their Saviour. Let’s say I have an olive oil which I use to anoint my head daily then one day I wake up and it is no where to be found and I begin to show signs of apprehension. It is now obvious that it has become my idol so the idolatry is not from the oil but I have made an idol out of it.
In the same manner any tool can be an idol. Anything that takes the place of God in our hearts can be an idol. It is not the object that is a sin but what we make out of it. Are phones and ipad idols? They are not idols but we can make idols out of it. If I spend countless hours on my phone and ipad and neglect my spiritual life then it has become my idol and I am an idolater. There are statues of our former heroes in the city. If I decide to go to a museum to take a look at these monuments does it make me an idolater? The Holy Spirit may personally convict me not to go there due to the weak faith of a brother lest he stumbles. This is what Paul was explaining in 1 Corinthians 8.
Glory To Jesus
8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
9And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
2 Kings 18: 1-4
And it happened in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.
And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.
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.
The people of God had rebelled against Him in the wilderness. God sent serpents among them to judge them. When they cried out to Him, He instructed Moses make a bronze serpent as a medium for healing. Many years later God’s people began to worship the bronze serpent. It became their savior. They began to worship the creation instead of their creator. They had soon forgotten how God bore them on His wings throughout their journey in the wilderness. Like the people of Israel, God still judges His people when they are in rebellion. He may cause famines, sickness, economic depression and many other forms of judgement to awaken His people from sin. Many of God’s people are deceived into thinking He no longer judges His people. Many may spend hours binding and casting out demons but they forget the root cause of their problem is their rebellion.
If God withholds His goodness from an individual or a nation then they should get on their knees and seek Him wholeheartedly. He says if we seek Him with all our hearts we shall find Him. During my rebellion I developed a health condition through a sinful habit which I blamed on other forces. I couldn’t discern until when I came back to Him then He revealed the cause of my problem. If God’s people set their hearts to seek Him wholeheartedly, He will heal them as promised in His word. He is faithful. If we fulfill our part of the covenant, He will also fulfill His own. God had instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent to heal His people. The serpent on the pole is a shadow of Christ on the cross.
John 3:14-15
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Even in our time God uses mediums to heal and bless His people. Our God doesn’t operate dogma. The question is was the bronze serpent an idol? Today there are many tools that the people of God use. We use oil to anoint. We use water for many purposes in the house of God. One may use any medium as directed by The Holy Spirit but the issue is what is in the heart of God’s people? Is the anointing water a sin? Is the anointing oil a sin? Are the handkerchiefs, wrist band and other mediums a sin? One may say the blood of Jesus is all that we need. That is absolute truth but as I stated earlier God is not dogmatic.
Idolatry begins when God’s people begin to put their trust in the medium instead of putting their trust in their Saviour. Let’s say I have an olive oil which I use to anoint my head daily then one day I wake up and it is no where to be found and I begin to show signs of apprehension. It is now obvious that it has become my idol so the idolatry is not from the oil but I have made an idol out of it.
In the same manner any tool can be an idol. Anything that takes the place of God in our hearts can be an idol. It is not the object that is a sin but what we make out of it. Are phones and ipad idols? They are not idols but we can make idols out of it. If I spend countless hours on my phone and ipad and neglect my spiritual life then it has become my idol and I am an idolater. There are statues of our former heroes in the city. If I decide to go to a museum to take a look at these monuments does it make me an idolater? The Holy Spirit may personally convict me not to go there due to the weak faith of a brother lest he stumbles. This is what Paul was explaining in 1 Corinthians 8.
Glory To Jesus
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