He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days, the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan. (2 Kings 18:4)
Numbers 21:4-8 describes how during a time of a plague of fiery serpents upon the whole nation, Moses made a bronze serpent for the nation to look upon and be spared death from the snake bites. This statement in 2 Kings tells us that this particular bronze serpent had been preserved for more than 800 years and had come to be worshipped as Nehushtan. Hezekiah, in his zeal, broke in pieces this bronze artifact and put an end to the idolatrous worship of this object.
The bronze serpent on the pole was a representation of Lord Jesus Christ, as Jesus, Himself said in John 3:14-15. At the same time, man could take something so good and so used by God and make a destructive idol out of it.
Over the years, people have diligently sought the true cross on which Lord Jesus was nailed to. They have looked for his burial clothes, and you name it all. But God, in His mercy, never allowed those things to be found (although some claim otherwise). If these things were found, these objects would become idolatrous distractions. People would begin to worship these objects rather than the living God.
No wonder when Moses, the man of God, died, God hid the body of Moses by sending his Arch Angel, Michael, to guard the body. satan would have used the body of Moses to trick Israel into worshipping it.
Some people would have said, ‘How could Hezekiah dare desecrate the brazen serpent of Moses the man of God? This brazen serpent that had healed so many who looked up to it. But look what God say about Hezekiah.
5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. 6 For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. 7 The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went. (2 Kings 18:5-7)
But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?” (2 Kings 18:27)
It didn't matter to the Rabshakeh if the regular people of Jerusalem were able to hear him or not. That was one of his objectives in the game. Fear, discouragement, and hopelessness were all things that brought him pleasure, and the more he could spread them, the better.
He also pointed out what things would be like in Jerusalem after an extended siege had been in place for some time. He intended for this to be offensive and frightening to everyone who heard it, and he wanted it to amplify the listeners' feelings of fear, discouragement, and hopelessness.
Numbers 21:4-8 describes how during a time of a plague of fiery serpents upon the whole nation, Moses made a bronze serpent for the nation to look upon and be spared death from the snake bites. This statement in 2 Kings tells us that this particular bronze serpent had been preserved for more than 800 years and had come to be worshipped as Nehushtan. Hezekiah, in his zeal, broke in pieces this bronze artifact and put an end to the idolatrous worship of this object.
The bronze serpent on the pole was a representation of Lord Jesus Christ, as Jesus, Himself said in John 3:14-15. At the same time, man could take something so good and so used by God and make a destructive idol out of it.
Over the years, people have diligently sought the true cross on which Lord Jesus was nailed to. They have looked for his burial clothes, and you name it all. But God, in His mercy, never allowed those things to be found (although some claim otherwise). If these things were found, these objects would become idolatrous distractions. People would begin to worship these objects rather than the living God.
No wonder when Moses, the man of God, died, God hid the body of Moses by sending his Arch Angel, Michael, to guard the body. satan would have used the body of Moses to trick Israel into worshipping it.
Some people would have said, ‘How could Hezekiah dare desecrate the brazen serpent of Moses the man of God? This brazen serpent that had healed so many who looked up to it. But look what God say about Hezekiah.
5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. 6 For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. 7 The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went. (2 Kings 18:5-7)
But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?” (2 Kings 18:27)
It didn't matter to the Rabshakeh if the regular people of Jerusalem were able to hear him or not. That was one of his objectives in the game. Fear, discouragement, and hopelessness were all things that brought him pleasure, and the more he could spread them, the better.
He also pointed out what things would be like in Jerusalem after an extended siege had been in place for some time. He intended for this to be offensive and frightening to everyone who heard it, and he wanted it to amplify the listeners' feelings of fear, discouragement, and hopelessness.
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