Jump Start # 1791

2 Kings 18:4 “He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.”

Our verse today highlights some of the heroic and good achievements during the reign of King Hezekiah. He turned the tide and the hearts of Judah back to God. The very things that were causing Judah to be disconnected from God were destroyed. Our verse lists four obstacles in Judah’s way and heart that needed to be removed. Some of these very things were instituted by Hezekiah’s father. In this list we read about the bronze serpent that Moses had made.

This bronze serpent hasn’t been mentioned since the book of Numbers. Israel was grumbling against God. The Lord sent serpents to bite the people as punishment. Several died. This bronze serpent was placed on a pole, so that those who were bitten could look to that and be healed. This was not intended to become an idol. The people were not told to pray to it, make sacrifices to it, talk to it or burn incense to it. It was an act of faith. Look to the serpent and trust that God would heal them. It worked back of Numbers. The serpent problem passed and so did this bronze serpent most of us would assume. But here it is in the days of Hezekiah.

After Moses, was Joshua. He took the people into the promise land, which meant they carried this bronze serpent with them. Then came the four hundred years of Judges. Saul-David-Solomon’s reign cover about 120 years total. The kingdom divides. Several kings. More years. We come to Hezekiah and it has been 600-700 years since Moses. That old bronze serpent is still around. It’s old, very old. It belongs in a museum, but Judah didn’t have museums. The people started worshipping it. They gave it a name. The very thing that God gave them to help them, now took them away from God.

There is something about old historical items. Religiously, they are often called relics. Those relics, are thought to have powers, when they don’t. Some treasure those old things more than they ought to. What was useful and helpful in generations past, came cause another generation to stumble.

Hezekiah broke in pieces the bronze serpent. I expect some old timers got mad at Hezekiah for doing that. Some probably thought a part of Judah’s history was now gone. Some may have thought that the younger generation has no appreciation for what earlier generations had accomplished. Hezekiah saw through all of that. This Moses piece was being worshipped. It was hurting the nation. The bronze serpent no longer served a purpose. It was time for it to go.

What Hezekiah did, some brethren ought to do today. It’s time to toss some old ways that are no longer working and it’s time to see if there are things that are standing between us and God. Most church buildings could use a good spring cleaning, just to ditch all the old papers and class booklets that are gathering dust and not being used any more. Pass them on to those who can use them, or toss them. But there is a greater   item from our past that seems to hang around and that is some of our traditions. One must be very careful when approaching this subject. This gets folks nervous and scared.

First, one has to see and understand the difference between what God authorizes and what is traditions. Confusing the two has opened the door for progressive change that no longer follows the Bible. “Our traditions,” some holler, are really the first step at gutting the pattern given to us by the Lord and His apostles. Be careful what you identify as a tradition. Because you call it a tradition, does not mean that it is.

Second, some are converted to our traditions and cannot fathom life any other way. This can be just as dangerous as tossing out God’s pattern. Our traditions, the way we do things, can become “Scripture” in the eyes of many. And in this simple way, the way we do things becomes that old bronze serpent that now becomes an item of worship. What worked for folks in 1970 may not work today. The hour we meet. The number of times we meet. The format of our Bible classes. The number of Gospel meetings in a year. The standard VBS format. The number of songs sung in a worship. The order of the worship. Are they still working? Are they still useful? Or, have they become a bronze serpent that no one dares change, after all of these years.

I was with a church recently, and they ended their service with a song. We sang that final song and services were over. I stood there for a moment. I’m used to always ending with a closing prayer. This place didn’t do that. It seemed odd to turn and talk to people right after that last song. It seemed like something was missing. Was there? No. My traditions clashed with a church that found a different way of ending services. Is one way better than another? No, and why do we have to even think those thoughts? It worked for that church. It was great.

Where I preach, we flipped the start of our Sunday morning worship. For probably about 100 years, this congregation always started Sunday morning with Bible classes. After that, was the worship. In January, we switched that. We now start with worship and end with Bible classes. We did that for a reason. We are using this first quarter to preach a series of lessons that are based upon our theme. We wanted to expand those thoughts and use the sermon as the basis for the classes. The best way we thought to do this was to have the sermon first. Thus, worship is first, then Bible classes. We were amazed at the outcome and the positive responses from this. People loved it. The numbers have gone up. It took some adjusting. For all of my preaching years, getting close to 40 now, I have always started Sunday with teaching a Bible class. The sermon came later. That took some getting used to. Our folks did great with it. I wasn’t sure if we’d have a bronze serpent among us, someone who complained that the only way to conduct a Sunday service was to begin with Bible classes. That didn’t happen. For our intentions, this has been a success.

I use this example to say, that some couldn’t do that. They would be so tied to the way we have always done it, that for them to think of any other way, would be considered “wrong.”

That bronze serpent was useful in Numbers. It became a problem in the book of Kings. Someone, long ago should have done what Hezekiah did. You wonder, if they had to dust that old relic. You wonder what that thing looked like after all those years. It was time for it to go. Hezekiah led the way in tossing it out.

We must wonder if there are some “bronze serpents” among us that need to be tossed. Maybe it’s time. Maybe there are some things that are no longer useful. Don’t be afraid to stop things if they are not working. Maybe it’s time to do some evaluating of what we are doing.

I expect in Hezekiah’s day there were some who thought, “how can we live without our bronze serpent.” Hezekiah showed them. The bronze serpent was gone, finally.

Roger