Do you have a "Bronze Serpent" in your closet?

The Bronze Serpent

Let us review what we know about the Bronze Serpent. The bronze serpent was made according to God's instructions to save the Israelites from death as they transitioned from Egypt to the promised land. See below:

"Numbers 21:4-9

New International Version (NIV)

4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea,[a] to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

What Became of the Bronze Serpent? Well we know from scripture it was kept, and became a distraction from worship to God. So centuries later, the bronze serpent was destroyed because the Israelites had turned it into an idol. See below:

2 Kings 18:1-6

New International Version (NIV)

In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah[a] daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. 4 He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.[b])

5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6 He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses.

What I really hope we can all see and take from this is twofold. 

First) What God uses to save us can become a sinful action if we place our faith in the instrument of saving instead if who sent it. When God sends us that spouse or job, we must remember although an answered prayer, they are gifts from the Father and he should be praised. Place nothing before him. 

Second) Things from God can be bad for us if we hang onto them too long. God sent them the miracle to heal a problem. When the problem was gone they should have trusted him, to supply again if needed, and that God had growth in mind. God intended for the Israelites to continue moving towards the promise, not stay where they would need this snake. We do this, God leads us to a place and we grow comfortable. We stay there even though his work is completed and he wants us moving forward, then we ask why are we not being blessed. We need to make sure we do not get caught holding on to old things of God when he is calling us to move into new things, otherwise we are disobedient.