“He [Hezekiah]…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."
(2 Kgs. 18:4)”
Originally, this brazen serpent was by Divine direction, but it had outlived its usefulness. Just because God uses something for a certain time doesn’t mean necessarily He intended for it to be used for all of time. Some things have their day; after that, they are of no more use. The Tabernacle, for example, “which was a figure for the time then present." Something better was to take its place - the Temple!
Hezekiah refers to this religious relic which had become a spiritual substitute for God, as “Nehushtan” (a piece of brass). Good things used in the past, but that are no longer of any value in the present, should be discarded, lest we end up idolizing them.Tradition can lead to superstition, and, in the end, can paralyze a person from parting with the past. Don't old dear what God discards!
~An Old Disciple~
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