No Snake on a Stick

KATHY—Like Judah in 2Kings 17, we need an awakening. In the next chapter, 2Kings 18, Hezekiah became king of Judah and Awakening began. Hezekiah was AWARE they needed God and He took action to begin sanctifying the nation.  He destroyed the local shrines, tore down the images of foreign gods, cut down the sacred pole for worshiping the goddess of sex and fertility and he also smashed the bronze snake Moses had made in the wilderness.  Remember when fiery serpents were biting and killing them in the camp?  God told Moses to put a brass serpent on a pole so people could see it and be healed.  That was a one-time obedience that led to the intervention of God for their nation.  Keeping that pole as a testimony from history to teach their children about God was understandable, but sticking that pole among the idols they were worshiping and making sacrifices to dishonored both God and the acts of God in their behalf. That generation had to have cooked the books (unethically change the meaning) of their own history to justify worshiping a SNAKE on a STICK. Our confidence must not be placed upon any past event or monument. Our confidence comes from the faithfulness of God.