Nehushtan

"(King Hezekiah) did what was right in the sight of the LORD just as his ancestor David had done. He removed the high places, broke down the pillars, and cut down the sacred pole. He broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it; it was called Nehushtan."

(2 Kings 18:3-4)

King Hezekiah was a reformed. He was all about getting back tot he basics ("Make God great again!" was probably he slogan). He wanted individuals and the nation to get back to worshipping God 100%. Other leaders had erected religious items to foreign gods: 'high places' for worship (elevation has always been a connection to the divine), pillars to gather around, sacred poles to a Phoenician goddess, e tc. Hezekiah got rid of all of those in his "cleaning house" project.

But there was another item he removed. A bronze serpent on a pole. Only, it wasn't a foreign worship focus. It was for Yahweh.

Back during the Exodus (you can read this story in Numbers 21), when Moses was leading the people out of slavery and into the Promised Land... the people were REALLY GOOD at grumbling against God. Like exceptionally good. So good, in fact, that it got God upset (and it takes a lot to get God upset!). So God sent them an infestation of poisonous snakes ("Snakes, why'd it have to be snakes?!?"). The people went to Moses, realized they'd sinned against God, and asked for help.

God told Moses to craft a bronze serpent and put it on a pole in the middle of the community. Then whenever someone would get bitten, they were to go and look up at the serpent and God would heal them (by the way, this is where the medical profession got the symbol of a pole with two snakes entwined on it!). It worked! People looked to God for healing, rather than starting with grumbling.

Over time, however... after the poisonous snake crisis passed. People kept going to the bronze snake. They even started making offerings to it (which God NEVER intended!) and they named it: Nehushtan. Great. No longer did it focus people on God, but it became its own center of devotion (this is why we can't have nice things).

We're no different today, though. We take items that are supposed to connect us to God: the cross, the Bible, angels, etc. and we make them the focus of our devotion. They're only instruments pointing us to the true power: the Lord God Almighty. Time to get our priorities straight.