Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him. But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? 2 Kings 18:21,22
Matthew Henry helped me better understand this passage when he said, “ The brazen serpent had been carefully preserved, as a memorial of God’s goodness to their fathers in the wilderness; but it was idle and wicked to burn incense to it. All helps to devotion, not warranted by the word of God, interrupt the exercise of faith; they always lead to superstition and other dangerous evils. Human nature perverts every thing of this kind. True faith needs not such aids; the word of God, daily thought upon and prayed over, is all the outward help we need.”
When we misuse resources God has given us to testify of His goodness we pervert its original purposes. Many times in my Christian life I have misused my understanding of the Bible (limited as it may be) as a source of pride and not as a memorial of God’s goodness. I to often rely upon aids outside the Word of God and prayer.
