The Gift is Worthless Without the Giver
Written by Anneke Toliver
One of the stories we know well from the time when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness is of Moses and the bronze snake.
The people were wandering, and they began complaining (again), speaking out against God and Moses. God had given His people manna to eat, and they were done being grateful for it. They were sick of it. “'Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food’” (Numbers 21:5)! In response to their discontentment and complaints, God sent poisonous snakes among the people. When the Israelites realized their mistake, they repented and asked Moses to intercede for them. God instructed Moses to make the image of a snake out of bronze, to place it on a pole in the center of the camp, and the people only had to look at it to be healed.
That’s the end of the story in Numbers. But, do you know what happened to that bronze snake?
In 2 Kings 18, we meet Hezekiah, king of Judah. “He did what was right in the Lord’s sight just as his ancestor David had done. He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses made, for until then the Israelites were burning incense to it. It was called Nehushtan” (2 Kings 18:3-4).
The bronze snake has a name: Nehushtan. The Israelites are burning incense to it. The thing God had given has become the god.
This made my blood boil. What is the deal with these people? They’ve witnessed Yahweh perform wonder after wonder, for them, in their very presence, and they still chose to turn a created thing into something to be worshipped. How could they possibly not recognize that the chunk of bronze that Moses shaped into a snake had zero power apart from the God who gave it? The snake was never the thing that healed them; it was always God.
But really, it’s not just the Israelites, is it?
How often have I ascribed more honor and glory and power to the gift rather than the Giver? How often have I distorted the pleasure of a gift from the hand of my Father into something selfish, something all about me? How often have I gotten caught up in the enjoyment of—then disappointed by—a thing that can never satisfy, rather than remembering that all good gifts point me to the only One who can fully satisfy?
“Hezekiah relied on the Lord God of Israel; not one of the kings of Judah was like him, either before him or after him. He remained faithful to the Lord and did not turn from following him but kept the commands the Lord had commanded Moses” (2 Kings 18:5-6).
Hezekiah recognized that the gift is worthless without the Giver. He trusted in the promise that One was coming who would be lifted up like the snake in the wilderness, but this time on a Roman cross; One who actually had the power to save, the Giver who offered Himself as the gift—the only gift worthy of our worship. May our hearts stay focused on this One, Jesus, who was lifted up, just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, in order to provide life to all who believe (John 3:14-15).
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