What is ‘Nehushtan’? Is that some sort of ancient idea of a god or deity worshiped at that time?<\/p>\n
I have read about the ‘bronze serpent’ but don’t understand what this means. Why did Moses make it? What did it signify?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n\t
“He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan<\/em>” (II Kings 18:4).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Nehushtan is the name the people gave to the bronze serpent when they began worshiping it as an idol. The name is a play of words in Hebrew being a combination of the word for serpent,\u00a0nachash<\/em>, and bronze,\u00a0nechosheth<\/em>. It was a unique name for this particular idol.<\/p>\n
Originally, the bronze serpent was made by Moses at the command of God. “Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived<\/em>” (Numbers 21:4-9). The people had kept the casting for over a thousand years, but eventually, people began to revere it, not as history but as an idol. Therefore, it had to be destroyed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: What is ‘Nehushtan’? Is that some sort of ancient idea of a god or deity worshiped at that time? I have read about the ‘bronze serpent’ but don’t understand what this means. Why did Moses make it? What did it signify? Answer: “He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[304,485],"class_list":["post-7855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-idolatry","tag-moses"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15932,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-not-pictures-of-jesus-and-angels-or-even-wedding-announcements-sinful-because-they-are-graven-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":7855,"position":0},"title":"Are not pictures of Jesus and angels, or even wedding announcements, sinful because they are graven images?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about some Scriptures. In Exodus 20:4-5 it tells us not to make any graven image or likeness to anything that is in heaven above. I Corinthians 10:14 tells us to flee idolatry and in John 5:18 and Philippians 2:6 that Jesus is a form of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27166,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-art-only-condemned-in-connection-with-idolatry\/","url_meta":{"origin":7855,"position":1},"title":"Is art only condemned in connection with idolatry?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello I want to know if art is ok for sure. I like art but want to be more sure it is ok. I have read this answer before: \"Are not pictures of Jesus and angels, or even wedding announcements, sinful because they are graven images?\" But what about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41679,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-wear-a-cross-as-jewelry\/","url_meta":{"origin":7855,"position":2},"title":"Is it wrong to wear a cross as jewelry?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you for the information you present on your site. My question is: Is it sinful or unwise to wear a necklace with a small cross (nothing flashy)? I Peter 3:3-4 and Matthew 23:5 are two verses that may shed some light on it, but I am still not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/jewelry-300x136.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16109,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-was-jesus-point-about-being-lifted-up-for-men-to-see\/","url_meta":{"origin":7855,"position":3},"title":"What was Jesus’ point about being lifted up for men to see?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In John 3:14, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus and speaks of Moses lifting up the serpent. Is this the bronze serpent Moses made? And how does this relate to Jesus and what is Jesus trying to tell Nicodemus? 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