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I. LOOK AT THINGS IN THEIR RIGHT LIGHT. Thus the king acted. He regarded "the brasen serpent" from the true standpoint. Others beheld in it a god; he recognised nothing but brass. To them it was supernatural; to him idolatrous. How true it is that what we are we behold. The scene is in the seer. To no small extent the spectacle is in the spectator. Nothing can be more accurate than the lines of the Poet Laureate —

But any man that walks the mead,

In bud, or blade, or bloom may find,

According as his humours lead,

A meaning suited to his mind.

Cowper puts the same thought in another aspect —

And as the mind is pitch'd, the ear is pleased

With melting airs or martial, brisk or grave;

Some chord in unison with what we hear

Is touched within us.A blacksmith hammers a piece of iron on his anvil "with measured beat and slow." Ordinary people hear in it only an ordinary sound. Not so the great Handel. He listens, and it inspires him with one of the sweetest tunes in existence. The sun is setting, and as it sinks the whole western horizon is irradiated. Let three different men be called to witness it, and what diversified effects it will have on them! The meteorologist sees in those clouds before him signs of the weather, and confirmations of his theories touching certain natural laws. The agriculturist sees in them the premise of a good harvest or warning of a poor one. But the artist sees in them gorgeous tints and graceful forms, which he seeks to impress on his memory that he may reproduce them on the glowing convas.

II. CALL THINGS BY THEIR RIGHT NAMES. Hezekiah did so. He "called it Nehushtan," which means brass. Brass it was, and brass he called it. He spoke of it as he found it. A rare virtue! Thorough honesty of speech is not by any means too common Dr. South preached four fine discourses on The. Fatal Imposture and Force of Words." The title is a sermon in itself. There is, indeed, a "fatal imposture" in some words. They are used to disguise sin and conceal the truth. No wonder that the inspired seer should exclaim, "Woe unto them that call darkness light, and light darkness; that put good for evil, and evil for good." The practice is still a popular one. A prodigal is spoken of as "gay" or "fast." A drunkard is "the worse for liquor." A dishonest tradesman is "unable to meet his engagements." The bad-tempered have "nervous irritability." Notorious gambling is "financiering." An army that lays hold of all that it can pilfer is said to "requisition." An aggressive war is termed the "rectification of frontier." A rude and inquisitive intrusion on the privacy of a distinguished man is "interviewing" him. A silly and wicked duel is "an affair of honour." Slavery is alluded to as "a domestic institution." We repeat it, therefore — call things by their right names. The common, colloquial caution is one which we may well lay to heart. "Mind what you say." It is wise to ask, "Let the words of my mouth be acceptable in Thy sight."

III. GIVE THINGS THEIR RIGHT TREATMENT. When John Knox was remonstrated with for sanctioning the abolition of the monasteries he said, "While the rookeries stand the rooks will return." Hezekiah was evidently of the same opinion. He was not content with condemning "the brazen serpent." He first denounced, then destroyed it. He " brake in pieces." While the idol remained there was danger of a relapse into idolatry. Its preservation could not be beneficial, and might be extremely injurious, therefore he demolished it. His conduct is the more justifiable when we recollect a certain fact. Serpent-worship has, from early times, been a favourite practice in the East. Both Africa and Asia bear witness to it. Whence this singular custom arose it is not altogether easy to say, It is contrary to what might have been antecedently expected. Possibly it grew out of the well-known tendency in human nature to propitiate and coax a power which is felt to be dangerous. Men often fawn on what they fear. Whatever the correct explanation may be, however, there is the indisputable fact of serpent-worship. The writer has himself seen Buddhists present their offerings of money before a hideous image of a cobra di capello, the most poisonous snake in India and Ceylon. The application of Hezekiah's conduct to ourselves is clear enough. We also must be iconoclasts. No idol is to be tolerated by us. What is your idol? To which of the many false gods are you tempted to do homage? Break it in pieces, as the king did the serpent. Let not any person, pursuit, or pleasure come between you and your Maker. Whether your "brasen serpent" be Mammon or friendship, or influence whatsoever it be, banish it from the temple of the soul, "and the King of Glory, shall come in."

(T. R. Stevenson.)

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KJV: He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

WEB: He removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Asherah: and he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for to those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan.