To the children of Israel that brazen serpent was a means of grace; through it they were healed. It had no healing power, but was simply the medium through which God worked to their good. When Hezekiah came to the throne, the record says they were burning incense to the brazen serpent. Instead of burning their incense to God, who gave it to them, they were burning their incense to what God had given them; to the gift instead of the Giver. Previously we have made the statement