Crossing The Line

He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. 

He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.
2 Kings 18:4 NASB

Hezekiah was a king of Judah.  He did right in the sight of the Lord (2 Kings 18:3,) and he trusted in the Lord (2 Kings 18:5).

Was the bronze serpent a sinful thing? 

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live."

Numbers 21:8 NASB

So, if the Lord told Moses to make it, it could not have been sinful.

Yet, apparently, it was turned into an object of worship.  

That was sinful.

Many people take what was meant for good and turn it into sinful veneration and worship of objects or statues of people (or the people themselves), etc.

A crucifix with an imaginary image of Jesus easily is made into an object of worshiping the image rather than the Jesus of the Bible.

That is the way that the hearts of sinful mankind can work.

Yet, the serpent being lifted up by Moses was symbolic of something which was for the good of those who trust the Lord.

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

John 3:14-15  NASB

The line between what is good & what is sinful is easily crossed.

We who are Christians need to be careful not to cross that line.