21-04-2024 Catch A Venomous Serpent

Title: Catch A Venomous Serpent

Psalm 58 is described as David’s Mikhdam. Mikhdam is thought to have originated from the Hebrew word ‘kadam’, which means ‘to carve, to engrave’. Therefore, David’s Mikhdam can be thought of as a prayer written on the wall of a cave while he was fleeing from King Saul.

In the NASB, the subtitle of Psalm 58 is “Prayer for the punishment of the wicked.” To put it simply for the sake of understanding, David was sued without knowing the reason due to a conspiracy by people who hated him. Psalm 58 is a scene in which one is so bitter and angry that he directly pleads and sues to God, the heavenly judge, who is higher than the earthly judge. Today’s text (Psalm 58:4) is a summary of Psalm 58. The lesson we can learn today is, firstly, ‘We must not become dead poisonous serpent by receiving the Word,’ and secondly, ‘if we have a deaf poisonous serpent, we must catch it.’

1. The identify of the snake

Snakes are reptiles, you can find references to snakes in many places in the Bible.

1. God’s instrument of judgment (Num 21:6; Deu 32:24)

God sent fiery serpents to judge those who complained to God in the wilderness. And if you look at Rev 9, even in the end times, he will be given the work of killing one-third of the world (Rev 9:17-19)

• A person with poisonous lips (Psalm 140:3; Romans 3:13)

Romans 3:13 tells us that this poison is ultimately a lie. And in Mat 12:34, we can see Jesus saying to the Pharisees, ‘You brood of vipers.’ (Mat 23:33)

Serpents are those who mislead people with their venom and lies. In the Garden of Eden, the serpent tempted the woman and corrupted Adam. This serpent may not be the snake with ability of speaking human language. The reason why the one who tempted Adam was described as a snake was to reveal the identity of the tempter (Gen 3:1; Gen 3:14).

• Targets of the last war

However, the Bible records that the target of the final war is a snake. And God declared that He would definitely win the war (Rev 12:7-9).

• The symbol of the serpent
• Symbolizes the devil and Satan (Rev 12:9; Rev 20:2)
• Hypocrite

Those who think they have become something without becoming something, those who say they have received answers from God without receiving answers from God, those who say they read the Bible without reading the Bible, those who say they prayed without praying, and those who do not fulfill their duties as church members but pretend to have done their duty. These people are hypocrites and ultimate liars.

In Matthew 23, Jesus curses the religious leaders seven times, saying, “Woe to you!” This means that they are people who have crawled into hell and cannot come out (Mat 23:13). In Genesis 49:17, Dan, one of Jacob’s12 sons, is cursed as a serpent. However, in Chapter 7 of Revelation, you can see that Dan is missing from the names of the 12 tribes that will eventually enter the heaven (Rev 7:5-8).

• Those who do not believe in the Word, do not understand it, and only cause problems in the church.

It means a person who goes to one side and say this, and then goes to the other side and says that, causing strife within the church. So, the founding pastor explained that such people kill those who have received grace (Jer 8:17; Isa 14:29; Psa 140:3). The serpent is Satan, a hypocrite, an enemy, the tribe of Dan, and the tricks of the wicked. Therefore, there must a blessing that overcomes the evil spirits that block our ears from hearing the Word and catch a venomous serpent.

• Catch the serpent!
• You must overcome temptation (Gen 3:1-5)

One of the examples that the founding pastor always tells is that when Satan suddenly puts a knife to your throat and asks you, ‘Do you want to believe in Jesus or not?’ nine out of ten people say, ‘I believe in Jesus’ and choose martyrdom. But, if Satan secretly tempts people by saying, ‘Isn’t that fruit pretty? Go and try it. What problem will this cause? Nine out of ten will succumb to it without even knowing that it is a temptation.

After inhaling the smoke bomb of doubt, the Tree of Knowledge of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which was previously unsightly, began to look attractive and desirable to reach her hand for it. These temptations must be resisted and caught (Gen 2:16-17).

• Women were made to add to or subtract from the words of promise (Gen 3:2-3). God has never said not to touch anything. This is what the woman added with her own thoughts. What the serpent does is, if there are ten words of God, it keeps nine of them as is and changes only one. How alert do we have to be to recognize this changed Word?
• The snakes sprayed a challenging drug on its mind (Gen 3:4-5). This is a desire to become like God. This is not a desire become on the same level as God to understand His heart fully and be able to serve Him fully. Rather, this is a desire to become on the same level as God to live without God and to be not under God’s authority anymore. It implanted a heart of challenging God into the woman that she, too could take God’s place.

• Keys to catch the serpent
• We can catch the serpent when we obey (Exo 4:1-5). When Moses was called by God to be a leader of Exodus, he was afraid that he had no gift of speech. At that time God told him to throw down the staff, and the staff turned into a snake. To be safe, we must stay away from snakes. However, God allowed Moses to overcome the snakes. I believe that when we obey the Word, we will be victorious over the snake.
• We can catch the serpent when we don’t complain (Num 21:4-9). When they were complaining, a fiery serpent came to the Israelites. However, when they stopped complaining and looked at the bronze serpent that God had set up, they were able to live again. However, if you look at John 3:14, the bronze snake symbolizes Jesus Christ hanging on the cross.

Therefore, believing in Jesus Christ ultimately means letting go of our complaints (James 5:9; Jude 1:16). When we look at the situation, we may find ourselves in a situation where we have no choice but to feel dissatisfied. However, I believe that when we overcome it with gratitude, we will be able to catch the snakes inside and outside of us.