NewStats: 3,261,682 , 8,174,765 topics. Date: Friday, 30 May 2025 at 06:16 AM 625132

Corrections:
Happy d...

Corrections:
Our lord Jesus Christ onished his sheep (Christians) to be wise like a snake and at the same time harmless. How possible is this? What message was Jesus trying to to his sheep ( Christians) whom Jesus referred to as being in the midst of wolves and lions?

Matthew 10:16

Behold I send you forth as sheep (sheep is known not to be violent harming other animals, unlike lions and wolves) in the midst of wolves. Be you therefore WISE as SERPENTS (snakes are generally known to be dangerous and poisonous) harmless as dove.

Christians around the world just as Jesus predicted, are living in the midst of lions and wolves that are ever willing to devour them. Jesus knowing the danger ahead for his sheep, he instructed them to do what is in Matt 10:16.

Now, before we proceed, we need to understand the obvious meaning of this instruction, and why Jesus gave his sheep (Christians) this instruction.

Jesus said to his sheep (Christians) be practically WISE like a serpent (snake) and at the same time “harmless “ when in the midst of wolves. Why? It is because Jesus wants his sheep (Christians) safe in the mission he sends them to execute in the world full of lions and wolves. Let us unravel the understanding in “snake and dove” comparism Jesus made use of.

In this context, Jesus referred to a snake as being WISE while using the “snake dove comparism”. But how is a snake wise according to Jesus? Snakes are known to be dangerous and they act in such a way that when someone steps on them, they feel their lives are threatened then strike the individual to ensure safety of their lives. Snakes are not known to attack (though dangerous) but defend when their lives are threatened. God commanded snakes to crawl on their belly which make them a victim of being easily stepped upon by human and animals alike. When this happens (being stepped upon by human or animals) God commanded snakes to strike.

Genesis 3:15

15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring[a] and hers;
he will crush[b] your head,
and you will strike his heel.”

Jesus telling us that when we do the right thing or obey God’s instructions we are wise. So therefore snakes are WISE according to Jesus because they do a sensible thing that God commanded them to do.

Matthew 7:24
Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise (here in this context, it is the snake that is wise) man, who built his house upon a rock.

Luke 11:28
28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey (in this context it is the snake that obeys) it.”

Now that we have been able to recognize what a snake is and the characters that make a snake WISE, we now need to understand the harmlessness of Dove part of the instruction, Jesus gave his sheep (Christians) that dwell in the midst of lions and wolves.

The dove represents INNOCENCE, purity and gentleness.What is it to be harmless? To be harmless does not mean “ harm is not done”. It means to be “BLAMELESS”. I will say to be “BLAMELESS” is to be “HARMLESS”. YES! Is possible I send someone to prison and yet my action will be viewed as being “harmless”. This is ed by Jesus as found in the scriptures.


Matthew 5:25 In-Context
25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.

Here, to summarize the verse, Jesus was simply saying if you are guilty of a crime and the offended person decides to harm you by taking you to court where you will be thrown into prison (harmed), settle with him while you can to avoid being harmed. If you refused to do this and the offended person succeeded in harming you (takes you to court to be punished), then the offended person action is “HARMLESS” or “BLAMELESS” towards you.

Using this illustration that Jesus gave, one gets to see the true picture of what Jesus was trying to say when he said “ Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be you therefore WISE as SERPENTS harmless as dove”. To be harmless like a dove means to be blameless in your actions before God.

This explains why in the modern world today, Christian nations have HARMED ARMED FORCES (soldiers, navy, Air Force and special forces) to do the right thing deemed fit in God’s presence against lions and wolves. That is why a nation that wants to prosper should not joke with God’s laws lightly. All these terrible laws (same sex marriage and others) practiced by these Christian nations may make them to suffer in the hands of wolves and lions that surround them.

To buttress this point further, let us take another example of the application of what Jesus was saying when he said "be wise like a serpent and harmless like a dove.

Matthew 21:12-13

12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’[a] but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.

As written in the age, were the people concerned harmed by Jesus considering their businesses and properties? Who damaged their properties and destroyed their businesses in a layman understanding? The obvious answer is JESUS. One may ask, is this not the same JESUS that “says we should be harmless like a dove and wise like a serpent in the midst of wolves”? The truth is that you are the one misconstruing his message. Jesus will not confuse his sheep. NEVER!! Here jesus action was HARMLESS or BLAMELESS. The concerned people brought the problem upon themselves. He wouldn’t had done that If they were selling and buying in the designated Market space.

That is why as Christian, you need to be WISE like a serpent and harmless like a DOVE. Don’t say God will send down ANGELS from heaven to do the job HUMAN BEINGS are conditioned to easily do. Let’s look at another scripture of what happened to Jesus and what he did.

Mark3:9

9 Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him.

This is our lord Jesus Christ, as POWERFUL and MIGHTY as he was/is didn’t wait on the angels from heaven to come solve problem HUMAN BEINGS could easily solve. Some of the crowd were determined to touch Jesus to get healed. Was Jesus wicked that he didn’t want the sick among the crowd healed by ensuring that they don’t touch him? No ! ! Jesus was being wise as a serpent and harmless in his decision like a DOVE (he wouldn’t die before his time comes) as seen in this case study.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are encouraged by Jesus to uphold the wisdom of the serpent and harmlessness (blamelessness) of the dove to navigate our world that is filled with LIONS AND WOLVES successfully.

JESUS CHRIST IS THE LORD AND SAVIOR OF THE WORLD LOCATE HIM TODAY AND BE SAFED !