Scientism, the Serpent, and the Sword of the Spirit - Witness 1
Part of being a Christian is believing in the Bible as a whole, including the stories in Genesis. For Jesus and Paul, these were literal stories, believed to have happened to real people, and we should look at them the same way.
So, let's look at humanity's first ever villain - the serpent.
Introduced in Genesis, the crafty serpent infamously betrays the hapless, beguiled Eve, and seemingly dooms humanity to a futile, degrading existence of sustenance farming and painful childbirth.
The Wikipedia article for snake worship reads,
The tradition is nearly universal in the religions and mythologies of ancient cultures,[1] where snakes were seen as the holders of knowledge, strength, and renewal.[2]
I want you to focus in on the words, "nearly universal". For some reason, almost every culture across the gulfs of time on this planet has developed some type of serpent worship.
One of the papers linked on that page reads as follows:
OPHIOLATREIA, the worship of the serpent, next to the adoration of the phallus, is one of the most remarkable, and, at first sight, unaccountable forms of religion the world has ever known. Until the true source from whence it sprang can be reached and understood, its nature will remain as mysterious as its universality, for what man could see in an object so repulsive and forbidding in its habits as this reptile, to render worship to, is one of the most difficult of problems to find a solution to. There is hardly a country of the ancient world, however, where it cannot be traced, pervading every known system of mythology, and leaving proofs of its existence and extent in the shape of monuments, temples, and earthworks of the most elaborate and curious character. Babylon, Persia, Hindostan, Ceylon, China, Japan, Burmah, Java, Arabia, Syria, Asia Minor, Egypt, Ethiopia, Greece, Italy, Northern and Western Europe, Mexico, Peru, America—all yield abundant testimony to the same effect
Today, we are going to answer this mystery, talk about the Biblical serpent, and look at some ways that we can defeat its influence in our daily lives.
The Christian, of course, should have no fear of Satan or demons. They cannot harm you physically, and they cannot do anything to you as long as you are covered in the blood of Jesus Christ.
However, we must always strive to keep our temples pure and avoid sin in order to minimize potential avenues for attack by the serpent.
So, let's get to the meat of the questions. According to these historians, there's a great, untold mystery buried somewhere deep inside Earth's history - the question of why so many cultures seemingly independently started worshipping snakes, when they're universally not a popular animal.
Now, this is a robust Wikipedia page, with examples spanning ancient Norse culture, Africa, Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe, and too many individual examples to list here. Snake worship in the Bible has so much content here it just links to three other articles, one about the Nehushtan, or bronze serpent icon on a pole, one about Moses's staff, and then a general "Serpents in the Bible" article.
In fact, Jesus's ministry can be seen as the first real pushback against an ancient, underground serpentine worship cult that had existed for thousands of years, spread across the world by the ancient mystery schools and religions.
He gave us a clue when he said in John 3 14-15:
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.[a]
This is a significant verse in which Jesus tells us that he is replacing the serpentine worship cult, and giving us a new way to worship - a new God.
This serpent's weapon is not its fangs, nor its venom. It does not crush you or strangle you.
It's weapon is a great rationalization, and a religion which can be called Scientism.
For Eve, it was just a little science experiment - just eat the fruit, see what happens, right? No big deal. A rationalization, and an encouraging word from someone who seemed to have your best interest at heart.
The road to hell, after all, is paved with good intentions.
Of course, Satan is allowed to function by God to serve his purposes and carry out his will.
The serpent cult wants to convince you that it doesn't exist - but it does. It's greatest victory is when the world no longer believes in a literal serpent anymore - the greatest trick, indeed.
So, what is the point of all this? Snake worship, it turns out, is actually a huge deal, and there's enough material to write entire books about it, and many people have.
What can we, as Christians do, to begin to fight back against the serpent?
1. Clear Satanic influence from your life
2. Avoid sin
3. Follow the commands of Jesus
5. Have a generous, loving spirit
6. Remain pure
7. Love God and Love one another
Those simple actions are what the serpent wants you not to do, and it is the way to a good life and eternal life through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Now, I'm over here wondering what anyone ever saw in a snake that would lead them to worship it in the first place. I guess people were really bored before the Bible, the printing press, and the internet came out.
Let's go back to Jesus's words where he compared himself to Moses's bronze snake on a pole, and look at this blog post called That One Weird Story Where Jesus Compared Himself to a Snake:
- Numbers 21:6, “Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.”
- The uncomfortable truth is that, for many of us, we may need to experience the heat of God’s wrath before we willingly turn to the light of His goodness and grace.
- Which is naturally what happens next in Numbers 21:7-9, “The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.”
- The solution here seems simple enough, right? Moses was instructed to fashion some kind of bronze snake on a signal pole, which he would raise up high enough so everyone in the camp could see. If you wanted to be saved from the poisonous sting of death, all you had to do was look upon it and you would experience relief, you would be saved!
- The Hebrew word (“nabat”), which is translated as “Look” in verse 8 means, to gaze upon in belief. So, this is more than just seeing with the eyes, rather, it speaks of embracing something with your whole heart.
- So that means, if anyone looked on the bronze snake, understanding that it was their only hope, they would be saved. But if they merely glanced at it or dismissed it as ridiculous, or meaningless, or trivial, then they would die in that wilderness!
- It is, of course important to point out that it wasn’t the physical object that saved them, but it was an HONEST LOOK OF UTTER RELIANCE ON WHAT GOD HAD PROVIDE TO SAVE THEM!
- The invitation was not to work out the math of how one gets saved by gazing on an object that was a symbol of the very thing killing them, the invitation was simply to admit their need, look upon what was provided, believe, and be saved!
- It is this story, then, that Jesus is referring to in His conversation with Nicodemus on that night in John 3:13-14 when He tells [Nicodemus], “Just as those people were saved when they looked on the bronze snake, so in the same manner, ALL who admit their need for a savior, and look upon me for salvation and believe – WILL BE SAVED!"
So, I think this sums it up well. Moses's snake which had to be beheld with faith was a foreshadowing of Jesus's redemptive sacrifice, which has even more power and the ability to save all mankind. All God wants us to do is gaze upon with belief. Let's look at some other definitions for "nabat":
- to scan, i.e. look intently at; by implication, to regard with pleasure, favor or care:--(cause to) behold, consider, look (down), regard, have respect,
This is the answer - the antidote to the serpent's venom. It's nothing scientific, and scientism is not what will save humanity, but just another trap set by the very serpent itself.
Instead, God has given us the answer, the opposite of science or rationality - simply to look upon the metaphorical serpent on a pole and believe that it can heal you.
It seems almost too simple to be true, and that's the magic of it. Can that really work? If you're a Christian, you believe that Jesus Christ can heal anything, forgive any sin, and overcome any barrier.
Thesis:
Simply look upon him with faith and believe.
Jesus also explicitly endorses the word of Moses and the prophets, in multiple places. What those he was speaking to would have understood him as saying is that they need to have childlike faith in the Torah, the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, and the story of humanity's origins.
Another paper I found that discusses this mystery called "The Universality of Serpent Worship" reads as follows:
- The Book of Genesis is the book of Origins or Beginnings. It describes the creation of the universe, the origin of man and the commencement of the human race. It depicts the pristine innocence of the first human pair in their Edenic state; recites the story of their fall through the seduction of a powerful adversary; and traces the onward course of the two antagonistic branches of humanity, called respectively "the seed of the woman," and "the seed of the serpent" -a division never lost sight of in subsequent Scripture, (e. g. Jno.
- VIII., 38-44; Rev. xII., &c.). Parallel with the history of "the sons of God" there runs another, of very great moment, and closely related to it. It is that of a mighty antagonizing power which is evermore engaged in hurling hindrances in the way of all true progress. The "enmity" which God originally put between the two sections of our race (Gen. III., 15), is the only reasonable and satisfactory solution of the tremendous conflict which is ploughed so deep into the history of the world-the conflict between good and evil, between the righteous and the wicked.
So, this author sees the human race divided in Genesis, with the significant prophecy laid out featuring the seed of the woman, the Messiah, crushing the serpent underfoot.
Indeed, much of the story of the Old Testament is the story of this Messianic bloodline surviving the serpent's traps and overcoming through the centuries in order to lead to Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Much of the New Testament, and Jesus's ministry itself, can be seen as a rebuke to the shadowy serpent cults of the ancient world, the mystery schools and evil temple worship cults that we all too common in humanity's past.
There's a great diversity in Ophiolatreia, from the ouroboros, or serpent swallowing itself, to the Gnostics of the centuries after Jesus who believed in a cruel and deceptive demiurge with the body of a serpent and the head of a lion.
The list just goes on and on, and as we learned, some of the great unanswered questions of our time can be phrased as follows - how or why did all of these ophiolatrous cultures arise? What compelled them to worship the snake specifically? How did this religion spread over such great distances, or did it arise spontaneously in completely different cultures and at different times? What degree of contact, is any, was there between worldwide ophiolatrous cultures?
Unfortunately, there's no top secret archeological dig into the caves in the Grand Canyon to close off this speech, and like many other things, we will probably never know the answer to these questions, at least not until we die.
Some things are only meant to be known by a class that considers themselves better than the rest of us, a class that jealously hoards truth and knowledge like gold, which they eventually get tired of.
But I want to close on an optimistic note.
Just like Witness 2 is rolling out her trademarked 7G communications systems, I want to offer a new tool for our readers - Witness 1's Anti-Serpent Sword of the Spirit and Righteous Anger ©. Anyone who wants to can use this sword by exercising the simple faith people used in Moses's time or Jesus's time to gaze upon the salvation, the simple faith that Jesus wanted. Simply visualize yourself taking this sword and wielding it against the ancient Serpentine cult and mystery religions that want to control your mind and rule the world.
It's a powerful weapon, so don't wield it lightly. It can only be used by true Christians in the name of Jesus Christ, in the pursuit of truth and justice, and righteous anger but never unnecessary anger.
Our enemies may occasionally take a physical, reptilian form, no one really knows the specifics. However you conceptualize the great enemy of humanity, your enemy - the Serpent of Old - picture it in your mind right now.
Now, write a story. Picture the scene - a dragon, fearsome, towering. A fair maiden, in mortal danger.
You look down in your hand, and this is what you see:
This is Witness 1's Anti-Serpent Sword of the Spirit and Righteous Anger ©.
I offer it freely to all readers and supporters in Jesus's name.
There's only one ending, and we've known about it for about 2,000 years:
If you truly believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and you follow his will and commandments, this sword will empower you to slay demons and dragons at will. Your strength will grow as the resistance army of the end times also grows in strength and unity.
Embrace the power and responsibility of this sword. You can see a depiction of it in Michael's right hand above.
Humanity has had two choices in Genesis - the flaming sword of the cherubim or the bloody rock of Cain. During this stage of Theosis, there is no stagnation, no coagulation, no stasis - only division, strife, disunity, conflict, and war.
Humanity has to individually make a choice. We are not animals, and we are endowed with a profound divine ability to choose and know right from wrong.
Ever ask an evolutionist where that came from? The answer can be found in Genesis, and in God's plan for why he unleashed evil on the world in the first place and how it will come to be destroyed and defeated forever.
In the meantime, we have an individual battle to fight. Everyone has something, some deadly sin that calls their name. No one gets off easy, and no one gets by with no challenges. That's the nature of the serpent - he's always hidden underfoot when you least expect it ready to give you a nasty bite that could take you out of commission permanently.
Gazing upon Jesus with belief is the answer to Soteriology - the study of how to be saved. It's so simple a child can do it, but it's too complicated for a lot of adults. It can never be faked, and no one can ever fully prove or disprove another person's true belief or disbelief in the salvific power of Jesus Christ's death.
It's 100% personal and only exists as a choice and a metaphysical state of being that only an individual and God himself has access to.
So, understand the Bible for what it is - the story of mankind's battles with, and eventual climactic apocalypse caused by, the serpent.
Recognize it for what it is - a powerful, formidable adversary, but ultimately an illusion, a shadow on the wall that can't quite just reach out and touch you.
In order for it to be able to hurt you, you have to make decisions that allow it into your life. Life a pure life and follow the philosophy of Jesus and there is very little that the serpent can do to harm you.
When the Israelites wanted God to get rid of the serpents, he didn't hand them a bunch of machetes and tell them to get to work chopping off heads. He simply had them lift a bronze icon of a snake on a pole, and simply gaze upon it with belief.
It's the kind of foreshadowing that can be found all throughout that Bible that isn't often pointed out - interconnections and self-references are part of what demonstrate the divine authorship of the text and how we know it is trustworthy.
In the end, we will overcome the Serpentine Mystery School cult, and humanity will be vindicated as his greatest enemy is bound for a thousand years and then eventually thrown into the Lake of Fire and destroyed.
So, take heart. The ironic lesson here, of course, is that we don't need literal swords to defeat this serpent, we simply need to keep our eyes fixed upon the cross of Jesus Christ. Follow in his way righteously, and keep the armor of your spirit on, and God will keep smiling on you as we journey through life together.
We will NOT worship the serpent.
We will NOT join the Ophiolatrous cult.
We will NOT revere the serpent-headed deity.
We will NOT sacrifice to pagan idols or false systems of belief.
We WILL worship Jesus Christ.
We WILL live Holy lives free of sin.
We WILL win debates and argue from the high ground of rationality and truth, with the weight of arguments, sources, and evidence on our side.
We WILL fight back against the Beast System in the End Times and help each other overcome our problems and rise as leaders within our communities.
We WILL use Witness 1's Anti-Serpent Sword of the Spirit and Righteous Anger © to fight in spiritual battles and win victory for God on Earth.
May God bless you all.
-Witness 1