Hatching Snake Eggs

HATCHING SNAKE EGGS

ISAIAH 59:1 8

Living in the country has so many advantages that I had forgotten about. The scenery, the freshness of the air, the crickets playing their music in the night. And there is also the opportunity for seeing some of God's most beautiful creatures... (do the snake)

But for many the snake is not one of the most popular of God's many creatures. And even in the Word of God it is sometimes given a negative image...such as in the passage I want to read this morning. READ Isaiah 59:1 8

This morning I want to look at v. 5 especially, and the idea of hatching snake eggs and spinning spider webs. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that in the world today there is a serious breakdown of holiness even among God's people.

And this is certainly not a new phenomenon. Isaiah addressed this issue thousands of years ago. He was told to go to them and speak a word to them about their walk with God. Let's look back to 58:1 2

These were people who looked like they were doing all the right things...and yet something was wrong. Their prayers were not getting through...their fasting was in vain.

And they came to the conclusion that all their sacrificing...all their praying...all their seeking after God was not paying off. They felt separated from God...that He was somehow ignoring them or hiding from them. And I guess in some ways that was the case. God was angry.

And there was a good reason for God's anger. His people were going through all the motions..they were faithful to church..they said all the right words..they seemed to be obedient..they looked so religious! And yet God would not come near to them!

Why? What sin caused God to withdraw His presence? It was this sin of hatching snake eggs and weaving spider webs. But just what does that mean? What are the snake eggs and spider webs?

Well, evil thoughts are the serpent's seeds that are planted in our minds...seeds that will become eggs if they are not immediately destroyed. And this is what God always looks at. He doesn't judge by outward appearances...he considers the heart..[actually what we think]

God's people were giving Him lip service...they would "Amen" the cries for holiness and appeared to love the truth...but their minds were filled with serpents eggs, and they were sitting in His presence hatching evil thoughts.

They were weaving spider webs with flimsy excuses so they could indulge in things they knew deep down were wrong. Outside they were doing the right things but their minds were not clean. Their thoughts and imaginations were not brought into captivity.

And I want to stress to you that there is nothing harmless or innocent about evil thoughts. If they are not immediately put down they can poison your very soul.

The problem is that so many Christians let the enemy sow evil thoughts in their minds and then let those thoughts linger..doing nothing about them...not realizing the danger.

2 Cor. 10:4 5 says this, "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God...and we take captive every though to make it obedient to Christ."

Evil thoughts become strongholds. Satan plants those thoughts and he is determined to keep them there until they can become full grown serpents. And to coddle and put up with evil thoughts is to hatch a viper, which is not just a snake...but a very poisonous one.

But God says, "Pull it down..cast it out..don't let a single evil thought be allowed to roam around in your mind." Now, what are these evil thoughts that Satan plants in our minds? Obviously there could be hundreds...but I think we can narrow it down to a few basic categories...the first of which are thoughts of injury.

When someone misunderstands you and says hurtful things to you or about you..what happens? We begin to play those things over and over in our minds. And very soon we conceive and hatch eggs of bitterness and resentment. The need for justification fuels this even more.

There are husbands and wives...parents and children who are for all practical purposes enemies. There are Christians who don't speak to each other. There are so many who say, "I can't forgive what was said or done...I just can't get over it."

They have hatched snake eggs, and now the snakes have hatched and are running through their minds spreading bitterness and venom. Do you constantly dwell on this through the day...even stay up at night... brooding and burning...replaying every word or action that took place? Then you are in a very dangerous place...you are living in the midst of poison and death. And God is saying, "Don't kick it around...kill it! Don't fight your accusers...don't react. Forget about your trying to justify yourself...