SNAKES AND THIEVES – THOSE WHO LOVE THE DARK OF NIGHT!
Years ago I used to keep some finches. In fact I had a lot of them. I loved those birds and looked after them well. They used to breed, and birds only do that when they are happy. My species were mainly Australian finches but about four or five species were from overseas.
We live in the wet tropics as you of course know this morning, and it might be a lovely place to live, but the vermin is multiplied. You all know when you go into the rainforest you have to be aware of leeches and ticks. In the tropics we have rats including the large white tailed rat, quite a number of stinging insects and the introduced cane toad (Bufo marinus) brought in from the southern United States. There are tens of millions of disease-carrying flying foxes (genus name - Pteropus), dangerous vermin that number millions, birds that attack all manner of fruits, the world’s deadliest sea creature, the box jellyfish (Chironex flecker), the vicious salt water crocodiles, the worst stinging tree in the world (Dendrocnide excelsa), and lastly, snakes!
O, yes, the snakes. I don’t mind most snakes and adore pythons including the scrub python that can grow to 8.5 metres (28 feet) in length and can easily devour a wallaby or dog or cat. As you locals would know the worst snake, fortunately quite rare, is the taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus), one of the world’s very worst snakes. (The inland taipan has the most potent venom of any snake in the world – one teaspoon killing 250 000 mice.) There are many lovely coloured pythons and all pythons are non-venomous. Then there are the tree snakes, all harmless, except one!
That one is a very nasty and aggressive creature, an Australian native. It is mildly poisonous and I have been bitten a few times. What is it? The brown tree snake. This description is from a museum -
“The Brown Tree Snake has a large head with eyes that are large and protruding with vertical pupils. The head is distinct from the narrow neck. They are brown above and Northern Australian specimens are cream with bold reddish bands. The belly is cream to orange. This snake grows to 2 metres (6 feet 8 inches). The snake was introduced to Guam where it has almost exterminated the bird life. Bites in Guam have produced severe symptoms with patients receiving ventilation or intubation to assist breathing. Such cases involve small children and large snakes. The venom has myotoxic and neurotoxic components. Its scientific name is Boiga irregularis.”
I have also mentioned the snakes I get from time to time in one of the aviaries. I was just fed up with those snakes. I tried to seal every area but the sly sneaks found a way to get in. On one occasion I made a note which was this:-
“. . . but up till yesterday there had been 2 snakes in the past 12 days or so, the shortest stretch between “vermin visits.” Then what!! I went in to check the birds this morning and . . . Another one in the cage!! This fellow was every bit of four feet long and 1.5 - 2 inches across and must have squeezed through 12 mm square wire. Another two finches had been swallowed. That made about 8 or 9 eaten by the 3 snakes in 12 days.”
In all, I had 23 brown tree snakes, and the loss of well over $1000 worth of finches.
Of course I thought, “thieving things” (actually “thieving mongrels!). They always sneak in at night in the cover of darkness. Thinking about that prompted me to write about “thief” in the New Testament, but before that I want to look at the first snake in the bible.
It is found in Genesis chapter 3 in the temptation of Eve. We will look at that for a little while. Turn to Genesis 3 verses 1-16 – {{“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made, and he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it nor touch it, lest you die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely shall not die! for God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”}}
At this point in time the snake did not crawl on its belly and is believed to have been a magnificent creature endowed with special qualities. However it gave itself to Satan to be a vehicle to implement the pernicious and cunning desire of the devil. As a result it was cursed and on its belly, crawling in the dust, it was consigned. I’d like to share a poem with you I wrote:
THE DEVIL SNAKE
The snake, it is a noble creature,
With ev’ry movement, ev’ry feature,
Alive and gleaming, lying patiently
On the warming, moistured sand.
Instant alert, it senses around,
Detecting all movement on the ground;
Eyes like pills and sharply penetrating;
Staring through the humid air.
They say, “Simply slithering, slimy
You are, and your habits are grimy.”
Your smooth-groomed body of interlocked scales
Is glossy and delicate.
Indeed, what a revealing story
To recognise your former glory.
The smooth, rhythmic momentum of beauty,
Suggests what you may have been.
But we know what you were, wicked snake.
To all forms of decency, a fake.
For your origins reach right to the past,
In Eden’s garden, you were.
Deceptive, dishonest go-between
You and Satan, unclean and obscene,
But not to Eve did you appear that way;
Kind and trustworthy you seemed.
Glorious creature there, in her eyes;
You gained her trust with your wicked guise.
You allowed yourself to be Satan’s voice,
And guilty of corruption.
For that, the curse of God fell on you,
‘Cause you were part of a wicked coup.
From your upright stance, on your belly, GO!
Evil gains its recompense.
Cunning snake, inglorious in defeat,
But the great Serpent still claims his seat.
He controls iniquity in the world,
Until God’s set time arrives.
That dragon serpent-snake, will receive
From God, absolutely no reprieve,
But into the lake of fire, will be cast
In eternal punishment.
Ron Ferguson. 2022. Copyright. The poem may be used in Christian ministry with acknowledgement.
I do not intend to do any more from this Genesis account as I have a full message on it. However before we do get to the New Testament references for thieves, there is one more thing –
Isaiah 11:8 “The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. Isa 11:9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
In the Millennium kingdom when the Lord reigns and earth is at peace and nature is wonderful, then the snake will have its place. However as for Satan, that diabolical serpent, this is his finality – {{Isaiah 27:1 “In that day the LORD will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent with His fierce and great and mighty sword, even Leviathan the twisted serpent and He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.”}} That is Satan not some dinosaur as some claim. Let us look at the “thief” references in the New Testament.
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[[A]]. {{Luke 12:39 “And be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into."}}
Is this not teaching us to be on our guard always? And if we were aware enough we would have taken precautions. Just consider all the things we could have done if we were the householder. We would have utilized manpower differently; we would have altered our priorities; we would have changed the position and order of objects. So why did we not do it? We were not watchful enough.
Would it be true that the evil company of demons steals what could be trophies for Christ from us because we are unaware householders? We let things slip away because we don’t see the possibilities. Perhaps the time is here to organize within our churches and assemblies, biblical priorities so we are not like sleeping householders. There could be the time for change or an ordering of methods. The message coming from that verse is, “Be on our guard.” It was Paul who warned, {{1Corinthians 16:13 “Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong,” AND Ephesians 6:18 “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.”}} Peter warned about that prowling evil serpent in his changing of identities - {{1Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit. Be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”}}
Be on your guard and alert, that from you is not stolen, your time, your effectiveness, your fellowship with the Lord, your reputation and our friends.
[[B]]. {{John 10:1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.”}}
Like the snake in the aviary, the thief finds a way. I can imagine an enemy who wants to steal the sheep will not do it through the front door, but by the most devious, slyest means possible. What does this mean for us? Well we must know the sheepfold well; know all the gaps; know where extra effort needs to be made to heal the breaches. Also we must clear the place of obstructions of unconfessed sin where a thief can hide waiting for the opportune time.
We must also eradicate the opportunities given to the thief to carry out the works of darkness - the ladders of temptation must be addressed; the vines of tinkering must be cut down; the shovels of doubt removed and the overhanging trees of laxity and carelessness trimmed. Light must be shed around for where there is light it dispels the darkness and chases the thief away.
And what is our light? Well Christ is, but the word of God is both the lamp and light from Psalm 119. Lastly, perhaps short accounts need to be taken i.e. more regular patrols of assessment undertaken seeking out the potential trouble spots and the cracks that start to appear. We must examine our own lives. Some people like to examine other people’s lives but neglect their own.
One more thing here, and it is most important. The sheepfold is where the sheep are at rest from the enemies but the verse indicated that a robber finds other means of getting in. One common way to get in is through the front door. However the wolf enters, not as a wolf but as a sheep in disguise. These people have not entered through the DOOR of the sheep who is Jesus Christ, but they entered by pretence and with motive.
How much damage is done in churches from people who have sneaked into the sheepfold? They have brought in false doctrines, dubious practices, destroyed the harmony created division, pushed a church in this or that direction. This is what happened when the doorkeepers are lax or have fallen asleep.
[[C]]. {{John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.”}}
This verse speaks as to motive. What is the purpose of an enemy entering the place where the sheep are? It is only to destroy the sheep or to steal some of them. From time to time we hear of wild dog attacks among a group of sheep at night on sheep stations (like ranches for the Americans.) Those dogs had no other purpose than to savage and destroy the sheep – usually attack their necks and throats. It is tragic, yet let us be reminded of what Paul warned of – {{Acts 20:29 “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock Acts 20:30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.”}}
We should know the real work of the enemy. All too often we acquiesce to the things of the evil one without a true separation and here I address myself. The devil is not a plaything with pitchfork and horns about whom jokes can be made. That is the devil's lie. I understand that in wartime it was said you must know your enemy - at least we should know the enemy - because Paul says we are not ignorant of his devices: {{2Corinthians 2:11 “in order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes.”}}
Satan is the enemy of souls and his true purpose is only to kill and destroy for he is a murderer from the beginning. Today we face humanism, socialism, liberalism, WOKE, and all the resultant fruits of that. We face all sorts of movements that are gaily dressed but their purpose has been drafted by the evil one. One verse says, {{Revelation 12:11 “and they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death.”}} We must know our bibles so very well. I don’t think there is any excuse for the neglect of the bible.
[[D]]. {{1Thessalonians 5:4 “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief, 1Thess 5:5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.”}}
How we need to be reminded of this point - our citizenship is in heaven; our desires and interest and time should be occupied with that fact. Paul is saying here that we are children of the day not of the night. We can’t be of the night because we belong to Christ and Christians CAN NOT walk in darkness; they are not children of the night. There is an immense separation of light and darkness and John in the first chapter of the gospel, and in his first letter teaches that so clearly.
Paul had been writing to the Thessalonians who thought they had entered the day of God’s wrath, in other words, had found themselves in the Tribulation. Because the true Christian is a dweller in light then he will not be overtaken by the day of wrath. The very reason that Christians will not enter the Tribulation is because we have no part of the night. Paul is reminding those readers that Christ is our deliverer from the coming wrath. Isn’t it a comforting thought that we shall be sheltered in our Ark (Christ is the Ark) just as Noah was, above the waves and billows of God’s coming wrath. This is one area where we will not be overtaken as by a “thief”.
[[E]]. {{2Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”}}
However, the Day of the LORD draws closer each passing day. It begins after the Rapture of the Church and its climax is when the Lord returns in glory at the Second Coming (Rev 19). The suddenness of that is compared with a thief in the night. A thief has entered, and gone before you are aware of it; slipped in during the night then vanished. That will be how the Day of the LORD will suddenly break upon this earth and especially His coming in glory.
Peter is looking even way beyond that to the formation of the new heavens and the new earth of Revelation 21. Just remember this – any judgement on sin will never be for the sheep of the Lord’s fold for He took all the judgement and wrath Himself. We are free from wrath because we are not of the dark which is the thief’s realm.
[[F]]. {{Revelation 3:3 “Remember therefore what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.”}}
*** Now note here very carefully, we do not have the addition of “in the night”. That’s because it not applicable to Christians in that sense. We are not children of the night. Once a thief has been, you find things you have lost.
The Lord was writing to a church that needed repentance because they had become careless and allowed formalism and uselessness to creep in, and their dedication love and commitment had practically gone. In fact, so smug and wayward they had become, they had shut the Lord outside the door of the church. He knocks from the outside. The Laodicean church represents the modern church of no commitment, liberalism and lukewarmness.
The Lord was likely to burst upon them suddenly just like a thief and remove their testimony or chasten them or judge them in some other way. Only after that they would realise what they had lost. May the Lord spare us from that type of attitude, and may we keep the testimony burning unadulterated.
[[G]]. {{Revelation 16:15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and men see his shame.”) Rev 16:16 And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.”}}
These verses are talking to the saints of the Tribulation period and relate to the Second Coming when the LORD appears without warning, a most terrible time for the world, because the reference to Har-Magedon is to Armageddon, when all the nations of the world have sent armies to Israel to overthrow God’s people. The Lord returns triumphantly. The corresponding passages are Zechariah 12 and 14 and Revelation 19.
Those believers of the Tribulation are told to remain alert, the same message that is given to the same lot in Matthew 25:13 {{“Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.”}} This is when the Lord comes as a thief in the night as Paul said to the Thessalonians earlier.
The Lord does not come as a thief for His Church but the same warning could apply. It is a call to wakefulness and faithfulness, and to the keeping of our “heavenly dress” spotless before the world. We don’t look for the Second Coming but the Rapture, but we must not be slack or in a state of sleep or carelessness. I think that is a good note on which to conclude.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
