Imagine being out in the woods, hiking, camping, working. When all of a sudden you feel a sharp pain in your leg. You look down and see two small holes in your skin and this long, legless creature slithering away through the grass. Well, being a fairly intelligent person, you’d probably come rather quickly to the conclusion that you’d been snake-bit. You’d also know that you needed medical attention in a hurry.
So you’d start back to the house or the car while taking note that your leg is hurting pretty bad. You need to get to a doctor fast. The pain is spreading, your heart rate begins to fluctuate, and you start to vomit. You’re sick and weak and in pain, and you have to make a real effort to keep from passing out.
Well, fast forward ahead a bit. You’re in the doctor’s office or hospital, and they’ve given you a shot of antivenin. After a while your heart rate normalizes, you’re no longer sweating and sick to your stomach, and you begin to feel like you might live after all.
The doctor asks how you feel and you say, "Much better. Say, what was in that shot you gave me anyhow?" Imagine your surprise when you’re told that the stuff that saved your life was the same stuff that almost killed you in the first place - snake venom. Only when they gave you the snake venom it wasn’t just straight from the snake. It was refined, mixed with other ingredients, all in the proper proportions.
There are many antivenins made from poisonous snakes and spiders all around the world. When used in their refined state, they can cure illness and prevent death. If used all by themselves, they can cause pain and suffering, crippling, irreversible damage, or a painful and unpleasant death.
There are a lot of things in this world that can hurt us if taken alone or help us if taken and used properly. Some are naturally occurring and some are man-made. There are even certain medications that can be helpful if taken together and harmful if taken alone.
Believe it or not, the Word of God is the same way. There are things in the Bible that, if taken as part of the whole, are very beneficial to us. But those same things, if taken alone, can be very harmful.
Take today’s scripture, for example. This passage from Mark has caused some controversy. For one thing, the earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses don’t even have this passage in them. For another thing, there are some people who’ve taken this obscure little reference to snakes and built a whole theology around it.
In Luke, chapter 10, verse 19, Jesus says to the seventy-two messengers, "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you." This would seem like Jesus is telling these people that they can step all over snakes and scorpions and not get hurt. But what he’s actually referring to is evil spirits. He’s calling them snakes and scorpions and he’s telling the messengers not to fear the evil spirits because he’s giving them protection.
But the passage in Mark has been taken by some people and interpreted to mean that if they pick up deadly snakes with their hands, no harm will come to them. Even worse, they interpret it as a command to pick up and handle poisonous snakes and drink deadly poison.
We all know that there are churches where people actually do this. There aren’t many, but they do exist, mostly back in West Virginia and Tennessee. These people go to church, where they pray and sing and dance until they feel like they’ve been filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they go up to the front of the church where the deacons or elders have brought out a box full of snakes - rattlesnakes, copperheads, and water moccasins. They also set out Mason jars full of a clear liquid that’s supposed to be cyanide.
The people pick up the snakes, dance around with them, kiss them and rub them, and then put them down. Other people go up and drink out of the Mason jars. Then they go back to their seats and continue on with their worship until it’s time to go home.
Well, needless to say, the death rate in these cults is high enough that the courts have tried to intervene to keep children from at least not handling snakes and drinking poison, if not to keep them from going to these meetings at all.
A lot of children in these cults are orphaned because both parents have died from snake-bite. They have to be cared for by other family or church members. Couples have divorced over the issue of handling snakes, and they get court protection to keep their kids out of these so-called churches.
This is definitely one obscure reference in the Bible that’s been taken completely out of context and made into a theology that’s damaging and dangerous.
Another example of taking an obscure reference from the Bible out of context and using it as the basis for a whole theology is First Corinthians 15, verse 29, which reads, "Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?"
Apparently, some believers were baptized on behalf of others who had died unbaptized. Nothing more is known about this practice, but it obviously affirms a belief in resurrection. Paul isn’t promoting baptism for the dead; he’s illustrating his argument that the resurrection is a reality.
This is one of the basic tenets of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or the Mormons. They’ve taken this passage to be a directive that they have to be baptized for their dead kinfolk who weren’t baptized in life.
The Mormons keep strict genealogical records, and this is one of the reasons. They have to know who their ancestors were, whether they were baptized, whether some other kinsman has been baptized on their behalf and, if not, then they have to be baptized for them. The person who’s dead then has the choice to accept the baptism which was carried out on their behalf or not.
I’m not sure how helpful this practice is, but I can see some danger in it. What’s the use of living a good life, accepting Christ and being baptized, and thus saved, if you can live your life like you want and just depend on one of your descendants to be baptized for you?
Another example is one I used in my sermon last week about the so-called rapture. I know I stepped on a few toes with that sermon, and that’s okay. That’s what I’m here for. If it made you think at all, or look something up for yourself, then I figure it was a success.
But let me explain to you how the rapture theory came about. At First Thessalonians 4, verse 17, we can read, "After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."
In the air - those three little words gave birth the whole rapture theory. Believers in the rapture say that because Jesus’ feet don’t touch the ground, then this isn’t the actual Second Coming. The Second Coming won’t occur until Jesus comes back and actually physically stands on terra firma.
As I said last week, this is a dangerous theory that will cause a lot of people to be left holding the bag when Jesus does come, because when Jesus comes back, it’s not going to matter one whit whether or not his feet are touching the ground.
You all remember what happened in Waco, Texas, a few years ago. A group of people calling themselves the Branch Davidians followed their leader down there and built a large compound where they all lived together. The leader’s name was David Koresh, and he had studied the Bible and found a reference in Isaiah, chapter 4, verse 2, that reads, "In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious . . . ." The "Branch of the Lord" is thought to refer to the Messiah.
Then he found the reference at Jeremiah chapter 23, verses 5 and 6, that reads, "‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness."
Jeremiah is contrasting the corrupt leaders of his day with the coming Messiah, the perfect King who would come from David’s line to reign over Israel. The king is called a righteous Branch because he will sprout up from the stump of David’s fallen dynasty.
You all know what happened. David Koresh convinced his followers that he was the Messiah, called them all Branch Davidians because he was the Branch from David, took all the women for himself, fathered all the children, stockpiled weapons, and got into a battle with the feds. Eighty-some-odd people died, many of whom were children.
In direct response to what happened at Waco, Timothy McVeigh bombed the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, so the damage done by building a cult around one or two verses in the Bible was much more vast and far-reaching than was thought when the government flushed out the Branch Davidians.
There are also cases of theology being built on nothing but an idea, even though the idea can be proven to be false by reading the Bible.
For instance, the Catholic Church teaches the perpetual virginity of Mary. Her mother was a virgin; Mary was a virgin before she conceived; she was a virgin after she gave birth; and she was a virgin when she died.
Well, the Bible says absolutely nothing about Mary’s mother being a virgin. It does tell us that Mary was a virgin when she was made pregnant by the Holy Spirit. But then the Catholic Church goes off in one direction, and the Bible goes in another.
At Matthew chapter 1, verse 25, the Bible clearly says of Joseph, ". . . he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son." That one little word, until, lets us know that Joseph did indeed have union with Mary after the birth of Jesus.
But to keep from making the same mistake I’m warning against, let’s look for other references to back up the theory that Mary and Joseph did indeed have sexual relations.
At Matthew 12, verse 47, someone tells Jesus, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you."
At Mark 6, verse 3, we read, "Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?"
At Mark 3:31 and 32, "Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you."
Luke 8:19 says the same thing. And John 7, verse 5 tells us, "For even his own brothers did not believe in him."
There are some who would like to translate all these as step-brothers or step-sisters, children of Joseph by a previous marriage, which is also never mentioned in the Bible, but the truth is that the words just don’t translate that way. The meaning is clear - Mary and Joseph had children other than Jesus, and in order to do that, Mary couldn’t remain a virgin.
But there are Mary cults. There’s even a name for worship of Mary - Maryology. It’s very common around the world. And I believe it’s dangerous. Mary was not divine, she is not part of the Holy Trinity, so worship of her amounts to idolatry. And we all know the punishment for idolatry.
Last but not least, and you probably figured I’d get to this one, is First Timothy 2, verses 11 and 12: "A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent." Some interpret this passage to mean that women should never teach in the assembled church; however, let me point out that Paul didn’t forbid women from ever teaching.
He thought very highly of his co-worker, Priscilla, who taught Apollos, the great preacher. We can read about that in Acts, chapter 18, verses 24-26. In addition, Paul frequently mentioned other women who held positions of responsibility in the church. Phoebe worked in the church, Romans 16:1. Mary, Tryphena, and Tryphosa were the Lord’s workers, Romans 16:6, 12; as were Euodia and Syntyche, Philippians 4:2.
It is believed that Paul was prohibiting only the Ephesian women, not all women, from teaching. To understand these verses, we must understand the situation in which Paul and Timothy worked. In first-century Jewish culture, women were not allowed to even study. When Paul said that women should learn in quietness and full submission, far from limiting them, he was in fact offering them an amazing new opportunity.
Paul didn’t want the Ephesian women to teach because they didn’t yet have enough knowledge or experience. The Ephesian church had a particular problem with false teachers. Evidently the women were especially susceptible to the false teachings because they didn’t have enough Biblical knowledge to discern the truth. Paul was telling Timothy not to put anyone into a position of leadership who was not yet mature in the faith.
In Luke 8, verses 1 through 3, we can read about the women who traveled around with Jesus and helped support him.
At Mark 16 we read about the women who went to the tomb and found it empty. They were told to go and tell Jesus’ disciples and Peter. They weren’t told to go and get a man and bring him back so he could receive a message.
At Matthew 28, verse 10, Jesus speaks directly to the women and sends them off with a message for the men.
At First Corinthians 11, verse 5, Paul says, "And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head - it is just as though her head were shaved." So Paul is acknowledging that women do pray and prophesy - and he’s not saying a word against it.
And we’re all familiar with Galatians 3, verse 28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
It’s very obvious to anyone who’s studied the Word of God that women are just as gifted and talented and called to the ministry as men are, yet there are many who take that one little verse from First Timothy, misinterpret it, and then use it as a weapon against women.
My question to people like that is: How many times and in how many ways does God have to send you a message before you finally get it? It’s dangerous to try to exclude from the ministry people who God has called just because their gender or their color or their race doesn’t suit you.
When taken as a whole, a concoction containing snake venom can be curative. When snake venom is taken alone, it can cause irreparable harm or death.
When looking at Mary as the mother of Christ, it’s nice to feel gratitude and respect for her. When you lift her to the level of Christ himself, you become dangerously close to blasphemy.
When pondering the Second Coming of Christ, it’s good to think that it might happen at any second, and to be prepared for it. But when you think there’s going to be a second coming followed by several years when you have a chance to do everything like you should have done it in the first place, followed by a third coming, you’re treading mighty thin theological ice.
When taken as a whole, the Bible is a wonderful collection of books that contain words of instruction and encouragement and promise and love and hope, the inspired Word of God. When taken alone, some of the passages can cause irreparable harm or even death.
So don’t make the mistake of believing something just because someone else has told it to you. Down that path lies ignorance and danger. Believe what you believe because you’ve taken the time to do the research.
Read the Bible. Read several different translations. Read commentaries by respected, well-known people, not the fly-by-night self-proclaimed prophets who have their own agenda.
Study the Word of God, and while you’re studying, pray without ceasing. If you approach your Bible study with an open mind, a clean heart, and an honest desire to discern God’s will, instead of trying to prove that your current way of thinking is correct, then God will reveal the truth to you and the Bible will become for you the pathway of all knowledge.
