"sin The Venom"

“SIN, the VENOM” 8/24/25 a.m. Genesis 3:1-6

In September 1957, Karl P. Schmidt, one of America’s most respected herpetologists, was handed a 30-inch snake for identification at Chicago’s Field Museum. The reptile came from the Lincoln Park Zoo, and Schmidt quickly recognized it as a young boomslang snake, native to Africa, and Very Venomous.

As he looked at it, the snake struck, sinking its fangs into Schmidt’s thumb. Two small puncture wounds. He dismissed it as minor. Instead of rushing to the hospital, Schmidt did what a scientist does best: he observed, measured, and recorded.

From 4:30 p.m. on September 25 until noon the following day, he kept a meticulous log: chills, nausea, bleeding gums, blood in his urine, then blood from his nose and mouth. He ate toast, drank coffee, and noted each symptom, even as his body broke down. His final written word was “excessive”—a chilling description of his unstoppable bleeding.

That afternoon, Schmidt vomited, called his wife, and collapsed. Doctors could not save him. At 3:00 p.m. on September 26, he was gone. His autopsy revealed hemorrhaging in his lungs, kidneys, heart, eyes, and brain—the venom had destroyed him from within.

So why didn’t he seek treatment? Why didn’t he go to the hospital and get some help?

Well, nobody really knows why but here are some thoughts from different people that knew him.

1. Some say he underestimated the danger.

It was a young snake. He may have thought that it didn’t have enough venom to cause him any harm.

2. Secondly, the BOOMSLANG is a rear-fanged snake, meaning their fangs are located further back in their mouths than some other venomous snakes. But they can open their mouths up to 180 degrees to be able to BITE DOWN on large animals and inject them with their VENOM. He may have thought that the snake wasn’t able to inject him with venom.

3. Thirdly, the venom of a Boomslang is NOT fast acting. It was later that evening before he even began to feel SICK. He died the next day but it can take up to three days to die from the BITE of a BOOMSLANG SNAKE.

4. And finally, others believe that Karl Schmidt had lost ALL HOPE. You see, he knew the only anti-venom was thousands of miles away in Africa and so he chose to dedicate his last hours alive to the Science of Herpetology.

That’s a pretty amazing story isn’t it? Sad but amazing.

This morning I want to talk about a VENOM, a POISON that has affected every single one of us. We’ve ALL been bitten. And because of it, we’re all gonna die. So what is that POISON? What VENOM am I talking about this morning? IT’S SIN.

I guess most of us know the story of Adam and Eve and how they were living there in the Garden of Eden. They really had no rules, no commandments, no laws except for one thing.

This morning I want to read out of Genesis. We’ll start with Chapter 2, Verses 16 and 17,

“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

And then in Chapter 3 of Genesis, we see the OLD DEVIL came to Eve and he was in the form of a SERPENT. A SNAKE. And so let’s see what SATAN had to say to Eve. Look at Chapter 3 and we’ll read Verses 1-6.

“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

And so here in these Verses, the OLD DEVIL basically DEFIES GOD by telling Eve that she could go ahead and eat of the FRUIT of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And if she did, she would become as a GOD herself. And so her and Adam ate of the TREE and SIN ENTERED the WORLD. And then DEATH BY SIN. Romans 5:12