Seems like people are always bringing up Mark 16:18,
saying that if you really believe Jesus, you'll:
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Mr 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink
any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them;
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Is Jesus telling people to drink actual poison?
Is Jesus telling people to wrestle actual snakes?
What would be the point of telling someone to do this?
Wouldn't that kill someone?
Of course it would.
So why would he say it?
The answer is simple:
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Jesus isn't discussing actual snakes, nor is
he discussing actual poison.
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How do you know?
There are several things Jesus said that are DIRECTLY
stated in the Old Testament. By saying them, Jesus was
saying things that people could understand best in
their having read or heard the Old Testament scriptures.
For instance, Jesus called the wicked serpents, vipers,
while God called Satan a serpent in the Old Testament.
So why call the wicked serpents?
Because what the wicked will tell you, what they'll say,
it's POISON. Spiritually, that POISON can kill you if
you don't believe God. The lies that the wicked will
tell you, it can kill you spiritually.
So what Jesus was saying above, is that you can confront
the wicked, and their lies won't kill you spiritually...
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IF you truely believe God.
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So how can you know this is what Jesus was saying?
Because it was stated point blank in the Old Testament:
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Ps 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they
go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent:
they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;
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The Old Testament shows that the wicked are discussed
as serpents, their lies... the poison.
It's right there, there is no question about what Jesus
was discussing.
That poison, the wicked's lying, it can kill you spiritually.
But it can't kill you if you believe God.
That's what Jesus said when he said that if you believe him,
you can take up serpents and the poisons would be unable
to kill you.
The same thing was said again in the Old Testament and
all the clearer:
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Ps 140:1 Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve
me from the violent man;
2 Which imagine mischiefs in their heart;
continually are they gathered together for war.
3 They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent;
adders' poison is under their lips. Selah.
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Here God was discussed as saving people from the wicked,
their poison then becoming ineffective.
When Jesus told the apostles they could take up serpents
and drink poisons, he was telling them that they could
go out into the world and tell others that God exists
and that Jesus died and raised again. That what the wicked
would say back... it wouldn't kill them spiritually
if they believed him.
Lastly, it's spelled out in detail, the wicked, the poison,
the lying against God, and the rejection of God as the
indicator of who's been killed by the poison:
Ro 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no,
not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none
that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are
together become unprofitable; there is none
that doeth good, no, not one.
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their
tongues they have used deceit; the poison of
asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
But like Jesus said, it's all INEFFECTUAL when you
believe Jesus, the serpent's poison can't kill you
when you believe God.
God made it all, Jesus died for our sins.
Note: The above information was written by John P. Boatwright and is freely given. The information is simply my opinion based on how I perceive the content discussed. Anyone reading such should use their own judgement as to whether or not the information has any value to them. You may copy portions of the above opinions as long as a reference to this page is included and no text within said portion is altered. If copied to another medium other than the internet, include the entire text. The above content may change over time.
Best wishes.