Snake Bites!

Uncharted Territory

Acts 28:1–10 ESV

1 After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. 2 The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. 3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. 7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 8 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. 9 And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. 10 They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.

New Territory

Snake Spirits, namely Python attack when you are taking new territory for Christ

Whether it be a region or a higher level in the spirit.

Python is a principality.

Paul was on his way to Rome.

28:4 Greco-Roman lore spoke of fugitives who escaped shipwreck only to be killed by poisonous snakes.

The comment “this man is a murderer.” was based on the belief prevalent in Greek mythology that the fates align against people who commit evil.

Justice In Greek mythology, Justice was a goddess. The daughter of Zeus and Themis.

Talk about Lady Justice.

Justice was believed to establish and control people’s fate.

I Hate Snakes

Talk about the natural / spiritual realm correlation

Tell the Brian Gibbs Story

Talk about the campaign, jurassic park and the secret life of pets.

Talk about the serpent in Gen. 3

The snake was not literal serpent.

It was not literal in terms of physical.

Ancient Egyptians would have understood this.

This was common knowledge in ancient Mesopotamia

They would have thought that the gods were up to something...

According to Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament), Volume 1.

The Egyptians revered the serpent because they feared it for its power and danger, but they also honored the serpent because at times it offered protection. Thus they regarded the snake as both friend and fiend, protector and enemy, and the personification of the sacred and the profane. Some snakes were to be worshiped, others were to be considered incarnations of evil.Serpents in Egypt are also connected with occult wisdom. The ureaus is sometimes invoked as a magician. In this regard it may be no coincidence that the Hebrew word used for snake here (nāḥāš) evokes the similar sounding and perhaps etymologically related verb (nḥš), meaning “to give omens.” “Many gods, especially the primeval gods, were represented in serpent form. The earth-god Geb had a serpent’s head; the ‘serpent who created the earth’ was worshiped at Thebes. Serpent deities controlled human life and the passage of time.”

Luke 10:19 (ESV)

19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.

Pythons

Snakes and Serpents are referenced over 80 times in the Bible.

Snakes love to stalk their prey.

A lot of snakes will attack you from behind when you are unaware and vulnerable.

“Serpents, are wise enough to know when to seize the moment and strike. They understand there’s a kairos time to attack.” - Rick Renner

According to National Geographic, pythons strike at you and grab you with their teeth: “They’ll seize the prey item with their teeth and simultaneously wrap their coil around it and squeeze. And when the victim inhales, that’s the time they squeeze a little bit harder to the point where you can’t really get a breath anymore.”

The Python spirit seeks to inflict wounds on you with accusations and spiritual blows to your body.

This spirit will also work through hurts and wounds of your past, magnifying unresolved pain to stop or hinder your prayer life and stop you from accomplishing your God-given mission.

When Python attacks, it literally feels like a torrent!

Explain the Michigan attack!

According to Merriam-Webster. A Torrent - “tumultuous outpouring: rush; a violent stream of a liquid (such as water or lava).”

“Python rushes at you in violence with a demonic outpouring of witchcraft. Remember, this spirit is essentially a spirit of divination.” - Jennifer Leclaire

LEVIATHAN/PYTHON

Is dominate in (Witchcraft/Occultism)

Known as the serpent, dragon spirit.

Leviathan is referred to as Python in some cultures.

Python and Leviathan are interchangeable.

They are synonomous

Their distinction is found within their operation.

Leviathan is referred to five times in Scripture, beginning in Job.

He is depicted in serpentine fashion and dwelling in the sea.

Isaiah 27:1 ESV

1 In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.

Vipers:

Are assignment killers

Are religious spirits.

Matthew 3:7 (ESV) - But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Matthew 23:33 (ESV) - You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

Cobras:

Tell Your Cobra Story...

Various kinds of snakes are associated with demons.

African witchcraft and Hinduism.

The cult of the Python is well-known in Africa,

Most African curses are ultimately energized by a Python spirit, which may also manifest in the form of Leviathan.

In Hinduism these are known as “naga” spirits, and the King Cobra is considered the most powerful

African/Caribbean

RELIGIOUS ROOTS/PRACTICES:

Witchcraft

Animism

Pantheism

voodoo

DOMINANT DEMONS OF THE REALM:

Python/Leviathan (ruling spirit of African witchcraft);

Voodoo deities (loas)

water spirits demons

SPIRITUAL WARFARE STRATEGY: African spirits are nasty, vulgar, and sexual; often associated with snakes and Leviathan spirits; most African witchcraft spirits were conjured by blood sacrifices and such covenant curses must be broken.

Mexican/Hispanic

GEOGRAPHICAL ORIGINS: Mexico, Central America, South American

DOMINANT DEMONS OF THE REALM: Aztecs main deities were Quetzalcoatl/Lucifer (Feathered Serpent).

DEMONIZATION CHARACTERISTICS: The Aztecs were one of the bloodiest civilizations of human history. Annually, many thousands of humans (children, virgins, captured warriors) were sacrificed. SPIRITUAL WARFARE STRATEGY: Snake spirits are common. Ancient covenants of human sacrifices are prevalent and must be broken.

Native American:

North and South America:

ancestral and animal spirit guides

trance dancing

drumming

altered states of consciousness.

Snake demons are common as are trancing spirits.

Snakes Are Subtle

Proverbs 30:18–19 (ESV)

18 Three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand:

19 the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a virgin.

“Sometimes, the Python’s work in our lives is so subtle that we don’t immediately discern its tracks—or stop it dead in its tracks—which is why we need to be wise like the serpent. Remember, the snake moves into a territory camouflaged.” - Jennifer Leclaire

Snakes Are Sorcerer’s

Acts 13:4–12 (ESV)

4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them.

6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.

7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

8 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him

10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?

11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand.

12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

Micah 7:15–17 (ESV) - As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them marvelous things. The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; they shall lay their hands on their mouths; their ears shall be deaf; they shall lick the dust like a serpent, like the crawling things of the earth; they shall come trembling out of their strongholds; they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God, and they shall be in fear of you.

7:15. The phrase “in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt.”

The periods of the exodus, wilderness wanderings, and conquest of the promised land were filled with a number of miracles performed by Yahweh on behalf of His people

Plagues on Egypt, crossing of the Red Sea, manna and water in the wilderness, crossing of the Jordan River, walls of Jericho falling down, sun standing still, etc.

7:17 They will lick the dust like the serpent This phrase utilizes synonymous parallelism.

Exodus 7:8–13 (ESV)

8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’ ”

10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.

11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts.

12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.

13 Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

2 Timothy 3:8 (ESV)

8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.

Apostles Bring the Presence

Python knows it has no authority in a city that prays in the presence of God.

Python Attacks occur when you are on an apostolic assignment.

Snakes attack right before a breakthrough.

it works to distract people from praying so they can’t fulfill their purpose.

Python would rather watch you lick your wounds than pray to a healing God.

Python would rather hear you complain or gossip than take your problems to a miracle-working God.

Python would rather distract you with attacks, trials, and persecutions than see you press into a gracious God for deliverance.

Acts 16:16–26 ESV

16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. 19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. 21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.

It’s About to Break!

1 Corinthians 10:8–9 (ESV)

8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.

9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents.

Isaiah 43:18–19 (ESV)

18 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.

19 Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Mark 16:18 (ESV)

18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Prophecy Over America!