Living on Mission with the Serpent Among Us

The Serpent has opposed the People of God since the Garden of Eden. Spiritual warfare is real. The Serpent is the embodiment of evil, the adversary of the people of God, and he often violent opposes God’s Mission.

In living out God’s Mission we often fail to recognize this spiritual warfare. Moreover, we fail to recognize how the serpent crusher wants to work though us in that warfare. I just read an interesting book that I think might help us, as Global Workers, think through the spiritual warfare that we face on Mission.

A Quick Synopsis of “The Serpent in Samuel”

The Serpent in Samuel: A Messianic Motif by Brian A. Ferret argues for a particular reading of the books of 1 & 2 Samuel.

This might not be a book you would expect on a missions blog but stay with me…

Without exhausting his entire thesis, his main argument is that there is a “Serpent Motif” beginning in Genesis 3 and running through the Old and New Testaments.

The Serpent in Genesis 3 opposes God’s image bearers, the seed of the woman (Eve) is prophesied to crush the serpent’s head, and the serpent is judged to crawl on his belly and to eat dirt. The rest of scripture, Ferret argues, is longing for the seed of the woman, the Messiah, and uses Serpent imagery to describe the opposition met by the People of God.

Here are a few examples…

• Moab’s “head” will be crushed in Numbers 24:17
• Sisera’s head is crushed by a woman in Judges 4
• The fleeing serpent in Isaiah 27 and the judgement of the serpent in 65:25
• Pharaoh is serpentine Ezekiel 29:3-4
• The Gospels call sinners and Pharisees the seed of the Serpent in Matthew 3:7; 13:38; 23:15; Luke 3:7; 12:34; 23:15,33
• God will crush Satan under the Church’s feet in Romans 16:20
• Satan is a great sea serpent in Revelation 12:9,14, 15; 20:2
• And many more

Ferret then zooms in on the scroll of Samuel and pulls out this motif in the stories of Saul and David.

If you are a nerd like me, I would highly recommend the book. It is an academic work, so not necessarily a page turner, but the information within is thought provoking.

The Serpent in the story of David and Goliath

This book caused me to rethink how I picture the story of David and Goliath and how it relates to us who live on Mission and spiritual warfare we all face against the Serpent.

First, let’s take a quick look at the text of the story.

The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites were standing on another hill with a ravine between them. Then a champion named Goliath, from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet, nine inches tall and wore a bronze helmet and bronze scale armor that weighed one hundred twenty-five pounds. There was bronze armor on his shins, and a bronze javelin was slung between his shoulders. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed fifteen pounds. In addition, a shield-bearer was walking in front of him.

1 Samuel 17:3-7, Christian Standard Bible

Where is the Serpent?

Ferret argues that we can see this motif in the description of Goliath’s armor. While our story takes place in the Iron Age, the writer of Samuel takes extra care to point out the “bronze” armor of Goliath. Ferret argues that “bronze” in Hebrew sounds much like “serpent” and is a play on words. What’s more, Goliath has bronze (i.e. serpentine) scales. The only other person described as having scaly skin in scripture is Pharaoh in Ezekiel 29.

What is Goliath doing? Just like the Serpent in Genesis 3 he is coming against God’s selected image bearers. Later we learn that he shouts blasphemies against God. He is terrorizing God’s people as the Serpent has always done.

What is the outcome of the story?

When the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine. David put his hand in the bag, took out a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown to the ground. David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. David overpowered the Philistine and killed him without having a sword. David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword, pulled it from its sheath, and used it to kill him. Then he cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled. The men of Israel and Judah rallied, shouting their battle cry, and chased the Philistines to the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. Philistine bodies were strewn all along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.

1 Samuel 17:48-52, CSB

David, who is depicted as the seed of the woman, is used by God to “crush the head” of Goliath with a stone, causing Goliath to fall forward and eat the dirt. David cuts off the head of the scaley giant and the people of God chase the enemy away. God defeats a serpent through the seed of Eve.

Recognizing the Power behind the Powers

Ferret argues that the writer of Samuel recognized that there was a greater enemy behind Goliath, and it was the same enemy behind Pharaoh and every other power that came against God’s people. The situation was human, but there was another power behind the scenes.

Today we still fight the serpent. He still comes against God’s Mission and God’s People. He continues to oppose up, to blaspheme our God, and to fill us with fear and dread just as he did to Saul’s army.

The story of David and Goliath is a microcosm of the Mission of God and the spiritual warfare that surrounds it. David represents the seed of the Woman and Goliath the seed of the Serpent. Though David is the “serpent crusher” of the story, the story makes it clear that it is GOD who ultimately defeats Goliath and that David’s life points to a great “serpent crusher” that was to come.

Scripture is Missional

The Bible was birthed from God’s Mission. Scripture is a byproduct of God’s desire to reveal himself to the world and to invite the world to be recipients and agents of his Mission. The Bible has a missional foundation that forms scripture to be the account of God’s Mission and also an empowering agent of God’s Mission in the lives of God’s people.

Scripture is a byproduct of God’s desire to reveal himself to the world and to invite the world to be recipients and agents of his Mission.

Scripture should be read and meditated upon as a missional book. It isn’t meant to just be a historical document that we analyze with scientific (i.e. Western) precision. It is a book written for God’s Mission; to reveal God to us and to to invite us to see ourselves living out his Mission in its pages.

There is a long history of readers of scripture placing themselves into the stories that they read. Here we have a dramatic and epic story of the image bearing People of God having their role threatened by their enemy. The readers of Samuel throughout Israel’s tumultuous history would have been all too aware of the serpent’s power in their midst.

Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Seleucid, and finally Rome…

They would have taken great comfort in this story and yet they would have also recognized that the ultimate serpent crusher had yet to arrive.

Are we to simply analyze this story and move on? Or does scripture invite us, as it did the ancient Israelites, to look deeply into the lives of these flawed people and to see our own lives on Mission in the reflection?

The Serpents in our Lives

Where are you and I in this story?

I think there has been a tendency for most of us to read ourselves into the story and picture ourselves as David, fighting the giants in our life. It certainly has made for some exciting sermons.

However, I don’t think you and I are David in this story. I think we are Saul’s army shaking behind the Serpent Crusher.

We are God’s people that have been given his Mission, yet the Serpent has come against us. He is big, strong, and intimidating. We look at him and we know that there is no way that we can win.

Maybe it’s a visa or permit that just won’t come through. A church plant that just can’t seem to get traction. A witchdoctor who is making trouble. A church leader who is causing division. A sickness or drought that is halting progress.

These very ordinairy things just might be the wrapped in the coils of the Serpent.

We don’t always recognize the Serpent. Those of us from the West suffer from a worldview that doesn’t readily see the Serpent and the spiritual warfare against us.

We need the Serpent Crusher

Who do we need to defeat the Serpent? The “serpent crusher”, the seed of the woman, and the seed of David…Jesus.

Jesus, the Victorious Christ, has completely crushed the head of the Serpent. Of course, we live in that time where that victory has both been accomplished but is not yet fully realized. The Serpent continues to harass the People of God, even though he has been mortally wounded.

Our only hope to defeat the Serpents that we recognize in our lives is to rest our faith in the Serpent Crusher.

Read what Paul had to say when the Roman church was dealing with people who were trying to cause division…

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Romans 16:20 (CSB)

How does Paul encourage a church facing seemingly human opposition. He points to the cosmic reality that the Serpent working in their church will soon be crushed under their feet. The same is true of us.

As we live on Mission, we crush Satan under our feet. The simple act of planting God’s church is a serpent crushing activity. It seems very interesting to me that the practice of the early Christian church planters was to form a community, cast out demons, and smash temples. I think their worldview recognized the war that was going on and the serpent crushing power that they had been given to win it.

Just like he armies of Israel, we face the Serpent. But we have a champion, the Serpent Crusher, and because of that champion we are able to crush the serpents’ heads, drive out the powers of darkness, and see One More delivered from the clutches of Hell itself.

Conclusion

In conclusion, here are three concluding thoughts on the implications to spiritual warfare that I think may be helpful to us.

We Must face Spiritual Warfare with our Brothers and Sisters in our Host Cultures

When entering into a new culture, we don’t know what we don’t know. Our brothers and sisters are a part of your host culture and they know its ins and outs better than we do.

Not only do they have insider knowledge, but they also have a different worldview than we do that can sometimes more readily see the Serpent at work. They see the spiritual warfare because they have been fighting it a long time.

We would do well to lean on them in discerning if there is a Serpent working against us.

Not Everything is a “Serpent”

Not everything is a serpent.

While I do think we need to embrace a more spiritual worldview, I think there can also be a danger.

C.S. Lewis once famously said…

“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.” 

C.S. Lewis

Not everything is a demon and not everything is a curse. Sometimes a power outage is just a power outage or a broken sink is just a broken sink. While recognizing the opposition of the Serpent we would do well not to give him too much credit. Sometimes life just hits us and the stress of living in our host cultures exasperates what is actually a common inconvenience.

While Christ has given us the power to crush serpents, he has also given us peace and life more abundantly to adapt and live the life that he has called us to live.

Spiritual Warfare Focused on Jesus

Too often, prayer dealing with spiritual warfare against the Serpent is too focused on the enemy. Sometimes Global Workers fall into the error of obsessing over territorial spirits, generational curses, and naming actual demons. None of this seems to have been the practice of the early Church.

I would suggest that a better alternative is fasting and prayer that is focused on the Serpent Crusher. Praise Jesus. Focus on his power and his name. Let him be praised in your life, in your church, in your house, in your office, and in your team.

The solution to fighting the Serpent isn’t to focus on the Serpent, it is to focus on Jesus.