The Poison of a Serpent

Recently my son and I were in the front yard, and we saw a snake slithering across the sidewalk and into a bush near our front door. It was only the second time in nine years I had seen a snake at our house. A few days later, again with the same son, we saw a much larger snake making its way slowly across the trail we were jogging on in the mountains. That was the first time I had seen on those trails that I have been on many times. (We decided that was a good point to turn around.) Several days later others in my family found the original snake again in our yard; apparently it had taken up residence! These snakes were, as far as we could tell, fairly harmless, but I thought of them as I pondered these words of the Lord: “And these signs shall follow them that believe—In my name they shall do many wonderful works; In my name they shall cast out devils; In my name they shall heal the sick; In my name they shall open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf; And the tongue of the dumb shall speak; And if any man shall administer poison unto them it shall not hurt them; And the poison of a serpent shall not have power to harm them” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:67-72). The Lord here specifically called out protection from snakes as a sign of His followers. These words are similar to what the Savior told His disciples in mortality: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mark 16:17-18). Other scriptures likewise promise protection to the faithful against serpents. To Oliver Cowdery the Lord said, “Require not miracles, except I shall command you, except casting out devils, healing the sick, and against poisonous serpents, and against deadly poisons” (Doctrine and Covenants 24:13). Of William Law—at a time when he was still a faithful disciple—the Lord said, “And these signs shall follow him—he shall heal the sick, he shall cast out devils, and shall be delivered from those who would administer unto him deadly poison; And he shall be led in paths where the poisonous serpent cannot lay hold upon his heel” (Doctrine and Covenants 124:98-99). To me it is curious that the Lord would repeatedly speak in scriptures about this specific danger of the serpent bite. The world is full of dangers that could beset us, many of which are more likely than being bitten by a snake—so why would the Lord use this example to discuss the protection He will give His disciples?

            While I believe the Lord meant what He said literally—the story about pioneer children being protected from the snakes in the film 17 Miracles is one example—perhaps the Lord used this specific example because of its symbolism. Some scriptures use the serpent as a representation of Satan; for example, in the Garden of Eden, Satan “spake by the mouth of the serpent” (Moses 4:7). Lehi also referred to Satan as “that old serpent, who is the devil, who is the father of all lies” (2 Nephi 2:18). In the book of Revelation, John similarly referred to the devil as a snake: “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). He also wrote, “And [an angel] laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan” (Revelation 20:2). Given these passages, perhaps what the Lord really wanted us to know about the signs following those that believe is that the spiritual poison of Satan would “not have power to harm them.” Far more important than being protected from physical snakes is the need to be safe from the attacks of that great serpent, the devil. In the Garden of Eden the Lord said “unto the serpent: Because thou hast done this thou shalt be cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life; And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed; and he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Moses 4:20-21). Though symbolically a human can bruise the head of the snake given its position on the ground—and it likewise can attack the heel of the human—more important was the message that we can have power over Satan in this life. For those who believe, these words indicate that protection we may have: “Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work” (Doctrine and Covenants 10:5).

            The most powerful scripture about the power the faithful believers have over the devil is this from the words of Helaman to his sons “And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall” (Helaman 5:12). As we build our foundation on the Redeemer, the figurative poison of the adversary can have no power over us to pull us down. That is a sign of far more importance than obtaining physical protect, and we should seek it in our own life as we strive to believe and follow the Savior. As we truly believe, He will preserve us from the power of the adversary.