Both John the Baptist and Jesus spoke of a generation of vipers, and serpents.
Matthew 3:7 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Matthew 12:34 “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
Matthew 23:33 “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?”
The generation of vipers and serpents pertains to those who are of the serpents seed as shown in Genesis 3:15. Jesus also referred to them as children of hell in Matthew 23:15 just as they are known as the children of that wicked one who sow bad seed in the world Matthew 13:38.
This bad seed is sown by lies and false doctrine that come from the spirit of their father the Devil. Just as God’s Word is the good seed sown by his children who have His Living Word and Spirit dwelling in them, these also belong to the kingdom of heaven.
So these serpents spread their poison by their false doctrine. Deuteronomy 32:33 “Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.” Romans 3:13 “Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:”
In the wandering in the wilderness we are given a shadow of spiritual things to come when the Lord sent forth fiery serpents to bite and kill the rebellious children of Israel. Numbers 21:6 “And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.”
But the Lord also had a remedy for this poison of serpents in the serpent that the Lord had Moses raise up in Numbers 21:8 “And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.”
This would be a sign of Jesus being made sin for us, he also being raised up, and all those who seek him would be healed from the deadly poison of the serpents. John 3:14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:”
The Lord also sent forth scorpions in the wilderness Deuteronomy 8:15 “Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, ….” The scorpions’ power to hurt is in his tail, which represents the false prophet spirit working in many deceivers. Isaiah 9:15 “The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.”
The power in the tail was symbolized in the tail of the red dragon drawing away the angels of heaven by his lies, and this power is also shown in the army who was prophesied to come out of hell. Revelation 9:10 “And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.” (Note concerning their sting 1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death is sin; )
So the Old Serpent empowers his body (the beast), just as Christ being the head empowers His Body the Church. The serpent’s power to deceive and kill by deadly poison is in their mouth, and the scorpions have the same power to deceive in their tails. Revelation 9:19 “For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.”
But the good news for God’s elect is, they will not be deceived by all the lies and false doctrine in these many deceivers. Just as we are given power by our Lord tread on serpents and scorpions.
Luke 10:19 “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
And their deadly poison will not hurt us. Mark 16:18 “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.”
Matthew 3:7 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Matthew 12:34 “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
Matthew 23:33 “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?”
The generation of vipers and serpents pertains to those who are of the serpents seed as shown in Genesis 3:15. Jesus also referred to them as children of hell in Matthew 23:15 just as they are known as the children of that wicked one who sow bad seed in the world Matthew 13:38.
This bad seed is sown by lies and false doctrine that come from the spirit of their father the Devil. Just as God’s Word is the good seed sown by his children who have His Living Word and Spirit dwelling in them, these also belong to the kingdom of heaven.
So these serpents spread their poison by their false doctrine. Deuteronomy 32:33 “Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.” Romans 3:13 “Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:”
In the wandering in the wilderness we are given a shadow of spiritual things to come when the Lord sent forth fiery serpents to bite and kill the rebellious children of Israel. Numbers 21:6 “And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.”
But the Lord also had a remedy for this poison of serpents in the serpent that the Lord had Moses raise up in Numbers 21:8 “And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.”
This would be a sign of Jesus being made sin for us, he also being raised up, and all those who seek him would be healed from the deadly poison of the serpents. John 3:14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:”
The Lord also sent forth scorpions in the wilderness Deuteronomy 8:15 “Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, ….” The scorpions’ power to hurt is in his tail, which represents the false prophet spirit working in many deceivers. Isaiah 9:15 “The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.”
The power in the tail was symbolized in the tail of the red dragon drawing away the angels of heaven by his lies, and this power is also shown in the army who was prophesied to come out of hell. Revelation 9:10 “And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.” (Note concerning their sting 1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death is sin; )
So the Old Serpent empowers his body (the beast), just as Christ being the head empowers His Body the Church. The serpent’s power to deceive and kill by deadly poison is in their mouth, and the scorpions have the same power to deceive in their tails. Revelation 9:19 “For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.”
But the good news for God’s elect is, they will not be deceived by all the lies and false doctrine in these many deceivers. Just as we are given power by our Lord tread on serpents and scorpions.
Luke 10:19 “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
And their deadly poison will not hurt us. Mark 16:18 “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.”
