Part 1 Wise as Serpents and Harmless as Doves

Wisdom is knowing when to speak your mind
and when to mind your speech.

Wise as Serpents and Harmless as Doves – Part 1

“Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves;
be wary and wise as serpents,
and be innocent
(harmless, guileless, and without falsity) as doves.”
Matthew 10:16 Amplified bible

Jesus begins this statement with “I send you forth.” The word Christ used for ‘send forth’ is the Greek word apostello, from which we derive the English word apostle. Apostello means ‘to set apart and send out on a mission.’
The Lord used the same word to describe the sending out of the prophets and for the sending out of the twelve disciples to preach the good news of the Gospel message.

“Because of this, take notice:
I am sending you (apostello)
prophets and wise men (interpreters and teachers)
and scribes (men learned in the Mosaic Law and the Prophets);

some of them you will kill, even crucify,
and some you will flog in your synagogues
and pursue and persecute from town to town,”
Matthew 23:34 Amplified Bible

“And He appointed twelve to continue to be with Him,
and that He might send them out (apostello) to preach
[as apostles or special messengers]”
Mark 3:14 Amplified Bible

When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon he sent him out with this divine mission:
“The Lord turned to him and said,
Go in this your might,
and you shall save Israel from the hand of Midian.
Have I not sent you”
Judges 6:14 Amplified Bible

Jesus used the same term to describe His Father’s sending Him into the world

“Then Jesus said to them again, Peace to you!
[Just] as the Father has sent Me (apostello) forth,
so I am sending (apostello) you.”
John 20:21 Amplified Bible

We too, have been given this command

to go forth as apostles (set apart and sent out on a mission) for Christ.

Sheep:

In both the Old and New Testaments, believers are compared to sheep.
David’s Shepherd’s Psalm
“The Lord is my shepherd”
Isaiah’s observation that
“all we like sheep have gone astray” Isaiah 54
Jesus said in John 10:27
“My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me.”

Sheep are not very intelligent.

They have been known to wade into a pond to get a drink

and stand in the water until their wool becomes so saturated

that they can’t support their own weight.

Not having the sense to walk out of the water,

their legs give way under their own saturated weight,

and they drown where they stand.

Sheep also are virtually defenseless

against predators such as a lion, bear, or wolf.

They are slow creatures that are easily ensnared in thickets.

They really have no form of effective defense,

making them an easy prey.
In the eyes of the world,

such inadequacies are seen as deficiencies and weaknesses.

In God’s economy, however,

such characteristics can afford the release

of His mighty power through us,

as in our weakness God’s strength is perfected.

“But He said to me (Paul), My grace
(My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger
and enables you to bear the trouble manfully];
for My strength and power are made perfect
(fulfilled and completed)
and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness.
Therefore, I will all the more
gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities,
that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah)
may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me”
2 Corinthians 12:9 Amplified Bible

The greatest defense a sheep has

is to be attentive to the voice of its shepherd.

Staying close to a faithful shepherd

is the sheep’s only hope

when faced with the dangers of its world.

A faithful shepherd will place himself between his sheep

and the danger and drive the danger away.

Jesus says:
“I am the Good Shepherd;
and I know and recognize My own,
and My own know and recognize Me--
Even as [truly as] the Father knows Me
and I also know the Father—
and I am giving My [very own] life
and laying it down on behalf of the sheep.”
John 10:14-15 Amplified Bible

To be continued…

May the Words of the Lord be sweet to your taste,
sweeter than honey upon your lips…

30-1/7

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