The Snake & The Sword

A Dream of Daniel Botkin, 3/27/96

Several people were in a house. One man saw snakes that had infiltrated the house and hidden themselves in different places. The man was concerned, but he hesitated to take action because he wasn’t sure about the best way to handle the problem. Then he saw that a snake was wrapping itself around one of his friends, a woman, who was not aware of what was happening. He told her what was happening, and told her to hold very still while he went to get a sword.

He got his sword, drew it out of its sheath, and sharpened it. Then he began to hack and poke and jab rather indiscriminately, thinking this would kill the snake. His loud, emotionally-charged action made him feel like a real swordsman. What he didn’t know, however, was that the snake had left the woman while he was getting his sword ready for the battle. So all of his hacking and cutting did not hurt the snake. It was the woman, his friend, that he had wounded.

Holding her bleeding wounds, the woman told him he had cut her very deeply and caused internal injuries. She was also upset because she had never even seen the snake, and now questioned if it had ever actually been there. Perhaps it was just a figment of the man’s imagination, she thought.

FOUR LESSONS

“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field.” When the Enemy infiltrates the congregation of the Lord, he tries to remain unnoticed, and he succeeds in hiding himself from all but those who look at things carefully and closely. He is unnoticed by the undiscerning person even when he is in the process of wrapping himself around that person.
“Be prepared!” Have your sword with you at all times. “Thy word have I hid in my heart.” Keep your sword sharp at all times. The Enemy fears the Sword, but if your sword is dull and rusty, the Enemy will escape while you are busy getting your weapons ready. By the time you are ready to face the Enemy, he will have done his damage and will be gone.
Be sure you are not fighting an imaginary enemy. Are the things you are opposing real threats, or are you battling something that is no longer relevant? Zeal and emotion can make you think you are doing a great job battling the Enemy, but if the Enemy is not there, you are just making noise, wasting time and energy, and perhaps hurting people.
Learn to be precise in the use of the Sword. “Study to show thyself approved unto God... rightly dividing the Word of truth.” “Not handling the Word of God deceitfully.” Indiscriminate misuse of Scripture can harm your friends. They will then think you only imagined you saw the Enemy.