What Does the Bible Say About Snakes as Pets? Is It a Sin?

Firewater

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Some years ago I visited a family. One of the family's children showed us a pet snake they had. The snake was a small python. I was repulsed by it & I observed that only 1 of the people visiting agreed to hold the snake at the child's invitation. Most others I noticed also seemed to be repulsed by it.

It had previously been revealed to intercessors in the church this family attended that the main demonic spirit opposed to the growth of this church was a python spirit (Acts 16:16 ILB).

Subsequently the couple in this family separated & had emotional problems. They did have marriage problems many years ago, so I am not suggesting that having the snake in the house is the reason why this occurred, but I don't think it was helpful.

I know another family whose son also has a pet snake - a small snake which is a different breed. I also saw this snake but I did not have the same repulsion as with the other one above. This family are doing fine.

I would not allow my children to have a pet snake in the house. Over the years we have occasionally been given gifts of artifacts etc by non-Christians that look like idols. We have either burned them or thrown them out. At least one of these looked fairly expensive. Fortunately none of the folks who gave us these have ever said "What happened to that gift I gave you?". :)

But we do have, for example, a game of snakes & ladders somewhere in our house. I don't have a problem with this. We have occasionally found computer games wthout any demonic symbols have caused our son's behaviour to take a nose-dive & we have stopped him from playing it. So in terms of the things we have in our house, we have found that it's not so clear-cut in terms of: demonic image = demonic influence; and no demonic image = no deminic influence.

My discussion question is: Where do you draw the line in terms of allowing things which are known to symbolise demons in your house?

God bless
 
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ChildOfGod97

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My discussion question is: Where do you draw the line in terms of allowing things which are known to symbolise demons in your house?

God bless

God created snakes. We are called to be as wise as snakes.

I hate snakes myself. And cockroaches. I hate this dragon shirt my son, Michael, wears... sometimes.

I take these reactions as themselves metaphorical.

I encourage my children to play the hero, not the villain in video games.


But if no one ever plays the villain, who would ever have a game to play at all? If I buy my son only hero toys, then how can he play? He needs a good villain.


No story is complete without a good villain.

There is, in fact, no story at all without a good villain.


Hitchcock wisely said once, 'a story is only as good as the villain is bad'. To paraphrase.


Looking it up...


"The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture".


But, in the end, the villain always has to lose.

We long for bad things to end.
 
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RedRed

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My thoughts are this: Genesis 3:14-15, God cursed the serpent to crawl on its belly and eat dust all the days of its life and He put enmity between the serpent and the woman and between the serpents offsrping and hers. The very thing that the serpent tried to destroy (man made from the dust of the earth), God set to have the serpent crawl on its belly and eat that dust the rest of its life. There is a natural and spiritual enmity between serpents and us from the Lord.

That is not to say that snakes today do not have useful purposes here on earth, God did create the serpent also. I just feel that naturally and spiritually there should be enmity between us and the serpents as it was set by God to be there, so we would not so easily fall prey to the serpent and his ways again.

I feel that a reminder of this comes when the people were sinning in the days of Moses and God sent the serpents to bite them. The only way the people could find healing was to look the bronze serpent in the face. Sometimes to see where we have gone wrong, we need to stop and look that serpent in the face and see the truth of our wrongs. Look in the face the very thing that caused us to sin once again. If a person has a natural attraction or affection for the serpent, I feel that something is there within their life that probably should not be. Are we to care for living things which God has created, yes. Are all living things from the hand of God created and good, I believe they are as the word warns us that all that God creates is good. I just don't feel that we are to take them in and love them as pets or to cherish them as enmity was set between us.

redred
 
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ChildOfGod97

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On taking the snake symbolism too literally, outside of context:


Individuality.

Someone complained yesterday on hopped up cars. I pointed out 'we do not want all cars to be the same, how boring that would be'. I then later noticed a sign on the road where the words were intentionally upside down. Their slogan was, "We play what we want". It was a music radio station.

I thought, "Good". How boring the world would be if everyone acted the same way, dressed the same way, looked the same way, and did everything the same way. If they all talked the same way.


My brother once wisely pointed out that people who dress alternatively tend to be as much conformists in their lack of conformity as those who are conformists. This is something that often strikes out at me.

But what is individuality, then. And why does it matter? Or what is that which is strange which we can lash out at, rashly? Why must everyone be expected to belong to one group or another, and if they dare not, then they be treated with suspicion? Or why must people put their fears into groups, to protect them, and treat with suspicion all outsiders? Why do they create imaginary enemies? Or think ill of real ones?


If we dress one way, or dress another, why must we be thought to have a background of conformity? That is prejudice. Maybe if we dress one way or another way, we simply "are". Maybe there is a lot more beneath the surface, even if one thinks there is not?


None of this means I like snakes. I don't. They are not cute. They do not protect someone's house. If someone leans down to kiss it, they will be bitten.

If I had a zoo, however, it would be very incomplete without snakes. And behind the safety of a cage, snakes and other dangerous animals are some of the most fascinating ones to watch.

We do not take in lions as pets, either. I look askew at those who do, considering how dangerous they are. House cats are fine, but lions?
 
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ChildOfGod97

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The only way the people could find healing was to look the bronze serpent in the face. Sometimes to see where we have gone wrong, we need to stop and look that serpent in the face and see the truth of our wrongs. Look in the face the very thing that caused us to sin once again.

That... is an awesome exegesis of the bronze serpent.
 
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heron

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We visited a couple who bought a boa constrictor while the woman was pregnant. It seemed to be a statement of daring, wanting to appear fearless of risk, invulnerable. But obviously a boa constrictor without a lid on its cage was pushing the limits of sensibility.

I don't think the snake itself opened the door to danger in the household, but the same motivation to get something dangerous could make people vulnerable to real dangers. Instead of carelessly stumbling into trouble, they dare it head-on.

My discussion question is: Where do you draw the line in terms of allowing things which are known to symbolise demons in your house?

If it is a rendering intended to glorify the evil. Or if it creeps me out. Notice how the image of a face on the wall can cause us to mirror that expression. We catch ourselves smiling or wincing, repeating whatever the image is doing, as we might do empathizing with a friend.

I have no problem with pet tarantuals or snakes (okay, maybe I do), because they are scientifically fascinating. Watching them helps us understand the complex way God built operational characteristics in.

But it is not the expression that usually stirs up the sin -- it is what is in the heart. And the heart can lead people to invite risk or darkness.
 
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