Woman Snake Enmity

 

 

 

Genesis 3:15

Good News Translation

[God said to the snake] ¹⁵ I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring's heel.”

 

From across the street, Shirley came breathlessly into our house yesterday. I was in my office in the back of the house. All I could hear was impassioned conversation between Shirley and Sylvia. Finally, curious, I walked into the front room. Shirley described how her grown son, Ivan, who was on his way out the door, said: “Be careful when you walk out into the backyard. There’s a rattlesnake out there.”

“Well, aren’t you going to do something?” she asked in half panic.

“Nah,” He drawled, “Just be careful where you walk,” and he was out the door.

Shirley told me she placed a tub over the snake and came over to our house. Her breath was short, and her whole demeanor radiated distress!

Rattlesnakes live in the hills around our neighborhood. Katie and I find them occasionally. I have taught her to beware of them and give them wide berth. She can sense a bit of alarm and warning in my demeanor when I see the snake. I do fear that she will try and protect me by rushing in and attacking the snake—which would be a fatal move on her part. So far, she has yielded to my commands. I don’t kill the snakes in the hills—I feel that they serve a purpose in keeping the vermin down. And I sense that I am in their territory. But when they come into our area, they are out of line. I have been instrumental in getting those snakes killed. All my neighbors concur with this decision.

“Is it in the open?” I knew what I had to do.

“It’s under the tub! Oh. I’m scared!” she shivered, “What can we do?”

“Give me a minute!” and I walked towards the back door.

“What are you going to do?” she was desperate and figured I was doing like Ivan and leaving her to it.

“I’m going to fetch a spade,” I said matter-of-factly.

“He’s going to kill the snake!” Sylvia had no doubts. She has lived with me long enough to understand me.

Shirley led me around to the back of her house. There I saw a little red plastic tub lying upside down in the mowed grass. I looked at Shirley, “You’re brave to have done that! Good for you!”

I stuck the blade of the spade under the edge of the tub and flipped it. A large western red diamondback rattlesnake immediately began to take up attack mode. The first thing I noticed was that it had no rattles. The snake moved rapidly, and my first strike hit it about a foot down from its head, breaking its back. It’s wide-open mouth, fangs protruding, struck the spade. My second strike severed the head from the body, leaving it hanging by only a bit of skin.

“Wow! You’re so brave,” Shirley cooed, “Now what are we going to do?”

“Do you have a bag?”

She brought a plastic garbage bag stuck in a large paper bag and stuck it in a cardboard box. She placed this on the ground nearby and made sure the garbage bag was wide open. I picked up the snake by its rattle less tail and dropped it into the bag, tied it shut, and placed it in her garbage bin. I’ve heard that in some parts of the U.S., rattlesnakes are evolving into rattle less rattlesnakes. This has me concerned because rattlesnakes have always warned those who approach of their presence by their rattles. If that happens around here, it will make hiking in the desert more dangerous.

Satan, the old serpent, has been attempting to camouflage his presence, even getting the more gullible to deny his very existence. In this way they are not prepared for his attacks.

Preserve us, Lord, from the devil and save us from sin, so we will be ready for Your soon return.