What does Jesus mean when we are to be "wise as serpents and harmless as doves"?

Question

Matthew 10:16

'Sup Drew! LOL Still got some SOUL in ya! I like that! {{{DREW}}}

Answer 1

I believe that this means that we should be aware of what is going on around us, at all times. He is sending us to share the Gospel with others, but there will be wolves scattered amongst them. Those who will attack us. We must be wise, so that we do not throw pearls amongst the swine. We must pick and choose our battles and be led by the Spirit. We must know when and when not to say anything. The best way to do this, is to be a good listener! Be slow to speak and quick to listen. Then we can be aware of where the other person(s) are coming from. Once we do, we approach them in gentleness and love. One way is to ask questions. Look for something that you have in common with the other person. It will open up a door into that person's life, but do not enter forcibly, but gently and with permission, by saying that you had that same problem. The other person will be curious and ask you, "How did you overcome?" Then the door will be opened.

The snake is sly because it enters the area slowly and unnoticed. He is quiet. Otherwise the prey would either kill it or run away from him. Only a fool runs his mouth without taking into consideration of the company he in.

Answer 2

Wassup, G?

I've been working on this serpent thing for a while now. Get this...

What I've found out is that ''serpent'' was a metaphor for either ''wise man,'' ''wizard,'' or ''being of light'' back when the Book of Genesis was written. This symbol had to have still been in use in Jewish culture by the time Jesus came. So there's your answer for the serpent part. ''Be wise men. Know your surroundings. Know when to strike and when to stay cool.''

I really don't think Satan disguised himself as a snake in the garden. I think he manifested himself as either a person or a ''being of light'' (St. Paul wrote a verse about Satan sometimes disguising himself as the latter, though I can't name the verse or even the book. I just remember reading it in one of the epistles). When God tells him ''on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life,'' (Gen. 3:14, NKJV) I think this is also heavy symbolism, meaning ''you will be lowly in My sight and bow down to Me, begging, just to eat the scraps from My table.'' In verse 15, ''He will bruise your head'' means ''Jesus is gonna mess you up in a bad bad way, and the wound you sustain will damage the seat of your intellect and your abilty to control people.'' The next part, the phrase ''you shall bruise His heel'' means ''you will impair His flesh for a short time, but He will be able to recover easily. After three days and three nights, He will rise again.'' Also, being under one's heel is a position of inferiority (1 Kings 5:3, Lamentations 3:34, Malachi 4:3, Romans 16:20, 1 Corinthians 15:25). To this day, if man in the Middle East shows another man the bottom of his foot- even unintentionally, while sitting down with his legs crossed- it's taken as a sign of disrespect. It's taken as an insult. ''You're beneath me.''

We see the serpent reference again in Mark 16:18, when Jesus tells about His believers. We don't hear anything about the apostles picking up snakes, but a certain sorcerer named Simon is mentioned in Acts 8:9, when he is ''taken up,'' or ''converted'' by the church.

So all this is part of my new and improved (and probably heretical) Drewish theory. Sorry about all the extra stuff you had to read, but I hadn't shared this with anyone else yet.

Now as for the dove, it's just a symbol of peace. Nothing too complicated about it. The dove is a harmless animal. It's not predatory. It never attacks other creatures, besides worms and bugs, possibly (I have no idea what doves eat. LOL). I don't have any good scriptural references, other than the ones you already know about the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus like a dove, right before He was baptized, or the one from the story of the Great Flood, or sacrificial animals in the Old Testament. It's just a universal sign of peace and passivity.

Love, peace, and chicken grease,
Drew

Answer 3

How would the world receive the gospels and apostles?

Matthew 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.


Paul to the Ephesians
Acts 20 29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.


Romans 8:36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.


The serpent was: the serpent was clever.
Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.

Doves are represented as peaceful, but also, sacrificial, prescribed for purification, burnt offering or sin offerings. We see the Spirit of God as a dove as well.

Mark 1:10
And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:

Be smart and tender; let your words and actions mirror the teaching of the new doctrine. They really were the first sacrifices for the church. They gave up everything to follow Jesus and to give us the gospels.

God bless you

Answer 4

Saten disguised himself as a serpent in Genesis, and fooled Eve into eating from the tree of life. We re to be wise as the devil was there, but in a godly way.

Doves thruought the bible mean hope. Doves are harmless, and are still looked to as hope signals.

This is my interpretation, sorry if it doesn't suit you

Answer 5

Christ tells his disciples that he is sending them forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, he is sending holy, meek men into the midst of unholy, and dangerous men. Therefore, he tells them to be wise as a serpent, a serpent knows when to strike and when not to, he knows when to capture prey, and when to lay low. The disciples had to know the same thing, when to witness, and when to hold the tongue, which as we know is a mighty weapon. He tells them to be as harmless as doves because they are not to do any harm to anyone; the dove is known as a bird of peace.

James 1:19-27 among other verses in the bible teaches this also.

Answer 6

It could be as simple as "Think before we act." Give consideration to the situation(s) we are in and choose the most harmless path.
Which does not always mean no conflict... it is understanding and choosing the action which brings about the best Godly result for all involved.

Answer 7

Mat 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

Be on the look out for those who pretend to hold the truth, but on the inside are like satan himself. For satan also looks like an angel of light.

2Co 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Co 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

have all love for everyone, be meek , for the meek shall inherit heaven?? No. the meek shall inherit the earth.

1Pe 3:4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

Mat 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Answer 8

We are supposed to be smart and cerebral to achieve grandiose goals. Yet, remember the serpent is a symbol of evil so Jesus reminded us to have a serpent's intelligence but not its feelings. We are meant to be as harmless and noble as a dove is.

Answer 9

Jesus was basically telling his disciples to try and understand the mind of the devil (The Serpent), and to recognize how he is capable of tricking people into evil acts by deceiving them. Just like he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden. Jesus knew If the disciples were able to understand the Devils deceptive mind, they would be less likely to fall for his deception.

Answer 10

We should be aware of Satan's devices in order to avoid falling into his traps, and also aware enough of the sinful nature of human beings to avoid getting drawn into a trap set by other people, but at the same time we ourselves should be gentle and not hurt or abuse others at all, and we should gently point them to the Truth (Jesus).