Snake handling

Handling Serpents

An expression of faith?or

A deadly misunderstanding?

Mark 16:17-18 And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia

by Dennis Covington

As part of March’s First Fridays Art Walk, Gallery 5 is presenting an installment screening of the documentary “With Signs Following” by Kate Fowler and Mark Strandquist. The documentary poignantly records the story of a church in Jolo, West Virginia which practices serpent-handling and drinking poison.

Richmond, VA

http://gallery5arts.org/Home/Home.html

Purpose of this Lesson

• NOT to poke fun or disparage the faith of others (grant that they are sincere)

• Rather, the aim is to try to reach a proper understanding of the scriptures, especially as they relate to handling serpents and drinking poisons.

• To set forth the TRUTH of God’s will on the matter.

• For some it could be a matter of life or death

Understanding Context

Genesis 6:13-15 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. 15 And this is how thou shalt make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

Genesis 22:1-2 And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah. And offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

Not spiritualizing the text

A literal interpretation

A proper understanding

Matthew 5:28-30 but I say unto you, that every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.29 And if thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body be cast into hell. 30 And if thy right hand causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body go into hell.

Literal interpretation?


Literal interpretation?

Command?

Historical record?

Present day expectation?

Apostolic directive?

Serpent handling is always controversial and in many areas illegal, yet it shows no signs of disappearing from its traditional home in Appalachia, the mountainous regions of the Southeastern United States stretching from Georgia to Pennsylvania.

Junior G. McCormick is a serpent-handling pastor from Georgia. He explains that, for him, handling snakes is simply following the gospel to the letter. "Other folks don't do this because their churches don't believe, or it's just something they're scared of," he said. "They come to that scripture but want to jump over that part because it's a deadly thing."

Snake Handlers Hang On in Appalachian ChurchesBrian Handwerkfor National Geographic News

April 7, 2003

Reading the Bible, Chuck Conner, 64, is one of the few attendees at the first service of homecoming weekend at the Church of the Lord Jesus in Jolo. The Pentecostal church was founded in 1956 by Bob and Barbara Elkins. One woman remembers the church being so full people would stand outside. But then one of Barbara Elkins’s children died of a snakebite in 1961 at age 23. These days, Pastor Harvey Payne says, the congregation has 10 members.

"There are over 100 documented deaths from serpent bites," said Hood. "In every tradition, people are bitten and maimed by them. They risk their lives all the time by handling them. If you go to any serpent-handling church, you'll see people with atrophied hands, and missing fingers. All the serpent-handling families have suffered such things."

Snake Handlers Hang On in Appalachian ChurchesBrian Handwerkfor National Geographic News

April 7, 2003

"It's a misconception that these people believe they won't get hurt," Hood explains. "The Bible says to take up serpents, not that they won't be bitten. If they're bit, that's up to God. The issue is obedience to God. There's no magic power type of stuff. They know the reality of it because so many families have had people hurt and killed."

The practice began in the early 1900s. Its popularity has waxed and waned through the years. According to Ralph Hood, a professor of social psychology and the psychology of religion at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga , serpent handling is currently at a fairly low ebb of popularity. Such fluctuations are characteristic of a faith that persists throughout Appalachia.

Pastor Randy "Mack" Wolford handles a rattlesnake during a service at the Church of the Lord Jesus in Jolo, W.Va. Each Labor Day weekend, the church has hosted a well-documented “homecoming” for snake handlers who believe that the Bible mandates that true Christians "take up serpents and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover." Wolford says: "Anybody can do it that believes it."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-west-virginia-pastor-pays-the-price-for-his-faith/2012/05/31/gJQAawRl5U_gallery.html#photo=1

from The Washington

Post2011 article

A highly venomous timber rattlesnake rests in a box in the Jolo church. About 80 to 100 deaths have been attributed to snake handling since its origins, and nearly every snake handler has been bitten, says the Rev. Bill Leonard, the religion professor from Wake Forest University. There’s a lot of pain when you’re bitten, says Wolford, whose father died at age 39 of a rattlesnake bite. "For the first couple of weeks, you swell up and break out in hives."

Pastor Randy "Mack" Wolford, second from right in green shirt, handles a rattlesnake after it bit him on the thigh at a worship service at West Virginia's Panther Wildlife Management Area. Surrounding him, from left, are Jamie Lloyd, of Sidney, Ohio; Wolford's mother, Vicie Haywood; and Donald Dover, of North Carolina.

Lauren Pond / Lauren Pond for The Washington Post

By Lauren Pond, Published: May 31, 2012

May 27, 2012

Donald Dover, left, of North Carolina and Jamie Lloyd of Sidney, Ohio, right, support Pastor Randy "Mack" Wolford after taking him to an outhouse at the Panther Wildlife Management Area. Wolford, a practitioner and defender of the faith tradition of serpent-handling, was bitten by a rattlesnake during the Sunday worship service. He later died from the effects of the bite.


May 27, 2012

Donald Dover, left, of North Carolina and Jamie Lloyd, right, of Sidney, Ohio, carry Randy "Mack" Wolford, 44, to a sport-utility vehicle about 40 minutes after Wolford was bitten while handling a rattlesnake during the May 27 worship service at Panther Wildlife Management Area in southern West Virginia. Mack was then taken to his mother-in-law's home, about an hour away, near Bluefield, W.Va.


May 27, 2012

Vicie Haywood, mother of Pastor Randy "Mack" Wolford, strokes her son's feet as the pastor lies on the couch at his mother-in-law's home near Bluefield, W.Va. Wolford was bitten by a rattlesnake during a Sunday worship service. He was pronounced dead early the next morning at the Bluefield Regional Medical Center.

May 27, 2012

By Lauren Pond, Published: May 31 This is what I saw through my camera lens: Pastor Randy “Mack” Wolford, tossing and turning on the couch in his mother-in-law’s West Virginia trailer, suffering from the pain of a rattlesnake bite he had received earlier in the day. Parishioners surrounding him in prayer in the stifling heat. His mother stroking his feet, her expression a mixture of concern, sorrow and, eventually, acceptance: This is how her eldest son — a legend in the local Pentecostal serpent-handling community — would die.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/why-i-watched-a-snake-handling-pastor-die-for-his-faith/2012/05/31/gJQA3fRP5U_story.html


http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/serpent-handling-pastor-profiled-earlier-in-washington-post-dies-from-rattlesnake-bite/2012/05/29/gJQAJef5zU_story.html

Camera in hand, I watched as the man I’d photographed and gotten to know over the past year writhed, turned pale and slipped away, a victim of his unwavering faith, but also a testament to it. A family member called paramedics when Mack finally allowed it, but it was too late. Mack Wolford drew his final, labored breaths late Sunday night. He was 44.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/why-i-watched-a-snake-handling-pastor-die-for-his-faith/2012/05/31/gJQA3fRP5U_story.html


Mark 16:9-20 9 Now when he was risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.10 She went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.11 And they, when they heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, disbelieved.12 And after these things he was manifested in another form unto two of them, as they walked, on their way into the country.13 And they went away and told it unto the rest: neither believed they them.14 ¶And afterward he was manifested unto the eleven themselves as they sat at meat; and he upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them that had seen him after he was risen.15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation.16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned.17 And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues;18 they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.19 ¶So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken unto them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.20 And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.

Mark 16:9-20 Now when he was risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.10 She went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.11 And they, when they heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, disbelieved.12 And after these things he was manifested in another form unto two of them, as they walked, on their way into the country.13 And they went away and told it unto the rest: neither believed they them.14 And afterward he was manifested unto the eleven themselves as they sat at meat; and he upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them that had seen him after he was risen.

15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation.16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned.

17 And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues;18 they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken unto them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.20 And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.

Mark 16

Who is to believe? – vs. 13-14• And preach the gospel to

the whole creation, vs. 15• With signs accompanying

them, vs. 17, 20

Who is to believe? – vs. 16• And be baptized, vs. 16


Mark 16:17-18 And these signs shall accompany them that believe:

in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 they shall take up serpents,

and if they drink any deadly thing

they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

it shall in no wise hurt them

Who? The eleven disciples, vs. 15

Who? The eleven disciples, vs. 15

2 Corinthians 12:11-12 I am become foolish: ye compelled me; for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing was I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I am nothing. 12 Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, by signs and wonders and mighty works.

Luke 24:49 And behold, I send forth the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high.

2 Corinthians 12:11-12 I am become foolish: ye compelled me; for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing was I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I am nothing. 12 Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, by signs and wonders and mighty works.

The Signs of an Apostle

Mark 16:20 And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.

Hebrews 2:3-4 how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; 4 God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

Have a Purpose:

REVELATION

CONFIRMATION

PROTECTION?

• cf. Daniel 3, 6• against assassination?• Acts 23:12-14

Acts 28:1-6

1 And when we were escaped, then we knew that the island was called Melita.2 And the barbarians showed us no common kindness; for they kindled a fire, and received us all, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out by reason of the heat, and fastened on his hand.4 And when the barbarians saw the venomous creature hanging from his hand, they said one to another, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped from the sea, yet Justice hath not suffered to live.5 Howbeit he shook off the creature into the fire, and took no harm.6 But they expected that he would have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but when they were long in expectation and beheld nothing amiss came to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.

Paul bitten by a viper

Is this a manifestation of the power of God?

Does this prove that God was with him?

Reading the Bible

Matthew 27:5 And he cast down the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.

Luke 10:37 And he said, He that showed mercy on him. And Jesus said unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

John 13:27 And after the sop, then entered Satan into him. Jesus therefore saith unto him, What thou doest, do quickly.

Mark 16:9-20 9 Now when he was risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.10 She went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.11 And they, when they heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, disbelieved.12 And after these things he was manifested in another form unto two of them, as they walked, on their way into the country.13 And they went away and told it unto the rest: neither believed they them.14 ¶And afterward he was manifested unto the eleven themselves as they sat at meat; and he upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them that had seen him after he was risen.

15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation.16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned.17 And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues;18 they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.19 ¶So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken unto them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.20 And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.

Documents

Snake handling