SCIENCE & THE BIBLE by Bolton Davidheiser, Ph.D., Chairman of the Science Division, Biola College
IT 'S A
LONG TIME
m m im dealer in rattlesnakes was bitten by one of these animals. He sucked blood from the area and paid no fur ther attention to it, believing himself immune to the venom. However, the next morning he was admitted to a hospital with a one-in-ten chance of recovery. Less than a year ago an eminent scientist was examining a specimen of a young snake called a boomslang and received a bite which he did not consider serious. Taking no precau tionary measures he proceeded to write down the sequence of effects the poison had on his body and continued to do this until he lapsed into a coma. He never regained consciousness but succumbed to hemorrhages of the brain. The bite of the poisonous serpent and the attitude of these men in not realizing its seriousness is so obvious ly an analogy to sin and its effect that to mention it seems to be suf ficient. In the Encyclopedia Britannica un der the entry “Asp” one finds these words: “ Egyptian snake charmers, who use it [the asp] in their street- performances are said to be able to make it rigid like a stick by a pres sure on the back of the neck, which perhaps suggests that it was the asp that served as Aaron’s staff in the famous countertransformation.” The person who wrote this article for the encyclopedia was none other than the eminent scientist mentioned above. He is suggesting that when Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh, Aaron carried a poisonous snake made stiff by a trick. When Pharaoh re quested a miraculous sign Aaron re leased the snake, which Pharaoh had been led to believe was a staff. Such attempts at natural explana tions of the miracles of Scripture are quite common among erudite non
Snakes and M e n
In October, 1894, the Lord used a converted rabbi, Leo pold Cohn, to establish the work which is now the Amer ican Board of Missions to the Jews, Inc. God has prospered and blessed this work. Sixty-four years is a long time — over two generations. Without blare of trumpets this work has faithfully gone about the King’s business and has tried constantly to bear wit ness to the truth. Our witness has been twofold: first, to the Jew with the message of sal vation through the shed blood of the Lamb of God; and sec ond, to the church with an earnest plea that the Jew shall be restored to the place which God assigned to him in His divinely appointed missionary program. The Lord has hon ored and blessed both of these testimonies, and it has been our delight to know that we are doing His will. We say all of this not boast fully, but in humble gratitude to the Lord who has put us here and cared for us through the years. “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” The Chosen People is sent to all who are led by the Lord to contribute to this important work. AM ER ICAN BOARD O F ......... M IS S IO N S TO THE JEWS, Inc. J 236 West 72nd Street, Dept. 8 I New York 23, N.Y. I Canadian Office: J 39 King William St., I Hamilton, Ont., Canada I I do want to help the Jews. Here is 1 $........- ............ Use it as God directs, to ■ make known the saving power of the Lord ■ Jesus Christ to Israel. I Name........................................... ...... I Address .................... ........................... • City .................. Zone ...... State......... ...
believers. In this same encyclopedia under the entry “Nematoda” and in various reference books and college textbooks there are statements to the effect that the fiery serpents which bit the Israelites in the desert were probably parasitic G u inea worms which are contracted through drink ing water and live in the flesh be neath the skin. You will recall that the Lord commanded Moses to make an image of the serpent in brass and raise it upon a pole so that everyone bitten might look at it and live. Our Lord likens this to His crucifixion in that as the result of His being lifted up in sacrifice all who look to Him in faith may live. A brazen image of a Guinea worm would merely be a brass wire somewhat over three feet long. Some modem authors even suggest that Moses taught the people to re move the worm from their bodies by wrapping it around a stick a few turns every day, which is the common method still practiced in areas of the world where this parasite is prevalent. In this man-made theory that Moses taught the people how to remove the worms instead of using God’s method we may find an analogy to the ways people try to cleanse themselves of sin instead of accepting God’s free gift. In the Bible Satan is called that old serpent which deceives the whole world. It was Satan through a ser pent who first cast doubt on God’s word with the remark, “Yea, hath God said . . . ?” Continuing, he gave credence to the lie that disobedience to God’s command would not really bring death. Today through numer ous Satan-inspired sources many peo ple are believing the lie that God does not really mean it when He says that we may have life only through look ing in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ and accepting His atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Wraith is a lively, reckless confidence in God.
— Martin Luther
The King's Business/October 1958
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