Earlier this year [2014], there was a news story about a snake handler who had been bitten and had subsequently died. This man, Jamie Coots, was actually being paid for his snake handling as he was on the cast of a National Geographic TV reality series called “Snake Salvation.” The man was one of two pastors from a Pentecostal church in Middleboro, Kentucky who were featured on the show about snake handling at a sect of Christian churches in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. The worshippers believe that their faith will protect them from venomous snake bites.
Mr. Coots was bitten on the hand by a snake, and though medical personnel tried to get him to go to a hospital for treatment, he refused. He said he had suffered serious rattlesnake bites two times before and refused treatment for the excruciating bites in both cases. His statement was, “It’s a victory to God’s people that the Lord seen fit to bring me through it.” His faith must not have been strong enough the third time!
I can personally tell you that venomous snake bites are no fun. When I was about 5 years old, I was running barefoot across a field on our farm and got on a snake that retaliated. When Dad got to me, I was already throwing up and deathly ill, but the doctor was five miles away in Bakersfield, Missouri. We had to travel poor roads to get there, and time was of the essence. My father was crying because he thought I was going to die before he could get me to the doctor’s office. Needless to say, all of my life I have respected and stayed clear of all snakes, venomous or not. I’ve never felt that I needed to prove my faith in God by having snakes around me.
The story of the snake handler is pitiful because this man ignorantly handled the snake that killed him, thinking God would protect him because he was a believer. Both the Old and the New testaments – laws of God – tell us, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God…” (Deuteronomy 6:16; Matthew 4:7 NKJV). Even Jesus refused to tempt God. Satan took Jesus to a pinnacle of the Temple and tempted Him to prove His deity as he told Jesus, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone’” (Matthew 4:6). Rather than test God for Satan’s benefit, Jesus said He shouldn’t tempt God. The snake handler tested God, and he didn’t live.
Why would this man think that he had the special gift of God’s miraculous power to protect him from a venomous snake bite? The miraculous powers of Jesus’ time were given so that others might believe. We read in Mark 16:15-18 the following.
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will 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.”
“…Many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did” (John 2:23). “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe’” (John 4:48). Jesus told the apostles, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
We see from the foregoing passages that miraculous gifts were not given to anyone to elevate him or as a crutch to prove one could do whatever he pleased. Simon the sorcerer tried to test God and buy the power of the Spirit, but the apostle Peter said, “…Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!” (Acts 8:20). Miraculous gifts were not given for all time. Paul told the Corinthian brethren that miraculous prophecies and tongues would cease, penning, “When that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away” (1 Corinthians 13:10). God’s perfect will for mankind has been revealed to us in His perfect Word – the New Testament. Nowhere in that law do we find the hope of believers to have superpowers of gifts, healing, signs and wonders. That perfection came with Christ as Paul said, “The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26-27). Christ and His Word are the perfection for all ages! [Hence, miracles are no longer needed, because they have already accomplished their purpose (Mark 16:20). ~ Louis Rushmore, Editor]
