Be Wise As Serpents And Innocent As Doves

We were given a word by the Holy Spirit in early December 2023. We were seeking the Father’s wisdom and understanding on a situation we were discerning. In asking Yahweh what His will was, I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Now is the time for My people to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”  We knew He was telling us to be careful and to not be deceived by the situation before us but to be cautious and sincere in how we handled it. The word is for all His people.

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” (Matthew 10:16-20)

Yeshua warned His disciples in preparation for their calling to nations. He told them of various persons, people groups, and circumstances they would encounter in their lives as a result of their ministries/callings. His message is intended for all His disciples in the past, present and future ages. After all, the great commission was/is to go forth and make disciples of nations. His teaching was also led by example. Yeshua was a humble man, compassionate, yet shrewd and full of wisdom. He was not a weak man by any means for He carried the government of God upon His shoulders and this was sure to challenge the proud religious leaders (Isaiah 9:6-7). 

Wise Definition = Shrewd; Shrewd = The quality of having or showing good powers of judgment.

Innocent Definition = Gentle; Harmless = Being pure, unmixed, sincere, blameless.

A Brief Background:

At the time Yeshua was born (around 4 BCE) and began His ministry, it was a time in history where the world was filled with hostility, strife, and bitterness. The nation(s) was under Roman Empire Rule with heavy military and economical power. In Judea, the Jewish people were able to basically go about their daily lives and were not hindered in their religious worship, as long as they paid taxes, i.e. gave Caesar what Caesar was due, and didn’t rock the boat with any political revolts. All religious practices seemed acceptable otherwise. Seemed is the key word. The children of Israel and Judah had not only come under the oppression of Roman rule, but they were under grave oppression of religious burdens Yahweh had never intended for them.

Aramaic was the main language spoken in the region at the time but the Hebrew language had not been forgotten by the Jewish people. The Jewish Pharisees and Sadducees spoke their Hebrew language in the Synagogues for teachings. The Jewish Pharisees were the self-appointed leaders of the time over the Jewish middle class and they had corrupted the Old Testament covenant with their own strict adherence to works—or merit based righteousness. The Sadducees were another sect of religious people who esteemed themselves above the Pharisees. They adhered only to the Torah (the five books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). They were the philosophical gurus who reached and represented the Israelite upper class. Sadducees did not believe in an afterlife or in a supernatural realm. They did not believe the soul or spirit went on after death, nor did they believe in the existence of angels.

Then comes along Yeshua, the Messiah, their redeemer, with His message of salvation and peace. He spoke of a new covenant that would do away with the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants. Talk about a revolt among the religious community! Multitudes had received the testimony of John regarding their Messiah, were baptized in water, and were repenting of their sins. Yeshua’s message of salvation through faith in Him and His grace conflicted with both sects. Their religious traditions and the errors within were being exposed as Yeshua pointed them back to the very scriptures they so religiously taught. Those devoted to following the Sadducees and Pharisees would become the very ones to mock, scoff, and ultimately want Yeshua dead. Poison spewed from their thoughts, mouths, and actions.

This brings us back to the message, “Be wise as serpents and innocent  as doves.”

Hostility was increasing and had become intentional toward John, Yeshua the Messiah, and His followers/disciples. Both John and Yeshua referred to them as a brood of vipers and John the Baptist prophetically called out the Sadducees and Pharisees prior to Jesus confronting them, as we read in Matthew 3:6-12:

Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matt 3:6-12)

The above prophetic word packed a pretty good punch with the intent to bring them to repentance. Yahweh knew who would repent and who would not, so Yahweh spoke through John, a prophet to the Highest, about the One who would separate the wheat from the chaff and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire (eternal hell for those who would not repent). 

The Messiah Has Come

A few days after John had rebuked the Pharisees and Sadducees and prophesied of the One who was coming after him, Yeshua showed up and got baptized by John. Recall that upon Yeshua’s baptism, the Spirit of Yahweh came down from heaven and rested upon Yeshua as a dove.

The analogy of a ‘dove’ is a key. The Dove is a bird without gall and has no guile. It does not deceive. The Spirit of Yahweh is not a dove; rather, the dove analogy represents Yeshua, filled with the Spirit and led by the Spirit, as the One who does not deceive. Upon His return of 40 days of temptation in the wilderness, Yeshua called certain men to follow Him and He made them His disciples. The more people who followed Him, the more feathers got ruffled in the religious community.

Isn’t it interesting that Yeshua had to endure 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan to become an example of how to overcome the crafty serpent – the very ‘serpent’ in the Garden of Eden that deceived mankind to begin with? Yeshua was wise to Satan’s trickery and although Satan knew the word of Yahweh, he used it in a twisted fashion in an attempt to get his way. Look how Yeshua handled him. He remained innocent as a dove in those 40 days and in His wisdom by the Spirit of Yahweh, He used the word of Yahweh against the serpent.  His 40 days of temptation was for our benefit.

Yeshua continually butted up against the religious spirit and yet remained pure in His way. What did He do? He started healing the sick, casting out unclean spirits and He did it as led by the Holy Spirit and not in accordance to man’s religious rules or regulations. He began setting captives free and poured out His grace, mercy, and compassion, while dealing with controversy among the Jews.  Note: The Spirit of God always supersedes the works of the flesh. He continued being about His Father’s business. Aware of their plan and aware of His purpose on earth, He watched the Pharisees and Sadducees commit the unpardonable sin of their blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and in His display of power and good judgment (shrewdness), He turned the tables on them and prophesied:

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:31-37)

Those words affirmed John the Baptist’s prophecy against the “brood of vipers” and they affected not only the age Yeshua and John were in but also would affect the age to come. Yeshua knew history would repeat itself over and over again. This has proven to be true.

The Wisdom of Yeshua

Before Yeshua sent His disciples out among the masses, He warned them that He was sending them out as sheep among the wolves. He had been teaching them and preparing them that true believers and followers of His Way are going to come up against the wolves.

Who were the metaphorical wolves Yeshua encountered and warned His disciples about?  They were those who were among the religious sects that displayed a form of godliness but their hearts were far from Yeshua and they spewed poison in an attempt to destroy Yeshua and those who had set themselves aside for the glory of Yahweh. 

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.  (Matthew 10:16-20)

Read the entire chapter for the full message of what the ministry of Yeshua HaMashiach looks like as our example Also, remember the definitions below:

Wise Definition = Shrewd; Shrewd = The quality of having or showing good powers of judgment.

Innocent Definition = Gentle; Harmless = Being pure, unmixed, sincere, blameless.

Wolves are a species of the animal kingdom that are intentional about the harm they inflict upon their prey—in this case, sheep. Yeshua being the good Shepherd make us His sheep. Whether He sends us out in ministry or we live in an environment of people acting as vipers and wanting to discredit us or cause harm unto death, how do we behave in a manner that can still advance the kingdom of Yahweh in a harmless manner? We can do it by our behavior being innocent, pure, sincere, and blameless. We are called to be Christlike in a godless world and the only way to overcome the wiles of the enemy is to combine the wisdom of Yahweh in the ways of the serpents, meaning we must have discernment and walk in good judgment. We must know how to test and approve that which is sincere and without offense (Philippians 1:4). We must effectively pray without ceasing asking the Father for His Spirit to rest upon us and dwell within us, as well as the spirit of wisdom, spirit of understanding, spirit of counsel, spirit of might, and spirit of knowledge of the Holy One. With these we will walk in full reverence (or fear) of Him. Without these, we will lack the discernment needed to judge correctly and the wolves may take us out when we least expect it. We must be just as intentional in our walk as the wolves are.

Yeshua cautions us to be careful and mindful in our taking the Gospel to a hostile world. The wisdom of God and the Spirit of God will help us avoid the snares set for us and turn the tables on the serpents while at the same time being held blameless before our Redeemer, Yeshua. We must be led by the Holy Spirit in our calling. Even when Yeshua was to be judged by Pilate, the Word says that three times Pilate could find nothing to blame in Him. This is our goal. This is our call. 

Peter admonishes us, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us” (1 Peter 2:12)

Paul admonishes us, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (1 Thess. 5:23-24)

Yeshua admonishes us, Then Yeshua said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 

But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” (John 10:7-18)

Beloved, now is the time to Be Wise as Serpents and Innocent as Doves. 

Blessings and love.

Garry and Norma Umphress

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