Of the world’s more than 2,500 kinds of snakes, the largest are anacondas and boa constrictors, living in swamps and tropical forests of South and Central America, and pythons in southeastern Asia, Africa and Australia.
The 12-foot boa constrictor is smaller than the 30- to 40-foot anaconda and python, which are as big around their middles as a fully grown teenager. All kill their prey by coiling around its body and constricting (squeezing) it to death. They do not actually “eat” their prey, but can swallow it whole because the bones of their jaws can be stretched far apart. After a big meal the snake may not eat again for three or four months or more.
The long, flat heads of these snakes have no ears, so they cannot hear sounds. Vibrations and a keen sense of smell, partially gotten through a flicking tongue, make them aware of what is nearby. They never stop growing, although their skins do. Twice a year a new skin replaces the tight, uncomfortable old one which is rubbed off - a startling thing to come across as it lies empty on the grass or on a rocky ledge.
Anacondas and boas give birth to live babies, but pythons lay eggs, incubated by the mother coiling around them. Either way, the “little” ones, as many as 70 at a time and as long as two feet at birth, immediately know how to squeeze small victims to death.
The boas spend a great deal of time in water, often with only a small part of their heads showing as they wait for prey to come near. At other times they climb trees to rob bird nests, or stretch out on a low branch to dart down and catch animals passing below. Pythons have similar habits, sometimes tangling with tigers or other big animals. Once they coil around their prey they are almost sure to win these battles. But such victims are too big to eat, and these battles only happen when, for some reason, they attack one another.
These reptiles have a place and purpose in God’s creation, but most people find them repulsive, especially when remembering that in the Bible Satan himself is called “that old serpent, which is the Devil” (Revelation 20:22And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, (Revelation 20:2)).
When the Israelites in the wilderness spoke against God, He sent fiery serpents to bite them (Numbers 21:49). Many died, but the Lord did provide a way of escape. He instructed Moses to place a brass serpent on a pole, and any who simply looked at it were healed. This was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ who later died for sinners on Calvary’s cross. He still offers the wonderful promise to you and me that “whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life,” as our opening verse states.
Have you confessed that you are a sinner and simply looked in faith to the Lord Jesus to save you?
FEBRUARY 11, 1996
ML-02/11/1996