Matthew 10:16-23

(Matthew 10:16-23)

『Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.  But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.  For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. 』

The snake means Satan. Satan is a deceiver. However, the serpent of Jesus as wisely as a serpent does not mean Satan, but a brass serpent held high on a pole.

In the wilderness, the Israelites complained to God and said they wanted to return to Egypt. Although God promised to give the land of promise, Canaan, they did not believe in God's promises and complained about their difficult life in the wilderness. So God sent a fiery serpent to kill the people. But when Moses pleaded, God told Moses to make a brass serpent and hang it in the air, and that anyone who looked at it would live. The fiery serpents discipline Israel, and the brass serpents bring Israel back to life. Who is it? It is Christ.

John the Baptist came to the world to close the law (the law of wrath). The Bible says that the law and the prophets are until John. When the law is finished, God judges Israel according to the law. At the end of the law, Jesus came into this world. So John the Baptist said, "Repent, produce worthy fruit of repentance, the ax is already laid." Speak in Matthew 3:12.

『Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. 』 This means judgment. John the Baptist speaks of God's judgment. So John the Baptist plays the role of a fiery serpent. Likewise, Jesus said, "Repent, the kingdom of heaven is near." Jesus cursed the fruitless fig tree. That is to say that Israel is the ones to be judged.

There is no proper fruit of repentance. The proper fruit of repentance is to realize that Israel was a sinner who tried to keep the law, but could not keep it, to give up trying to keep the law, and to find Christ. So Jesus said, "Deny yourself and take up his cross." This is the fruit of repentance. However, Israel was judged because he had no fruit of repentance. Israel was destroyed by Rome. Luke said, "It is a day of punishment for all things written." When Jesus died on the cross, he said, "It is achieved." Jesus' death by the law is "achieved."

Jesus died on the cross, resurrected in three days, ascended, and will return someday. Yet the Jews are still keeping the law and waiting for the Messiah. At the time of Exodus, God sent a fire snake when the Israelites complained to Moses and said they would return to Egypt. God took a stick to strike Israel. It is the stick that God has caused His Son, Jesus Christ, to die. Israel had twelve tribes, and each tribe had a cane(the rod) representative. The wand shows power.
Says in Psalm (110: 2):『The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.』 The sceptre is the rod. The Bible says in Exodus (4:17).『The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.』 The Bible says in Genesis (49:10).

The role of the cane until Shilo comes. Shilo is Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ comes, he no longer needs a cane. The Bible says in Exodus (4:2-3).『And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.』 The Bible says in Exodus (4:20).『 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.』, This rod is a cane symbolizing Jesus『 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. 』, the rod is the power of God. The cross on which Jesus Christ died is the power of God.

The cross on which Jesus Christ died is God's power. When God told Moses to put a cane on the ground, the cane became a snake. Why did you become a snake? Moses made the first miracle before the king be a serpent with his cane. However, the Egyptian witches cast their cane into snakes. The snake immediately represents Satan. Moses' cane (snake) swallowed the magician's cane (snake). The power of God devoured the Egyptian god Satan.

So the cane of God (snake) is to discipline and save Israel. The cane (snake) is for the discipline of the exodus people in the wilderness. And this was to represent the future death of Jesus on the cross. The fiery serpent God sent to the Israelites in the wilderness was a discipline sent by the power of God. Likewise, it was God's discipline that Jesus died on the cross.

『Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 』 sheep in the midst of wolves is death. When the disciples enter in the likeness of the sheep, they go to death. The wolf will be a rejector of Jesus Christ. The Israelites are

Says Matthew 21:43.『Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 』 The Bible tells us that Gentiles will be saved. Jesus told Israel to keep repenting and cursed to Israel who did not repent. The essence of what the New Testament says is that Israel is closed and Gentiles are saved. Jesus cursed the fruitless Israel through the parable of the fig tree. Israel is robbed of the kingdom of God, robbed of the bridegroom, and hopeless. Says in Isaiah 49: 6.

『And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. 』

Says in Amos (9: 11-12).『 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:  That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this. 』 The Bible speaks of "the restoration of Israel." The restoration of Israel will happen after Jesus returns. Israel will be fruitless and abandoned until the Gentiles are saved, for the people of the world will be saved. "Israel's recovery" is not the nation of Israel but the Messianic kingdom that appears after the Second Coming of Jesus.

The wisdom of the serpent is the power of God. God judges those who do not repent, but to those who repent, God gives grace to those who are in Jesus Christ. So Jesus tells his disciples to go into the wolf with these words of power. This is the serpent's word of wisdom. Jesus told them to be wise as serpents so that they could boldly evangelize in the midst of wolves. The gospel of the cross is the power of God.