Recently, a snake handler (a “Reverend” of Kentucky) like many others before him, bit the dust after a snake bit him. Finding the verse in the Bible that mentions several Kingdom signs, including “taking up serpents” without any harm, these preachers walk by fate instead of faith and fail the test of believing the word of God–rightly divided. While they kill themselves, they also give many people cause to ridicule the Bible and Christ.
Let’s be clear: the Bible covers different ages and each of these ages or economies (dispensations) have significant differences as to what God wants done. God never changes in His attributes: Holiness, Righteousness, Justice; God is the same yesterday, and today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8) but He does change His dealings with men.
In Leviticus Israel was told, under the Law, to offer animal sacrifices for forgiveness of sins. In this present age of Grace any man who trusts an animal sacrifice for forgiveness of sins is ignorant of the Bible and what God says to him today. Christ offered Himself on the cross once for all and for the sins of all over 2,000 years ago and set aside all animal sacrifices. Any man who follows Leviticus today and ignores what Romans 5 says about sin will have no forgiveness.
The Bible gives the rule for understanding and obedience to God: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15). We are not to add to the word of God nor are we to subtract its words. We are not to DO EVERYTHING the Bible says; We are to “rightly divide” the Bible and compare the things that differ. Everything in the Bible is NOT TO US but all of it is FOR OUR LEARNING.
Noah built an ark to escape judgment by water on earth; the next judgment on earth is by fire. A Noah’s ark of gopher wood will not save men in the coming judgment by fire. The command to keep the Sabbath Day (7th day of the week under the Law) by not working or even building a fire to cook food was given to the nation of Israel; men who are woefully ignorant of God’s word claim to keep it today, while ignoring what Israel was told not to do on that day–they even miss the whole Sabbath observance which includes the Land Sabbath every seventh year and the Sabbath of Sabbaths every seven times seven years!
God tells us today to let no man judge you in respect of sabbath days (Colossians 2:16). Any man who believes that keeping a sabbath is essential to pleasing God, does not know what time it is! The list goes on and on revealing a gross ignorance and misunderstanding by millions of what the word of God actually says to us today.
To find a verse in the Bible, regardless of to whom it is spoken, and then make it your denominational law, is a sure way to make a fool of yourself, give rise to mockery of the word of God, and put many souls in confusion to their eternal peril.
God promises the nation of Israel a future Kingdom of peace on earth. In this Kingdom on earth there will be no dangers from wild beasts, poisoned foods, tainted medicines, cancer and even false prophets and ignorant preachers. There will be no wars and no weapons of war. In short, God will do by His power what the United Nations has most ineffectively tried to do for decades. The Kingdom will be a Theocracy; Jesus Christ will rule the whole earth as King of Kings from His throne in the city of Jerusalem.
The gross errors of religion and its useless power during this present age is a result of men ripping Bible verses out of context and trying to be what they are not and trying to do what they can not do and should not do.