Spiritual Significance of Picking the Snake up by the Tail

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Hi N____,

Thank you for your question concerning the spiritual significance of Moses taking off His sandals and picking up the serpent by his tail.
Our ‘sandals’ are associated with our ‘walk’ or our way of life. Moses taking off his sandals is typifying his willingness to forsake his own walk to walk with Christ.

1Pe 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

While we have all been taught that “that old serpent the devil and Satan” is so powerful that he is winning the battle for people’s souls hands down, the Truth of that matter, as we have seen demonstrated in our studies in Job of the past few weeks, is “that old serpent the devil, and Satan” cannot so much as lift his finger to touch anyone until he is first called to God and instructed exactly what God’s hand and God’s foreknowledge has before ordained to be done. In other words, this story about Moses picking up the serpent demonstrates how God uses Satan, the serpent, as ‘His hand’ as we are shown in the book of Job.

Job 1:11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 2:5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.

How did God “put forth His hand” in dealing with Job?

Job 2:6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
Job 2:7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

How did He “put forth His hand” in dealing with Pharaoh and his kingdom of Egypt?

Exo 12:29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.
Exo 12:30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

The death of the firstborn of Egypt was just the final example of how God “put forth His hand” to judge Egypt. “That old serpent the devil and Satan” was simply being used by the Lord to destroy Egypt and to deliver His people.
Egypt, of course, typifies the world within us. When God uses Satan to destroy Egypt within us, He is actually using Satan to destroy Satan’s kingdom within us. So Satan is nothing more or less than the rod of God’s indignation in His hand, sent forth to do “what His hand and His counsel determined before to be done.

Joh 13:27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

When “Satan entered into him [ Judas]” what happened? Here is the end of Judas’ betrayal of our Lord:

Act 4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

So even in the death of our Lord, Satan is nothing more or less than “thy hand”, doing nothing more or less than “whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.”
You ask why He held him by the tail? “The tail is the prophet that prophecies lies”, and the lies of “the tail” are also the work of the Lord.

Isa 9:15 The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
Eze 14:9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

It is the ‘tails’ of the locusts which are “like scorpions”, which ascend up out of the bottomless pit, that cause us all our pain, because those ‘tails’ are “the prophet that teaches lies”, and believing lies brings us nothing but heartache and misery.

Rev 9:10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

So Moses, who was like God to Pharaoh, had the serpent’s tail in his hand just as Christ has the lies of the serpent in His hand and declares, “I the Lord have deceived that prophet…” It was Satan as a liar in the Lord’s hand who lied to King Ahab through all of his prophets.

1Ki 22:19 And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.
1Ki 22:20 And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
1Ki 22:21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
1Ki 22:22 And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
1Ki 22:23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

So while the Lord Himself never lies, all the lies that are told are told because He sends forth a lying spirit to deceive.

Eze 14:9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

The prophet that prophecies lies is the tail, and whether it is the tail of the serpent in Moses’ hand, or the tail of a scorpion, it is still “the tail is the prophet that prophesies lies”.

Isa 9:15 The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

I hope this helps you to see the spiritual significance of the tail of the serpent and why Moses took his sandals off. Like Job, we all think we could do things in a better way than God is doing them. When we think like that, we have not yet taken off our sandals, and we are still under the influence of the lies of the tail.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

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