In the tenth chapter of Matthew, we find Jesus calling his
followers to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” In the 16th chapter
of Luke, we find a parable that is seldom taught or discussed in churches,
primarily because the individual being held up as a positive example is a
shrewd and deceitful manager. These verses can cause problems for many with a
view of scripture that essentially boils down to “be good and polite, never lie
and never cut corners.”
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| Abraham, Sarah, and the three visitors - when God changes the reason about why Sarah had laughed when he talks to Abraham- Gen. 18 |
But what if the God of the Bible has given multiple examples
where guile and cunning are called for, and rewarded? What if the God of the
Bible really is calling for followers who can accomplish more for His purposes
through stealth and a basic understanding of human nature than by adamantly
following rules that may or may not line up with what the Creator of the
Universe is trying to accomplish through His people?
Interestingly, scripture provides multiple examples of God's
people acting with cunning and shrewdness to move events forward – and many
times those individuals and their actions are declared righteous and good.
Here are just a few examples:
1. Jacob – Genesis 27 gets us right into the story of Jacob (with
help and guidance from his mother who was inspired by a prophesy when she was
pregnant with Jacob and his brother) deceiving his father to obtain his
brother's birthright. That's followed by Jacob being deceived by his
father-in-law, tricked into marrying Leah when he really wanted to marry her
sister. But, were it not for these events, we would not have the 12 tribes of
Israel. There's much more to Jacob's shrewdness, it's well worth exploring.
2. Tamar – Genesis 38 is fascinating – Tamar marries the first-born
son of Judah, when that son dies, she is married to the second-born son
(tradition) – he dies. Judah promises that when the third son is old enough, he
will be married to her, but he clearly has no intention of keeping that
promise. Tamar plays the part of a prostitute to carry on the family bloodline
– and when all is brought to light, Judah declares her more righteous than he.
Worth noting, the descendants from Judah and Tamar play pivotal roles in future
battles for Israel.
3. The lying midwives – Exodus 1: 15- 21 – The ruler of the land gives
a simple order to these midwives, “if a Hebrew woman gives birth to a boy, kill
it.” The midwives fail to carry out that order and when they are asked about
it, they actually play on the prejudices of the ruler, essentially calling the
Hebrew women animals, “the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for
they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” Again,
scripture is clear on how God deals with these liars, “So God dealt well with
the midwives... He gave them families.”
4. Spies – Numbers 13 – if you go to the International Spy Museum
in Washington, DC, you will see that the museum refers to this section of
scripture as the earliest written example of spies being used. This makes the
God of the Bible the first spymaster.
5. Rahab – Joshua 2 – This woman is absolutely incredible – she not
only hides the two spies sent by Joshua, she sends the local authorities on a
wild goose chase and then initiates a contract with the spies to save her
family.
6. Ehud – Judges 3:12-30 – awesome adventure, filled with cunning
and military strategy
7. Jael – Judges 4 – 5 (prose and poetry of the same events) – this
woman invites the fleeing military leader into her tent and comforts him with
milk and has him dozing off when she drives a tent peg through his skull – I'd
call that cunning.
8. Gideon – Judges 7:16-23 – you gotta love the psychological
aspect of this battle scene – simply surround the enemy camp and make a whole
bunch of noise – that's using your head when you're incredibly outnumbered.
9. Naomi and Ruth – Ruth 3 – Naomi plans and plots with her
daughter-in-law to get the attention of Boaz.
10.
Boaz – Ruth 4 – the way Boaz handles
the possibility of any rival suitors is an incredible example of wisdom and
cunning.
11.
David - 1st and 2nd Samuel
– David gives us numerous examples of wisdom and cunning – from doing what
needed to be done to obtain food and supplies for his men while on the run to
pretending to be insane to avoid being taken prisoner to arguably political
marriages.
12.
Nathan and Bathsheba – I Kings 1:
1-27 – This story is better than an episode of “House of Cards” - and in some
ways it's reminiscent of the way Naomi and Ruth plotted together – while we've
already talked about David, it's important to note how he resolves the situation
with what amounts to a giant political rally – all of this comes together to
make Solomon the next King of Israel.
13.
Esther – The book of Esther is a
story packed with intrigue, examples of wisdom, cunning, and shrewdness.
14.
Jesus – throughout the Gospel accounts
we see Jesus acting and speaking with shrewdness in how he handled questions
and opposition from local authorities. We also see this in some of the
relationships fostered throughout his adult life (namely Nicodemus – who plays
a key role in getting Jesus' body following the crucifixion).
15.
Paul – in the second half of the Book
of Acts we see Paul regularly acting with wisdom and cunning – specifically in
Acts 22 when he's about to be beaten and casually mentions his Roman
citizenship, then in Acts 23 when he's defending himself and brings up an
intentionally divisive issue knowing those on the council would start arguing
amongst themselves.
Again, these are just a few of the examples scriptures offer,
but enough to say that perhaps the God of scripture really is looking for
people who can cause things to happen with more subtlety, grace, and cunning
than one might think based on some of the simplistic views of faith.
So what?
So, what is the practical application today?
When looking at influencing society, it could be argued that
using wisdom and cunning can be much more effective than using loud, direct,
and most times ineffective methods (boycotts, demonstrations, etc.). It could
also be argued that those who understand these things know where real battles
need to be fought and don't waste their time and energy on more trivial
matters.
If we take scripture seriously and if we want to really be used
by God in effective ways, it might behoove us to take seriously the instruction
to be wise as serpents.
