As most people whom are reading this know, I have a couple snakes. OK, more like 50 or so, and about 70 snake eggs that are incubating. Quite a collection by some standards, and yet quite small by others. Many times when I am discussing the importance of snakes in the ecosystem, one argument comes up. That argument is that snakes are by definition EVIL and should therefore be killed. So, are snakes evil? I say no. This argument is inevitably given by Christians or at least by people who have some religious background, so I will use the Bible to refute this argument.
Are all snakes evil?
Exodus 4
1 Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?"
2 Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?"
"A staff," he replied.
3 The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground."
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 "This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob has appeared to you."
Exodus 7
10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. 11 Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: 12 Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh's heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
So I pose this question, if all snakes are in fact evil incarnate, what about these two snakes? What about the snake that became of Moses staff and the snake that became of Aarons staff that ate the staffs of Egypt? So if all snakes are indeed evil, then the snakes that formed from Moses and Aarons staffs would be evil too. This is in fact not the case. There is no possible way that these two individual snakes are evil. Thus, it is safe to assume that not all snakes are evil.
Are snakes cursed?
Genesis 3
1Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring [a] and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
Yes God cursed snakes, but he also cursed man to work the ground for food, and he cursed the woman with pain in childbearing. So in fact all parties involved in the original sin are cursed.
Can snakes benefit us?
Numbers 21
4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, [c] to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"
6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
During the wonderings in the wilderness, many Israelites began to grumble and sin against God; he then allowed venomous snakes to come into the Israelite camp killing many Israelites. Moses prayed for the people and God responded. In order for healing, Moses made a snake of bronze and placed it atop a poll. Then the bitten Israelites merely had to raise their heads and look up to the snake to be healed. In this case we can see where a snake was used to benefit many people. Aside from the religious view, snakes play a vital role in the ecosystem. They keep many prey species in check. Snake venoms are being used to develop new and improved drugs to better fight cancers and other illnesses.
Not necessarily about snakes, but about reptiles in general.
Acts 10
9About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."
Though this does not directly refer to snakes I fell that it is relevant. In a vision Peter sees many items that were formerly considered unclean, including reptiles, for consumption before him, while a voice tells him to get up, kill and eat. If reptiles have been elevated to a clean enough status for consumption, we can safely assume that they are clean enough for having as pets.
One of my favorite verses
Matthew 7
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
I would hope my dad would give me a snake before a fish.
Many people kill every snake they see on site. There is an old adage that says the only good snake is a dead snake. It is this mentality that I wish to overcome. Snakes were cursed by God, but he also created them and thus we should give them the respect they deserve.
