And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. Acts 28:3
Several times, Paul has been assured that he is to testify of Christ in Rome. Along the way, he has endured perils by beatings and riots, and storms and shipwreck, and still, he is assured by God that he is to arrive safely in Rome. Until this point, Paul must surely have wondered about that promise, but his life had been preserved from almost certain death several times. Suddenly there came a great peril from which there was no remedy. As Paul was helping with the gathering of firewood, he had apparently picked up some brush that contained a live viper. As he tossed the wood onto the fire, the snake felt the heat of the flames, and struck out at the hand that it felt was threatening it. The bite of a viper is deadly, plain and simple. At that time, there would have been no antidote, and no means of stopping the deadly course of the venom. As far as the others around were concerned, Paul was a dead man. But there is no sign that Paul was concerned at all about the viper. Resting in the promises of God, he felt no harm and dismissed any worry. This is a good lesson for us.
Some critics of this account tell us that there are no poisonous snakes on the island of Malta. While this is true today, it could not have been true at the time of the book of the Acts. All of the native people saw the snake and identified it positively. Paul was indeed attacked by a viper. Others say the snake merely wrapped itself around Paul’s hand and did not bite him. That is also impossible because the people were amazed that Paul was not affected by the bite. No, what we have in this account is the reality that the promises of God are stronger than the venom of a viper. Has God given us promises? Has He given us assurances of blessing? Sometimes, we look at the obstacles that come along and allow them to create doubt about whether God’s promises will be fulfilled. Sometimes the obstacles appear as deadly as a snakebite, and we assume the worst. We see no possibility that the promise can be kept. We forget how great is the God of the promise.
Paul shook off the viper into the fire. He not only dismissed the creature as far as any harm to himself was concerned, but also destroyed the snake so that it could harm nobody else. When you and I allow the promises of God to take precedence over the obstacles that arise, we do much more than win a victory for ourselves. We provide an example for others around us to follow. We provide comfort and blessing to others. And we provide evidence that can help the unsaved to realize the power and love of God.
The devil would have us fear every little possibility of trouble, but God would have us relax and rejoice in the certainty of His promises. – Jim MacIntosh