Brother Herman,
The
question of Serpents is always most interesting from the viewpoint of Godly
Creation Science. Of course, the basics are clear: the Serpent used to be a normal Created Kind with
four legs but unfortunately it had an unhealthy disposition to seducing women, and as there was only one around to seduce (Genesis 3:13-14), we know the
consequences that we all have to bear. But
what happened thereafter? Are Serpents
useful or should we avoid them? Well, God did find some uses for the repulsive Serpent not too long after
Creation!
Exodus 7:10
And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
Serpents helped Moses to deal with the Pharaoh.
This was the first indication that
Serpents had their uses for God and Jesus, and probably these transformations were mediated by the
Holy Spirit Himself!
Glory! During the desert years and thereafter God saw the utilitarian aspects of Serpents many times, as
deterrents and as
punishments.
Deuteronomy 32:24
They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.
Thus, we are beginning to see the
Big Picture. The demise of the Serpent (the first one in Eden) was
no accident. As an omniscient being God must have known of the harlotry tendencies of the first woman and of the serpentine seduction. Hence, the
practical applications of Serpents must have been designed from the Start.
Jeremiah 8:17
For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.
Amos 9:3
And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:
This was the situation before the
Magnificent Temporary Sacrifice of God in the form of the second part of His Trinity, Christ, Jesus our Lord. The Serpent had become a pivotal
weapon to smite sinners, of which there were plenty albeit not as much as now with the Sodomites swarming and filling the void
that should have been filled with the Fear of God with pleasures of the flesh.
With Jesus, we began to see a
change. Some of the qualities of Serpents - hidden perhaps for a few millennia but available in the nifty and
Intelligent Design of the Serpent genome - were recycled to help the spread of the
Gospel.
Matthew 10:16
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Luke 10:19
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
At the same time, we saw the
micro-evolution from Created Kinds according to the principles of
Genetic Entropy and pre-programmed genetic information (that can never increase, hence, biological evolution is impossible) into nasty
vipers on one hand and into the
wise serpents, whom the disciples could mimic during their evengelizing.
Matthew 23:33
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
We can assume that pharisees had some viper genes due to genetic entropy.
Here we come to your
Petting Zoo, Brother. After carefully following the path of the Serpent to the present day we can see, how there is a
symbiotic relationship between revolting venomous serpents and True Believers™. They can
coexist. The Serpent was
pivotal with the Woman in making the world this vile place it is now, but the snake fears God and seeing the image of God in the True Christian™ person, it still reveres Jesus.
Mark 16:18
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
And the time will come, when the True Believer™ has finally
subdued all Created kinds with
domestication and/or
extermination, including the Serpent.
James 3:7
For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
Finally, it is time to consider
Heaven. Not all Created animal Kinds will enter Heaven with us. Among those left behind are
dogs (Revelation 22:15). But
Snakes will be there with lions and sheep, and they will do exactly what God commanded during those early days of
Edenic pleasures.
Jesus does not allow dogs to enter Heaven.
Genesis 3:14
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Isaiah 65:25
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.
Verily, this all must have been
meticulously crafted by Jesus from the beginning. All the anguish and sin and lost souls (into Hell)were
necessary to bring about
the glorious New Earth and New Heaven (but no sea; Revelation 21:1) and the
Snake that can eat dust.
To conclude: your idea of a Petting Zoo seems
well-founded based on this
Biblical narrative.
Yours in Christ,
Elmer