- Series:Animals, Transcript English
John 3:14
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up….”
The Tiger Keelback snake has a bite that delivers slow-acting venom and prevents the victim’s blood from clotting. An adult human could bleed to death from a bite, but it takes a while for the snake to deliver a lethal dose.
When threatened, the average Keelback will raise its head and display its colorful swollen neck. Should the attacker bite the snake near its head, it will get a mouth full of a much stronger poison from glands in its neck. Where does that poison come from? For years scientists have debated whether the Keelback produces its own poison, or does it get the poison from some other creature that it ate?
Now research has revealed that the Keelback actually does store the poison of a poisonous toad that it eats. Moreover, it seems to know that it has this poison stored. For example, on an island where there are some Keelbacks but no toads, these Keelbacks when threatened do not display their neck to an attacker. Rather, they flee from their attacker.
God has used many ingenious designs in His creation, knowing that some would recognize this and, by doing so, acknowledge His existence, power and glory. His desire is always that we might be driven to His Word to learn of the salvation He has prepared for us in Jesus Christ.
Prayer:
Father, I thank You that You desire our salvation and that You have called me to faith in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Notes:
Science News, 2/3/07, p. 69, S. Milius, “Bite This.” Photo: Tiger Keelback. Courtesy of Yasunori Koide. (CC BY-SA 3.0)
