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No doubt, most of us are aware of the phrase “generation of vipers.” It is found in four verses of the Bible, but one is a repeat… so it appears in the record of three separate incidents. This first is spoken by John the Baptist: “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, ‘O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’” (Mat 3:7)
The other two were spoken by Christ. The first time He is rebuking the Pharisees for criticizing His power to cast out demons, while at the same time testifying of the Gospel. Specifically, He describes the transformation that takes place when one is born again and receives victory over sin. He points out that salvation is not a matter of levels, or degrees, but rather that one IS or IS NOT converted: “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt, for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Mat 12:33, 34) Sanctification is a process, but it is a process that takes place only after one has already been converted. Growth can only take place after one is already alive, not (spiritually speaking) dead in trespasses and sins. The world is not being sanctified, only the saints, only those who have been made “good trees,” producing – by their very nature – “good fruit.”
The final occurrence takes place during an extended denunciation of the religious leaders, specifically the “scribes and Pharisees.” Near the end, Yahshua asks them, “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” (Mat 23:33)
This is the gentle Healer. This is the Lamb of Yahweh. This is the suffering Servant. This is He who would neither break a bruised reed, nor quench a smoking flax. This is the Holy One if Israel, who always used, in both His Old Testament and New Testament ministries, the least possible amount of force to accomplish that which was necessary. What could have moved Him to such strong rebuke? Yahshua was given to us to save us from destruction, and even the very Sacrifice is asking here, “How can you escape damnation?”
What is it that makes the Father and Son angry, even with Their own creation? We read: “Neither shalt thou set thee up any image, which Yahweh thy God hateth.” (Deu 16:22) This is one of several verses that identifies “idolatry” as something that Yahweh hates. But the Book of Proverbs gives us quite a comprehensive list. We can read from there to gain some more insight into the character of our Father.
“These six things doth Yahweh hate; yea, seven are an abomination unto Him:
- A proud look
- A lying tongue
- Hands that shed innocent blood
- An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations
- Feet that be swift in running to mischief
- A false witness that speaketh lies
- He that soweth discord among brethren.” (Pro 6:16-19)
As we may read in the record of the Gospels, the religious leaders of Yahshua’s day were guilty of every one of these seven abominations, and it is instructive for us to understand just how, because those who truly obey the Law must know the spirit of the Law, not just its surface-level interpretation, but also the principles at its very foundation. For example, idolatry, already identified as one of the things that Yahweh hates, would fall under number 4: “An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations.” There are no gods but Yahweh; nevertheless, human beings have worshipped, and continue to worship, many gods. They are devising and believing wicked imaginations, invented concepts or demons in disguise, that damage the soul by directing worship away from its Source of life and health, and toward mere creations. (cf. Romans 1:22–25)
And yes, even the very religious, the very orthodox, religious leaders among the Jews were idolaters, not with gods made of stone and wood, but gods made of silver and gold. Matthew 6 is a very important chapter of the Gospels. It contains Yahshua’s teachings about the way that His people ought to live, and He repeatedly contrasts the faithful with the “hypocrites […] in the synagogues and in the streets,” (Mat 6:2) who practice their religion for the praise of other men, and not because they truly love Yahweh. During this list of contrasts, He says this: “No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Mat 6:24)
We know that those who served in the temple were guilty of serving this other master from that time when Yahshua drove them out for making it a “house of merchandise,” and not of worship. (John 2:14–17) These people had forgotten, or had never known, what it means to stand between Yahweh and men, to take on the “awful” responsibility of being priests of the Most High, and feeling the accountability of setting a holy example in all things. The failure of the Scribes and the Pharisees, of the Lawyers, and the Sadducees, affects the religious world to this very day. Whenever we encounter people who love to hear the message of salvation, who read our Bible studies and say, “Amen,” who agree with every point of our teachings and practice… and yet will not unite with us in a sure covenant, it is often because of the Scribes and Pharisees.
It is because they remember the warnings, to beware of those who abuse their authority, who wield their privileges as a weapon to take advantage of others. It is because they may have had personal encounters with modern-day Sanhedrin, and Lawyers, self-appointed experts in the Divine Law, and they turn from them in disgust. They are right to do so, but very often they become so disillusioned, so discouraged, so wounded, that they assume no people can be loving, no group of believers can be holy, no Church can be truly One with the Father and Son, and share Their Spirit. We see this expressed openly. In one of our recent Facebook conversations, someone said to us, essentially, “Your little Church may seem righteous now, and criticize the SDA General Conference for its apostasy, but just you wait… if you ever get as large as they are, you are going to behave in exactly the same way.”
It’s not the first time we have heard this. When I was speaking with an Adventist some years ago in South Carolina about the Trademark Law, and why I separated myself from the Conference organization, he said, “Just wait, eventually every Church goes bad or loses its zeal.” That is not a statement of faith. That is sadness talking. That is disappointment given voice. That is despair, Satan’s most painful arrow, preventing a soul from engaging in hope. This individual, like so many others who hear our testimony, may genuinely hunger and thirst for righteousness, may desire what we have, but is afraid to reach out and take the gift that Yahweh is offering at a price that He has already paid.
The legacy of these vipers is with us to this very day, providing the fearful and the stubborn with excuses to reject the unifying guidance of the Third Angel’s message.
Yahweh teaches us this: “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.” (Mat 23:11) This is the same chapter I quoted above, in which Yahshua calls the scribes and Pharisees vipers, and He is pointing out why they are that way, why they have become cold-blooded, reptilian, like their father, the Devil. It is because they forgot what it means to be “great,” to be esteemed by Yahweh. Because they did not make of themselves servants of men, they developed a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood… because yes, to turn one away from the Father of Life through a false testimony is to steal that life from them. Church leaders who do not practice what they preach, will be convicted of shedding innocent blood in the judgment. Parents who have not taught their children the way of holiness, they will be convicted of murder before the Throne of Yahweh. Neighbors who do not let their light shine before those who can see them, deny life to those who need it, and will not be guiltless in the Day of Yahweh. It is a solemn thing to be human, and to stand before the Divine.
We could go over that list from Proverbs and see specific examples of things that Yahweh hates, all wrapped up in one deceitful package. The thing that Yahshua probably called them out on the most, these corrupted leaders, was their hypocrisy, number 6 from Proverbs 6: “A false witness that speaketh lies.” A hypocrite is a false witness against himself.
And we should know what these terms mean. We use the words Sadducees, Pharisees, Scribes, Lawyers, etc., as if they were one cohesive group of “bad guys,” and enemies of the Gospel, but we should know who these people were, and why Yahshua said to “beware the leaven” that they included in their testimony to the world. In fact, they were not uniformly “bad people” at all, but highly respected, even among Christ’s followers. Paul himself was a Pharisee, both before and after conversion, (Phil 3:5) and he was not ashamed of it; the term simply described his understanding of the Law. The problem with those Pharisees who presented themselves as the leaders of the Jewish Nation, as the ones in charge of the spiritual health of Israel, were lying in their words and deeds about their relationship with Yahweh, and as a result their example did not match their teaching.
We may turn again to Matthew 23, and read, “Then spake Yahshua to the multitude, and to His disciples, saying, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works, for they say, and do not.” (Mat 23:1-3) I’ve heard a number of different interpretations of this passage, but to me the simplest is the best. The problem is not with the doctrines that were being taught, but with the spirit of the Law that was being rejected, with the application of the principles of holiness that was being neglected. A serpent is a living thing, just like any other creature that Yahweh created, but it is cold, and its heart does not know warmth.
Notice, though, that Yahshua pointed out the scribes and the Pharisees in that instruction; He did not say to follow the teachings of the Sadducees, because, well, they had both the doctrines and the spirit wrong.
The Sadducees were the “righteous ones.” That’s what their name means, and I’ve heard it said that they claimed to follow the tradition of the priest Zadok, whose name means “righteous,” and who served in the time of King David. Hence Zadok-ites → Saddoukaios in Greek → Sadducees. They were “traditionalists” in every sense of the word, denying anything that was not specifically written in the Law. Because they did not let the living spirit of prophecy guide them into a proper understanding of Moses’ writings, they did not believe in the resurrection of the body or the existence of angels. When Moses wrote of the “Angel of the Lord,” they saw this as Yahweh representing Himself, and since no other angels are explicitly described in the first books, later accounts such as those written by Daniel and Isaiah were not accepted as being literally true.
Based on this description, you might come to understand how to identify modern Sadducees. They deny the living witness that Yahweh has given to His Church, and live by the quotes, by the writings, and not by the Holy Spirit’s current, present guidance. They tend to be “conservative” in the worst sense of that word, unable to follow new light. They are established, often wealthy, and often quite legalistic. They express less of an interest in prophecy, and more in obedience for the sake of justification. They do not believe in victory over sin, denying the spirit of the resurrection, because victory over sin is the resurrected life of Christ living in our mortal flesh, so you should be able to see the parallel there. Their leaven is unbelief, because they not only deny that they can live in the resurrected power of Christ, but they actively discourage others from believing that it is possible as well, and will dispute the testimony of Yahshua with great passion. We know these vipers very well.
The word “Pharisee” comes from the Hebrew paras, which means to distinguish, to separate. They separated themselves from the older Sadducee tradition because they did accept ongoing revelation. They believed in prophets, and angels, and everlasting life, and essentially the more “spiritual” aspects of the Old Testament teachings. They were the “reform movement” of Judaism and, as is often the case with offshoots, they were doctrinally closer to the truth than the organization from which they departed.
Unfortunately, they went a little too far in the opposite direction, becoming subject to the influences of spiritualistic Greek concepts, and falling prey more easily to deceptions such as Gnosticism. The result of this was even felt in the Church, as John had to write to the early converts, many of whom identified with the teachings of the Pharisees, warning them against gnostic ideas such as salvation in sin, and the belief that Yahshua was a purely spiritual Being rather than being fully human as well as fully divine.
Because the Pharisees saw the salvation of the soul as distinct from being holy in outward actions, they quickly became hypocritical in their approach to the Law. “Since we are servants of God,” they said, and in His favor, they could justify any transgression or failure on their own part, because as long as they believed the right doctrines, and held the right knowledge, their reward was secure. Again, like the Sadducees, we know the modern equivalents.
Modern Pharisees also oppose the Gospel, and the teaching of righteousness by faith in this life, but while the Sadducees say it is impossible, it does not exist, the modern Pharisee just does not see it as important, or necessary. These are the ones that say, “Of course, we should cease from sin,” and “Someday, before Christ returns, we will be made holy.” They believe in the resurrection, yes, but they do not apply it to their moment-by-moment experience as a child of Yahweh. Their leaven is hypocrisy, because they do not believe that their actions must always match their words, or their teachings. Their position is that it is very important to believe, and say, and teach a perfect salvation, but to actually have it, to actually live it? That is another matter. That is not what God really wants from us. What is important, they teach, is that we “try,” because their focus is our effort, our success, our failure, and not what our Father has done for us, or what He is doing in us now. This is a leaven that is perhaps more subtle, and therefore more dangerous, than simple unbelief, because the reform movements, the ones who broke away from the older, corrupt Church, can make very persuasive, educated, and convincing arguments… and then stop just short of actually accepting the truth and living according to the testimony.
The Scribes and the Lawyers mentioned in the Gospels were not separate sects in Judaism, so they are not mentioned as often, but it is still useful to know what the names mean in context.
The Scribes, which are also called Lawyers in some places, were the experts in Mosaic Law. If there is any distinction between a “Scribe” and a “Lawyer,” it may be in the specific part of the Scriptures on which they were focused, or the kinds of questions they attempted to answer, but the differences are not made clear in the New Testament. The Scribes were always looking at the difficult and subtle issues that arose from reading and interpreting the writings of Moses and the other prophets, and because of their insight and experience they were often sought out for judgments and advice. Because they had a reputation for being knowledgeable in the things of Yahweh, their leaven was pride.
Like the modern independent minister, the Scribes prided themselves on their extensive and diligent study of the Bible, and their ability to interpret the Word of Yahweh in newer, deeper ways. Someone like this can be very appealing to those who are seeking the “truth” beyond what organized religion has to offer. While the Scribes in Christ’s day were content to remain in fellowship with the Sadducees and Pharisees, however, the modern Scribes are far more likely to take their knowledge and leave, drawing disciples after themselves, and often promoting more extreme positions in order to maintain their unique little kingdom within Christianity.
There were other groups within Judaism at the time of Christ, such as the Zealots, who were the anti-government conspiracy theorists and activists, and the Essenes, who isolated themselves from society in order to be “more holy.” However, they do not appear much, if at all, in the record we have of Yahshua’s ministry. What we do have in the sacred pages are warnings about falling into the common traps that Satan lays for those who wish to be, or claim to be, in service to the Most High.
“Beware the leaven” of these kinds of people, whose spirits are alive and well in this last generation. Beware unbelief, promoted by those who doubt the sure promises of Yahweh, and seek excuses to avoid the simple, perfect teachings. Beware hypocrisy, any suggestion that the testimony of our mouths ought not to match the testimony of our lives. What we believe, that we do… and what we believe in is perfect forgiveness, perfect atonement, and perfect salvation.
Beware the worship of knowledge, and the worship of wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom are good; they are divine concepts. However, knowledge and wisdom on their own cannot save us from the Enemy. Satan has more knowledge than any of us, and while we cannot say that he has “wisdom” in his rebellion against Yahweh, he has its corrupted equivalent: cunning. The independent ministers, those modern Scribes and Lawyers, may have great and lengthy teachings about “the truth,” and speak eloquently about the importance of knowing the truth, but their “knowledge” is not the kind of knowledge of which Christ speaks, when He says, “And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Yahshua the Messiah, whom Thou hast sent.” (John 17:3)
I may say, “I know my wife,” and I may say, “I know” some famous person whom I’ve seen, and with whom I am familiar, but have never actually met. While the definition of the word “know” may be the same in both statements, the practical meaning, the level of intimacy that is being communicated, is very different. To “know” the Father and Son is about unity, about intimacy, relationship, and having the very same Holy Spirit. This is a truth that is not understood by the serpents, the Sadducees, Pharisees, Scribes, and Lawyers, or by their modern incarnations in this generation. Because they do not understand it, they think they are teaching saving truth when they affirm or defend some viewpoint or other. And yes, the words that they are saying may all be perfectly correct, but even though I may spend my time insisting that “the sky is blue,” I am not actually helping anyone to prepare for judgment, even though what I am saying is absolutely true.
We have not only “the truth,” but we have “the truth as it is in Yahshua,” the truth as it kills sin in the heart, and sanctifies the soul for the soon return of Christ. We have the Gospel as it is expressed in three life-saving realities: Repent, Believe, and be Baptized into the true and faithful Body of Messiah. Those who resolutely focus on this, accepting it with all our hearts and minds and spirits, and then teach it to others, avoid the leaven that is in the world through sin. We avoid those seven abominations that Yahweh our Father hates, and we rebuke the generation of vipers that not only refuse to enter into life, but prevent others also from entering.
This is our work, and our joy, as the children of the Most High; therefore, let it saturate our interactions with others, drawing them closer and ever closer to the loving, warm, heart of Yah.
David.