Jesus said in Matthew 10:16, “I send you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”
Jesus used different animals to describe different traits. He told us to be innocent like doves, and He also told us to be shrewd like snakes.
That shrewdness is not sinfulness. It is not permission to lie, cheat, or deceive people. In the same sentence, Jesus tells you to be innocent. So whatever He means by the wisdom of the serpent cannot be an instruction to commit sin.
The serpent is described in Genesis 3:1 as being more crafty than all the wild animals the Lord God had made. Jesus Himself later said to be wise as a serpent.
You see this kind of wisdom in the life of Jesus. In John 7, His relatives told Him to go publicly to the festival. He told them that His time had not yet come. They left, and afterward He also went, but not publicly. He went in secret.
That is an example of not making everything public.
You also see this with Samuel. God told Samuel to go and anoint another king, but Samuel was afraid that Saul would hear about it and kill him. In 1 Samuel 16:2, God told him to take an animal and say that he had come to sacrifice to the Lord. And that was true. He really was going to offer a sacrifice.
The wisdom was that two things were happening at the same time. One thing was known, while another thing was not known.
Sometimes you need to withhold information. Sometimes you need to be quiet. Sometimes you should not tell everybody everything about what you are doing.
God Himself does this with us. Many times, He does not tell you everything about why He is sending you somewhere. He positions you, and later you understand what He was doing.
That is the wisdom of the serpent.
Full communiqué: https://www.youtube.com/live/NO07tyoGnNg?si=K1zwAmatipYwF01Y
[Published On 11/08/2026]
