Photo ©2009 and Commentary ©2025 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Maybe you’re not one of those who stops and takes pictures of road-kill you find along the highway, but this particular encounter held special interest to me. Before taking a trip to Australia I had read that that country held 21 of the 25 most venomous snakes in the world. Since I was going to be searching for birds in some out-of-the-way places, this created some concern as to what I might encounter that might cause me problems. Of the 170 species of snakes native to Australia, around 100 of these are venomous. So, the idea of hiking through tall grass and fallen palm leaves caused me some apprehension.
It was in another part of the country I came across this Mulga, also known as the King Brown Snake, as well as Pilbara Cobra, a highly venomous snake. Reading about it later, I found that its poison is not as potent as some of Australia’s other dangerous snakes, but that it holds the world record for delivering the largest amount of venom in one bite. To make matters worse, they are known to hang onto their victim, chewing the flesh which allows them to deliver up to 150 mg of their toxic venom! And this predator can grow up to 11 feet in length. Fearful!
So, why was I willing to venture into habitat that could make me vulnerable to such creatures? The answer was simple: I followed behind someone who knew the area and its creatures well, someone who was aware that it was too cool for the snakes to be out that time of day, someone who would break that path before me. It was this same kind of encouragement Deborah gave to Barak when she stated: “…Up; for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand; is not the Lord gone out before thee?…” (Judges 4:14 KJV) The CEV phrases it this way: “In fact, the Lord has already gone on ahead to fight for you.” What assurance it is to know we have someone who has already gone before us.