{"id":37177,"date":"2021-09-10T11:08:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-10T11:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/man-nearly-dies-after-being-bitten-by-dead-rattlesnake\/"},"modified":"2021-09-10T11:08:00","modified_gmt":"2021-09-10T11:08:00","slug":"man-nearly-dies-after-being-bitten-by-dead-rattlesnake","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/man-nearly-dies-after-being-bitten-by-dead-rattlesnake\/","title":{"rendered":"Man Nearly Dies After Being Bitten by Dead Rattlesnake"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Texan Jeremy Sutcliffe required 26 doses of anti-venom after he was bitten by the severed head of a diamondback rattlesnake. He was working in the garden when he saw the serpent and decapitated it. When Sutcliffe picked up the snake&rsquo;s remains to dispose of them, the head bit him. A snake&rsquo;s bite reflex can be triggered up to several hours after death.<\/p>\n\n<p>He was airlifted to hospital where he was treated with the anti-venom. More than a week after the incident, the man was in stable condition, with some weakened kidney function. Leslie Boyer, an anti-venom doctor at the University of Arizona VIPER Institute, warned against attempting to kill snakes, particularly by cutting them.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead2\">Possible Preaching Angle:<\/h2>\n\n<p><em>At the Cross, Jesus dealt a death blow to Satan&#8211;the enemy of our souls. He is a defeated foe. However, he will spend every last breath in attempting to harm Christians and thwart the work of the church. Peter warns: &ldquo;Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour&rdquo; (1 Pet. 5:8). <\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3406,3677,3716,3718,3719,3731,3775,3903,4370,4445,4883,5064,5134],"tax_ctp_topics":[397],"class_list":["post-37177","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-alertness","tax_ctp_tags-consequences-of-sin","tax_ctp_tags-crisis","tax_ctp_tags-cross","tax_ctp_tags-cross-of-christ","tax_ctp_tags-danger","tax_ctp_tags-devil","tax_ctp_tags-evil","tax_ctp_tags-life-death","tax_ctp_tags-medical-care","tax_ctp_tags-satan","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-warfare","tax_ctp_tags-temptation"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Man Nearly Dies After Being Bitten by Dead Rattlesnake - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/man-nearly-dies-after-being-bitten-by-dead-rattlesnake\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Man Nearly Dies After Being Bitten by Dead Rattlesnake - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Texan Jeremy Sutcliffe required 26 doses of anti-venom after he was bitten by the severed head of a diamondback rattlesnake. He was working in the garden when he saw the serpent and decapitated it. When Sutcliffe picked up the snake&rsquo;s remains to dispose of them, the head bit him. A snake&rsquo;s bite reflex can be Read more...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/man-nearly-dies-after-being-bitten-by-dead-rattlesnake\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/man-nearly-dies-after-being-bitten-by-dead-rattlesnake\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/man-nearly-dies-after-being-bitten-by-dead-rattlesnake\/\",\"name\":\"Man Nearly Dies After Being Bitten by Dead Rattlesnake - CT Pastors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-10T11:08:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-10T11:08:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/man-nearly-dies-after-being-bitten-by-dead-rattlesnake\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/man-nearly-dies-after-being-bitten-by-dead-rattlesnake\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/man-nearly-dies-after-being-bitten-by-dead-rattlesnake\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Man Nearly Dies After Being Bitten by Dead Rattlesnake\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"description\":\"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Christianity Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"caption\":\"Christianity Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Man Nearly Dies After Being Bitten by Dead Rattlesnake - CT Pastors","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/man-nearly-dies-after-being-bitten-by-dead-rattlesnake\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Man Nearly Dies After Being Bitten by Dead Rattlesnake - CT Pastors","og_description":"Texan Jeremy Sutcliffe required 26 doses of anti-venom after he was bitten by the severed head of a diamondback rattlesnake. 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