The Serpent of Genesis

In Genesis 3:1-14 we have the account of the fall of man, a key player in that fall is the Serpent who is mentioned straight away in verse 1. Many people think this was Satan, who either took the form of a serpent or was described as such because of the way he acted. It is true after the fall Satan was described as a serpent and a dragon, but was this due to the incident or was he really the serpent in Genesis 3.

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. ,br>11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

The fall of man was brought about by the seductions of a serpent. That it was a real serpent is evident from the plain style of the historical narrative and from the many allusions made to it in the NT. But the material serpent was the instrument of a higher agent, Satan or the devil, to whom the sacred writers give from this incident the reproachful name of "the serpent" or "the old dragon" (Revelation 12:9; 20:2).

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

Satan is not mentioned in Genesis 3, nor is there any such association between the serpent and Satan in the OT. Yet in the fuller discoveries of the Gospel, it is distinctly intimated that Satan was the author of the plot (John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:14; 1 John 3:8; Revelation 20:2).

44 For you are the children of your father the Devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning and has always hated the truth. There is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

More Subtil - Serpents are proverbial for wisdom (Matthew 10:16).

16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

But these reptiles were then, probably, far superior in beauty as well as in knowledge to what they are now.

28 And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

'He said' in verse one - When an animal speaks in biblical (e.g., Numbers 22:28) or ancient Near Eastern literature, (e.g., Tale of Two Brothers), a divine being is believed to be the cause of the speech. So in the case of the serpent, a divine being would have been recognized as the speaker, but God did not urge the woman to violate his own statute. The devil was allowed by God to bring articulate sounds from the serpent's mouth.

The ploy of the serpent is remarkably similar to that of the temptation of Jesus Christ by the devil (Matthew 4:1-10; Luke 4:13).

1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
6 and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

The woman - The object of the attack. Satan knew that she had been in the world a shorter time, that she had limited experience with the animals, and he found her alone, unfortified by the presence and counsel of her husband. Though sinless and holy, she was a free agent, liable to be tempted and seduced. yea, hath God said-"Is it true that God has restricted you in using the fruits of this delightful place? This is not like one so good and kind.

Surely there is some mistake." The serpent insinuated a doubt as to her sense of the divine will and appeared as "an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14,15), offering to lead her to the true interpretation. She evidently regarded him as specially sent on a revelatory errand and thus, instead of being startled by the reptile's speaking, she received him as a heavenly messenger.

14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

For taking part in the down fall of man, God specifically punished the Serpent (Genesis 3:14,15)

14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

If you look at the 2 verses and take it literally then God is indeed speaking to a 'serpent' not Lucifer, who we know does not go around on his belly. In verse 14 he is grouped in with animals and not fallen angels, the whole punishment is one directed at an animal and not a person. I believe in Genesis as literal, especially the 6 day creation so why should this be any different.

It is interesting to see that although the serpent was cursed it has become a very powerful figure out side of Christianity. It is as though Satan has tried to bring it to God like status in contrary to what God decreed. South American civilisations worshiped a plumed or feathered serpent (Quetzalcoatl) Was this the pre-cursed serpent? Was it a beautiful creature before it was led astray by Lucifer himself? Was the serpent so much like Lucifer that he found it easy to manipulate and use the serpent for his own ends?

What conclusion can we draw about the identity of the serpent. I believe if we take it literally than we have a real serpent, used by Lucifer as God has used animals. We can say it is a picture or view of Satan but then God's words do not make sense, He can not be deceived, God would have known if it was Lucifer and said so.