Should the Serpent Be Cursed...or Worshipped?

Tom:  We’re continuing with our discussion of the Book of Genesis, which is the first book of the Bible, specifically for the purpose of understanding why the world has so many problems, and, given that, what is the solution the Bible describes? According to Genesis, when God created everything, everything was “very good.” Perfect in every way. But then sin entered His creation through disobedience. There are immediate consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin against God, as we pick up with verse 14 in Genesis chapter 3: “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 shall thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.”

Now, Dave, somebody just picking up with this would say, “Wait a minute! What’s that have to do with what [you] just said?” We have addressed the scriptures in which Adam and Eve—Eve in particular, seduced by the serpent; Adam goes along with the sin. He sins himself, and then the Fall takes place. But in this particular verse, why is God speaking to the serpent here?”

Dave: Tom, I don’t know! (chuckling) I mean…

Tom: This is one that one needs to say, “Well, I know this, and I know it’s important, but…

Dave: Tom, it always amazes me that Satan seems to enjoy being identified as a serpent. And we talked about it: serpent worship, all over the world, dragons everywhere… Now,

Tom: But this isn’t Satan.

Dave: Well, he is addressing Satan through the serpent. Now whether…how serpents moved about, you know, whether they are more like a cobra, with so much…I don’t think they ever had legs or feet or anything like that. I think we’re getting a spiritual truth and some symbolic language here.

Now, I have no doubt that a literal serpent talked, because this, you know, is a very popular idea today. You see it in the occult…

Tom:  Right. We mentioned this last week…

Dave: Yeah, the witch doctors all communicate with animals and so forth. So I don’t deny that at all, and I have no problem with that. Now, what he’s saying, “On your belly you will go, and dust will you eat all the days of your life,” I think it’s talking about Satan is a fallen being as well, and he’s groveling, you could say, groveling in the dust on this earth now. He was a heavenly being. Now, he hasn’t been cast our of heaven yet.

Tom: We’re like anybody else out there. We read the scriptures. We have the Holy Spirit to help us with understanding. We don’t understand everything the scripture says. “We see through a glass darkly,” but as you mentioned, Dave, God has this in here for a purpose, and He seems to be addressing, as you said, Satan himself. But the symbology has to do with this animal, this serpent itself.

Verse 15 says, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman.” So, we talked about that verse earlier, but as it relates to verse 14, I agree with you. My understanding is that this entity called “Satan,” who was Lucifer, we believe, an angelic being—this is not the life that he had once before. So God, I believe, is addressing this being and demonstrating what sin does. How it affects us.

Dave: You see, Tom, you have, for example, the serpent lifted up on the post, on the stake, in the wilderness, which Jesus refers to in John 3. They were bitten with these fiery serpents, which is really a symbol of sin—sin itself. And Satan is a slimy, deceptive, I mean, very subtle—the scripture, for example, says, “Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Here again you have the Holy Spirit seen as a dove, and Satan is seen as a serpent. And when we realize the greatness of God and that we are nothing, it’s like, when you reject God, and you begin to take your own way, you become like a serpent. We’re supposed to be like sheep under the control of the shepherd. The serpent strikes without warning. A serpent is deadly, poisonous, and so forth. Wily. “Subtle,” it says: “The serpent was more subtle than any beast.” Maybe that’s why Satan chose the serpent to speak through. I don’t know, but it’s not a pretty picture. And this is evil itself. And men who fall into evil become the followers of the serpent.

And yet, again, it’s interesting—the serpent doesn’t seem to dragging Eve down into the gutter. He’s not tempting her with immorality. He’s tempting here with high self-esteem—to become like God, and so forth. I think we’re getting some tremendous insights into evil itself, and to its opposition to God.

Tom: Right. This verse indicates consequences to their sin. As you said, we could kind of meditate on this for a long time and get some understanding…

Dave: And, Tom, I know we mentioned it last week, but isn’t it astonishing that serpent worship is universal! I find that incredible. Now, as you know, I can remember when you and Peggy, five months pregnant, we went on a backpacking trip up in the Sierras. Whoa! I remember when she came running from that rattlesnake! We met quite a few of them out there in the heat of southern California, even though it was hot. Serpents to me are so repulsive! I wouldn’t want one for a pet! And that people would actually worship them! I don’t know. There’s something…there’s a mystique about a serpent. There’s something so evil about them.

Tom: Well, it’s got some history here…

Dave: Right. Exactly.

Tom: No doubt about it.

Dave: And here we have again, evidence that this isn’t a myth. Of course you had the story all over the world. Because naturally Adam would pass it on to his children, and Noah would pass it on after the Flood, and so you have these stories of a garden—I remember a man telling me that he had just been up in Northern India, and here was an old antique fresco way out in the jungle in a temple, and there was a serpent, a woman, and a tree. And they asked them why. “Well,” he said… [and they worshipped serpents] and the natives said, “Well, it was the serpent who bought our salvation!”

So, you will find—archaeologists will find a woman, a serpent, and a tree everywhere. This is history. It’s beyond our full comprehension, but we’re having some tremendous warnings from God about the evil and the seductiveness. Apparently, the woman was seduced by the serpent, by what it said, by its manner. And, again, you would think that you would be repulsed by evil, and yet, so many people are attracted to evil and drawn into it. I mean, the very same thing we talked about earlier—séances, and so forth; this eerie voice, and you’ve got some supposed spirit there of someone, and you can’t be sure, you can’t verify it, and they’re telling your things…and somehow people have an attraction for this, and I think the Bible is trying to show us something here. A serpent ought to be repulsive, and yet, [people are] attracted to it. It’s like a person taking drugs. You know it’s going to kill you, or whatever, but you’re drawn into it.

Tom…

Tom: Dave, doesn't it have to do with the heart of man, Jeremiah saying that “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” We don’t even know our own hearts, but that is the attraction. The scripture also talks about “the mystery of iniquity,” “There is pleasure in sin for a season.” I mean…

Dave: Well, it does show us something about ourselves…

Tom: This is the consequence of the fall. And that’s what we’re trying to demonstrate here, by going to the scriptures and going through the scriptures. And, Dave, we’re about out of time, but we’ll pick up on verse 15, Genesis chapter 3, verse 15 next week, because, as we mentioned earlier in the program, talking about prophecy, this is the first indication of the Gospel, the solution to man’s problem.

Dave: Yeah, well, the Bible says that this is the nature of sin. It seems attractive. It seems fulfilling. But in the end, it destroys you. And this is what God is trying to show you through His Word. And it’s not just an allegory. It’s something that actually happened, and you can see it in the human race today.