The Serpent

[Leslie Koster]

Greetings all....I have a question I would like to hear your thoughts on.

During yesterday's Sunday School lesson we read parts of Genesis chapter 3. Not going into the entire lesson I wanted to put out a post to see what your thoughts are on Genesis 3:14-15..

14The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life;
15And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed;He shall bruise you on the head,And you shall bruise him on the heel."

I am more interested in your thoughts directly to verse 14.
Is the use of the word "Serpent" a metaphor?

 

[Contra_Mundum]

The tempter is called "the serpent" in 3:1. The same identity mentioned in vv2,4,13. The interpretation of this occasion as a "real-world" event would seem to push us toward an appearance of Satan in the form of a serpent to Eve.

The curse of God is somewhat distributive. The tempter himself is cursed most directly in v15. I suggest that the sign of that curse is distributed to the serpents in this world which we share, v14. God wants us to remember this event (the purpose of signs). He invests in physical or visual things particular meaning, which thenceforth teach a truth that goes beyond a physical description.

When we see a serpent, it is debased (very low). The natural actions of its tongue look very much like it is licking the dust. We don't need to "hate snakes." That's not the purpose of the sign. The serpent is cursed because God intends us by the sight of one to remember our fall, that took place through such an instrument.

 

[seajayrice]

The tempter is called "the serpent" in 3:1. The same identity mentioned in vv2,4,13. The interpretation of this occasion as a "real-world" event would seem to push us toward an appearance of Satan in the form of a serpent to Eve.

The curse of God is somewhat distributive. The tempter himself is cursed most directly in v15. I suggest that the sign of that curse is distributed to the serpents in this world which we share, v14. God wants us to remember this event (the purpose of signs). He invests in physical or visual things particular meaning, which thenceforth teach a truth that goes beyond a physical description.

When we see a serpent, it is debased (very low). The natural actions of its tongue look very much like it is licking the dust. We don't need to "hate snakes." That's not the purpose of the sign. The serpent is cursed because God intends us by the sight of one to remember our fall, that took place through such an instrument.

I have often wondered what form was the serpent prior to Gods curse, perhaps some reptilian creature. I’d agree we don’t need to hate snakes but most do. It is one matter to see a snake behind a thick pane of glass at the zoo, another to have one slither by in the bush! I think God’s cursing the serpent may also reflect God’s curse on Satan.

 

[Peairtach]

http://www.puritanboard.com/f15/identity-serpent-snake-seraph-56007/

There's a thread above about this. Clearly there's room for some debate about whether Satan used a serpent, appeared as a serpent, or whether fallen angels are likened to serpents and Satan was "the Serpent" - as the Cherubim are likened to a Man, an Ox, an Eagle and a Lion.

There is room for metaphor here. Indeed there must be some metaphor, as if the account was taken literally it would be a prosaic teaching about a rogue snake and the subsequent relations of snakes and humans, as Satan isn't explicitly mentioned. But the question of the relationship of snakes and humans is only incidental and illustrative of much more important things. The venom of sin has been injected into the blood stream of the race. Only a look at the Crucified One who was lifted up, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, can save and heal us (John 3:14-15).

Matthew Henry on "the Serpent"

Here observe,I. The tempter, and that was the devil, in the shape and likeness of a serpent.

Note that Henry doesn't say that the passage (necessarily) teaches that Satan used a serpent. He doesn't say that snakes once had legs or were upright. Or that they could communicate. Or were intelligent or particularly crafty. Or could appreciate a curse being placed on them.

On the other hand, some Liberal Christians or "Christians" have approached this whole passage - even Genesis 1-11 and further - as a complete allegory or "myth", while embracing "theistic" evolution, and this suits "the Serpent" very well.

The Serpent is insinuating, "Did God really say, that the Serpent brought about the Fall of Man?"

 

[SolaScriptura]

Calvin and Hodge (the two reformed dudes I've got on my Logos) seem to think it was a serpent used by Satan.

Maybe or maybe not.

 

[Peairtach]

Yes. I'm a bit dubious about moving from that, as is Louis Berkhof in his Systematic Theology, but clearly metaphor kicks in at some point.

Some people might not want to accept the miracle that Satan used a serpent and made it speak, but clearly that would be possible, and it certainly is the case if that is what Scripture is saying. The question is what fits the passage as a whole. The idea that Satan is "the Serpent" may fit better than him using a serpent (?)

If you took "the serpent" completely literally it wouldn't be referring to Satan at all, and the curse on the serpent would be utterly prosaic, which is completely unacceptable.

 

[Leslie Koster]

Thanks Rich...It just so happens it was from Dr Bob Gonzales' book that our SS was getting the study from.

 

[Peairtach]

I would read more widely on the Serpent than Dr Bob.

There are dangers with introducing anything metaphorical into this passage that isn't there. It is a historical passage that many Christians, broadly-speaking, view as metaphorical or would like to view as metaphorical in order to accommodate current popular "science" on origins.

(a) Liberal Christians, and others who are theistic evolutionists, some Roman Catholics and "Evangelicals" with Liberal stances, would view this passage as "myth" i.e. a story told to instruct that didn't have any place in historic reality.

(b) Old Earth Creationists tend to take the Days of Creation to be metaphorical in some sense.

The Serpent and the subsequent curse on the Serpent - it seems - must involve a degree of metaphor, if it is to refer to Satan more than just snakes, as the Devil isn't mentioned as such in the passage. Whether that means the Devil appeared as a serpent, used a serpent or is the Serpent, is the question in hand.