The 'Serpent' in the Garden of Eden

ForHimbyHim

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I have a question about the serpent in the garden of Eden. Was it a real serpent.
Then why was did Jesus draw a parallel between him and the snake that raised on the pole, and why raise a serpent on a pole for healing.

Then there is the general snakes in the wilderness, do we have enmity with them?
 

Philip1993

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There are many descriptions of a snake. Biblical terms may describe a "serpent" as God's way to show us understanding of life without walking with Jesus Christ. As means of a snake getting around without feet, sensing the world differently and simply misunderstanding points shown through Christ.

Non-biblical terms show us that snakes are actually great to catch rats and rodents around gardens. This natural cycle of course is great to understand that some snakes are harmless and should be understood in meaningful terms.
 
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Philip1993

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Please note that these are personal truths not found in the Bible that may answer your questions.

Hope this all helps.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please read:

Proverbs 23:32
"At the last it bites like a serpent
And stings like a viper."

Amos 9:3
“Though they hide on the summit of Carmel,
I will search them out and take them from there;
And though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea,
From there I will command the serpent and it will bite them."

Jeremiah 46:22 “Its sound moves along like a serpent;
For they move on like an army
And come to her as woodcutters with axes."

Matthew 23:33
"You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?"
 
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Aussie Pete

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I have a question about the serpent in the garden of Eden. Was it a real serpent.
Then why was did Jesus draw a parallel between him and the snake that raised on the pole, and why raise a serpent on a pole for healing.

Then there is the general snakes in the wilderness, do we have enmity with them?
The serpent in the garden of Eden is Satan. Animal snakes do not talk. See Revelation 12:9. The vast majority of people (me included) instinctively avoid snakes. I've handled one. I imagined them to be slimy. Not all, they are dry as toast. That figures, as otherwise dust would stick to them.

Lord Jesus was talking about His crucifixion. Anyone who looked to the bronze serpent recovered from the snake bite. Anyone who looks to Lord Jesus is saved from the poison of sin.
 
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disciple Clint

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I have a question about the serpent in the garden of Eden. Was it a real serpent.
Then why was did Jesus draw a parallel between him and the snake that raised on the pole, and why raise a serpent on a pole for healing.

Then there is the general snakes in the wilderness, do we have enmity with them?
Well if the snake in Genesis was real it was the only talking snake in history. Most scholars do not believe that the story of the Garden of Eden is to be taken literally. While we may have some issues with snakes in the wild the point that was being made was that Jesus and the devil are adversaries, The devil put a nail in Jesus heel but Jesus crushed his head and had victory over the devil, sin, and death. Hope these will help you learn more.
The Healing Serpent — Bible Study Magazine
Why is a bronze serpent used to save the Israelites in Numbers 21:8-9? | GotQuestions.org
 
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Andrewn

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I have a question about the serpent in the garden of Eden. Was it a real serpent.
Then why was did Jesus draw a parallel between him and the snake that raised on the pole, and why raise a serpent on a pole for healing.

Then there is the general snakes in the wilderness, do we have enmity with them?
There are 3 questions here, and I'll start with the 3rd: snakes in the wilderness. I think we have enmity with them and other wild animals that can attack and hurt human beings. But no special enmity over and above that.

In the garden of Eden, Satan took the shape of a snake and talked with Eve. The Book of Revelation explains the true identity of the serpent:

Rev:9 The great dragon was cast out, that ancient serpent called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.

Why did Satan take the shape of serpent and not of another animal or human? Perhaps bec snakes are believed to be cunning:

Get 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”

Your 3rd question is most interesting and deserves a separate post.
 
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Andrewn

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Then why was did Jesus draw a parallel between him and the snake that raised on the pole, and why raise a serpent on a pole for healing.
This is a great question. When you become a doctor, you recite the Hippocratic Oath. You don't do that in its ancient form, but the ancient form starts by invoking several gods that are more ancient than the Oath itself:

"I swear by Apollo Physician, by Asclepius, by Hygieia, by Panacea, and by all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will carry out, according to my ability and judgment, this oath and this indenture."

Asclepius is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He is the son of Apollo. In the Oath, doctors swear by Asclepius and his father and his 2 daughters.

In Greek mythology, the Rod of Asclepius is a serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god Asclepius. The symbol has continued to be used in modern times, where it is associated with medicine and health care.

In many cultures, snakes and serpents have been symbols of healing since ancient times and Snake cults had been well established in Canaan in the Bronze Age: archaeologists have uncovered serpent cult objects in Bronze Age strata at several pre-Israelite cities in Canaan: two at Megiddo, one at Gezer, one in the Kodesh Hakodashim (Holy of Holies) of the Area H temple at Hazor, and two at Shechem.

As for the Israelites who journeyed in the wilderness, we read:

Num 21:9 Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on a pole, and if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the bronze serpent he lived.

Fast forward to 2Kings 18:4, King Hezekiah institutes an iconoclastic reform that requires the destruction of "the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan". The term is a proper noun coming from either the word for "snake" or "brass", and thus means "The (Great) Serpent" or "The (Great) Brass".

In the Gospel of John, Jesus discusses his destiny with a Jewish teacher named Nicodemus and makes a comparison between the raising up of the Son of Man and the act of the serpent being raised by Moses for the healing of the people. Jesus applied it as a foreshadowing of his own act of salvation through being lifted up on the cross, stating "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:14–16).

Nehushtan - Wikipedia

The point is: Jesus is our great Healer.
 
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Pavel Mosko

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I have a question about the serpent in the garden of Eden. Was it a real serpent.
Then why was did Jesus draw a parallel between him and the snake that raised on the pole, and why raise a serpent on a pole for healing.

Then there is the general snakes in the wilderness, do we have enmity with them?


There's a lot of stuff going on in the text based on the ancient near east culture of the time.

 
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BobRyan

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I have a question about the serpent in the garden of Eden. Was it a real serpent.
Then why was did Jesus draw a parallel between him and the snake that raised on the pole, and why raise a serpent on a pole for healing.

Then there is the general snakes in the wilderness, do we have enmity with them?

Rev 12 says the satan is "the serpent of old" -- Satan was using the serpent and making it appear to Eve that the serpent could speak by virtue of having eaten the forbidden fruit. The argument was that if the fruit could do this undeniable miracle for a snake - it could make a human like god.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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I have a question about the serpent in the garden of Eden. Was it a real serpent.
Then why was did Jesus draw a parallel between him and the snake that raised on the pole, and why raise a serpent on a pole for healing.

Then there is the general snakes in the wilderness, do we have enmity with them?

The term 'serpent' derives from another Hebrew word meaning to hiss, like a snake. Hissing was likened to the whispering of one intent on influencing another. Enchanter is another word for hiss, or, serpent. Thus Eve was enchanted by the whisper of Satan. It was only after the event that God condemned the enchanter to take the form of a literal snake. It is not known how Satan 'appeared' to Eve.

The root word also implies rejecting revelation, and instead "learning by experience or experimentation", which the enchanter was successful in influencing Eve to do.
 
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Dkh587

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Something interesting I came across, is that when God told Moses to build a fiery serpent, and put it on a pole, that he told Moses to build a Seraph, which is the singular of “seraphim”, a type of throne guardian

then, it says Moses built a “nachash” which is the Hebrew word used for serpent in many other places, and the word used in Genesis 3

The woman was talking to a seraph, which are also called nachash.

it wasn’t a snake, it was a divine being, a member of God’s divine council who was challenging God & his word, and tempting man to sin and rebel against God.
 
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Pavel Mosko

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Something interesting I came across, is that when God told Moses to build a fiery serpent, and put it on a pole, that he told Moses to build a Seraph, which is the singular of “seraphim”, a type of throne guardian

then, it says Moses built a “nachash” which is the Hebrew word used for serpent in many other places, and the word used in Genesis 3

The woman was talking to a seraph, which are also called nachash.

it wasn’t a snake, it was a divine being, a member of God’s divine council who was challenging God & his word, and tempting man to sin and rebel against God.

That's the kind of insight of the Biblical scholar in the video I posted, linguistically the words for serpent, shining one/ brass and a term for divination are related from a similar root.
 
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tturt

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The serpent is still asking Did God say?

We can be like Eve and after a few attempts, stop believing. Or we can continue to be with God' and His Word.

'For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." I John 2:16 These 3 -

The enemy hit Eve with all 3.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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Something interesting I came across, is that when God told Moses to build a fiery serpent, and put it on a pole, that he told Moses to build a Seraph, which is the singular of “seraphim”, a type of throne guardian

then, it says Moses built a “nachash” which is the Hebrew word used for serpent in many other places, and the word used in Genesis 3

The woman was talking to a seraph, which are also called nachash.

it wasn’t a snake, it was a divine being, a member of God’s divine council who was challenging God & his word, and tempting man to sin and rebel against God.

Elsewhere referred to as "The Shining One". However it appeared it must have been impressive.
 
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eleos1954

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I have a question about the serpent in the garden of Eden. Was it a real serpent.
Then why was did Jesus draw a parallel between him and the snake that raised on the pole, and why raise a serpent on a pole for healing.

Then there is the general snakes in the wilderness, do we have enmity with them?

Many metaphorical phrases (figurative) are used in the bible. The word serpent when used metaphorically is usually associated with an enemy.

Whether or not the serpent in Eden appeared physically as an actual snake (or possessed a snakes form) is unknown. Regardless we do know it represents satan ... who is God's enemy and that's the main point.

Not all earthly physical snakes are our enemy. Some are poisonous ... some not.

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:14, 15.

The lifting up of the brazen serpent [Num. 21: 4- 9] was to teach Israel an important lesson. They could not save themselves from the fatal effect of the poison in their wounds. God alone was able to heal them. Yet they were required to show their faith in the provision which He had made. They must look in order to live. It was their faith that was acceptable with God, and by looking upon the serpent their faith was shown.
 
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eleos1954

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Rev 12 says the satan is "the serpent of old" -- Satan was using the serpent and making it appear to Eve that the serpent could speak by virtue of having eaten the forbidden fruit. The argument was that if the fruit could do this undeniable miracle for a snake - it could make a human like god.

The argument was that if the fruit could do this undeniable miracle for a snake - it could make a human like god.

Questionable ....

Genesis 3:14
Berean Study Bible
So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life.

After the fall .... evidentially the serpent was not on it's "belly" from the get go.

Seems we really have no idea of the physical appearance of satan on earth ... however we do know angels are described as having wings. What the serpent spoke is what convinced Eve she could be like God ... not it's physical appearance being a miracle ... that seems to be assumptive. I don't find anything stated where Eve thought it was "unusual" the "serpent" had the ability to speak or her/them thinking it was a "miracle". Any verses on that?

Could very well be satan appeared in his created form.

Serpents - dragon; winged creatures (angels) ... in this case a fallen one
 
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BobRyan

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I have a question about the serpent in the garden of Eden. Was it a real serpent.
Then why was did Jesus draw a parallel between him and the snake that raised on the pole, and why raise a serpent on a pole for healing.

Then there is the general snakes in the wilderness, do we have enmity with them?

Rev 12 says the satan is "the serpent of old" -- Satan was using the serpent and making it appear to Eve that the serpent could speak by virtue of having eaten the forbidden fruit. The argument was that if the fruit could do this undeniable miracle for a snake - it could make a human like god.

Genesis 3:14
Berean Study Bible
So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life.

After the fall .... evidentially the serpent was not on it's "belly" from the get go.

indeed winged serpents are a frequent element of art in antiquity --

Still ... in eden it is Satan manipulating the serpent and amazing Eve with that little "trick".
 
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eleos1954

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Rev 12 says the satan is "the serpent of old" -- Satan was using the serpent and making it appear to Eve that the serpent could speak by virtue of having eaten the forbidden fruit. The argument was that if the fruit could do this undeniable miracle for a snake - it could make a human like god.



indeed winged serpents are a frequent element of art in antiquity --

Still ... in eden it is Satan manipulating the serpent and amazing Eve with that little "trick".

no verses ... no doubt deceived by what satan said .... says nothing unusual about the serpents physical appearance being "tricky" .

The serpent deceived me (by what he said) is all I find ... and really that's the import of the teaching anyway ... deception.
 
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