Serpent of Eden

[Demian]

Hopefully you all could clear this up for me. It is my understanding that the serpent who tempted Eve was NOT the devil. From what I can see in the Old Testament, the devil was never mentioned colliqually with the serpent and the serpent was punished by God, not Satan, so who exactly was the serpent and why would he choose to corrupt us if he too was a creation of God?

 

[ContentInHim]

I disagree with your conclusion. Throughout the OT and NT, Satan is called the serpent, that serpent of old, dragon, etc. Hey, to this girl a serpent is a snake is a dragon!

 

[HypnoToad]

Twice in the book of Revelation the devil is called "that old serpent" - 12:9 + 20:2.

 

[Adstar]

Hopefully you all could clear this up for me. It is my understanding that the serpent who tempted Eve was NOT the devil. From what I can see in the Old Testament, the devil was never mentioned colliqually with the serpent and the serpent was punished by God, not Satan, so who exactly was the serpent and why would he choose to corrupt us if he too was a creation of God?

Here are the passages:

1. Revelation 12:9
   So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
2. Revelation 20:2
   He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;

All Praise The Ancient Of Days

 

[Demian]

Ah thanks all. One last question. God cursed the serpent to crawl on it's belly as punishment. How is this if it was the devil?

 

[HypnoToad]

I see it as God saying, "you want to act like a snake, then you'll be treated like one from now on." The "crawl on your belly" and "eating dust" are symbolic of being seen as low, dirty, disgusting, shameful, etc. - which is how everyone pretty much has viewed the devil ever since.

 

[tapero]

Ah thanks all. One last question. God cursed the serpent to crawl on it's belly as punishment. How is this if it was the devil?

Hi!

Last night I had started a reply to you and had to go to bed.

I don't really understand why the serpent itself was to crawl on it's belly and eat dirt. Only thing I can think of quickly is that was satans form at the time as well may be satans current form as well. However, as satan has demonic abilities and from scripture we've seen other things occur due to demonic capabilities, the guessing on such could go on. Scripture doesn't really explain it.

We don't really know if the serpent is a snake, unless someone does know such from hebrew and greek which may well be, but I myself do not know if the serpent is a snake or is whatever a serpent was when this occured.

As to your op, of course satan is also a creation of God, as God has made all that there is, such as animals, man, angels (some fallen, now called demons including satan, as they sinned), and all else God has created as shown in Genesis.

Since satan sinned against God and in doing so, along with satan 1/3 of the angels also sinned. God says satan is a murderer, liar and deciever, and probably more, but currently is only scripture comes to mind at the moment.

So satan desired to be like God, or actually be a god, little g, not God of course, as there is only one God, who is Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit.

But many desire to be gods, that is to have others follow them, have power and authority over spiritual and earthly men and realms, and some have no other god other then themselves. (Many times to most unaware of the latter.)

Such is what appears to have been satans desire, as well as is many men's desire hence he sinned (satan) against God as did 1/3 of the angels along with him.

I'm not wholly clear on why satan desired man to fall thusly the temptation to Eve, but we can assume that He desired men to be separated from God, such as he is now and was in eden and after tossed out of heaven, being destined to hell.

In effect the fall of man caused death between man and God. That is why Adam and Eve hid from God after they sinned, for they were ashamed of what they had done, where before they lived in openness with God. Now there was separation from God, death. And also now they would die where as before they apparently would not die physically.

So, most likely again satan desired the death of man, which in essence is exactly what occured as once man sinned now they lived in sin and had no forgiveness for sin. Without forgiveness for sin, they would go to hell. So you can see satans motives were most likely the murder and destruction of all mankind.

But as we go along we see God's plan in bringing man back to God and with that forgiveness for sins, which comes by belief in Christ alone.

Of those who died before Jesus came, they also were either believers in God or not.

One would think satan who supposedly was a high angel in heaven along with the angels that fell with him having been with God would not have any reason to desire anything other than God, but such is not the case.

God gave angels and man free will. We also have things such as envy, pride, self righteousness etc.

satan's pride and envy most likely led him to desire to have his own kingdom. It is said that those not of God are of satan. Though I can assure you before I came to Christ, I certainly wasn't aware of such, but nonetheless is what the bible says. satan is the father of those who do not believe, because satan is of this world.

Christians are told we are not of this world, nor was Jesus of this world.

This is not a prideful thing as pertains to believers; it is what we are taught, and along with such, we are taught to be humble, servants of all, and help all men, and bless others, etc.. love our neighbor as ourselves.

We are not to be prideful or arrogant, and have no reason to be, yet we all do struggle with the same sins that non christians struggle with, so you may see a christian being prideful or arrogant as any of us can fall prey to any sin at any time.

I wrote this above then added text and below para fell out so from above I stated:

satan's pride and envy most likely led him to desire to have his own kingdom.

Man is no different. In the Old Testament the Hebrews had Gods' very manifestation; they knew it was God with them, and even with such knowledge in the finality of it all they chose not to trust in God, nor believe in Him for, but rather chose to worship and believe in little g gods, again created things, back then called idols, such as wood, rock, gold, and gods that had names, like molech, and sex gods, etc. Again, there are no other Gods, there is only one God.

I hope this helps some, and I'm sorry I didn't study this topic before replying. So, did my best, but always remember that is it wisest to verify and learn for oneself to verify what another teaches.

Not one of us is without error, only God is, and so we are fallible, made mistakes, and in our understanding of the bible and God is limited to our growth in him, where we are with him and again our understanding and application of the bible to the best of our abilities.

Of course many Christians vary, very much so in their understandings of God and the bible and things, so that's why it is always good to verify these things for yourself as well.

blessings,
tapero

 

[Emmy]

Dear Demian. The Serpent was one of Satan`s minions, that`s why it, and all snakes afterwards, had to crawl on their belly. It was God`s punishment, and serpents have the stigma of being crafty and disliked by many. Greetings from Emmy, sister in Christ.

 

[tapero]

How did the serpent get into the garden of eden if it was a paradise? Also how were we tempted into evil if we had no knowledge of it prior? Can we make a choice against god if we are sinless creatures, if so then we are vulnerable to sin in heaven.

Hi MLH,

You may wish to repost your question in Christian apologetics in Theology. Just a suggestion, as this forum is questions by non Christians and nicene agreeing Christians answer the op and any further questions the op has.

blessings,
tapero

 

[heron]

How did the serpent get into the garden of eden if it was a paradise? Also how were we tempted into evil if we had no knowledge of it prior? Can we make a choice against god if we are sinless creatures, if so then we are vulnerable to sin in heaven.

These are sort of black-and-white questions.

According to the description of the garden, it could have encompassed an area as large as the whole Sinai Peninsula. Things get in.

The creation was considered good -- all the animals, plants, etc. But death and decomposition and food chains were still built into that concept of good. (Hebrew link) Benefical.

We are considered sinless through God's grace, but not in a natural state. Look around -- even the most devoted Christians slip up with rude words or selfish actions. God provided a way that our guilt would not be held against us... we could repent and move forward productively without it weighing us down.

Being tempted to do evil... in answer to that, I would just say we can look at our own lives and ask the question again. Was I tempted to ignore my family's needs and play computer games instead, did I treat my grandmother poorly, did I let someone cheat off my test paper, did I cover up a friend's guilt and leave an innocent person undefended?

 

[Adstar]

How did the serpent get into the garden of eden if it was a paradise?

God allowed satan to have access, just as He allowed satan to have access to Job. God have given satan access to this world and he is here today still.

Also how were we tempted into evil if we had no knowledge of it prior?

They where not tempted into evil, they where tempted into obtaining the knowledge of Good and Evil. The decision they had to make was whom they would believe God or satan.

Can we make a choice against god if we are sinless creatures, if so then we are vulnerable to sin in heaven.

Yes. Adam and Eve made that choice while still not knowing Good and Evil.

And

No. When we are in eternity with God we will still have knowledge of Good and Evil but we will have the ability to control it. We will be given a new spirit and we will have the ability to not only know good, but to do good.


All Praise The Ancient Of Days

 

[fritz300]

The word 'Satan' is used several times in reference to many different adversaries, fallen angels and etc... according to the Book of Enoch, Gardeel was the fallen angel who influenced and had dominion over the serpent and deceived Eve.

Go look it up

Regards,
fritz

 

[MtSugarloaf]

Hopefully you all could clear this up for me. It is my understanding that the serpent who tempted Eve was NOT the devil. From what I can see in the Old Testament, the devil was never mentioned colliqually with the serpent and the serpent was punished by God, not Satan, so who exactly was the serpent and why would he choose to corrupt us if he too was a creation of God?

I would agree that the serpent/snake is not Satan per sé, rather, an actual created creature as is clearly implied in Scripture (e.g. Gen. 3:1, 14). That said, I believe that Satan was using the snake (such as demon possession or put differently, Satan 'entered into' the serpent, sort of like what he did Judas - possibly - or through some other means) to achieve his ends.

True, the serpent was punished as being the instrument through which Satan brought about his plan for the corruption of mankind, but don't think that Satan got off the hook. It was, from the beginning, God's plan to send His Son to defeat Satan (Gen. 3:15) and destroy his sin-held domain over this world. This is a prophecy in which God would defeat Satan's hold on this creation ... because of what Jesus did, Satan is a defeated enemy whose last days are coming when God will do away with his sin and treachery once and for all. Until then, Satan lives by the old saying, "If you're going down, take as many of 'em with you as you can with you". Quite sadistic if you ask me.

Also how were we tempted into evil if we had no knowledge of it prior?

I don't actually believe that it was an issue of good vs. evil, rather, that through Adam's actions, He in effect told God that he wanted to live life without Him, to decide truth for himself. In a sense, God gave Adam and Eve a taste of what they asked for through their actions as He warned them He would; besides the natural alternative of wanting to live life apart from the life giving source (God) is death.

I think that it is more just reaping what one has sown, or getting what was asked for.

Can we make a choice against god if we are sinless creatures, if so then we are vulnerable to sin in heaven.

I guess so; but the Bible tells us that we will have the mind of Christ and so would have no desire to engage in any sinful acts.

Edit: This link may help answer your question as well.

 

[IamRedeemed]

How did the serpent get into the garden of eden if it was a paradise? Also how were we tempted into evil if we had no knowledge of it prior? Can we make a choice against god if we are sinless creatures, if so then we are vulnerable to sin in heaven.

Hi,
Satan is the prince of the power of the air. He was cast out of heaven, not out of the universe. The Garden of Eden was not located in Heaven, but here on earth. Satan was able to tempt because their minds were uncorrupted so they had no knowledge of the difference between a lie and the truth. All they had known up until that time was truth, as everything that God ever said to them was of course True.

Satan created an element of doubt. He made Eve think that perhaps she misunderstood what God said and then offered an alternative definition to appeal to Eve's reasoning capabilities.

She then reasoned and agreed that perhaps she misunderstood what God had really said and bought the lie
and made a decision to eat the forbidden fruit.

She had the free will to make that decision. The only problem is that she made the WRONG decision and Adam didn't stop her either and he also made the wrong decision therefore SIN entered in to a place within Adam and Eve where sin did not dwell before.

Satan will be eventually destroyed altogether, (him and his cohorts)
along with sin and death.

God has it all planned and His plans are in the process of being
carried out.

Hope that helps your understanding of what happened and why
there is no fear of there being sin in heaven in the future.

 

[zeke37]

Ah thanks all. One last question. God cursed the serpent to crawl on it's belly as punishment. How is this if it was the devil?

IMO....symbolism....Satan is called the son of Perdition (Eze28, 2Thes2), and as such is sentenced to soul death....he shall be turned to ashes from within....dust to dust and not resurrected....the only NAMED individual to be sentenced....although many will follow him...
so the symbolism is that he shall eat dirt all his existance....he is of the dirt, not the eternity....

 

[TexasSky]

You have to read almost the entire bible to fully understand the connection between the Serpent and Satan.

The short version is: Satan was, once upon a time, the highest angel. He lead a rebellion against God, a war ensued, Satan and his followers were cast out of heaven. The bible sometimes refers to Satan as "The Angel of Light," "The adversary," "the accuser" the "destroyer", the "Lord of Dung," the "worthless", "The devil" (which means the slanderer), and "the dragon."

Dragon was often used to describe a serpent so beautiful to look upon that it mesmerized and fascinated people. The Genisus account refers to the fact that Satan took on the form of a beautiful serpent.

As to the crawling on the belly, I've always wondered if this beautiful serpent that walked was not a real dragon until that day, and then became a simple, ordinary snake.

 

[pebblesflintstone]

Read Yechezkel 28 (Ezekiel) ! You'd b surprise!!
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This is the Restoration Scriptures version....
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Yechezkel 28

Verse 2: Ben-adam say to the leaders of Tsor, This says the Master LORD; Because your lev is lifted up, and you have said I am an El, I sit in the seat of Elohim, in the midst of the seas; yet you are just a men, and not an El, though you set your lev as of Elohim

Verse 13: You have been in Eden the gan of Elohim; every precious stone was your covering

Verse 14: You are the Moshiach-like cheruv that covers; and I had placed you upon the kadosh mountain of Elohim...

Verse 15: You were perfect in your halachot from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you...

Verse 15: Your lev was lifted up because of your beauty, you have corrupted your chochmah by reason of your splendor....

Obviously it is talking about Satan, in verse 13 you will see where it says he was in the Garden of Eden.... besides that this passage has a lot of "meat"...