The Serpent
Here is my disclaimer. Maybe. I don’t know. Why is it that
we want so badly to give Satan credit for the actions of the serpent when the
word of God clearly says that God made the serpent crafty?(Genesis 3:1)
Such an interesting few moments in the garden. Adam and Eve
are cruising around, presumably taking care of stuff, doing what they are
supposed to be doing and they encounter a serpent. This moment is a forever
moment, beyond the forever we ever imagine. Clearly, every single moment that
we are in is a forever moment with forever ramifications. However, this moment
will change everything for everyone. But here is the deal. Before we can ever
tackle sin we need to know what is up with this serpent? Because I am beyond
convinced that this moment is taught to us completely wrong and that the way we
come to understand this moment is critical to how we will follow Jesus. There,
I’ve said it. I want to know what the word of God says about the serpent. I am
not interested in things syncing up and making sense with science or
explanations that eliminate talking serpents. I just want to know what it says
and then move on with that as truth.
I have come to the conclusion that the serpent is not Satan.
Most people won’t agree with my conclusion here but I’m pretty ok with that. It’s
just too easy to declare a serpent to be Satan just because Satan is referred
to as a serpent and a dragon in Revelation. I have also seen these elaborate
arguments that show that Jesus is referring back to Satan, in the Garden of
Eden in John 8. It’s just too big a stretch to connect the “He was a murderer
in the beginning” line to refer to the temptation of Adam and Eve. (Hint, the
beginning for Satan comes long before our beginning.) Beyond that, when Jesus
is speaking of Satan is verse 44 He says, “he has nothing to do with the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he lies he speaks out of his own
character for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Interestingly enough the serpent never does lie to Adam and
Eve. He literally tells them the truth every step of the way. Read Genesis 3 and see. (More fully
addressed in my look at the sin moment coming next entry)
I think the truth is that God’s creation goes off the rails
because we choose something other than abiding in Him. It’s that simple. We
want for there to be a supernatural excuse for the fall and the reality is that
serpents and people make bad choices. End of story.
So that still leaves us with who this serpent is. We are
told, “The serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the
Lord God had made.” Crazy talk. Stop right there and stay on that verse for as
long as it takes for you to really hear that God made a crafty serpent. Crazier
still: God made creatures and they fell on different scales of craftiness. Note:
The serpent was the craftiest. Not the only crafty thing but the craftiest
thing. (some people try to argue here that the serpent is not created by God,
hence he is craftier than the things God made) We can all agree that God made
all things (including Angels and
people who rebel) so arguments like that are for sure heresy or just plain
naïve. Take your pick. So we can settle on the truth that the serpent was
crafty compared to the other less crafty beast creations. Which is pretty crazy
when you start to wonder what was God doing making things have different levels
of craftiness. And when it comes to beasts (this excludes man in the debate)
the serpent was super crafty. I think we can all agree Man takes the crafty
prize. (except maybe in this initial serpent/man throw down)Now what we don’t know
was whether or not there were a crew of crafty serpents or just one, but this
particular serpent was crafty, that much is clear. Now even more interesting is
that this crafty serpent, that God made, could talk. The talking serpent is why
people argue that the serpent was Satan or possessed by Satan (good old
fashioned demonic possession stuff). But since Satan was not in the serpent and
since Satan is not omnipresent it seems pretty clear he had no clue what was
unfolding on the day, in the garden. And while he can go where he wants,
including the heavens, he cannot be everywhere at once. ( Way to complex and
off track for my point here.) Anyway, my point is that this serpent could talk
without the help of Satan. My point is that the serpent that Adam and Eve
encounter is exactly as God made him, unaltered.
Here are two reasons why I am convinced that Satan was not
in the serpent. Reason one is that the word of God indicates that the serpent
is acting on his own. (See Genesis 3:1 he’s crafty). Reason two is the serpent
gets punishment for what he did. And
in this case everyone who had a part in this moment gets punished but not
Satan. It seems he was not part of the moment.
People seem to struggle with talking animals. I don’t really
have a problem with Animals talking. It’s in the bible so I’m good there. This
is the same struggle people have with talking dirt people. But here is the
deal. The crazier it all seems the more it seems to me that God must be in the
details. Of course, the serpent talked and of course he must have always talked
because on this fine day there was not one second of freak out from Adam and
Eve thank you very much.(Again I love the arguments that they were in some kind
of trance vexed by a talking Satan serpent. This really would take away the
whole free will sin decision of the moment) In fact, what we do see was a
pretty seamless conversation between Adam, Eve and a serpent. And just a
reminder, the word of God says the serpent was craftier than the other created
things. (driving home the crafty aspect of the serpent)Not more mystical or
strange on this day but crafty on a daily basis. So this implies thought
process so hmmm. Weird but true. Who is this God?
So these theories that a presence entered the garden and
took up residence in a hapless serpent to ruin all God’s plans seem to be just
theories. (And while I could argue that Satan was in the garden using
Revelation and John 8 I believe that argument is the incorrect argument based
on the ramification of the fall and the necessity of the fall being a result of
man’s sober choice to not choose God but rather to seek something apart from
God.) In fact, verse one makes it clear that the serpent was crafty with no
help at all from evil. God, for whatever reason, made the serpent crafty, end
of story. I believe it is imperative that God’s creation on it’s own conspired
with itself to abandon God’s plan and seek it’s own direction. I believe that
this is a critical aspect of sin. We choose sin. We are not tricked into sin.
A crafty serpent is at the heart of the fall of man. Now the
crafty serpent’s unrighteousness leads to the fall; not some supernatural demon
possession. It is for real important that we understand that it is
unrighteousness, not a supernatural glitch that leads to the destruction of
man. Oh the serpent was serving Satan on this day. Just like the rest of us
when we engage in unrighteous activity. (the stuff that separates us from God) And
it led to some very big consequences. But the unrighteous are not possessed by
Satan and they do not worship him. They just walk with him and do his bidding. As I once told this super cool daughter-girl. The
unrighteous are tools of Satan. Being a tool of Satan is not the same as being possessed
by him.
It does not seem to matter whether or not they are people or
serpents. It seems unrighteous is unrighteous in the eyes of God. And this is super critical because the
world and perhaps even many of us claiming to be set apart have this
misconception that somehow someone who follows Satan does evil things to small
animals and children. And while that may be true in some cases the real truth
is that everyone who does not follow Jesus follows Satan. That is for sure
truth. And that is the truth we better wrap our minds around and soon. Because
if they are not redeemed they spend eternity separated from God. That’s going
to be a shock for all of them; Even crafty, talking, serpents. Or not.
Depending on the whole what happens to animals when they die thing. But I
suppose a crafty serpent spends eternity in hell unless he is redeemed. This is
me, still not freaking out.
So to my point as to why it matters how we view the serpent.
If we believe that the fall is borne out of God’s creation (serpent, Adam, Eve)
choosing to make a decision apart from God then we will walk closer to Him. We
will hold more tightly His truth and seek to abide in Him, knowing one step
away from Him is one step closer to destruction. If we see the fall as
emanating from a supernatural deity tricking man then we will always be on the
look out to not be fooled into sin by Satan. I believe the latter is the way
most of the church functions, which is why we see a church, mired in compromise
but convinced of its steadfast love because they are not looking evil. If we
see the fall the first way then we are aware when we stray and we run back into
His arms. If we see it the second way then we are all good as long as we don’t
look evil. Not looking evil is not the same as walking with Jesus. Not looking
evil is the same as eating from a tree we shouldn’t be eating from. We put on
some clothes, go to church and call ourselves clean. We look pretty but our skin knows the
truth. Even Adam and Eve understood that you can’t clean dirt. That’s what God
does.
