The Serpent:
Immediately following the creation and the placement of man in the Garden of Eden to manage and protect it and granting permission to eat of every tree in the garden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the Bible introduces the Serpent who tempts man to disobey God and eat of this fruit. Who is the Serpent?
Genesis 3: 1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” NKJV
We are not given any history of who the serpent is or from where he came. He simply appears in the Garden of Eden with Eve and Adam. Who is the Serpent? It appears that he pre-existed man and is of a spiritual dimension somewhere between GOD and man. He presents himself to Eve as being like GOD in that he knows what God has commanded concerning the trees in the garden, disputes GOD’s word that they shall surely die, challenges GOD’s integrity and motives in forbidding eating from this tree, and offers a path to godhood apart from GOD.
The serpent is presented as being of superior knowledge than man, i.e., knowing something that man does not know. He is presented as being cunning in that he purposefully devised and perpetrated a deception upon man using partial truth coupled with lies that ultimately led to the death of man and the Son of Man. It was true that they would not die immediately and it was true that they would become like GOD knowing good and evil (see Genesis 3:22 the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil).
But he lies by question in his opening dialogue implying that God has given permission to eat of all the trees in the garden, which would have included the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He then lies again by saying “You shall not surely die” However, as we shall see, man does ultimately die and learns good and evil through disobedience and apart from GOD rather than through obedience with God.
There is no description of the appearance of the serpent. We are only told that he was more subtle, crafty, and cunning that any beast of the field which GOD had made.
So, who is the serpent?
From Genesis and from other scriptural texts, the Serpent is a spiritual rebel. He is described as a Serpent in Genesis 3 and he is described as a dragon in Revelation 12:1-9 “Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 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.” NKJV
From this passage in the Book of Revelation, we learn the Dragon (aka the Devil or Satan) drew one third of the angels of heaven, cast them to the Earth, and went to war against GOD. However, Michael and his angels defeated the dragon and cast him and his angels out of heaven and to the earth.
In Isaiah 14:12-15, Isaiah describes an adversary named Lucifer that declares himself to be like the Most High GOD and who weakens the nations. Because of this, he will be brought down and destroyed.
We learn more about the Serpent in Ezekiel 28:11-19. This purports to be a lamentation for the King of Tyre, who was an historical King, but the description appears to be of the Serpent/Satan and a description of his original sin, which was pride and envy.
Ezekiel 28:11-19 – “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty…“You were the anointed cherub who covers;… You were in Eden, the garden of God;.. You were on the holy mountain of God;…You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you…“By the abundance of your trading. You became filled with violence within, And you sinned;…Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones…“Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground,.. Therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, And I turned you to ashes upon the earth
Note that the King of Tyre/serpent is described as a “the anointed cherub who covers.” He was perfect until iniquity was found in him and he became filled with violence and sinned. This leads to the obvious questions, “What is a Cherub and What is an anointed Cherub who Covers?
We shall see that Cherubim and a flaming sword blocked man from the Garden of Eden after the fall of man. Two Cherubim sat on top of the Ark of the Covenant to cover the Mercy Seat, above where God resided.
The best description of Cherubim, however, is found in Ezekiel 10. The Throne of God sits above four four-winged Cherubim whose wings sound like the voice of Almighty God. There are coals of fire among the Cherubim. Each Cherubim had four faces with eyes all around and they moved by a wheel within a wheel that allowed them to move in any direction. Ezekiel then describes the Cherubim collectively as one living creature.
If Ezekiel 28 is describing Satan/the serpent, then the serpent was a cherub who covered the Throne of God and walked among the fiery coals/stones until he was found in sin and cast down to earth and turned into ashes upon the earth.
In Isaiah 6, Isaiah describes the throne room as GOD sitting upon the Throne with Seraphim above the Throne crying “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” The term Seraph implies a fiery snake. The Seraphim are described as having six wings. They are often considered to be fiery flying serpents.
It is not certain whether there is difference between Cherubim and Seraphim. Both are listed as part of the divine inner court but not together in the same passage. In Ezekiel, the Throne sits upon the Cherubim and they have four wings that sound like the voice of Almighty God. The Cherubim are a covering for the Throne of God.
In Isaiah, the Seraphim are above the throne and declare the holiness and glory of God. Are these the same and merely performing different functions or are they separate and distinct entities?
In Revelation 4, the throne room is described as follows: “2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:
“Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!”
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
11 “You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created.”
Revelation seems to combine the description of Cherubim and Seraphim in describing the four living creatures. We know from Ezekiel the Cherubim are in the midst of the throne, with fiery coals and have four wings. We know from Isaiah the Seraphim are above the throne with six wings and are declaring the holiness of GOD. In Revelation there are only four living creatures and they have six wings like the Seraphim, but have eyes all around like the Cherubim and have 4 faces like the Cherubim.
I say all of that to say this. The Serpent as described in Genesis appears to be a former member of the divine court of GOD Almighty. He was one of the living creatures that served and covered the Throne of God. He was perfect in all of his ways until pride and envy led to the rebellion of the serpent. He led a rebellion against God in which a third of the angels joined.
God made man and intended for him to reach immortality through obedience. The Serpent, however, sought to kill man and deceived them into sin. We will examine the Serpent’s insidiousness in the next post.