coldblood,
I do not want this to become a debate about the serpent, but since you are claiming him to be a snake, I'll give a reply.
“14. And the 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 shall you go, and dust shall you eat All the days of your life;
15. and 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. '"
Over the years, snakes have taken the rap as the serpent. But, was a snake really the serpent in the garden? Even if Satan did take the form of an actual snake, the curse was against Satan. All snakes can not be included in the curse just because Satan decided to look like one. That would be like cursing the angels of light, because Satan disguised himself as one (II Cor. 11:14).
First, let's examine verse 14 above. This part of the curse (“on
your belly
you shall go, and dust shall
you eat all the days of
your life”) shows that it was against one individual. This is also demonstrated by the fact that the definite article
ha (the) always precedes the term serpent. So, this cannot be a story of how snakes lost their legs.
Isaiah 65:25 would seem to contradict this conclusion, but the definite article
ha (the) is not found here. So a better translation would be “And dust shall be a serpent's food.” This may be symbolic of the curse put on Satan.
Eating dust and crawling on ones belly were symbolic of being humbled, humiliated and/or unclean (Lev. 11:42; Ps. 72:9; Is. 49:23, 65:25; Lam. 3:29; Mic. 7:17). This was in contrast to the high position Satan had once held as the anointed cherub (Eze. 28:13-17).
Now, in verse 15 there is a lot of content. In the first part of the verse,
"and I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed," we see that there would be a struggle between the righteous and the unrighteous. Biblical passages supporting this conclusion as well as the fact that the serpent was Satan (possibly disguised as a snake) and not a natural snake are: We are told this (Rev. 12:9, 13-17, 20:2). He's a liar and murderer (Gen. 3:1, 4, 13; John 8:44; II Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9). His seed are unbelievers (Gen. 4:1-24; Matt. 13:38-39; Acts 13:10; I John 3:8-12). He will be crushed by God (Gen. 3:15; Romans 16:20; Rev. 12:12, 20:10).
Cain became the serpent's first seed when he took on his characteristics. He was careless toward God by not giving of his best (Gen 4:3). Then he became a murderer and a liar (Gen. 4:8-9).
The woman's (Eve's) seed are the righteous (Genesis 4:25-26, 5:1-32; Matt. 13:37-38; Rev. 12:13, 17). Seth became the replacement seed,
zera, (Gen. 4:25) after Abel's murder.
There is also a hint of the virgin birth when it says "her seed." The man is left out. The second half makes it clearer that ultimately the struggle between Jesus and Satan is in view:
"He shall bruise you on the (or crush your) head, And you shall bruise him on the (or crush his) heel." The text uses the singular he and you, showing that the struggle is between two individuals. We also have a picture of what took place on the cross. Jesus delivered a fatal blow to the works and person of Satan, where as Satan could only deliver a temporary injury to Jesus.
What?
