The Serpent of Old.

Genesis 3:1-3

1 “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

The Hebrew word used for breathed or breathing is “naphach”. Here the word “serpent” is “nachash” Strong’s H5172 which means “to hiss, or whisper a magic spell”.

So, did the spirit of Satan overtake and possess a poor, unwitting snake? Or was the snake a physical form that Satan took on, a form willed by his own doing in order to be visible and so that he might communicate with Adam and Eve?

Satan is able to counterfeit anything and has the ability to appear in any form he chooses, {seen as a river to Abraham in the book of Jasher} specially something different and apparently very appealing to our human desires.

This, in my understanding, is a literary use of parallelism, Satan had used the characteristics of a snake, to writhe his way into the lives of Adam and Eve, telling them lies about God and His intentions for man and the garden.

2-3 “And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”

Two things I think people overlook when they stake a claim in the literal belief of a snake. First would be how the conversation appears to be of a natural course of action. Eve isn’t at all shocked that the serpent talks.

According to the book of Jubilees “And on that day on which Adam went forth from the Garden, he offered as a sweet savor an offering, frankincense, galbanum, and stacte, and spices in the morning with the rising of the sun from the day when he covered his shame. And on that day was closed the mouth of all beasts, and of cattle, and of birds, and of whatever walks, and of whatever moves, so that they could no longer speak: for they had all spoken one with another with one lip and with one tongue.”

There is a lot we can discuss about that paragraph, which we will save for another time. The second thing on the current discussion,  notice Eve’s reply contains only one tree when God had shown them two trees. Satan has her focused on the one single thing she has been instructed not to do and has blinded her to the endless possibilities that remain.

This is the exact same mindset Satan uses today to trick humanity into all types of perverse behaviors. Then we generally add on to the problem with other self imposed and self defeating actions. Eve adds to the instruction the command of “not to touch.” H5060 נָגַע naga` (naw-gah’) v. 1. (properly) to touch. 2. to lay the hand upon (for any purpose). 3. (by euphemism) to lie with a woman.

Mankind has a real tendency to add to God’s Word and in common with Eve’s blindness to the endless bounty of the garden, we are continually subtracting from it. It is really dicey to cherry pick God’s Word and the “Church” does it every day and it has all come to no good.

Something worth noting from the Book of Jubilees and that the timing of this event. Jubilees tells us “And after the completion of the seven years, which he had completed there, seven years exactly, [8 A.M.] and in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the serpent came and approached the woman.”

For those that have read the post on the 8th day and its significance, they should appreciate the date, [8 A.M.] or 8th biblical year. Additionally the month and date should be a “lights and siren” jackpot.