The Positive and Negative Side of “Serpent”

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Hi, S​____,

Thank you for your question.

You asked:

Here is John 3:14 so we can see what it is we are discussing:

Joh 3:14  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

This is what happened there when “Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness”:

Num 21:4  And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 
Num 21:5  And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 
Num 21:6  And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
Num 21:7  Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
Num 21:8  And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery [Hebrew:​ saraph] serpent; [Hebrew​ nachash], and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Num 21:9 And Moses made a serpent [Hebrew:​ nachash – serpent] of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

The Lord told Moses to make a ‘saraph nachash‘ and “Moses made a serpent (a nachash) of copper and put it on a pole so all could see it and live.

Num 21:9  And Moses made a serpent [Hebrew:​ nachash -​ serpent] of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

That is what Christ spoke of when He said:

Joh 3:15  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

As we can now see in the light of Joh 3:15, the serpent in this verse gives life to those who look upon it. There is but one life giver and that is Christ Himself and those to whom He gives the power to give life to others through His life-giving spirit. Here is how life is given to us:

Joh 6:33  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

Now we need to ask, “What is this “spirit that gives life”?”

This is the answer to that question;​ this IS “the spirit [which] gives life”:

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 

Christ’s words are life,​ and if we have those words,​ we have the words of life, and like that seraphim in Isaiah 6, we too, can given life to others:

In type and shadow that seraphim gave life to Isaiah when:

Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Those who are given that gift are His elect who are symbolized as “seraphims”, the Hebrew word for serpents, as we see here in Isaiah 6:

Isa 6:1  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isa 6:2 Above it stood the seraphims [Hebrew:​ śârâph – fiery serpents]: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
Isa 6:3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Here is Strong’s definition of this Hebrew word ‘seraphims’:

H8314
שׂרף
śârâph
saw-rawf’
From H8313; burning, that is, (figuratively) poisonous (serpent); specifically a saraph or symbolical creature (from their copper color): – fiery (serpent), seraph.

You asked: “does the serpent in the garden signify (the self nature) of the fir​st Adam?” Here are the verses which answer that question directly:

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Eph 6:12  For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against authorities and powers, against the world-rulers of this dark night, against the spirits of evil in the heavens. (BBE)

So there it is: “o​ur fight”, our war, is against evil spirits. It is far more than just “the self nature of the first Adam.” Anyone who fails to acknowledge that we are actually warring against “spiritual wickedness in the heavens” is totally unaware of the power of his enemy in the heavens of our hearts and minds. Satan has entered into our heavens,​ and he must be cast out because that is also where the kingdom of God is located.

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

It was the heart and mind of Adam and Eve which Satan, signified by the serpent in the garden, wanted for his own. Satan was indeed given our flesh as his dusty diet, but i​t is not just our flesh he gets by eating dust;​ it is his spiritual wickedness in the heavens of our hearts and minds which comes with him devouring us. Those heavens should be the throne of Christ in these “earthen vessels”. By birth we are first the sons of our father the devil, who in time is “cast out of heaven” and replaced by Christ coming into our hearts and minds.

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

This is a very deep subject,​ and I encourage you to read this link to help you understand the spiritual Word of God. Rightly Dividing The Word

1Co 2:6  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
1Co 2:11  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1Co 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike

Other related posts