The book of Genesis is the book of the first things or beginnings as far as the generation of the first man Adam is concerned. If we cannot see God’s work “from the beginning” in the true light, the Word of God will remain dark sayings (Joh 8:25, Rev 21:6, Psa 78:2). In our previous two studies we saw how the plant life which was created by God on the third day helps us to appreciate God as the spiritual husbandman working both the evil and good fruit in His garden, even in the generations of the first man Adam. In this study we will briefly discuss the other part of God’s creation – the animal life. God created all things for His purpose and that also includes the animal world. The visible things are all types and shadows of things that “do not appear” – these are spiritual realities (Rom 1:20, Heb 11:3). One particular animal’s character and modus operandi is brought to our attention in Genesis 3:

Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil [subtle] 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?

All creation and its creatures are made ‘good’ for God’s purposes (Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). That does not mean the evil and the wicked which God created is good in and by themselves, but only in terms of what God wants to use it for. Although there was a literal serpent speaking with Adam and Eve in a literal garden in Eden, these literal things point to deeper spiritual ‘things of God’ (1Co 2:10). This serpent was made ‘more subtle’ than the other creatures by God. The words “more subtle” is translated from the Hebrew word ‘rumâ’ which means to be shrewd, crafty or sly. From this verse in Genesis 3 it is already clear, for those who can receive it, that this evil and wicked nature of this serpent was from the hand of the Creator who is not hiding the truth that He is responsible for all evil and wicked things in His creation:

Isa 45:7 I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil [Hebrew: ra]: I the LORD do all these things.

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil [Hebrew: ra].

Pro 16:4 the Lord has made everything for His purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil.

This serpent, with its evil and wicked characteristics, forms a foundational theme in Scripture from the beginning. We also find in the book of Revelation direct references to this very same ‘old serpent’ mentioned here in Genesis which helps us to see who this serpent represents:

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.

Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

These descriptions of the ‘old serpent’ are all pointing to one of God’s creatures who was created on the fifth day with his angels (symbolized by “every winged fowl”) by God before mankind was created on the sixth day:

Gen 1:21 And God created great whales [Hebrew: tannyn], and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

“After their/his kind” includes creatures in the spirit world. For example, this Hebrew word tanny, translated “whales” in this verse is also translated as “serpent” or “dragon” in scripture:

Exo 7:12 For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents [Hebrew: tannyn]: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

Isa 27:1 In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon [Hebrew: tannyn] that is in the sea.

Like all lawbreakers in this world who uses pseudo names, these names mentioned in these verses of Scriptures are all aliases which help us to understand this subtle serpent. He has other significant characteristics which will bring forth more interesting connections:

Rev 12:3 And another sign [Greek: semeion] was seen in the heavens. And behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads!

God uses “many miracles” or “signs” (translated from the same Greek word semeion) in all of the Scripture to confuse and blind the natural mind not to see where this is all taking place:

Joh 12:37 But though he had done so many miracles [Greek: semeion] before them, yet they believed not on him:
Joh 12:38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
Joh 12:39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,
Joh 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

God uses outward signs and miracles to keep those who are obsessed with natural things away from seeing the spiritual things of God in this age (1Co 2:9-11). This truth applies even more so when it comes to this serpent whom Adam and Eve faced in the garden in Eden. At this stage Adam and Eve did not have any knowledge of what good or evil means because they had not yet eaten of that tree which would give them this all important information. Very few in the generation of the first man Adam will be given the insight in this age to acknowledge that they actually ‘walked according the course’ of this serpent who is also called “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph 2:2-3, Joh 12:31, Rev 13). When we see that this serpent is indeed a red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads, we will find interesting similarities when the ‘man of sin’ is also revealed to us:

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

This ‘man of sin’ is ‘the son of perdition’ (son of destruction) which means he is also a son of God, but this son was made to be destroyed eventually. He was made to have a temporary existence which is the first step in the process of becoming in the spiritual image of God. The first man Adam is indeed a son of God made in a body of sin and death to serve sin, that is to have sin and death have dominion over him in order to be ‘exercised’ to discern good against evil (Rom 6:9,14, Ecc 1:13):

Luk 3:38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Adam (Hebrew: adam), like all the plants and “every beast of the field”, was ‘of the ground’:

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground [Hebrew: adamah], and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Gen 2:19 And out of the ground [adamah] the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

The Hebrew words ‘adam’ and ‘adamah’ are just two of the many variations of the root word in the Hebrew adam which means ‘red’. It is also interesting that the word for ‘blood’ in Hebrew is âdamâ, and that is also from this same root – in the Greek Septuagint it is aima (Gen 4:10, Act 17:26). These variations broaden our understanding of how this serpent and the generations of the first Adam are related to fulfill the purposes of God. Here are just two of those variations which further explain why the serpent is a red dragon and spiritually fed with the ‘same red’ of the first Adam and all his generations:

Gen 25:30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red [adom] pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his [Esau’s] name called Edom [edom=red, also from the root âdam].

We know that the twins Esau and Jacob are spiritually representing the first born fleshly (carnal) man Adam versus the spiritual last Adam, Christ, respectively. This is why Esau, as a type of the flesh, was rejected by God even before he was born:

Rom 9:10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
Rom 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom 9:12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

God will save all ‘Esaus’ eventually, but this was written for our understanding of God’s perfect plan to bring all, even the evil creatures in the spirit world, through this process. Our firstborn reddish man of sin is first given the opportunity to be seated in God’s temple, self-centered and showing and convincing himself that he has a free will to do with what he wants – he is already like God! This is exactly what the ‘old’ serpent and his angels also think. This subtle serpent was also ‘of the (reddish) ground’ although he is also called a ‘whale’ or ‘dragon in the sea’ to show us how he is closely related to those in the sea of humanity. The “sea” is another spiritual word to understand the ‘deep/bottomless pit/death’ in all the generations of the first man Adam (Gen 1:2, Isa 27:1, Rev 17:1, 15). Like the serpent, this man of sin and death is also a beast at this natural stage of his development:

Ecc 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men [adam], that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

When this beast comes up out of the sea, he thinks he is better off than other beasts when he is risen up (exalted in his own mind or heaven) and placed on the sand or dry earth:

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

This exalted position is very similar to what the serpent has in his mind. This serpent and his angels also love and prefer the dry earth or higher positions:

Rev 12:3 And another sign was seen in the heavens. And behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads!

Luk 8:30 And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him.
Luk 8:31 And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.
Luk 8:32 And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them.
Luk 8:33 Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked.

These similarities explain clearly why Adam and Eve were susceptible to the influence and subtlety of this serpent. He has the same carnality that was given to Adam from his creation. That is why this serpent is also called “Satan” which means an adversary, opponent and accuser – he does not have spirit life (Godly life or aeonian life), which is also absent from the first Adam (Gen 3:19, Rom 3:23, Joh 17:3). All those with a carnal mind are indeed an enemy of God because God is spirit, and there is no death with Him – He is the God of the living (Joh 4:24, Rev 21:4, Mar 12:27):

Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Satan was given the power to influence or persuade our natural minds as the Scripture also alludes to. Those in the first Adam actually gets their “seat and great authority” from this ‘dragon’ (Rev 13:2) under God’s instructions. This influence is how he enters a person at the command of God alone:

Rev 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Joh 13:27 And after the sop Satan entered into him [Judas]. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

However, there will be a period in every person’s life in which he/she will be tried with fire (a few in this age) when God will give this serpent power and great authority over our carnal mind. This justifies God’s wrath being poured out on His elect in this present time (Rom 8:18) to be judged now and rule with Him a thousand years over the kingdoms of this world.

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

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Detailed studies relating to this subtle serpent can be found at  https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/series/satan/ under the heading “Satan”.

Next study, God willing, we will continue with this theme of how this subtle serpent is revealed throughout Scripture. We will briefly touch on a few important tasks this serpent is to perform as he is a vital tool in God’s hand;

How Isaiah14 and Ezekiel 28 should be seen;
The war in the heavens and how devils are cast out;
The positive application of being a serpent around the throne of God;
The salvation of this subtle serpent.