The Serpent a symbol of the heart of man

The Serpent a symbol of the heart of man

The Serpent, through his lie, deceived the woman causing her to die. This is that devil who was a murder and a liar from the beginning, and Jesus says he was the father of those Jews who were making of none effect His Father’s words by their “traditions of men”, thereby deceiving the people. Here the “seed of the Serpent” is defined by Jesus as men who are deceived by the evil imaginations of their hearts. If the seed of the serpent are men, then the forefather must have been “man”; and the temptation of the woman in the Garden of Eden was “the drawing away of her own lust and enticed”; however, it pleases God to designate this as a Serpent. The Serpent was more subtil than any other beast. Jesus said to his followers “be ye WISE AS SERPENTS but harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). It is well known that serpents (reptiles) possess no particular intelligence to imitate. The nature of the curse pronounced is indicative of something more than mere serpent life and intellect, so the serpent as used by the Lord is a figure of speech and symbolizes ungodly men. Also the curse upon the serpent was that “dust shalt thou eat” (Genesis 3:14) and “dust shall be the serpent’s MEAT” (Isaiah 65:25). This is in keeping with God’s statement to Adam, “Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return.” The reward (meat) of obedience is “Life” while the reward (meat) of disobedience is “Death” (dust).

Adam and Eve associated and communed with the angels in the Garden of Eden. They had no way of knowing what death was, they had not experienced it. The adverse (evil) thought in Eve’s mind (heart), relative to the angel’s instructions, deceived her and it was recorded in the Bible as a conversation between a serpent and the woman. It was the same with Jesus. He had adverse (evil) thoughts in his mind (heart) relative to his Father’s words; however, he was not deceived by them nor was he drawn away by the lust (desire) to use that great power given Him at His baptism for personal satisfaction and gain. So by one man’s disobedience, sin entered the world and death by sin, so also by one man’s obedience life has been made sure unto many.

We may deduce that the “Serpent” is a symbol of cunning and subtil deceit in the heart of man. So when a man “becomes as a child” and receives instruction by the “Word of the Lord” and his thoughts are “staid on the Lord”, then the cunning and subtil deceit and disobedience (the Serpent, that old devil and Satan) are crushed and put to death by the “spirit of obedience.” Of course we (men) can do nothing of ourselves but God gives us the victory through Jesus who accomplished the work perfectly