The Serpent Seed by Satan and Eve – Genesis Chapter 3
by Sabrina Dawkins
The serpent represents Satan because his nature is that of a cunning snake. And he is a beast because he has rejected guidance from God. Satan lies to Eve, telling her that she will not die from eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but instead become wise, as a god.
How can a literal tree produce fruit that turns a human wise so that he or she knows good and evil? It can’t. The tree is a metaphor for Satan, the serpent. Satan introduces the evil; he is the serpent and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And the description of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, as perceived by Eve, suggests that Satan was attractive.
Taking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil means that Eve had intercourse with Satan and consequently carried his seed. That is why she became ashamed of her nakedness—she had lost her innocence to Satan. Adam also lost his innocence, in that after Eve had intercourse with Satan, she had intercourse with Adam.
When God confronted Adam and Eve for disobeying him, Eve admitted to being tricked by the serpent. Neither Adam nor Eve lied about their disobedience.
A snake moves on its belly and is close to the dust of the ground, so from a literal perspective, it would make sense that God is telling the serpent that he is cursed to forever slither on the ground. But symbolically, going on the belly means that the belly is one’s god (Philippians 3:19). Dust is a symbol of perishing, because Adam was taken from the dust, and his body will go back to the dust in death. To eat dust is therefore to concern oneself with filling the belly with that which perishes, earthly things, vain pursuits that end in death. Even the food that we eat can only sustain us for a short time, and then we need more. And even if we keep our bellies full, in the end we go back to the dust, and so does the food that is left to rot on the ground, not eaten by a living creature.
God puts hatred between Eve and Satan and between Eve’s seed with Adam and Eve’s seed with Satan. Christ would be considered a descendant of Adam and Eve. But the reason why God refers to the seed as being the woman’s seed and not Adam’s seed is because Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, making her seed actually the Son of God.
God says that Christ will bruise the serpent’s head. And through the force with which he stomps on the snake’s head, the Messiah will bruise his own heel in the process. In Romans 16:20 Paul shows that Satan is this metaphorical snake who will be bruised under the feet of the true believers in God. It is God, who came as Christ, who holds the power of bruising Satan under our feet. We can’t do anything without him (John 15:5).
Because Eve has become impregnated by Satan, God will make the childbirth painful. He also makes it so that Eve will only desire her own husband and not Satan. And Adam is to now rule over Eve and not allow her to rule over him and lead him to disobey God.
What appear to be punishments given to Adam and Eve are really for their sake. The fact that God makes childbirth painful for Eve and makes it difficult for Adam to harvest crops from the ground is a reminder that this earth is only our temporary home. So we should not trust the earthly wisdom of the cunning beast snake. We should not wish to be comfortable on earth, but reestablish a spiritual relationship with the Father. Earth is made into a hell so that we hope and strive for heavenly things instead.
Notice that Eve is announced as the mother of all the living children, but Adam is not the father of all because the serpent also has a seed in the earth.
God is the tree of life, the way of truth and life, whom Adam and Eve originally rejected in choosing the serpent, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Cherubim are angels. Adam and his wife will have a lot to learn, and they will be tried. The word of God is sharper than a pointed sword and can cut down to the true intentions of people (Hebrews 4:12). Fire gives light. The angels of God will help teach his word so that God’s children find their way back to paradise through following his guiding light.