Was it Satan or was it a serpent?

Question

Genesis 3:1 says, "Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made."

Was this the evil nature of the snake or did Satan possess it?

And, was this sin the "gateway sin", so to speak, to allow Satan to roam the earth?

Answer 1

We all know satan is an demon.  From my understanding demon can turn into any form .

Answer 2

In the original story it was a serpent.  Just one of God's creatures.  The satan interpretation came much later.

Answer 3

It was Satan using the serpent in the Garden of Eden like a puppet or a ventriloquist so to speak for as we all know snakes cant talk and humans cant see spirit creatures in spiritual form (invisible) so he used the serpent in this manner.  A snake is crafty or low profile so to speak since it was able to get so close to Eve as to "talk" to her. So I can see how this would be labelled as crafty.

If you ever walk in the woods here in the south or anywhere else you could walk up on a snake before you know it especially if youre not looking out for it.....

In Revelations he is refered to the original serpent.  

Just as Jesus is refered to as the Lamb of God.

Answer 4

No Satan in the Bible?  Someone isn't reading the Bible.  See Job, Ezekiel, Chronicles, Matthew... Lot's of places.  I'm looking at the Hebrew right now; Satan, it says there, clear as day.

There is nothing in Genesis to say that the Serpent was Satan. When John calls Satan and "Old Snake" in the book of Revelations, this is by no means equivalent to saying that Satan was the very same snake as the one in the Garden of Eden.  This would require us to assume that there has been only one snake in the history of the world, and overlooks the very common metaphorical use of the term "snake" to describe a devious person.

There is nothing in the Bible that states that the serpent of the garden of Eden is Satan. If he were, why did Genesis not say so?

There can be a fair argument made that the serpent was under Satan's influence or acting as an agent for Satan--this is something that happens more than once in the Bible.

Answer 5

The serpent was not possessed by Satan. Satan died went to heaven and was kicked out of heaven because he did not adhere to God's rules. He was a fallen angel who was devoted to evil.

Depending on what you believe in...this is just from the top of my head...i do not believe in any of this so it may not be so accurate. i believe in something with more power than anything written down. it is something you feel you know..it is research and emotions all spilled into one.

Answer 6

This is a great question, one in which I have studied in depth. Notice in Genesis that Adam blames Eve, Eve blames the serpent...but notice that the serpent doesn't blame satan. The word Satan in Hebrew means the adversary. And the serpent was cursed above "all cattle" not of all angles or all men, all cattle. It was a serpent. How am I sure of this, The serpent throughout the Bible was a symbol of sin. God sent serpents to the Israelites to show them their sin, once they recognized it, they stopped biting the people. They looked to Moses who was holding a bronze serpent on a pole. In John 3:14 "Just as Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, so the son of man must be lifted" Christ on the cross was a symbol of our sin. Notice that it says that Christ overcame the one who had the power of death, that he killed Satan. He killed his sin, it has to be because if you think it is some supernatural tempter, sin still affects everyone.

Knowing that Satan means adversary, this would explain your question about Job. Notice at the end of this book, it says that "The Lord brought this upon Job" Not Satan. Who in this story would be an "adversary to Job???" His jealous friends, which is backed up by calling the the children of God, and presenting yourself to the Lord is done by praying in the presense of the priest, like King David did.

These are huge studies. I love them, but I would be typing all day if I continued. Below I attached a link for an examination through scripture of Satan and a second link for Angels which covers the account of Job. I encourage you to read this fully, let the Bible read to you and without puting what we think it should say.  

Answer 7

Satan possessed the snake. You were right about that one, but I don't know the answer to you second question. Now I'm curious about that too. I'll be interested in finding the answer. Sorry I wasn't very helpful

Answer 8

It was Satan in the serpent, Satan possessed the serpent.  Satan can do nothing without permission, the serpent had to allow Satan in.

Satan roamed the earth anyway, he needed man to give him dominion.  Man had dominion, but lost it through disobedience to God - Adam broke the covenant and thereby lost dominion.  No one had dominion on the earth.  Satan figured out how todeceivee man, and has been able to have his influence in world affairs ever since.

Answer 9

Simple answer..

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.

Notice it says ..'that OLD serpent"... going way back to the

Garden.

Just one of his many titles and or roles.

The book of revelation means to Revel WHAT will happen. That event hasn't yet happened...contrary to church teachings.

Answer 10

Seems to me it was just the serpent. If it had been Satan's fault, why then punish all the snakes? The Old testament doesnt talk of Satan and the fall. It doesnt say that Satan was the cause of evil coming into the world, it was the blantant decisions of man and animal. Satan's fall isnt spoken of til the New testament which implies that it didnt happen when the world was first created or before. It implies that it either happened later on or has yet to happen. The Bible doesnt specify on when Satan was cast down.

Answer 11

The word "Satan" is not in the Bible.  Period.

Answer 12

Well, let's look at it logically: Genesis, or to give the correct Hebrew name, BERESHIT, is the first book in the Jewish Tanakh. Yes, I know Christians read a version of it in their bible, but it was a Jewish scripture before Christianity even existed. So let's look at what Judaism says in answer to your post:

No, it was not 'satan'. Because in Judaism, 'satan' is just a regular angel. He's not the 'devil', he's not 'evil' and he doesn't have free will. He's just an angel and he's always under the control of G-d.

Most Jews tend to view the creation story as allegory, though some Orthodox Jews read it more literally. But the serpent was never 'satan'. If anything, it was the embodiment of what Judaism calls the 'yetzer ra' or 'evil impulse', present in every human, as is the 'yetzer tov' or 'good impulse'.

http://www.whatjewsbelieve.org/

http://www.askmoses.com

http://www.ajewwithaview.com

Answer 13

Satan possessed it... Satan had already been thrown down...

Then he told God he could do better so he has a chance right now and he is blowing it!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 14

It seems that Satan possessed the serpent.  This was in a sense a gateway sin, but Satan previously had independent abilities as an angel.

Did you know that some psychics (like Jean Dixon for instance) claim to have received their psychic powers from a serpent who visited them?  

Answer 15

your first question is a really good one once i read the additional details. the second question is also a good one. before this happened everyone was seen to be born pure of heart and free of sin but this is why when we are born now we are born with original sin and why we need to be baptised. hope that helped

Answer 16

By testing the faith of Adam and Eve the Serpent was acting as and under the guidance of the Satan.

According to the orthodox account in any case....

Answer 17

The serpent in Eden is synonimous with Satan. A serpent can't speak. It was Satan using the serpent as a medium to deceive Eve.

Satan and the fallen angels were cast out of Heaven to Earth during creation week.

By choosing to sin, Adam surrendered dominion of this Earth to Satan. This world is now Satan's kingdom. There will be no peace on Earth until God destroys Satan.

Jesus by His sinless life and sacrifice on Calvary has paid the price of mankind's redemption; and will destroy Satan and the fallen angels in the near future; and set up His eternal kingdom for the redeemed.