The Bible has several references to snakes – more than 80 in all. Snakes can be found in the Garden of Eden, the desert, the Pharaoh’s court, and the island. They are nearly often depicted as repulsive animals that are linked to cunning and poison. Snakes are amoral animals, thus they are not inherently “evil,” yet they are frequently used as a metaphor for evil in the Bible.
The Garden was the starting point. “Lord God, the serpent was craftier than any of the wild animals He had made.” Satan somehow deceived Eve and coerced her into disobedience through the. Adam came along shortly after. God cursed the snake while he was delivering punishment, saying, “You are cursed above all cattle and wild creatures! For the rest of your life, you shall eat dust and crawl about on your stomach. Every time we witness a limbless snake crawling across the earth, it serves as a reminder of both the consequences of sin and the Fall of man.
The snake has been connected to sin ever since Satan told Eve his falsehoods via it. The wicked are compared by the prophets to people who “hatch viper’s eggs,” “a serpent has swallowed us and then spewed us out,” and those who “will lick dust like a snake.” Poetic books describe evil men with “their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s; the poison of vipers is on their lips,” liars with “venom like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears, that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be,” and alcohol that eventually bites “like a snake and poison like a viper.” Jesus and John the Baptist both condemned the hypocrisy of the Pharisees by calling them a “brood of vipers” and “snakes”.
Actually, by the time we reach the book of Revelation, the snake from the Garden has grown into a fierce dragon determined to rule the entire world. “The great dragon was hurled down – that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray,” after a fight in heaven. He and his angels were flung to the ground.
In the fight against the “ancient serpent,” we require assistance. God, speaking to the snake in the Garden, declares, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Thankfully, God has promised us a Savior from the beginning. Because of this, the Son of Man must be exalted in order for everyone who trusts in him to enjoy eternal life.
Our serpent-crushing one is the Lord Jesus. Our dragon-slayer is him. And everything of creation, including snakes, will return to its natural, safe state when He establishes His reign on earth one day. “The small youngster will stick its hand into the viper’s nest, and the newborn will play close to the cobra’s cave. They won’t hurt or damage anything on my holy mountain because, like the rivers covering the sea, the earth will be covered with the knowledge of the Lord.
📌FOR FURTHER STUDY
📖 Scolding the Snakes: And 58 Other Kid’s from the Gospel of Luke