Why do people assume that the serpent in Genesis 3 was Satan?

Question

Most say it was a real serpent controlled by Satan or Satan himself. Why do people come to this conclusion? Also, why do they see 3:15 as a prophecy of Christ?

Revelation calls Satan an ancient serpent, but does not identify him with the Genesis serpent, nor does anything else in all the Bible. If it were true, you would think it would appear once, and the prophecy of Christ, if it is one, would certainly be mentioned again somewhere, but neither is true. Why is it generally accepted then? Any Bible passages?

Answer 1

The serpent is first identified as Satan in Revelation, written centuries later and by other authors with a different historical context. This is what those in science-fiction fandom call a "retcon" (retroactive continuity) - likewise for the prophecy of Christ.

However, according to conservative Christian dogmatics and apologetics, the whole Bible is divinely inspired, as were those who - in various Councils - selected which books were to be included. So, from that initial presupposition, it makes perfect sense to interpret earlier writings in light of later ones as well as vice versa.

(And this sort of thing plays a bigger role in other contexts. for example, the Gospels in their present form are assumed - by secular historians - to have been written after the fall of Jerusalem. After all, they could not have predicted it! But that assumption holds little weight with those who subscribe to divine inspiration.)

Answer 2

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RE:
Why do people assume that the serpent in Genesis 3 was Satan?
Most say it was a real serpent controlled by Satan or Satan himself. Why do people come to this conclusion? Also, why do they see 3:15 as a prophecy of Christ?

Answer 3

Serpent In Genesis

Answer 4

I don't think either option is right. Genesis was literal. It was certainly addressed by Jesus as if it were literal. Genesis presents it as if it's literal. But there's some literary description of Satan being presented as a serpent. Satan is often represented as snake-like, crafty, wily, etc. This description in Genesis is the only way that Moses had to describe a Biblical character of which he had no direct knowledge. The details of Satan/Lucifer were not revealed to man until much later. And so I'm convinced that the story is literal, but the description of Satan as serpent-like does not mean that he was in the form of a serpent or indwelled a snake.

Answer 5

Was The Serpent Satan

Answer 6

I find no reason to read into the text something that isn't there.

The story calls this "thing" a serpent, not a snake, and the same Hebrew word is used for a wide variety of things. Sumerian legend renders the serpent as nothing more than sexual temptation in this story.

Answer 7

You are completly right in your question. People tend to assume that it was Satan or Lucifer in genisis but there is really no reference to him or christ. People should remeber that the bible was not written as a complete book from one author but from many and over different periods in time, and this should be taken into serious consideration in that, man's consciousness and spiritual mind has changed over the many many centuries that has passed.
I believe that the garden of eden was/is in the center of the earth. and that Adam after the fall was sent to live upon the earth's surface. Which brings him closer to the radiation of the sun which causes cell deteriation in living tissue, thus decay and death. I believe that the tree of life is located in hollow earth and that the beings who claimed they were our gods are only our creators. Thus the reference in genesis of man being cast out of the garden. As well as the serpent. (who ever this was) I am sure that once upon a time serpents were great dragons intelligent creatures that had a great amount of wisdom, for he did not lie to Eve when he told her that her eyes would be open and they will become or be like gods knowing. Adam was deprived the tree of life because of his rank in creation being lesser than the being who created him. the Masters did not want its creation to be on the same status as the so-called gods. So they cast Adam out and placed a guardian to watch and keep the way to the tree of life.
Because a mans sexual reproduction can you imagine how many people would be still living on this planet from the time of Adam had no one died?

Answer 8

Just compare genesis 3:15 with for example (sorry for the long list of scriptures..)

Ezekiel 28:14,17
You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.
Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth;
I made a spectacle of you before kings.

Revelation 12:9
The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

2 Corinthians 11:3
But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Galatians 4:26
But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.

Revelation 12:1
A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.

John 8:44
This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

Genesis 22:18
and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Genesis 49:10
The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs
and the obedience of the nations is his.

Galatians 3:16,29
The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. ...If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Hebrews 2:14
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—

Revelation 20:10
And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Answer 9

From what I remember of the Bible, God had supposedly condemned Satan to the earth as a serpent, then later the serpent as a snake on the ground.

Answer 10

The Genesis story is an ancient myth prepared to deliver and explain an aspect of human behaviour. The characters in the play, or story have to present conflict and this is why we have God on the one hand and the obverse figure, the negative input, on the other. These two forces act upon the central characters. Attributed to Moses but likely to be far ealier, this myth is likely to be Mesopotamian in origin.
Satan is a far later idea and derives from may sources.