Genesis 3 - The Fall of Man (Part 3)
…continued from Genesis 3 - The Fall of Man (Part 2)
 14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
      “Cursed are you above all the livestock
      and all the wild animals!
      You will crawl on your belly
      and you will eat dust
      all the days of your life.
In my post Reconciling Evolution with Scripture (Part 4), I describe a concept of evolution that I am increasingly inclined to believe. Basically, scientists are correct about species descending from other species. However, the transitions did not happen by random mutation; mutations occur however, and perhaps could even result in a new species, but I am increasingly believing that the transition to new species is the direct work of God. Here is what I wrote in the post above:
Stephen Jones has settled on a perspective where he believes in common descent, but not Darwinian Evolution. What this means to me is that none of the transitions between species resulted from randomness, but from direct interaction by God. To clarify though, he believes that actually took the old species and created the new one directly, then let back into the ecosystem for everything to adjust. It explains why homo sapiens and neanderthals are so similar, yet not descended from each other… they have a common ancestor. However, God created the common ancestor from the preceding species, then created both neanderthals and homo sapiens from that.Â
In other words, the process is manual, not automatic, and only God can operate the clutch. We can’t see the clutch, but we can see when the gear shifts.
With that is the back-drop, it lends credence to what I once learned verse 14 means… that snakes used to have legs, until God removed them forever in Genesis 3:14. However, while confirmed by the fossil record, their evolution didn’t occur so recently. So, I will punt. Based on a the little bit of research I did, I do not believe this was an event that resulted in snakes losing their legs, but I also do not know what actually happened. I suspect that it was spiritual, given the prophecy in the next verse:
 15 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.”
Here is the translation in the NKJ:Â
 15 And I will put enmity
      Between you and the woman,
      And between your seed and her Seed;
      He shall bruise your head,
      And you shall bruise His heel.â€
Women don’t have “seed”. Men do. However, Jesus would not be conceived with a mortal man’s seed… Mary was a virgin. Therefore, this enmity is between Jesus and Satan, and I believe it was Satan himself being cursed in verse 14. Remember in Genesis 3 - The Fall of Man (Part 2), where I suggested that animals may have actually been possessed by angels, and that those that were talked? I admit I haven’t thought it through, and merely throw that out there as a theory to play around with. But suppose it were true? This could then be a curse against Satan, or one of his demons, relative to other angels (good or bad). Of course, that interpretation does not require other talking animals… but it makes the situation easier for me to imagine… Adam, Eve, and all the animals of the garden, watching Satan “lose his legs”.
I realize I risk relegating verse 14 to symbolism, but that just may be what it is! Nonetheless, I am not particularly troubled if I cannot explain verse 14 with more certainty, as I am satisfied that God punished Satan in some respect, and I enjoy the prophecy in verse 15, being a recipient of its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
May 21st, 2010 at 6:40 am
Speaking of relegating verse 14 to symbolism, if that’s the case, perhaps the dust that serpent will be eating is mankind… who was created from the dust! Don’t worry, I do not really think Moses was trying to say that, but it’s interesting that if it really is symbolic like that, it would be true!