The Serpent in Genesis: 4 Wrong Ideas to Correct

Introduction

When you see a snake, you usually back away, step aside, or run off. This animal doesn't have a good reputation, and the Bible itself speaks of enmity between the serpent, the woman, and her offspring. Yet Stéphane Burgos opens his message with a warning: the serpent is not always what you think. The passage read is Genesis 3:1-6, and the message is simply titled "About the Serpent."

There is the serpent as an animal, and there is the serpent on a spiritual level. In our lives, the preacher says, all of us are surrounded by serpents. We need to know what the Bible says about this, not to speculate, but so we don't fall into the traps they represent. The message unfolds in four parts: four wrong ideas about the serpent that need correcting, how Satan manipulates, who can be a "serpent" for you, and finally the call to become an instrument in God's hands rather than the devil's.

Outline of the message

1. Four wrong ideas about the serpent

• Wrong idea #1: the serpent is a demonic creature. No. The devil has never created anything. He is a destroyer, not a creator. Genesis 1:25 says: "God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good." Genesis 3:1 confirms that the serpent is among "the animals of the field which Yahweh God had made." The devil manipulated the serpent to reach Eve; he didn't make it.
• Wrong idea #2: the devil is the serpent. No. The serpent is the animal God created. The devil is a fallen angel cast down to earth. They are two completely distinct entities.
• Wrong idea #3: the serpent in Genesis was like the serpent we know today. Far from certain. Genesis 3:14: "Yahweh God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go on your belly and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.'" God tells him "from now on, you will crawl." That suggests he didn't crawl before. The Bible doesn't say exactly how he moved, but it clearly shows he was changed.
• Wrong idea #4: the serpent was evil because he was cunning. In English, "cunning" often carries a negative connotation (skillful at deceiving or manipulating). But Genesis 3:1 comes chronologically before the fall. Would God have created something imperfect? No. The Hebrew word translated "crafty" is ʿarûm; it also means wise, subtle, shrewd, prudent. Proverbs 14:8 uses it in a positive sense: "The wisdom of the prudent [ʿarûm] is to think about his way." The serpent was the wisest of all the animals, and Jesus himself draws on that very quality in Matthew 10:16: "Be therefore as wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." Proverbs 30:24-28 also reminds us that God placed real wisdom in certain animals: ants, rock badgers, locusts, the lizard.

2. How Satan manipulates

• He chooses the wisest. To reach Eve, Satan didn't go for the least wise animal. He picked the serpent, the one with the most credibility in her eyes. Look around you: the media, advertising, and companies always highlight the most beautiful, the most intelligent, the most qualified people. The devil works the same way. If you are intelligent, sensitive, trusted, with authority or wisdom, you are a potential target, and a potential instrument.
• He waits until God has lifted you up. God creates from nothing, from dust, and he lifts you up through intelligence, beauty, sensitivity, spirituality. The devil creates nothing. He waits until you're lifted up, then he steps in, manipulates, uses the serpent to destroy someone else, and then destroys the serpent itself. The serpent was cursed within the story; Satan simply vanished from the scene.
• He plays on closeness. The serpent was next to Eve, not Adam. It was through Eve that he reached Adam. If the devil wants to touch you, he will go through the people closest to you, the most influential, the ones you trust the most.
• He targets a word received secondhand. Genesis 2:16-17: God gives the command directly to the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die." Eve isn't created yet at this point (she appears in verses 21-25). She receives the command through Adam. The serpent knows this. He attacks the one who did not receive the word directly from God. It's great to listen to messages and prophecies, but that never replaces your personal relationship with God.
• He uses the thoughts of the heart. Eve knew, but she moved, she went in front of the tree, she looked, she desired. The serpent was there to finish the job. Every sin that becomes visible started as a thought. Matthew 5:28: "Everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart." When you're already carrying the sin in your heart, Satan knows how to manipulate you into acting on it.

3. Who is a serpent for you?

• Someone close who pushes you toward sin. Attractive, intelligent, sensitive, trusted, wise, but when you spend time with them, you're tempted to do what your conscience disapproves of. It's not the person who is your enemy; it's the devil behind them.
• Jesus to Peter: "Get behind me, Satan." In Matthew 16:23, Jesus rebukes his disciple very sharply, but he does not reject him. He doesn't say "go away, get out of my life." He rejects Satan speaking through Peter, and he keeps loving the disciple. The battle is spiritual, not personal.
• The example of Jezebel and Ahab (1 Kings 21). Ahab covets Naboth's vineyard. Naboth refuses to give it up. Ahab goes home sad, lies down on his bed, turns his face away, and eats nothing, like a sulking child. He didn't know how to handle his frustration. That's when the serpent shows up: his wife Jezebel comes close and says, "Let your heart be joyful. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth." She sets up a plot, has Naboth killed, and Ahab inherits a vineyard... and blood on his hands. The prophet Elijah will tell him: "I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh" (1 Kings 21:20).
• Many other biblical examples. Cain killing Abel under the grip of anger, the false prophets who led Israel astray, David whose authority was manipulated to kill Uriah the Hittite and take Bathsheba, Ananias and Sapphira infiltrating the young church through lies (Acts 5). The devil uses a husband to reach his wife, a brother to reach a brother, servants of God to reach a church.
• The battle is spiritual. Ephesians 6:12: "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world's rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."

4. Deciding to be an instrument in God's hands

• You too can be a serpent for someone else. Who hasn't pushed someone into sin through a harsh word, anger, a lie, jealousy, or pride? All of us are involved in this. As a child of God, you carry a responsibility: don't let the devil use you, because your testimony is at stake.
• Protect yourself through daily life. Consecration, reading the Word, worship, praise, prayer, intercession, sanctification: these are the concrete means to keep from becoming Satan's target.
• Make a decision. This isn't something God will do for you. Decide today, in the name of Jesus, that you will not be an instrument in the devil's hands. No one can make that decision for you.
• Stay far from the works of the flesh. Galatians 5:19-21 lists a long and dangerous list. It's a warning. The devil always looks for a crack; when he finds one, he forces his way in.
• The serpent lifted up in the desert points to Christ. John 3:14-15: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life." The curse of the serpent met its end at the cross: Jesus, a descendant of Eve, was wounded by the serpent, he died, but he rose on the third day and he is alive today.
• Aaron's serpent swallows Pharaoh's serpents. When Moses and Aaron obey God (Exodus 7), Aaron's staff becomes a serpent that swallows up the enemy's serpents. God still wants to raise up intelligent, influential, wise men and women today, but held in his hands. Abraham, Paul, Deborah, Esther: all of them put their gift at God's service.

Key takeaways

• The serpent is not the devil, nor is it a demonic creature. It's an animal that God created and declared good. The devil manipulated it; he didn't make it.
• The word "crafty" in Genesis 3:1 translates the Hebrew ʿarûm, which also means wise, subtle, prudent. The serpent was the wisest of all the animals, and Jesus draws on that quality in Matthew 10:16.
• Satan targets the people closest to you, the wisest, the most influential. If that's you, you are a potential instrument, for God, or for the enemy.
• What you receive directly from God is unshakable. What you only hear from someone else, without putting it into practice yourself, stays vulnerable to the devil's manipulation.
• Every sin that becomes visible started as a thought in the heart. The serpent doesn't invent anything: he exploits the desire already present.
• The battle is not against the person but against the spirit manipulating them (Ephesians 6:12). Jesus rebuked Peter without rejecting him.
• Being an instrument in God's hands is a decision. It's your personal commitment, renewed every day.

Personal application

1. Who in your close circle is, today, a "serpent" for you, meaning a pleasant voice pulling your heart in a direction opposed to God's? What do you need to change in that relationship, without rejecting the person?
2. Could you be a "serpent" for someone else? Through what word, behavior, or attitude might you unintentionally cause a brother or sister to stumble?
3. What you've received from God, did you receive it directly (in your own prayer, meditation, personal relationship with him), or only through others? Set aside time this week just to seek God's voice for yourself.
4. Is there a thought you've let linger for a long time, a desire you nurture in secret that Satan could manipulate? Confess it, refuse it, cut it off before it becomes something more.
5. Make a clear decision today, out loud, in the name of Jesus: "I will not be an instrument in the devil's hands. I put my intelligence, my beauty, my sensitivity, and my wisdom at God's service."

Verses cited

• Genesis 3:1-6 - the temptation scene in the garden.
• Genesis 1:25 - God created every reptile and saw that it was good.
• Genesis 2:15-17 - the command given to Adam before Eve was created.
• Genesis 3:14 - the curse on the serpent.
• Proverbs 14:8 - the wisdom of the prudent (ʿarûm).
• Proverbs 30:24-28 - four small and wise animals.
• Matthew 5:28 - sin conceived in the heart.
• Matthew 10:16 - "wise as serpents."
• Matthew 16:23 - "Get behind me, Satan" to Peter.
• 1 Kings 21 - Jezebel, Ahab, and Naboth's vineyard.
• Acts 5 - Ananias and Sapphira.
• Ephesians 6:12 - the battle is not against flesh and blood.
• Galatians 5:19-21 - the list of the works of the flesh.
• Exodus 7 - Aaron's staff becomes a serpent and swallows Pharaoh's serpents.
• John 3:14-15 - the Son of Man lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness.

FAQ

Is the serpent in Genesis 3 a creature of the devil?

No. The devil has never created anything: he is a destroyer, not a creator. Genesis 1:25 says that God made every reptile after its kind and saw that it was good. Genesis 3:1 confirms that the serpent is one of "the animals of the field which Yahweh God had made." The devil manipulated the serpent to reach Eve, but he did not create it.

Why does Jesus say "wise as serpents" if the serpent is evil?

Because the serpent is not evil in itself. In Matthew 10:16, Jesus holds up the animal as a positive example: "Be therefore as wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." The word translated "crafty" in Genesis 3:1 is the Hebrew ʿarûm, which also means wise, subtle, shrewd, or prudent. God had created the serpent as the wisest of the animals, and Jesus points back to that very quality.

How can I recognize that someone has become a "serpent" for me?

It's often someone close, intelligent, sensitive, someone you trust, sometimes a spouse, a child, a friend, a colleague. The telltale sign: when you spend time with that person, you're pushed to do things your conscience disapproves of. Jesus rebuked Peter by saying "Get behind me, Satan" (Matthew 16:23); he rejected Satan without rejecting Peter. The battle is not against the person, it's spiritual (Ephesians 6:12).