God’s Word for You

Genesis 3:1 Part 2 Satan and the serpent

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Sunday, September 6, 2026

3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

We continue to meditate on this passage. Here we consider (2) Satan and the possession of this serpent.

The serpent was nothing but an animal, in those days no more frightening than a fawn or more intimidating than a frog, for the fall had not yet taken place. The status of this animal is presented as being that of “a beast of the field,” one of the wild animals in the way that Moses described them. It is the status of the creature that we will pay attention to later, especially when this is changed by God in verse 14.

Now, we understand that this serpent, one of God’s good creatures, was taken over and possessed by Satan, the chief of the fallen angels. The Hebrew name Satan means “accuser.” His other common name, the devil, is Greek for “liar.” Both of these are excellent names for him. On the one hand, he is always lying, enticing good men and women to sin and to turn away from God. Then when each person slips into sin, this monster whips off his “devil” hat and puts on his “Satan” hat to accuse them and bring them to despair: “How could you sin against God? There is no hope for you now!” In this way he tries to kill, kill, and kill all the time. By killing hope and faith, he seeks to kill bodies and souls, sending human beings into the judgment of hell to join this liar there.

The devil’s whole existence from now until judgment day is a freefall, traveling deeper and deeper into the pits of hell. As he does so, he is still at work here on earth “prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). This monstrous, hideous enemy of mankind scratches and claws as he continues his hopeless descent, tearing at mankind as he passes through time, to satisfy his insatiable need to attack all those whom God loves.

We know that the devil is powerful and that he is capable of signs and wonders “to deceive the elect” (Mark 13:22). He gives these powers to false prophets, but he himself does such things. Here he gives an animal the power of speech to tempt man. Does not the LORD also give an animal the power of speech, when the donkey of Balaam spoke to him when he was trying to curse Israel (Numbers 22:28,30)? This miraculous speech, then, does not give us cause to question the text. There is nothing Satan can do that God cannot. But the difference is that Satan only uses his power to corrupt, to twist, to tempt, and to kill.

Here he uses a serpent. That is why he is often called “the ancient serpent,” “the crooked serpent,” “the great dragon,” and so on (Isaiah 27:1; Luke 10:19; Revelation 12:7,9, 20:2). In Psalm 140:3, sin is also called “the poison of the serpent.”

But we must also say that this serpent, as an animal, was not capable of sin, for the animals are not under the law of God; they are creatures. They can be destroyed when they turn on men, as certain wild cats do, or sharks. But those are individuals, not the whole species. This serpent was used by Satan and then, from all evidence, it was cast aside, just as the pigs were when the demons used them near the Sea of Galilee, destroying them with no regard for them at all.

If we compare this incident with the one in Numbers chapter 22, the donkey of Balaam is permitted to speak its own mind to the false prophet. There are many contrasting points about these two incidents.

• The serpent was possessed and forced by Satan.
• The donkey’s mouth was opened by God and it was permitted to speak.

• The serpent’s goal was to tempt the woman.
• The donkey’s goal was to stop being beaten and show the man that the Angel of the LORD blocked their path.

• The serpent spoke lies.
• The donkey spoke only the truth.

• The serpent asked questions of a child of God to tempt her.
• The donkey asked questions of an enemy of God’s people to correct him.

• The serpent was forced to do this for evil.
• The donkey was permitted to do this for its own good and the good of the man.

• There were immediate consequences for the serpent.
• There were no consequences for the donkey—but Christ used a donkey to ride triumphantly into Jerusalem.

• The serpent was used to drive man from his ideal homeland.
• The donkey was used to stop Balaam from preventing Israel from entering their new homeland.

Both of these incidents were recorded by Moses to permit God’s people to see these same truths from the very earliest days of recorded Scripture. The Holy Spirit has used the prophet to record this account so that we will see how the devil can wring the truth from the Word of God until there is nothing left but doubt if we do not put all our trust in Christ.

Once a woman came to Dr. Martin Luther and said to him, “Ah, dear Doctor, I have the idea that I’m lost and I can’t be saved because I can’t believe.” He said to her, “Dear lady, do you believe that what you pray in the Creed is true?” And she answered with clasped hands, “Oh yes, I believe it, it’s most certainly true!” And he replied, “Then go in God’s name, dear lady. You believe more and better than I do” (LW 45:453). He did not mean that he didn’t believe the Creed, but that doubts always plague every Christian. But here this poor woman was being led to believe that she was lost when in fact she believed that Jesus died for her sins and that she would rise from the dead and enter into eternal life. But the devil or some rascal in the world had confused her. We have only to put our faith in our dear Jesus, and trust in him above all things, and he will bring us safely to our eternal home.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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