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the Sabeans to attack Job’s servants who were plowing his fields, and to direct three bands of
Chaldeans to raid Job’s camel herders. Yet we see that Satan did something even more remarkable
in its appearance. At the precise moment of his choosing he caused fire from heaven to fall and burn
up Job’s sheep and those tending them, and to direct a whirlwind on a perfect course to strike the
home in which Job’s children were gathered. It certainly seems within the power of this “mighty one”
to exert an influence over a serpent so that this beast would communicate his message to humanity’s
first forbears.
Staircase of the Winged Serpents, Bali, Indonesia
Cultures from all over the world, as widely separated as Asia and South America, have myths of
dragons and great serpents that are part of ancient forms of worship. A dragon is a winged serpent.
It must be observed that the serpent of Genesis did not crawl upon its belly until AFTER Yahweh
pronounced judgment upon it.
Genesis 3:14
And Yahweh God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all
cattle, and more than every beast of the field; On your belly shall you go...”
The serpent left the garden on its belly, but it did not enter that way. It seems quite plausible that the
serpent was formerly a winged creature. This would explain why Satan is described as both a dragon
and a serpent. The serpent on its belly is a dragon that has been cast down and abased. The serpent
served as a visual testimony of the judgment that would one day befall Satan for his wicked actions.
Even as the serpent was once a heavenly creature but was cast down to the earth, so too would Satan
be thoroughly abased when Yahweh’s judgment for his wickedness was fully carried out.
Some have interpreted the Genesis account of the serpent to be purely metaphorical, while others have
suggested a different understanding of the Hebrew word translated as “serpent.” E.W. Bullinger in
the appendices of The Companion Study Bible states the following:
The Serpent of Genesis 3
Appendix 19 From The Companion Bible
