Page 85 - Foundations

When Yahshua establishes His kingdom on the earth, we will once again see the animals return to a
plant based diet.

Isaiah 11:6-9
And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and
the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will
graze; Their young will lie down together; And the lion will eat straw like the ox. And the nursing
child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den.
They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of
Yahweh as the waters cover the sea.

One objection that Bullinger made is that the serpent does not actually eat dirt. The serpent has an
appearance of doing so, for they constantly flick out their tongue as if sampling the air. This is in fact
what they are doing, for the snake’s sense of smell is in its tongue. Snakes, however, do not exist by
eating dirt, at least not yet. Yahweh has declared that in the days to come when all animals return to
a herbivorous diet, the serpent will alone be signaled out to eat dirt.

Isaiah 65:25
The wolf and the lamb shall graze together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be
the serpent's food.

If we are to understand that the wolf grazing with the sheep is to be taken literally, and the lion is to
eat straw like the ox, then we must be consistent in agreeing that the serpent’s food will be the actual
dust of the ground. Why is this beast signaled out for this punishment if the serpent that tempted Eve
was only a figure of speech? I am inclined to disagree with Mr. Bullinger on this matter. He has,
however, brought forth many insightful details from this Biblical account. He has demonstrated why
the serpent is such an apt counterpart for the shining cherub known as Lucifer, the light bearer.

There has been some disagreement whether Lucifer is intended as a name, a title, or merely a
description of that being described by the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah 14:12
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
KJV

I cannot answer the matter, but it seems hardly to matter. The word “heylel” in Hebrew is translated
as “Lucifer,” “morning star,” “star of the morning,” and “shining one,” depending on the Bible
version one is reading. They all accord well with the meaning of nachash, the Hebrew word for
serpent which Bullinger has informed us means “a shining one.” I fully concur with Bullinger that
it was an angelic being of great power and wisdom that deceived Eve and enticed Adam in the garden.
Yet, I would allow for the possibility (I would say “probability”) that Satan accomplished his
temptation through an agent of his choosing, a beast that bears many symbolic similarities to his own
character.

Bullinger provides further information in The Companion Bible in the notes associated with Genesis