The Symbol of The Serpent

Part V

Nations of antiquity reveal in their diverse religious systems the influence of the Genesis narrative regarding the fall of man. At the same time, they heavily over­laid fact with fiction, grotesquely distorting the truth with absurd superstitions of their own. Whilst their inventions illustrate the proneness of man to corrupt the word of his Creator and so make it “of none effect by his tradition”, there yet remains that sub­stratum of truth which is confirmatory of the Mosaic record, including the actuality of the serpent.

A brief excursion in the field (with which we trust the reader will bear) should serve to illustrate the point. Our authority is Cunningham Geikie in “Hours With The Bible” :

“The Fall in all its details finds an echo in every religion in the world. Yeina, the first man in Aryan tradition, passed his life in a state of bliss, till he committed the sin which weighs on his descendants, and for this he was driven out of Paradise after being a thousand years in it, and was given up to the dominion of the Serpent, who finally brought about his death by horrible torments.

“In one of the oldest portions of the sacred scriptures of Zoroastrianism, the good god, Ahuramazda, speaks of his having created man perfect, in “the best of dwelling places”, and of the evil spirits having formed, out of the river and winter, the murderous serpent, man’s destroyer.

“A later, but still primitive, variation of this tradition describes man as created holy, and destined to immortal happiness, if he continued pure in thought, word and deed, and humble in heart. At first he remained true to God, but, later, falsehood ran through his thoughts ; for the evil spirit, the serpent, seduced first the woman and then the man to believe that they were indebted for all their blessings, not to God, but to him. Having thus led them astray, the deceiver, who had lied them to their ruin, grew more bold, and presented himself a second time, bringing them fruits, which they ate, and by eating which they lost all the hundred blessings they had had, save one, and were wicked and unhappy. And now, having ere long discovered fire, by Divine revela­tion, they offered the first sacrifice of a sheep, and began to eat flesh, and clothe themselves with the skins of the creatures they killed, and to make garments of their hair.”

Such instances are multiplied. The above citation may appear as a digression from the exposition of the promise itself (Gen. 3. 15). The aim, however, is to strengthen confidence in the integrity of the Mosaic record of the Fall and the Promise, and at the same time assist towards a deeper appreciation of what the serpent symbolized. For this we depend, of course, on the substance of the Word itself. However, the shadows which flicker among the traditions of men are both corroborative and interesting, even though mixed with legend which reveals the extent to which men—as in the pagan world of Paul’s generation—”became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Rom. 1. 21).

Geikie had stated earlier : “Traditions of a primitive state of innocence reflect in every age and nation the truth of the narrative of Genesis. They date, in fact, from before the separation of mankind into different races, all countries evidently draw­ing them from a common source.” The original story, however, became “coloured by local surroundings, national history, and heathenism” (p. 1 15). He then proceeds to present the various national conceptions, held by ancient peoples of the earth, con­cerning the original Paradise. These are not relevant to our present purpose. We might notice, however, in connection with the Fall, some of the legendary beliefs regarding

“The Agent In The Catastrophe”

“Even the prediction of the crushing of the head of the serpent has perpetuated itself in the traditions of mankind. Among the Egyptians the serpent Assap fights against the sun and moon, but it is pierced through by Horus. The Chaldeo­Assyrians had a great serpent called ‘the enemy of the gods’. Pherecides of Syros borrowed from the Phenicians an account of a great man-serpent hurled into Tartarus, together with his companions, by the god Kronos (El), who triumphed over him at the beginning of things. It was under the form of a great serpent that the evil spirit, in the ancient Persion religion, after having tried to corrupt heaven, leaped upon the earth, where Mithra, god of the pure sky, fought with him while still in this shape. It is under this form, moreover, that he is finally to be conquored and chained for 3,000 years, and at the end of the world burned up with molten metals.

“Nor do such traditions confine themselves to the East. We find traces of them in ancient Roman sculptures. One famous sarcophagus in the museum of the Capitol shows a man and a woman, naked, standing at the foot of a tree, from which the man is about to take some fruit, while the demon who has tempted him is standing near. On an ancient Roman bas-relief, again, a huge serpent is seen coiled round the trunk of a tree, beneath which a man and a woman, in primitive nakedness, are standing.

“That the dim perpetuation of the old Bible story was common to the Canaanites has, more­over, lately been strikingly shown by a curious painted vase of Phenician manufacture of the sixth or seventh century B.C., discovered in one of the most ancient sepulchres of Cyprus. It exhbits a leafy tree, from the branches of which hang two large clusters of fruit, while a great serpent is advancing towards the tree, and rearing itself to seize the fruit. In a Scandinavian legend, Thor, the firstborn of the highest god, a mediator between him and men, fights with death, and in the struggle is thrown on his knees ; but he breaks the head of the great serpent with his club, and finally tramples it under foot and slays it, though at the price of his own life. So, in the oldest Hindoo temples, two figures of Krishna are still to be seen, in one of which he is trampling on the crushed head of the serpent, while in the other the serpent clings round him and bites his heel.

“Assyria, also, has yielded its tribute to these primeval echoes of the Fall. Among the relics brought to England by Layard is an ancient Babylonian cylinder, on which is a design represent­ing, in the centre, a tree with horizontal branches, with two bunches of fruit hanging down, while on each side, respectively, sit a man and a woman ; the former with the horns of an ox ; the latter with simply a headdress, but behind her is a serpent, erect.” Geikie goes on to remark : “It is impossible in looking at this not to think of the Bible story of the temptation of Adam and Eve, or to doubt that though, unfortunately, the: “Chaldean narrative of the Fall has not yet been recovered, it formed part of the traditions of the country, or that the serpent was recognised, in at least one form of the legend, as the agent in the catastrophe.”

Despite the critics and the scoffers, therefore, it is evident that there existed in the hearts of men (allowing for the false notions interwoven with it) a widespread and ineradicable conviction that the serpent was literally and actually the medium of man’s disaster. Divine revelation, human legend, observation and experience combine to indicate that of all the creatures that live and move upon this planet, none could be so appropriately representative of

Sin And Its Practitioners

as “the crooked serpent”. The historic fact of this subtle beast (Gen. 3. 1) being the first tempter, and of its seductive wiles resulting in the first transgression — a transgression which bound the human family with the shackles of death—would be suffi­cient to establish the fitness of the symbol. But there are other features about the serpent which confirm the aptness of the emblem.

In the first place, a snake can be most attractive. But its beautiful markings and graceful movements are deceiving. There is no true beauty or grace about anything which has “the power of death”. The attrac­tiveness is a mere veneer. It is only skin-deep. Such a creature fitly represents those people in whom Sin is enthroned as Master, people who are quite capable of making their sins appear respectable. When the woman’s seed was in collision with some of them, he openly likened them to “whited sepulchres”, which indeed “appear beautiful outward”, but within . . . ” Serpents and sepulchres may gleam in the sunshine, but the sparkle is purely external. So the Son of God did not hesitate to vehemently denounce these Pharisaic hypocrites : “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell ?” (Matt. 13. 25-33.) The remarks of the woman’s seed on that occasion underlined the intensity of the ‘enmity’, which now was rising to its climax. He spoke of the carnal measures employed by the serpent’s seed in times then past, present, and future—the perse­cution and the scourging, the crucifying and the killing. The dreadful taste of retribution would be experienced by that generation, upon whom would come “all the righteous blood” shed during the course of the contest, “from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias” (vv.34-36.) The frightful record would soon include his own -precious blood”.

The very subtlety of the serpent, too, well befitted it as the symbol of sin’s disciples. In its enticement of Eve, it sounded plausible enough at the beginning, but the end was calamitous. Sin itself is extremely insidious in its invasive methods. ln this it follows in its father’s path. A snake’s technique, often, is to first attract and stupefy its prey. Having done that, it seeks the opportunity to sink its deadly fangs into the unsuspecting victim, or, in some cases to swallow it entire. It is the beginnings of things which need to be watched, lest the end prove disastrous. A certain habit or pleasure may appear harm­less enough on the surface, but “at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder” (Prov. 23. 32). And those who heed Solomon’s counsel will act differently from Eve : “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not” ( (Prov. 1. 10). “Be watchful ; be vigilant!” is the perennial battle-cry, for “the serpent” is a “subtle beast” indeed.

When Jesus said to his disciples : “Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matt. 10. 16), it was because he was sending them forth as “sheep in the midst of wolves”. The very terms used by the Master here serve to highlight the distinction between the two “seeds” of Gen. 3. 15. His brethren were to match the craftiness of the serpent-world with their own peispicacity, but were not at liberty to use the serpent’s weapons. As in Paul’s day—and now—Christ’s brethren must be con­stantly on guard against “the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Ephes. 4. 14). Despite the sagacity enjoyed by Christ, there is yet a vast difference between serpents and doves, between wolves and sheep.

Another feature of the serpent which so admirably qualifies it to serve as the emblem of sin and unregenerate sinners—those who delight to grovel in -earthly things”,—is its very baseness and lowness. Whatever its original mode of locomotion may have been, however sleek and elegant and erect it may have appeared to Eve, the sentence upon it was, in part : “Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life” (Gen. 3. 14). (We notice, incidentally, that its destructive career would not continue for ever.) So that this beast is literally the basest of all created things ; a creeping, earth-clinging, despicable crea­ture ; literally, a crawler. There could be nothing lower. The apt representation of its seed, in this regard, needs not to be stressed. Job seems designedly to have embraced all creation, from the very highest to the very lowest, when he said : “By His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens ; His hand hath formed the crooked serpent” (Job. 26. 13).

Finally, the serpent had—and has—

“The Power Of Death”

So has sin—and those who practise it. A man on friendly terms with a snake is a show-piece. Men will dip into their pockets to witness the bizarre—the spectacle of a woman allowing the guileful reptile to weave itself about her frame. Occasionally the performer miscalculates, is bitten by her deceitful plaything, and pays for her folly with her life.

Only the extraordinary protective power of the Holy Spirit—given for “signs”— saf eguarded Christ’s apostles against death from snake-bite and like perils. “They shall take up serpents. . . any deadly thing. . shall not hurt them” (Mark 16. 17, 18) . The Maltese “barbarians” were therefore filled with amazement when Paul, bitten by a viper, shook off “the venomous beast” and “felt no harm”. (Acts. 28. 3-5).

The serpent, then, represents all that is false and vicious, all that is venomous and vile, in the Adamic race. Is it necessary to stress that is does not represent mankind generally, at all stages of their lives Such an interpretation would not only stultify the language of the promise altogether. It would rob it of its beauty and its power.