“And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life” – Genesis 3:14

Have you ever wondered why did the Lord cursed the Serpent to have a body like the snake? Why He did not curse it to be like an earthworm, or a caterpillar, or a frog, or a dog or any other animals? Why like the snake? It has only a tubular body without any appendages on it. It has no hands, no feet or even wings on it, only a head and a tail-like body. Why like the snake?

I have heard and read so many preaching, stories and theories about this topic, but let me share to you some Biblical evidences that might give us another point of view, that is, the Biblical point of you on why did the Lord God cursed the serpent to have a body like the snake. This however, is not to convince anyone to believe that this is the absolute explanation but to encourage anyone to at least have a look at this point of view.

SERPENT – MORE SUBTLE AND CAPABLE OF TALKING

Genesis 3:1 “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

First of all, it should be established that before it was cursed to crawl and have a body like the snake, the serpent is wiser (subtil) “than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.” It is also able to talk as stated in Genesis 3. Therefore, it is also very clear that before it was cursed to crawl and to have a snake-like body, the serpent does not crawl and do not posses a body like the snake (because why would God cursed it to crawl if in the beginning, it is already crawling and already possessed a snake-like body?)

Since we have already established that in the beginning the Serpent is not crawling and does not posses a snake-like body, we are now ready to answer our first question.

Why did the Lord cursed the Serpent to be like the Snake?

To answer this question, let us first go back to that “Old Serpent, the Great Dragon, who was also called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world” (Rev. 12:9) – who is no other than Lucifer himself, the son of the morning (Isa. 14:12) before he has fallen.

It is very important that we should first go back to Lucifer because he is the first one who was called the Serpent. Why he was called a serpent? Before we answer this, we must first know why he was also called a “Great Dragon”.

THE GREAT DRAGON – THE OLD SERPENT

A Dragon is a mythical creature which means it does not exist in our natural world. We often heard about them mostly on folklores, legends and fairytales. There is also a huge difference between the dragons of the Western Culture (European) and the dragons of the Oriental Culture (Asian).

In Western Culture, dragons are portrayed as winged creature, four-legged, and capable of breathing fire while in Oriental Culture, they are portrayed as wingless, legless and resemble a giant snake with an above-average intelligence. The Great Dragon described in the book of Revelation resembles more as an Oriental Dragon.

Western and Oriental Dragons

This depiction of oriental dragons is much older compared to the western ones. As we can see even the Constellation Draco, it is wingless and legless and much more like a serpent with only two distinct parts, the head and the tail. Therefore, oriental dragons are just big versions of serpents. In the Book of Revelation 12:9, the great dragon was also called the old serpent basically because, it is a big serpent. Unlike the serpent in Genesis 3:1 which has a body that is not yet cursed to be like the snake, this old serpent of Revelation 12:9 has a body like that of a snake.

SATAN – THE OLD SERPENT

Since we now know that there are no literal dragons that exist, this only means that that dragon in the book of Revelation seen by John in a vision is also not a literal dragon.

If it’s not, then what it is? It’s no other than a description used to describe Satan’s system and character. How come it is a description of Satan’s system and character?

To answer this, we must first see the connection between the system and character of Satan to the body of the serpent (dragon). And to understand it, let’s first take look at the Anatomy of the Snake because snakes and serpents have the same body build up. Take a look at this picture of the skeleton of the snake below:

What have you noticed? It has only three parts: the head, the body and the tail. And if you have noticed, the body and the tail is not distinct from each other! The body actually also looks like the tail (especially if you will look at it with its muscle and skin still intact, one cannot make a distinction between the body and the tail). This makes the serpent to have only two distinct parts, the head and the tail-like body.

It has no appendages or body parts like hands, feet, ears or wings that are attached to the main body. It has no body parts that protrudes from its main body. It has no parts that has distinct appearance from its body and has a distinct function. Nothing. Just a head and a tubular body.

Just like the snake, this is also the anatomy of the serpent. So what’s its connection to the character and system of Satan?

SATAN’S CHARACTER AND SYSTEM

The character and the system used by Satan is very much the same with the anatomy of the serpent. Satan wanted to be like God (Isa. 14:14) – to be the head of the Angels. He knows that there is no “Chief” Angel or “Lead” Angel. Although they have different roles to fulfill as servants of God, He knows that in the eyes of God, they are all on the same level (1 Cor. 12:25). They are all important. No one is more important than the others.

But Satan do not want this. He wanted to be the Head and all the rest to be his followers. And the role of being the head is only for God. He is the head of Angels, He is the head of all creations. And Satan wanted to be like that. From being the servant who serves, he wanted to be served. From being just a follower to God, he wanted to elevate and be the head to be followed. He wanted to be the one in control.

SERPENT’S TAIL – HIS FOLLOWERS

So he came out with a plan to be the head of the angels and he had convinced one third of them.

“And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth:” – Revelation 12:4a

“Tail” means “to be followers”. Like in the anatomy of the serpent, the tail-like body follows wherever the head leads them. So when the Bible said “And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven,” this means that he made one third of the angels to be his followers. He is now the head of them. This also means that no other angels will become the head but Satan alone. He is their leader and the rest will be only the followers. The other fallen angels understood this and they are okay with it. So like the anatomy of the serpent, there is only one head and the rest are all tails!

In this government of Satan, he had ensured his position. There are no other parts with special function in this body, only the head and the rest are the tail.

The Body of Christ and the Body of Satan

Let us now compare the body of Satan to the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12.

1. Unlike the Body of Christ which has diverse members but are all equally important in His eyes (1 Cor. 12:14), Satan’s body aside from the head has only one member, they are all the tails.

2. The Body of Christ has diverse functions and operations (e.g. hand for grasping, feet for walking, stomach for digesting). Satan on the other hand uses his tail-like body to do it all: to grasp, to crawl and to digest food.

3. “And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body.” (1 Cor. 12:19-20). Because Satan’s body have only one member, we cannot distinguish the main body from the tail.

4. “And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you” (1 Cor. 12:21). Since Satan can do it all with the one member of his body, he has no need of a hand or feet.

As we can see in this comparison of two bodies, Satan’s system and character is very much like his body since the beginning. He is the head and all are his followers (tail). Wherever he goes, the tail follows.

Another reason why did Satan designed his kingdom to be structured like the anatomy of the serpent is because unlike God, Satan is not omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. Read Job 1:7, Satan is going to and fro and up and down in the Earth. He cannot be everywhere at the same time. He cannot micromanage every member of his kingdom unlike God Who directly deals to each members of His Body without any hierarchy because He is not limited to time and space.

The World Governments and the Bottomless Pit

When Satan and his angels were cast down here on earth, they have ever since deceived the whole world (Rev. 12:9). They have deceived the humans to copy their system. In every kind of the world governments, a leader is the head who is exalted above the common people and being served. The people of the kingdom where they are heading are also not equal to their status, unlike in the body of Christ.

After the head, there is the hierarchy of followers. Just like the Archbishop is much more important than the Bishop and the Bishops are much more important than the Priests. The President is much more important than the Vice President and the Vice President is much more important than the common people. The more you are being the lowest, the more you are in the farthest end of the tail. The higher you go up, the nearer you are to the head, the more important you become.

This system of hierarchy is actually the very anatomy of the serpent. All the kingdoms of this world are using this system. This is the reason why we read in Matthew 4:8-9:

“Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them. And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”

Why did Satan offered “ALL the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them” to our Lord Jesus? Simply because all the kingdoms (governments) of these world are his system. They are all his. Not a single one of them is not his.

This Satan’s system is also known as the “Bottomless Pit” in Revelation 9. This is called “Bottomless” because once you enter this system, you will forever be falling into this system (pit) and there is no way out. Satan will lift you up and up into this hierarchy until you will be nearer to him (the head) and you have no way to get out. The more you are lifted up, the more your position became higher. In the eyes of the world, you are being lifted up, but in the eyes of God, you are actually falling and falling. For “whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased” (Luke 14:11a). This is the reason why this system is called a “Pit” because even though you are being lifted, in actuality, you are falling.

NICOLAITANES SYSTEM

Even the religious systems are also authored by Satan. This is evident in an organizational or denominational system of any religious group where the Pastor or the “Minister” is more important than the common believers. The Pastor consider himself as the leader or the head of the church he is tending and he is on a higher level compared to the common believers. Many of the churches in the Endtime Message circle are practicing this.

The early Christians condemned this kind of thinking and system. They called this “Nicolaitism” from the word “Nicolaitanes” (Rev. 2:6) which came from the two words “nikao” which means “to conquer” and “laos” which means the “laity” or the congregation. Those who have the system of the serpent wanted to conquer the congregation and exalt themselves above the believers.

The Lord hate this kind of people and He commends those people who hate it also (read Rev. 2:6). So if you know someone who has a Nicolaitane spirit and you hate them, the Lord commends you. But if you are supporting them, then the Lord hates you also.

HOW TO KILL THE SERPENT

Since this hierarchy is like the anatomy of the serpent, to destroy this system is like killing a serpent. Do you know how to kill a serpent? In order to kill a serpent, one must crush its head. Crushing its body will not kill it. It should be the head just like what is written in Genesis 3:15:

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

In the prophesy above, in order for the seed of the woman to crush the head, he must use his heel. And we know that this prophesy was fulfilled by our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who had crush the serpent’s head. Why should he used His heel? Why not used His hands or other parts of His body? Why His heel? And how did He do it?

THE HEEL – THE LOWLIEST OF SERVANTS

When the Lord washed the feet of the disciples in John 13:1–17, He was showing us to be a servant to one another. The foot symbolizes humility and servanthood since it is the lowest part of the body in oppose to the head. When we kiss or wash someone’s feet, it symbolizes that we are lowering ourselves to that someone. If the head symbolizes leadership and kingship, the feet symbolize servanthood and humility.

The heel is in the backside of the foot just below the ankle where pressure is put upon to carry the weight of the body. This means that our heel symbolizes the lowliest among the servants. This is the kind of servanthood that our Lord had shown us. He carries all the weight (burdens) of the Church with Him. And this is the only way to kill the serpent, by being a heel.

When the Lord Jesus came here to earth, He did not came here as a God but a lowly human. He did not came here a Lion, but a Lamb ready to be sacrificed. He did not came as King and a Conqueror, but as a suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. As He revealed in Matthew 20:28, He came “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” In fact, when the Lord entered Jerusalem during His earthly ministry, He entered riding a donkey and not a horse. A donkey symbolizes servanthood, humility and suffering. While a horse symbolizes kingship, conqueror and authority. In His second entrance to Jerusalem, He will be riding a horse and come as a conquering King. He will no longer be a servant (Rev. 19:11-16).

Why did He came as a heel (servant)? Because this is the only way to crush the head of a serpent according to the prophesy in Genesis 3:15. If He came here as a head and not as a heel, He will not win. If He came here as a King and not as a servant, He will not win. And Satan actually know this. That’s why He wanted the Lord to exercise His Kingship and His being a God and not being a servant. This is the reason why He tempted our Lord in Matthew 4:1-11 to exercise His power being a God.

Satan wanted our Lord to use his Kingship and Godly power. Because if our Lord Jesus exercise His authority being a God and a King, Satan will win. For a king cannot crush the head of a serpent, only a servant. A head cannot crush a head, only the heel can. Our Lord Jesus Christ knows this very well. He is the Word himself who came to fulfill what was written. That’s why even if Satan tries everything he could to tempt our Lord to exercise his Godly power, IT ALL FAILED. Our Lord was not temped. He knows that the only way to crush Satan who is high and mighty is to be lowly.

This is also the very reason why Our Lord Jesus never exercise authority like a head when He was here on earth (Mark 10:42-45). He was always a Servant.

BOSSES AND SERVANTS

Bosses and servants never get along together. Like the Nicolaitanes and Servant ministers, there is always an enmity between them. Bosses will always strike the servants and servants will always crush the bosses.

In order for us to overcome this world, we must be servants just like our Lord Jesus Who had overcome. In this world where Satan’s system rules, for us to win this battle, we must be heels and not heads. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY.

And then one day, when we have been faithful in this role of being a servant here on earth, we will be kings and lords just like our Lord Jesus Christ Who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords (Rev. 17:14).

May the Lord will continue to reveal to us His truth is my prayer.

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