The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

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In Greek mythology, Medusa is a gorgeous woman who engages in a tryst with Poseidon in one of Athena’s temples. As punishment, the virgin goddess Athena turns Medusa into a Gorgon, a race of snake-women whose gazes turn people into stone. Gorgons have serpents for hair, long claws, sharp teeth, and scales covering their bodies. Athena later helps the hero Perseus slay Medusa, giving him a shiny bronze shield that enables him to watch Medusa’s reflection rather than look directly at her. After cutting off Medusa’s head, Perseus mounts it on his shield, using it to paralyze his enemies in battle.

Jump forward to a 15^th century Polish yarn in which a fearsome dragon lives in a dark cave along the banks of the Vistula River. Day after day, this fire-breathing monster terrorizes civilians, pillaging their homes and devouring their livestock. King Krakus sends out his bravest knights to slay the dragon, but all fall prey to the winged beast’s deadly talons and bone-crunching jaws. In desperation, the king promises his beautiful daughter in marriage to the man who vanquishes the dragon. 

A poor cobbler’s apprentice named Skuba takes up the challenge. He stuffs a roasted lamb with sulfur and sets it outside the dragon’s cave. The dragon takes the bait, gulping down the poisoned lamb. Soon, the sulfur burns his stomach. He becomes so thirsty that he drinks half of the Vistula River, causing him to swell and, ultimately, explode. True to his promise, the king grants Skuba his daughter’s hand in marriage and, of course, Skuba and his bride live happily ever after.

Tales of serpents and dragons have regaled the pages of folklore for centuries. Modern-day films and television series often borrow from these myths and legends, or present new creatures altogether. For example, a giant anaconda slithers onto the big screen in a 1997 major motion picture, and he lives on in sequels spanning nearly two decades. Crafty and comical animated serpents – from Kaa in The Jungle Book to Rattlesnake Jake in Rango – entertain kids and their parents. That’s not all. From Smaug, the last of Middle Earth’s great dragons in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, to the converted and cuddly Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon, to the fierce and sympathetic Drogon in Game of Thrones, dragons spark our imaginations and excite our senses. 

So, it should come as no surprise to Christians today that secular eyes roll after reading Genesis 3, as well as Revelation 12 and 20, in which Satan is called the serpent and the dragon. Skeptical readers howl at the very notion of a real Satan, concluding that his identification with serpents and dragons only proves his mythical existence. After all, what’s up with a talking snake in Genesis 3, anyway? And Revelation features such apocalyptic language that dragons, six-winged heavenly creatures, and a beast with seven heads and ten horns all make for great entertainment but are hardly worth taking seriously. 

While it’s true that slithery serpents and fire-breathing dragons lavish the pages of fairy tales, it is an injustice to Scripture to write off these accounts in Genesis and Revelation so quickly. In fact, when applied to the evil one, the names serpent and dragon more aptly describe what Satan is like rather than how he appears. 

Serpent

The word serpent appears twenty-four times in twenty-three verses in the Christian Standard Bible (CSB). Ten applications are clear references to Satan (Gen. 3:1, 2, 4, 13, 14; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9, 14, 15; 20:2). Three times serpent appears in the confrontation between Moses and the magicians of Pharaoh’s court (Exod. 7:9, 10, 12). Three references are to a sea serpent or Leviathan, a mystical deity over which the Lord has absolute power (Job 26:13; Isa. 27:1; Amos 9:3). 

Twice, there are mentions of a “flying serpent,” either an analogy of Assyria (Isa. 14:29) or a reference to one of the wild beasts in the Negev (Isa. 30:6). Singular references include: an analogy of an enemy’s wine (“serpent’s venom,” Deut. 32:33); a place (“Serpent’s Well,” Neh. 2:13); predators who lie in wait (Ps. 91:13); animal food in the new creation (“the serpent’s food will be dust!” Isa. 65:25); and Jesus’ instructions to his disciples to take prudent action in light of coming persecution (Matt. 10:16; cf. 21-23).

Old Testament writers use three different Hebrew words translated “serpent” in these passages. The most common is nachash, meaning “serpent” or “snake.” The word even makes a hissing sound when spoken. The word tanniyn (used in Exod. 7; Deut. 32:33; Neh. 2:13; and Ps. 91:13) has a broader application and can mean “serpent, venomous snake,” “sea or river monster,” or “dragon or dinosaur.” The third word, saraph, is used only once (Isa. 30:6) and may be translated “serpent,” “fiery serpent,” or “poisonous serpent.” It’s also the word from which we get seraphim, the six-winged heavenly creatures Isaiah sees above the throne in his vision of God (Isa. 6). 

In the CSB New Testament, the Greek word ophis is used more than a dozen times and is translated “snake” or “serpent.” It may refer to an actual snake (Matt. 7:10; John 3:14-15; cf. Num. 21:8-9), or it may be used figuratively to illustrate certain traits or qualities. For example, Jesus calls the scribes and Pharisees “snakes” because of their venomous hypocrisy (Matt. 23:33). After sending his disciples to proclaim the gospel, Jesus tells them to be “as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves” (Matt. 10:16). 

Other references are directed more toward the demonic realm. Believers are promised authority over snakes, demonstrating their power over Satan and his agents (Luke 10:19). And Paul warns the Corinthians that the ancient serpent continues to strike with lethal intent: “But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3). 

As you can see, the writers of Scripture employ numerous Hebrew and Greek terms to depict a variety of creatures associated with serpents. Andrew Naselli notes that serpent is an umbrella term – a “big category” – that includes both snakes and dragons. Further, he writes that a serpent has two major strategies that become evident in Scripture: to deceive and devour:

As a general rule, the form a serpent takes depends on its strategy. When a serpent in Scripture attempts to deceive, it’s a snake. When a serpent attempts to devour, it’s a dragon. Snakes deceive; dragons devour. Snakes tempt and lie; dragons attack and murder. Snakes backstab; dragons assault.

The Serpent and the Serpent Slayer

For our purposes, we focus primarily on depictions of Satan as the serpent in Genesis and Revelation.

Snake in the grass

Occasionally, serpents symbolize good rather than evil. The first reference to serpents in the Bible is positive: “So God created the large sea-creatures” (Heb. tanniyn) and declared them good (Gen. 1:21). The psalmists praise God for demonstrating his creative power in Leviathan and sea monsters (Ps. 104:26; 148:7). As we noted earlier, the seraphim above the throne in heaven draw their names from the Hebrew word saraph, which may be translated “fiery serpent.” And when Jesus sends out the twelve apostles to proclaim the kingdom of heaven to the lost sheep of Israel, he implores them to be “as shrewd as serpents” (Matt. 10:16). 

Mostly, however, serpents represent evil – and in the ultimate sense, the evil one. This is true in Satan’s first appearance in Scripture as the nachash in Genesis 3. He is “the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made” (v. 1). This seems to describe the serpent as a true animal, but one with the remarkable qualities of intelligence and speech. If so, this is an ideal creature for the evil one to manipulate. 

We know that people and animals may be demon-possessed, such as a Gadarene man and a herd of pigs in Jesus’ encounter across the Sea of Galilee (Mark 5:1-20). Therefore, many Bible commentators contend that Satan co-opted the serpent and manipulated its marvelous natural gifts to deceive Eve. But there may be a more biblically faithful explanation.

We might begin by asking why Eve does not fear the serpent, or why she shows no surprise when he speaks. Talking animals are the exception, not the rule, in Scripture (cf. Num. 22:28-30). We have no record of other talking animals in Eden. To suggest that this encounter happens before the Fall and therefore should not be considered unusual does not really answer the question. 

In ancient Near Eastern literature of the Old Testament world, animal speech is fairly common. However, the context for such speaking is magic, which is tied to the pagan worlds of the gods. No person in ancient Egypt, for example, would have expected his cattle to carry on a conversation with him. But when the gods or magical forces are invoked, animals often are the means of manifesting a divine presence or power in a story. The kind of animal that appears and speaks depends on traits associated with that animal, or on the status of that animal in a culture’s religion.

So, perhaps it makes more sense to see the serpent in Genesis 3 as a divine being – a member of the heavenly host. He inhabits Eden along with God and other supernatural beings. In this case, the serpent’s appearance and language would be nothing out of the ordinary to Eve. Just as angels often appear on earth in human likeness, the serpent may have been a physical manifestation of an anointed guardian cherub (see Chapter 1). The apostle Paul reminds the Corinthians that Satan masquerades as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). So, why not as an attractive and persuasive creature? As Michael Heiser notes, “If we’re thinking only in terms of a snake, we’ll miss the messaging.”

That messaging, according to Heiser, is this: 

Genesis telegraphed simple but profound ideas to Israelite readers: The world you experience was created by an all-powerful God; human beings are his created representatives; Eden was his abode; he was accompanied by a supernatural host; one member of that divine entourage was not pleased by God’s decisions to create humanity and give them dominion. All that leads to how humanity got into the mess it’s in. 

In some respects, we know that the Genesis “serpent” wasn’t really a member of the animal kingdom. We have other passages to help us grasp that point, particularly in the New Testament. We understand that, even though New Testament writers refer to the serpent back in Eden, they are really referring to a supernatural entity – not a mere member of the animal kingdom (2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Thess. 3:5; Rev. 12:9).

The Unseen Realm

We might summarize it this way: When Moses and other human authors of Scripture depict the evil one as the serpent, they are not describing his appearance; rather, they are describing his character. He is an alluring, intelligent, shrewd, and attractive creature whose entire being is poised to deliver lethal poison. His smooth-talking deception of Eve illustrates both his beauty and his vileness, which remain as twin attributes throughout Scripture until he is cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10). 

God’s curse upon the serpent is revealing:

So the LORD God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal. You will move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. 

Genesis 3:14-15

While acknowledging that many Bible commentators identify the serpent as an actual animal Satan co-opted to tempt Eve, we might benefit from seeing this passage in light of the evil one’s role as a heavenly being – perhaps the anointed guardian cherub of Ezekiel 28. The Lord’s curse of the serpent doesn’t actually call him “livestock” or a “wild animal.” God curses the serpent more than any livestock and more than any wild animal. 

The whole creation, including the animal kingdom, groans beneath the weight of sin (Rom. 8:22), which began in the garden of Eden. But the serpent’s curse is worse: he moves on his belly and eats dust. We know snakes don’t eat dirt for nutrition. But as Donald Barnhouse notes, “To eat dust is to know defeat, and that is God’s prophetic judgment upon the enemy. He will always reach for his desires and fall just short of them. There will be continuous aspiration, but never any attainment.” 

Just as conquered kings are made to lie on the ground with the feet of their conquerors on their necks (Josh. 10:24), Satan is surely a defeated foe whom Paul says God promises to crush beneath our feet (Rom. 16:20). Cursed as the tempter, the evil one is cast away from God, and from God’s heavenly host, down to earth, and even under the earth. In the underworld, the serpent is even lower than the beasts of the field. Striving constantly for attention, and for control, he is hidden away from life in the world God created. And while he succeeds in bruising the heel of the promised Messiah, he finds that the death of the Son of God – for which he labors so neurotically – brings a fatal blow to his own head.

The bronze serpent

Before moving on to the dragon, and on to an examination of passages in Revelation involving both the serpent and the dragon, we should note an incident during Israel’s forty years of wandering in the wilderness. In Numbers 21, we find the people grumbling against God and Moses. “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness?” they complain to Moses. “There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!” (v. 5). So, the Lord sends poisonous snakes (Heb. saraph) among the people, resulting in many deaths. 

The people run to Moses, confess their sin of speaking against God and his servant, and ask Moses to intercede on their behalf. Moses obliges, and the Lord instructs Moses to fashion a bronze snake and mount it on a pole. Whenever people are snake bitten, they are to look at the bronze serpent for healing (vv. 6-9). Over time, the people come to worship the bronze snake and burn incense to it. King Hezekiah finally breaks it into pieces as part of his effort to remove idolatry from the land (2 Kings 18:4).

End of story – or so it seems – until Jesus revives the historical account in his nighttime conversation with Nicodemus:

Just as Moses lifted up the snake (Gr. ophis) in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

John 3:14-17

Jesus reminds Nicodemus that the bronze serpent in the wilderness symbolized the means of salvation: faith in God, who removes sin and its stain. No mere hunk of metal cures a snakebite. But the God who offers a cure through a simple glance at a bronze serpent is more than able to save us from our sins. When Jesus is lifted up on the cross, those who look to him in faith are restored to a right relationship with God. Just as Moses made a bronze serpent to replicate the real thing, God “made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).

Jesus is the definitive serpent crusher, who became so when he was “crushed because of our iniquities” (Isa. 53:5). All of this is according to the eternal plan of God, who “was pleased to crush him [Jesus] severely” (Isa. 53:10; cf. Acts 2:23-24; 4:27-28). As a result, followers of Jesus participate in the crushing of Satan (Rom. 16:20).

As D. A. Carson notes, “By going to the cross, Jesus will ultimately destroy this serpent, this devil, who holds people captive under sin, shame, and guilt. He will crush the serpent’s head by taking their guilt and shame on himself.”

Next: Satan as the dragon