The Narrow Path Ministries

Genesis 3 v 14:

“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.

This is a query my wife brought up at the meal table today. The snake was already a snake. Did God have other plans for the snake that the act of tempting Eve thwarted? Would it have "evolved" into something with legs for example?

Genesis 3 v 14:



“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.


This is a query my wife brought up at the meal table today. The snake was already a snake. Did God have other plans for the snake that the act of tempting Eve thwarted? Would it have "evolved" into something with legs for example?Ian Posts: 415Joined: Sun Oct 18, 2009 2:26 am





Well we know the snake is Satan from Revelation so maybe this is a symbolic action. Just a thought but maybe Satan is being limited to this earth and the dust that he eats is mankind since we come from dust and to dust we return?

I guess God cannot have been talking to the snake itself (how would it take the curse "on board", possessed as it was?). So your postulation is feasible.

I was wondering about this recently too (maybe we are using the same daily devotional). I believe many old paintings of the scene show the snake with wings. I appreciate Steve's explanation.

steve7150 wrote:Well we know the snake is Satan from Revelation so maybe this is a symbolic action. Just a thought but maybe Satan is being limited to this earth and the dust that he eats is mankind since we come from dust and to dust we return?

One way to look at this is from the perspective of the author of Genesis. Going with the traditional attribution to Moses, we can imagine him looking at the sky and asking God, "where did the sun come from? Where did water come from?" To which God answered in Genesis. Regarding the serpent, the question would be "how did snakes wind up slithering on the ground?" Genesis answers that question. What it doesn't answer is what came before the serpent being on the ground, because that's not the question it is answering. The only thing it gives us about before is God. "In the beginning, God..."


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When we read the text as inspired, we ask: what is the inspiration of the text trying to say or teach us. And steve is exactly right. It harmonizes with all of Scripture.

This was not a snake; this was Satan. Snakes don't talk to people. Figuratively, Satan was called "that old serpent." God's prophecy that he would travel on his belly and eat dust was clearly figurative. Although ordinary snakes travel on their bellies, they do not eat dust.

I think Steve 7150 had the right idea.

I think Steve 7150 had the right idea.

Me too. Thanks for the input folks.