This post is to prove that my mind works in mysterious ways. I was reading through the first few chapters of Genesis for the last few days. As I got to chapter 3 and read about the “fall of man” the part of the story that stuck with me was the serpent’s penalty for his responsibility in tempting the woman.
So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
Did you catch the part, “You will crawl on your belly”? That is the part that stuck in my mind. The question comes up, how did that darn serpent get around before the fall? Did he have legs? Did he walk around on the end of his tail?
I know these are unanswerable questions just like, “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin” but it stuck in my mind anyway, what can I say? I know it has no theological importance, and maybe it is just plain odd, but one thing is for sure, we will know the answers to these silly questions when we get to heaven. Even my silliness is ok!
Isn’t that an intriguing question? In the Bible study I am doing of Genesis right now they posited that perhaps the serpent was more like a dragon (the fearsome Chinese style) …
Your minds don’t work in mysterious ways, they just don’t work.
eli,
Ole buddy ole pal, you are so witty! At least you had something worthwhile to add to the conversation. Thank you for the contribution.
It was bad, I know — the product of a un-witty mind.
“The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
Apply your wits to that.
Eli,
That is simple. Spiritual things can be discerned only by those whom have had their mind regeneraged or renewed by the Holy Spirit. Spiritual things are foolishness to all others.
But are you trying to say that one with a renewed mind can understand how the serpant got around before he received his penalty?
Were “spiritual things” unknown to Adam? Could Adam (the first mind) have had a “renewed mind”, or was Adam the first fool? Was the Holy Spirit God’s gift to us because we are all Adam’s children, and hence we inherit his foolishness? Does our wit make us all nothing but childish fools?
If so, a childish fool who asks for forgiveness is worth more before God than anyone else. If so, those who think they are not childish fools are not worth as much before God, but are they are to the serpant?
Cripes, I got to shutup.
Please.
Interestingly enough, I have reently gone thorugh this.You may have noticed it says he will be cursed above all cattle and the beasts of teh field. That remark right there answers your question. The serpant had hooves before the curse, it is hard to explain hard to imagine, but he had hooves just like a cow, a deer, a pig, anything you want to picture. I can’t show you what he looked like, if he had scales, or not, I can’t even describe something similar because there isn’t anything similar, but he had hooves. It sounds crazy, but theologians everywhere agree that there is definite proof of it. Even some snakes today still have appendages where you can see they might have had legs at one time, tiny little “claws” I guess you could say. All I can say is that it is pretty weird.