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In Genesis 3:1 we find a serpent. Supposedly Satan inhabited the serpent, or the word should be translated Shining One (NIV). At any rate, God curses the snake in 3:14: "On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life."

If going on his belly is Satan's fate, then how is he coming and going before God in Job 1 and 2, and on the earth, "walking back and forth on it" instead of crawling around?

The only reconciliation I can think of is that the serpents were different back then, not relegated to their bellies as they are now -- so the curse is directed to the animal and not Satan.

I welcome answers from any Christian viewpoint that accepts the Genesis 1 days of 24 hours and a literal rendering of Genesis 1-11 events, and believes in the Apostle's Creed.

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    I'm not sure why you have the additional "belief in the Apostles' Creed" requirement.
    – Matt Gutting
    Jan 18, 2017 at 15:33
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    @MattGutting Because that is the minimal, objective way to tell if someone is a Christian, I think.
    – Mark Gardner
    Jan 18, 2017 at 18:11
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    For the purposes of this website alone, our policy is to recognize anyone who claims to be a Christian as a Christian (regardless of what we as individuals actually believe). Which however isn't necessarily relevant to this question; it's only necessary to know that you want the question answered from the point of view of someone who is "sufficiently Christian" in your view, and that's fine.
    – Matt Gutting
    Jan 18, 2017 at 18:18

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I guess when you consider that Revelation clearly identifies the serpent in the garden as Satan, then this might appear to be a problem. However when you consider that Satan is a spiritual being that according to scripture can "enter" people, as well as Romans 16:20:

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

Then it seems that there would be a dual fulfillment of this prophetic curse pronounced against "the serpent": one enacted immediately against the creature that Satan possessed (you are not alone in thinking that its form must have been transformed at this point); a second still to be fulfilled as per this verse acting on Satan himself.

The narrative in Job lies between the initial fulfillment in Genesis and the final fulfillment reaffirmed in Romans.

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It may be helpful to look at other references to Satan in scripture: e.g. Ezekiel 28:11-19 God speaks of the king of Tyre and says: he was perfect, he was in the garden of God, Eden; he was the anointed guardian cherub, etc. Of course the king of Tyre was not in Eden and he was not the guardian cherub. Ezekiel is addressing Satan as the inspiration of the king. This passage is very important in understanding Job. God describes Job as the greatest man,'perfect', blameless, innocent (not sinless); same language that describes Satan in Ezekiel. In the book of Job, God is bringing together the two greatest created moral beings, Job and Satan, side by side, before an angelic audience and before mankind. God is indicting Satan for his iniquity, and He is proving His Righteousness and Character in Job's integrity. Satan inhabits Elophaz's dream in chapter 4 and inspires his arguments concerning self-righteousness and God's obligation to bless man. (God is worthy of man's blessing, not vice versa; thus God's disapproval) God rebukes the three friends in chapter 42 and restores them with Job's prayer and sin offering.

Similarly, in Isaiah 14 God addresses the spirit that inspires the king of Babylon. vs 12 ...How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! Also, Jesus addresses the spirit that inhabits Peter's good intentions in the garden Mt 16:23 ...get behind me Satan...; also the antagonist in the desert, Mt 4, is inspired by Satan.

Satan is not the snake in Genesis, or the king in Isaiah and Ezekiel, or Peter, rather he is the inspiration of iniquity and cursing of God. And Jesus teaches us to pray ...deliver us from the evil one... Mt 6:9 ff

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No one can answer who it was or what was cursed in the garden. The Bible says Satan was more crafty than any other beast of the field. The closest I've come to explain it in my class is Satan went into this beast and used him/it to tempt Eve. God then cursed this beast/animal and the curse was put on that one forever.

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    Can you tell us where the Bible says Satan was more crafty than any other beast of the field? Because I'm thinking in Gn 3:1 where it said "serpent" and not "Satan".
    – freethinker36
    Sep 28, 2017 at 22:58
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You asked,... In Genesis 3:1 we find a serpent. Supposedly Satan inhabited the serpent, or the word should be translated Shining One (NIV). At any rate, God curses the snake in 3:14: "On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life."..... Christianity based on facts, this is called a religious parable,a parable is the construct of intent of understanding to ones ability. In other words Satan was cursed by God. Now the NIV Bible, I do not read it and it is not allowed in my home, it is considered a misrepresentation of the true word of God.

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