Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. This is study #17 of Genesis, chapter 3 and we are going to read Genesis 3:14-15:

And JEHOVAH 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: 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.

I will stop reading there. In our last study we were looking at God’s pronouncement of the curse against the serpent in that he was cursed “above all cattle, all above every beast of the field.” We saw how man is typified by “cattle” and “beasts” in the Bible. The curse upon the serpent is primarily pointing to the curse upon Satan and the other fallen angels. The curse upon them was greater than the curse upon mankind because there was no provision of salvation made for any of the fallen angels. There was a salvation plan for mankind that had been put in place before the world began; Christ had died and, therefore, salvation was available from the very beginning. Lord willing, in the next chapter of Genesis we will see that Abel was saved because he was referred to as “righteous Abel.” God saved a man early on and all the way through the Bible salvation was available and even after the Bible was completed there was the long stretch of the church age; then there was the conclusion of salvation in the second half of the Great Tribulation with the falling of the Latter Rain to save the great multitude.

So, yes, mankind was cursed. He was cursed, but still with the possibility of salvation. God sent His Word into the world to saved cursed sinners, but God did not send the Gospel into the world to seek and to save any fallen angels. There was no provision made of any kind for them.

By the way, that is why in the Epistle of James God brings up the fallen angels and their belief in the context of “works.” It says in James 2:17:

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

God’s point is that men can say they have faith and all kinds of people do say it, but if they do not have “works” it is dead. And the “work” that is in view is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ from the foundation of the world as He was laden with the sins of His people and died for those sins. That is the definition of “works.” If your faith does not have that work, then it is dead, being alone. That is why the entire corporate church today is “dead.” They have the profession of faith, but they lack the “works.” We know they lack the “work” because God commanded His people to come out of the churches as He separated the wheat from the tares, leaving behind the professed Christians. They are a body of about two billion people that say they are saved, but they lack the work (of Christ). One of the evidences would have been to come out of the churches in obedience to Christ’s command.

It goes on to say in James 2:18:

Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works…

The “man” here is Christ and He is speaking to those that profess to believe. He is saying, “You have faith and I have works.”

It goes on to say in James 2:18:

… shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

Jesus demonstrated His faith through His works, which were finished from the foundation of the world. Then it goes on to say in James 2:19:

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

The devils or fallen angels also believe and tremble. We also have historical accounts where devils come forth and speak of Jesus as “the Holy One of God,” and so forth. They believe in God, but their belief or acknowledgement of God provided no salvation for them. Why? It was because they lacked “works.” Some people read this and they say, “Yes, but they did not do good works, like obeying God’s commandments or carrying the Gospel.” No, those are not the works in view – it is the work of Christ on their behalf. That is why God brings up the believing of the devils in this context because there was never any work of atonement on their behalves. So, the devils believe and tremble, but it does no good in regard to salvation. They could have greater faith than many men that profess to believe and it is the same with unsaved men that make a profession. It does not matter what you believe intellectually. What matters is that you have both faith and works. If you lack the work that Christ performed, then your faith is worthless and dead, being alone. And that is why the serpent was cursed above the cattle and above all the beasts of the field. It is a terrible thing to come under the condemnation and wrath of God, especially without there being any possibility to escape the wrath of God and become saved. So, God is stressing that here when He says that the serpent is cursed above all men.

Then it goes on to say in the second part of Genesis 3:14:

… upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

This is the curse upon the serpent. Again, God is describing the effects on the snake as he goes upon his belly and makes his way upon the dust, but it has application to the fallen angel, Satan.

We are going to look at this because it is interesting language. The first part of the statement says, “Upon they belly shalt thou go.” The word “belly” is Strong’s #1512. It is only found two times in the Old Testament. It is not the usual word for “belly” that is used most often and God did not choose that word, but He chose a word that is only found elsewhere in Leviticus, chapter 11. We are going to have to learn how God uses it in this verse in order to understand more about our verse. It says in Leviticus 11:41-42:

And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten. Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all four, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

Here, God is laying down the dietary Laws for His people and He is distinguishing between clean and unclean animals. Whatever “goeth upon the belly” is an unclean animal and you should not eat them. I know this is disappointing to some that might want to fry up some snake. [Laughter] Actually, God changed this Law in the New Testament when He lowered the sheet with unclean creatures to Peter in a vision and commanded Peter to rise and eat, so anyone that would want this for a meal is permitted today by the Law of God to partake. However, I do not think there are too many people that would want that kind of meal.

It was the Law of God that whatever went upon its belly was not to be eaten; it was unclean. It was also said to be an abomination. That is interesting because we know in the New Testament when the Lord Jesus answered the disciples’ question about the sign of His coming and the end of the world, He mentions the “abomination.” It says in Matthew 24:15-16:

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

The “abomination of desolation” is understood as a reference to Satan, the evil one, and the one also known as the serpent. He had entered into the holy place of the corporate church and God said that when you “see” this, it is time to flee and that is what the Lord’s people did when they came out of the churches and congregations.

So, we have evidence that Satan is the “abomination” and he is also called the “abomination that maketh desolate” in the Book of Daniel. That is what the serpent is – it is something that goes upon its belly and it is unclean and an abomination. The word “abomination” in the Book of Leviticus is Strong’s #8263 and a related word is Strong’s # 8262 and it is found in Deuteronomy 7:26:

Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it…

This also relates to Matthew 24, when it says, “Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it.” What is another way of referring to the holy place? It is the house of God. An abomination was brought into the house and God goes on to say, “lest thou be a cursed thing like it.” Satan was cursed and when he entered into the house of God as the abomination of desolation in the holy place, the churches became cursed like Satan. Then God goes on to say in Deuteronomy 7:26:

… but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.

This fits in exactly with the point God is making in Genesis 3:14. Previously, from all we can gather, the serpent had not been a creature that “goeth on its belly,” but it was in a different form. God altered this creature. By the way, God did alter animals, for example, because he altered plant eaters to be meat eaters. In the case of the serpent, he was changed so that he went upon his belly and became an “abomination” or cursed thing. The physical picture that God is drawing with the curse upon the serpent is pointing to the terrible curse that God brought upon Satan and all the fallen angels – they became an abomination and a cursed thing in His sight. When they enter into a house, the house becomes a cursed thing like them.

Let us go back to Genesis 3:14:

… upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

We wonder about the use of the word “dust.” God says that the serpent will eat “dust.” We wonder because “dust” is a word that identifies with mankind. It says back in Genesis 2:7:

And JEHOVAH God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

God formed man of the dust and, yet, God continues to consider man as “dust” in Psalm 103:14:

For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

It says in Psalm 104:29:

Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

We came from the dust and we return to the dust.

It says in Ecclesiastes 12:7:

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

We can find many similar verses that relate “dust” to mankind. The “dust” also identifies with death in a couple of these verses because when you “return to the dust,” it means you have gone to the grave and your spirit has left your body. That is something we have to keep in mind. There is a similar sounding verse to Genesis 3, verse 14 in Isaiah 65:25:

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be* the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith JEHOVAH.

It says that “dust” shall be the serpent’s meat. Because of the language of the wolf and lamb feeding together and the lion eating straw like the bullock, it is language in this context that we see back in Isaiah 65, verse 17 where God speaks of the new heaven and new earth and, therefore, it is language befitting a “new Eden.” God has made a new heaven and new earth where all will be well, once again, and perfect. There will be no sin and no death and whatever creatures are there will be at peace with one another, and so forth. That is what makes the statement about the serpent stand out and it does not seem to fit, unless we understand that when it says, “Dust shall be the serpent’s meat,” the dust would identify with death itself as man goes to dust. The grave is in the dust and “hell” is in the dust, so the serpent’s meat would be “death.” We know that is the actual case because the rest of the Bible teaches us that Satan will be destroyed and will cease to exist. He will not go on for evermore and, therefore, Satan’s destruction will be an eternal death for him and all fallen angels, so there is that identification with the dust.

But there seems to be another point to God’s statement where He says, “and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life,” because it is making reference to Satan’s existence in time due to the fact that it mentions “days.” Days are a time reference and time is confined to this creation, with the sun, moon and stars as timekeepers. Therefore, “all the days” of the serpent’s life would involve all of Satan’s existence from this point in the Garden of Eden throughout the entire history of the world. He has existed all this time because he is not a man. Men die after a certain number of years, but these fallen angels do not die like men, in that sense, but they will have to be destroyed by God at the very end. Satan has existed for over 13,000 years of history and these are “all the days” of his life. Remember that statement concerning the antichrist in 1John 4:3:

And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

The antichrist would come at the end of time, but the Apostle John is being moved to write this in the 1st century AD. The antichrist would come about 2,000 years from the point of John’s writing, but he was already in the world in the 1st century AD and this is what proves it is a reference to Satan because no man could exist in the first century and still be alive in the 21st century. It is not possible for a man, but it is possible for Satan, the antichrist. He existed way back in the year 11,013BC and he was there when Christ Jesus entered into the world and all through New Testament history and he will be here all the way to the end. These are “all the days” of the serpent’s life and, yet, his life is limited to this creation. When God destroys this world, He will destroy the serpent. He will be annihilated along with all the fallen angels and they will cease to exist and, therefore, the dust that he will eat all the days of his life must refer to something else.

In that verse in Isaiah 65, the word “meat” is also found in Psalm 14:4:

Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon JEHOVAH.

The word “bread” is the same word as the word “meat.” The workers of iniquity eat up God’s people as they eat meat and they call not upon JEHOVAH. The word “meat” is the same word used where it says that the serpent will eat dust all the days of his life. Here, the unsaved are eating up God’s people like “meat.” Remember what identifies with mankind – it is dust. So, if you are eating up people as “meat” it can also be understood that you are eating up dust as meat. We can see there is a relationship between Satan eating up “man” and eating up the dust all the days of his life.

We have come to the end of our time in this study. Lord willing, when we get together in our next study we will look a little more closely at this verse and I think we will get a better idea of what is being said.