The Serpent - Dust Shalt Thou Eat All The Days Of Thy Life

[Ron Beron]

Ron, I believe you're a temple attending Mormon. Is that correct?

That is correct and I won't direct my comments towards LDS doctrine which, at times, is more explanatory than the OT teachings. My assumption was based only on OT teachings.

[Ron Beron]

Thanks. I think that is true especially seeing as how Herkles and Nimrod are so often equated. You have the repopulating of the area after the Flood from a single family (or a tale from survivors of a catastrophic, though more local, Flood if that is your preference) so there should be all sorts connections that are the same or similar.

The book I have read is The Parthenon Code by Robert Johnson

I think you may be less impressed by his credentials and his underlying premise (that Christianity is true). However, I find it quite plausible. And don't worry, I read the more rigorous works as well.

On my wish-list. Thanks. Re: Nimrod. I believe there is also a Hebrew connection with him and Enoch.

[kawikadave]

That is correct and I won't direct my comments towards LDS doctrine which, at times, is more explanatory than the OT teachings. My assumption was based only on OT teachings.

Couldn't agree more. Thanks for your excellent comments.

[firepatch36]

I view the snake as originally having a positive imagery, such as when Moses lifted up the Brazen Serpent. When it says Satan spoke by the mouth of the serpent, I read it as Satan came and spoke as if he had the authority of Christ, even though he didn't.

I look at the curse of the serpent in its entirety and not split by verse:

And the LORD 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 say the whole curse applies to Satan and none to the actual animal of the snake. Iâ??ve heard the second part of the curse as being a Messianic prophecy - the seed of woman (Christ) will crush Satan in the end. If this is correct I don't see how the curse can switch midway between a beast and the devil without any indication. If you think the part of eating dust actually applies to the snake, then do you view the enmity part as a curse on the snake as well?

[BCSpace]

I believe there is also a Hebrew connection with him and Enoch.

How is the connection made across the Flood?

[changed]

Some interesting things about snakes...

Article Link: http://www.ldsmag.com/sci_rel/081105snake.html

SNIPPET: When Moses led the children of Israel into the rugged land of Edom after their journey through the desolate Sinai desert, they had an experience with deadly venomous snakes that has become one of the most powerful types and shadows of the mission of Jesus Christ. New research indicates that this year could be the seventieth 49-year Jubilee period after Moses raised up the famous "brazen serpent" on the pole that could heal those who would "look and live." ( Alma 33:19)

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from Fiery flying serpent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fiery flying serpents have also been compared to Seraphim.

check this out:

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp...88&letter=S

Vision of Isaiah.

Class of heavenly beings, mentioned only once in the Old Testament, in a vision of the prophet Isaiah (vi. 2 et seq.). Isaiah saw several seraphim, their exact number not being given, standing before the throne of Yhwh. They were winged beings (flying), each having six wingsâ??two covering their faces, two covering their feet, and two for flying. The seraphim cry continually to each other, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory" (vi. 3). The "foundations of the thresholds" (R. V.) of the Temple were moved by the sound of their voices. One of the seraphim flew to Isaiah with a live coal in his hand (fiery?), which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar, and with which he touched the lips of the prophet to purge him from sin. Isaiah gives no further description of the form and appearance of the seraphim; he apparently assumes that his readers are acquainted with them. Nevertheless, it may be concluded from the description that the seraphim were conceived as having human faces, human hands, and human voices. However, one should not too hastily conclude that the seraphim were winged human forms. At least this was not the original conception, although later Judaism pictured them so. The seraphim are frequently mentioned in the Book of Enoch (xx. 7, lxi. 10, lxxi. 7), where they are designated as δράκονες ("serpents"), and are always mentioned, in conjunction with the cherubim, as the heavenly creatures standing nearest to God. In Rev. iv. 6-8 four animals are pictured as standing near the throne of God; each has six wings, and, as in Isaiah, they sing the "Trisagion."

Meaning.

The passages cited furnish conclusive evidence against the idea, popular for a time, that the seraphim belong to the same category as angels. They have nothing whatever to do with the "messengers of God"; in the Jewish conception the two have always been distinguished. Dan. x. 13, the Book of Tobit, and other sources, afford information concerning a series of "chief" angels, but allusions to the seraphim are entirely lacking, and an etymological connection of the name "seraf" with the Arabic "sharif" (to be exalted or distinguished) is equally valueless.

On the other hand, there is a striking similarity between the seraphim and cherubim. Both are winged creatures, half human, half animal; both stand near the throne of God, and appear as its guardians; and, as has already been stated, they are always mentioned together in the Book of Enoch. This, however, by no means proves that the origin of the two was the same; it only shows that in later Jewish conception, as well as in the conception of the contemporaries of Isaiah, these two classes of heavenly beings were closely related.

Some authorities hold that the seraphim had their origin in the Egyptian "seref," a composite, winged creature, half lion and half eagle, which guarded graves, carried dead kings up to heaven, and transmittedprayers thither. The form and office of the seref, however, suggest rather the Jewish cherubim.

Babylonian Origin.

According to other investigators, the conception was of Babylonian origin. Friedrich Delitzsch and Hommel associate the seraphim with the Assyrian "sharrapu," a name which, in Canaan, designated the Babylonian fire-god Nergal. The seraphim, then, would be the flames in which this god manifested himself. An argument against this theory is that until now no one has been able to show that the word "seraph" was ever used as a name of a god. According to a third and more probable theory, the seraphim originally were serpents, as the name implies. Among many peoples of antiquity serpents played an important part in myth and folk-lore. For instance, there were Tiamat in the Babylonian legend of the Creation, and the Ur

[jadams_4242]

I've been thinking lately about the meaning of this scripture...

QUOTE

And I, the Lord God, said unto the serpent: Because thou hast done this thou shalt be 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

Who was cursed?

What was the meaning of the curse?

I,ve figured it out! It is speaking about all of us people whom live in southern nevada in the summertime.Ooohhhhh-Noooooo!