Weird Stuff in the Bible

Why was Eve talking to a snake?
Genesis 3

Introduction
Genesis 3:1-2 say
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent,
Well wait, let’s stop right there. Why wasn’t Eve just running the other way at this point Why was Eve talking to a snake? Did animals used to have the ability to speak before the fall of man?
Possibly. But that’s kind of a strong claim to make without more scriptural support for it. I don’t know that animals were that smart.
I did see an article this past week where the headline said scientists have determined that dolphins are the second-most-intelligent beings on this planet. Not snakes, but dolphins. It said dolphins are second only to man.
It did not say where women rank in the lineup. I felt like that should have been part of the story, but the article never went there.
But the smartest creatures we have on earth other than man are dolphins, and even dolphins can’t talk.
But Genesis 3 hits us with a talking snake.
And Eve talks right back to it. She even lets it convince her to commit the first sinful action ever taken by humans.
Now most of you are already ahead of me: duh, Luke, it’s the devil! (Satan, that serpent of old, as Revelation 12:9 says)
And yes, it’s totally the devil. But that makes the question even more challenging for us, because now we have to explain: how was the devil a snake, who did Eve think she was talking to, and why was she listening to him? We’ll answer all those questions today, because I find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible.
Turn to Genesis 3, and let’s get weird.
[theme music]

The Snake’s Identity
Welcome to Weird Stuff in the Bible, where we explore scripture passages that are bizarre, perplexing or just plain weird. This is Luke Taylor, and today we’re going to be talking about the talking snake in the Bible.
We’re continuing an exploration of Genesis 3, which we started last week with talking about beasts of the field- which is biblical code language- sometimes- for spiritual beings. Satan, the serpent, was the craftiest of the spiritual beings.
So as I said in the intro, I want to cover three aspects of the serpent in the garden today: how was the devil a snake? Who did Eve think he was? And why was she talking to him?
So to answer that first question: are we sure the devil was manifesting as a physical serpent, or snake, right here? I believe yes, he was, but there are some good strong scholars who don’t believe he was being a snake at all. I’ll explain in a minute.
Now, keep in mind, serpents looked a little different before the fall. After Eve sins, it says in:
Genesis 3:14
The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
    cursed are you above all livestock
    and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
    and dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life.
So the serpent was cursed to crawl on its belly, as we all know snakes do. So this tells me that prior to Genesis 3, snakes had arms and legs and didn’t necessarily crawl around on the ground but were perhaps more lizard-like and able to crawl around all over the place.
Sidenote: I do not believe in evolution, because as I’ve been saying, I take Genesis very very literally. But evolutionists will even agree that snakes used to have legs. They have a variety of reasons for this, like believing that snakes descended from lizards, that snakes still have pelvic spurs that are tiny remnants of limbs on their skeletons. That they have what are called vestigial genes related to limb development. And I’ll just say, on those accounts, I agree with evolutionists. There are biological markers on snakes that show they used to have legs, because it’s historical reality, according to the Bible. I just disagree that it was due to evolution.
It was honestly a devolution, because evolution is supposed to mean you adapt and develop. Progress. It doesn’t mean you lose your arms and legs; that’s moving backwards. It really doesn’t make much sense to evolve by losing your arms and legs. But when sin entered the world, things devolved. They regressed. They started to run down and fall apart.
The serpent right here was no mere snake, but the devil taking the form of a snake. How was the devil able to do this, and why a snake?
We’ll start with “how.” The devil is a spiritual being, but he is able to manifest- presumably- in whatever form he chooses. In other words, the devil is a shapeshifter. And perhaps many or most spiritual beings are. I’m not sure what rules there are that govern how a spiritual being is able to manifest itself. Satan’s manifestations are with an attempt to deceive.
II Corinthians 10:14
even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
Another translation I read growing up says he “masquerades” as an angel of light. Same thing, though. The idea is that he shape-shifts. The Greek word for “disguises” or “masquerades” here is “Metaschematizo,” which looks like our English word “schemes” and it means to change or transform yourself.
So the devil can appear as whatever form he wants. He comes to Eve as a snake. Why a snake? Well, remember that this is before the fall. Adam and Eve got along with the animals and weren’t threatened by them. So while we see a snake and we’re like, “aaahhh,” they wouldn’t have had that fearful reaction.
But why a snake? Well, we’ll get some hints from the Hebrew word for serpent here: nachash. That’s n-a-c-h-a-s-h. Sometimes “n-a-h-a-s.” It looks like natch-ash. It’s pronounced “Naw-Kosh.” The word literally means “serpent” or “something that hisses.” But it can also mean “bright and shiny.”
So I think Satan in his most natural form is bright and shiny, implying great beauty. Here is how Satan was described in his created form by God:
Ezekiel 28:12-13
“You were the signet of perfection,
    full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God;
    every precious stone was your covering,
sardius, topaz, and diamond,
    beryl, onyx, and jasper,
sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle;
    and crafted in gold were your settings
    and your engravings.
On the day that you were created
    they were prepared.
So Satan had all these precious stones, shiny stones, that covered him. He was bright, shiny and gleaming.
Isaiah 14:12 says about when Satan was cast out of God’s presence:
How you are fallen from heaven,
    O Day Star, son of Dawn!
And I believe this happened right before Genesis 3, and I’ll explain why in a second.
So Satan was bright, shiny and beautiful. Genesis 3 calls him a nachash, which has these dual meanings behind it of “snake” or “bright and shiny.”
So this causes some people to question whether he was actually a snake at all or just a bright and shiny angelic being who visited Eve. But I believe he was actually in the form of a snake, because the form of snakes is cursed later in verse 14. It doesn’t make as much sense that snakes were cursed if snakes actually didn’t have anything to do with the narrative.
But I believe these words and everything happened in this chapter literally happened, but it also parallels or points to an even greater spiritual reality. So yes, Satan may have been in the form of a nachash-snake, but in the spiritual realm, he was also known as a nachash-bright-and-shiny angel.

Why did Eve listen to him?
Now let’s turn our attention to our other two questions: who did Eve think he was and why was she talking to him?
I’m using the word “angel” here kind of broadly. Satan was technically a creature known as one of the cherubim. If we go back to Ezekiel 28, it will tell us this in
Verse 14
You were an anointed guardian cherub.
    I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God;
    in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
He was one of the cherubim- the singular form of which is cherub. And not only that, a cherub assigned to the Garden of Eden, but able to pass between heaven and earth. The Garden of Eden likely sat on a mountain, much like the Garden of Gethsemane. The stones of fire was God’s divine council, which I’ve done some episodes on before. Satan (or Lucifer) was a spiritual being who was able to manifest in the physical realm, as well as go into God’s courtroom and have a seat or position within the divine council.
I’m going to say something a little speculative here: I believe he had a special task of watching over Adam and Eve. I say this because the nature of the cherubim is to act as a protector, like a security guard. We see them guarding God’s throne and presence in Ezekiel 1, and we also see a new cherubim placed as the guard over Eden at the end of chapter 3. You can get more information on the cherubim in episode 57, which was my first episode of 2025.
So since the cherubim were kind of like guards, and since Adam and Eve lived in the garden and Satan was a cherub placed in the garden, I believe he was probably like their guardian angel.
So Lucifer or Satan was- we can say for sure- a well-known, beautiful cherub who was placed in the Garden of Eden but also had access to God’s divine council. Satan was a very very important spiritual being. And I believe also probably Adam and Eve’s specific guardian angel.
He was not in authority over them. They had a higher rank in God’s Kingdom hierarchy than he did, so he didn’t tell them what to do. And he became dissatisfied with his position and rebelled against God, which I believe happened right before Genesis 3.
God backhands Satan right out of heaven and casts him down to the earth.
Ezekiel 28:17
Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
    you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
And I don’t know why it took so long for the news to get down to Adam and Eve. Maybe they had slow wifi in Eden. But when Eve talks to Satan, she doesn’t know that he’s a fallen angel at this point. Perhaps she didn’t have a good concept of what that even meant, because she and Adam were so innocent, they had no knowledge of good and evil.
Now, that doesn’t get them off the hook for being responsible for their actions. They were still given a command by God, and they disobeyed it. They should have listened to God, not Lucifer. But it does make it a little more understandable why she was giving Lucifer the time of day.
She doesn’t scream and say, “aaah, a talking snake.” She’s more like, ”Oh, hi Lucifer, welcome back.”
I’ve heard some pastors say Adam and Eve should have just kicked Satan out of the Garden when they saw him coming. And once he started questioning God’s character and trying to get them to disobey God, definitely yeah. But before that, they had no reason to kick him out, because as far as they’re concerned, this is his home on earth. This is his assigned territory.

Could animals talk?
I’ve also heard some posit that animals could speak before the fall of man. I’m going to leave a big question mark on this one for now. I’ve never seen a lot of evidence for this idea biblically.
I’ll mention, I was sent some info this week by a listener named Chris, who said that there is some extra biblical Jewish writings that support this, the Book of Jubilees, which was discovered as part of the Dead Sea Scrolls. I’ve never read any translations of Jubilees so I can’t comment on it, but I thought I’d just mention it here.
Possibly, animals spoke. But most pastors bring that up to explain why Eve wasn’t freaked out by a talking snake.
I have an alternative reason for that: it was just Satan. (That’s a weird thing to say). Just their old buddy Satan. Super-important-angel-guy who’s constantly dropping in. They had probably had numerous conversations before. They had no reason to be afraid of snakes, or Satan, so they had no problem with him showing up.
That’s why they trusted him.
And he used that trust to stab them in the back.
And what was Satan’s agenda? What did he gain by this treachery in Genesis 3?
That’s what we’ll be talking about next time. Make sure you’re subscribed so you can get it!
New article at the website: David’s naked dancing before the Lord
Also: new column at the Christian Post. Check it out! Link the show notes

Closing Thoughts
As I close, I just want to comment on a theological issue that has come up a lot this week and give you an idea of where we’ll be going over the next month or so of this podcast. Because if I don’t, I’m concerned it might look like I’m just jumping into random topic after random topic.
That is not my intention. I’m building up to something. In the very first episode of this podcast, I was giving an overview of several verses of the Bible that stand out to me as strange. And over the life of this podcast, which is now up to 80 episodes, I realized that I’ve covered all of them- except
I Corinthians 6:3
Do you not know that we are to judge angels?
That’s one where I’m like: uhhh, what’s that all about? So I decided this summer, I wanted to dive into that topic. I wanted to discover what that verse is all about. And I think I have. The thing is, discovering it took me on a journey through like 5 or 6 other weird things in the Bible that I had to understand first, and if I just tried to give all of it to you in one episode, it might look like a bowl of spaghetti. Just a bunch of intertwined issues that we have to sort out.
So in a month or so, I will finally do an episode about I Corinthians 6:3. But before I get to that, we have to examine some of these noodles, one at a time.
Today, we looked at a theological issue of symbolism. Everybody knows the Bible has similes, metaphors, symbolism, poetic language, etc. But there’s a specific category of symbolic language I find where the Bible is talking about something that really happened in the physical, but where it teaches us a truth about spiritual reality.
I’m not just talking about typology. Typology comes up a lot in prophecy. How Jesus was the second Adam, for example. The bronze serpent, the passover lamb, these are all symbolic “types” of a future fulfillment.
You see, there are spiritual laws that govern the spiritual realm. Just like we have physical laws that govern the physical realm- gravity, thermodynamics, all that stuff. Well, we have spiritual laws as well. And so sometimes the Bible is using physical realities- like beasts of the field- to explain how something works in the spiritual realm.
So the serpent was the craftiest of all the beasts of the field. That’s another way of saying: Satan was the craftiest of all the spiritual beings God had made.
Adam and Eve sin and realize they are naked and want to cover themselves up. I believe that really happened. But it also speaks to a spiritual truth about shame and our standing before God and how sin disrupts the relationship between God and man.
A physical reality that corresponds to an even greater spiritual reality. We talked about this a lot in the episode about the zombies who came out of the tombs in Matthew 27. David and Goliath- it really happened, but it also mirrors our battles with their spirits today, the demons.
So there’s a category of symbolic language the Bible uses that I’m not sure what the name for it would be, but it’s when Scripture uses real world events that happened in the physical to mirror or teach us about the laws that govern the spirit realm. So that’s what we have looked at the past couple of weeks.
Next week, we’re going to talk about what Satan’s agenda was in Genesis 3. Yes, he tempted Adam and Eve into sin. But why did he do that? We’ll discuss that.
In a couple weeks, we’ll talk about angels vs humans- who ranks higher in God’s Kingdom?
Then we’ll spend a week talking about the heavenly realms which are mentioned in Ephesians.
And we’ll spend a week talking about the hierarchy of Satan’s Kingdom, which is outlined in Ephesians 6- principalities and powers. We’ll break all that down.
And then I think we’ll finally be ready to talk about I Corinthians 6:3- do you not know that we will judge angels?
So it’s important for me to explain that because I’m concerned that if I don’t, the next few weeks might look like a bowl of spaghetti. That’s because all these topics of spiritual laws and symbolism and the purpose of angels and the hierarchy of demons and authority and Genesis 3- might look kind of like a bowl of spaghetti. These issues are all intertwined.
What we’re doing is taking several weeks to examine each one of these noodles individually.
So bear with me. Try not to skip over the next few weeks so you can get the full picture. Because I believe once you have all these noodles together, it’s going to help you understand a forgotten mission of the church, and how we can fulfill everything Jesus is wanting to do through us.
So big things ahead. And if believing in a talking snake is weird, I hope you’re a little more weird today, too. Thanks for listening, God bless you for sticking around until the end, and we’ll see you next time on Weird Stuff in the Bible.