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Gen. 3:
A | 3: 1. The Serpent. Supernatural and animal form.
B | 3: 2-24-. The temptation, sentence and expulsion.
A | 3: 24. The Cherubim. Supernatural and animal forms.
We have purposely left the central member without subdivision as our interest at the
moment is in the Serpent and the Cherubim. There is no shadow of doubt as to the
personality of the Serpent, for Rev. 20: 2 refers to him as:--
"That old Serpent, which is the Devil (N.T. Greek) and Satan" (O.T. Hebrew).
Satan a spirit, using the serpent as a medium, involved mankind in death. The
cherubim, composite animal forms, yet belonging to the spirit world, pledge man's
restoration and are associated with the flaming sword that keeps the way of the tree of
life. When we see, as we hope to presently, that Satan, as we can now call this King of
Tyre, was originally "the anointed cherub", the relation between the nachash and the
cherubim in Gen. 3: will be more clearly seen. Before going further into the
description of Satan before he sinned, it will help us to set out just what is said of him in
this passage.
A survey of the subject.
We find statements revealing Satan's nature, attributes and actions, interspersed with
statements revealing God's actions. The personal pronoun thou is emphatic:--
THOU sealest up the sum.
THOU hast been in Eden.
THOU wast created.
THOU art the anointed Cherub.
I have set thee so.
THOU wast upon the holy mountain.
THOU hast walked . . . . . stones of fire.
THOU was perfect in thy ways from the day that
THOU wast created.
THOU hast sinned.
I will cast thee out.
I will destroy.
THINE heart was lifted up because of thy beauty.
THOU hast corrupted thy wisdom.
I will cast thee to the earth
I will lay thee before kings.
THOU hast defiled thy sanctuaries.
I will bring forth a fire.
I will bring thee to ashes.
THOU shalt be a terror.
Never shalt THOU be any more.
The three emphatic pronouns tell of Satan's original condition as created by God. He
was the finished pattern, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. His office was that of the