The Messiah and His Miracles

The Attesting Signs of Moses

The First Primary Attesting Sign (Miracle) - The Serpent in Subjection

Because of his activity in Eden, the serpent was ‘cursed’ and punished. Since it had exalted itself above its allotted estate, God threw it to the ground, commanding, “on your belly you shall go” (Gen.3:14), imposing the mark of deepest degradation. However, when God spoke to the reptile, and pronounced a curse upon it, He was not addressing the irrational beast so much as the spiritual Tempter. The punishment that fell upon the serpent was merely a symbol of the punishment of the unseen agent of evil. The prophecy of Genesis 3.15, supported by later clarifying Scriptures, makes it clear that the casting down of the serpent was in fact a judgement on Satan: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel”. Keil and Delitzsch in their commentary suggest the construction of the Hebrew clarifies who is in view in the prophecy. In examining Genesis 3.15, they observe that in the first clause, the seed of the serpent is opposed to the seed of the woman, but in the second clause, the seed of the woman gains victory over the serpent itself. “It, (the seed of the woman), will crush your head, and you (not your seed) will crush its heel. Thus the seed of the serpent is hidden behind the unity of the serpent, or rather of the foe who, through the serpent, has done such injury to man. This foe is Satan, who incessantly opposes the seed of the woman and bruises its heel, but is eventually to be trodden under its feet”. The death of the Messiah is in view here.

To equate the Edenic serpent with Satan is Scriptural. The book of Revelation describes the Prince of fallen angels as, “the great dragon” and, “that old serpent”, and gives his names, “the Devil, and Satan” (Rev.12:9; 20:2). The casting down of the serpent in the Garden, representing the casting down of Satan, followed an earlier event that the Messiah had witnessed: “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18). Ezekiel described it more fully: “I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendour; I cast you to the ground” (Ezek.28:16,17). Here, God judged pride and undisciplined personal ambition. The language of this prophecy, while naming the king of Tyre, rises beyond any earthly ruler to describe events surrounding the fall of Satan. There are further defeats for Satan yet to come and he will be thrown down again (to the earth), and again (into the bottomless pit), and again (into the lake of fire).

The first attesting sign given to Moses was for a symbolic re-enactment of the casting down of Satan, to demonstrate the power and authority of God over the Devil, a power and authority delegated to His chosen servant. “So the LORD said to him, What is that in your hand? He said, A rod. And He said, Cast it on the ground. So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. Then the LORD said to Moses, Reach out your hand and take it by the tail (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), that they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” (Exod.4:2-5)

Not only did Moses enact this for the elders of Israel, but also re-enacted it before Pharaoh. The Pharaohs of Egypt wore an image of the serpent on their diadem, as the symbol of royal and divine power. The Pharaoh, before whom Moses and Aaron appeared, was Satan’s instrument to hold God’s people in slavery. The grip of Satan had to be broken if the nation of Israel was to be freed. The first act of Israel’s Deliverer was a challenge to Satan. Aaron cast down Moses’ rod, symbol of the defeat of Satan, and it became a serpent. The court sorcerers imitated the miracle with their rods, which also became serpents. However, Moses with the delegated power of God at his disposal, had control, not only over his serpent but also over the serpents of the court magicians. This meant he had power over the Egyptian sorcerers too. Pharaoh’s attempt to discredit the sign failed. Moses’ power over the serpents and the court magicians further implied power over Pharaoh, Satan’s tool, and beyond that, power over Satan.