The Great Dragon, the Ancient Serpent, the One Called Devil and Satan (Part Three)

The Great Dragon, the Ancient Serpent, the One Called Devil and Satan (Part Three)

Writer: Evangelos Dim. Kepenes September 6, 2026 16:28)

From the Demythologization of the Accuser as a Metaphysical Entity to Its Historical Existence: That of the Condemning Jewish Legalistic System and Its Functionaries

In Part One of this study, it was demonstrated that the Hebrew term Satan in the Old Testament, translated into Greek as διάβολος (diabolos, Strong’s G1228), lacks any metaphysical dualism, describing exclusively a terrestrial or functional role of opposition and accusation within a defined judicial framework.

In Part Two, the research transitioned to the New Testament, where it was documented that the one called devil (διάβολος) and satan (σατανᾶς, satanas, Strong’s G4567), as well as the imagery of the "ancient serpent", are definitively severed from cosmological mythologies, acquiring a specific institutional reality: that of the condemning Jewish legalistic system.

However, the dethronement of "Satan" as an autonomous metaphysical entity does not leave the biblical text void of meaning. On the contrary, it opens the way for us to understand the inner operational mechanism of the Law. Thus, in this Third and Final Part of our study, we examine:

• How the "serpent" (ὄφις, ophis, Strong’s G3789) of Genesis—the most prudent (φρονιμώτατος, phronimōtatos, Strong’s G5429; denoting functional intellect rather than innate metaphysical evil) of all the beasts of the land/earth Gen. 3:1; designating earthly/geographical scope, distinct from wild open-field creatures)—which constitutes the natural origin of the terrestrial flesh of desires and the matrix of the subsequent Law enacted "for the lawless" (1 Tim. 1:9–10), embodies the archetypal mechanism of the first commandment in the Paradise of luxury (Παράδεισος τῆς τρυφῆς, LXX Gen. 3:23-24, Strong’s G5172 tryphē).

• How the human heart, vulnerable before the commandment, was deceived and ensnared in the fear of death and the bondage of corruption.

• How the absolute alienation of the system of the Law of condemnation  led to its ultimate idolatrous decline, which was sealed by the very silver pieces of Christ's betrayal.

The "fall of the Dragon" (Rev. 12:9) is not a metaphysical event, but the historical fulfillment of the elevation of Grace through Jesus Christ—the seed of the promise —which leaves the institutional system of condemnation permanently void of power (Rom. 8:33–34).

The Archetypal Symbolism of the Edenic Commandment as a Precursor to the Mosaic Law

In the Book of Revelation, primordial biblical symbolism prevails. In the Genesis narrative, the serpent (ὄφις) is not presented as an autonomous, evil metaphysical entity. Instead, it constitutes the archetypal symbolism of the primary mechanism of the commandment and functions as the historical precursor to the "weak and unprofitable" Law (Heb. 7:18), which was "ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator" (Gal. 3:19).

This primary test of obedience regarding the commandment of food/dietary prohibitions (βρώματα, brōmata, Strong’s G1033) inaugurates a unified biblical trajectory: extending from the serpent—the most prudent (phronimōtatos) of all the beasts of the land/earth denoting functional discernment within the terrestrial domain)—and the bronze serpent of Moses in the wilderness, to the ultimate elevation and abolition of this legalistic system upon the Cross of Christ (John. 3:14, Col. 2:14).

A careful philological and syntactical examination of the biblical text reveals critical details:

1. The Nature and Geographical Area of the Serpent

 Scripture explicitly clarifies that "the serpent was the most prudent of all the beasts upon the earth which the Lord God had made" (ὁ δὲ ὄφις ἦν φρονιμώτατος πάντων τῶν θηρίων τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς… LXX [Greek text] Gen. 3:1)—a characterization corroborated verbatim by Jesus: "be therefore prudent as serpents" (Darby, Matt. 10:16; “γίνεσθε οὖν φρόνιμοι ὡς οἱ ὄφεις”, phronimoi, Strong’s G5429, denoting practical intellect/prudence).

However, since "the Lord God took the man whom He had formed and placed him in the paradise to work it and keep it" (ἔλαβεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὃν ἔπλασεν καὶ ἔθετο αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ ἐργάζεσθαι αὐτὸν καὶ φυλάσσειν—LXX Gen. 2:15; ergazesthai, Strong’s G2038 denoting functional stewardship), the serpent was located outside the watered Paradise of luxury —a realm of effortless spiritual and material self-sufficiency, but also a field for the exercise of human obedience which presupposed man's total love toward God (Matt. 22:37).

This demarcation is also confirmed by the divine counsel: "It is not good for the man to be alone; let us make for him a helper against him" (οὐ καλὸν εἶναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον μόνον ποιήσωμεν αὐτῷ βοηθὸν κατ' αὐτόν—LXX Gen. 2:18). The phrase "against him" (κατ' αὐτόν, Strong’s G2596 & G846) manifests a supporter who would stand opposite him, face-to-face, throughout his entire life.

Toward the fulfillment of this, "God formed yet (ἔτι, Strong's G2089) out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the sky, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them; and whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name" ("ἔπλασεν ὁ θεὸς ἔτι ἐκ τῆς γῆς πάντα τὰ θηρία τοῦ ἀγροῦ καὶ πάντα τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἤγαγεν αὐτὰ πρὸς τὸν αδαμ ἰδεῖν τί καλέσει αὐτά καὶ πᾶν ὃ ἐὰν ἐκάλεσεν αὐτὸ αδαμ ψυχὴν ζῶσαν τοῦτο ὄνομα αὐτοῦ"—LXX Gen. 2:19). These specific beasts of the field and birds of the sky were placed from the very beginning under the immediate supervision, naming, and authority of Adam. The text continues: "but for Adam there was not found a helper like him […] and the Lord God built the rib which He had taken from Adam into a woman, and brought her to Adam" (τῷ δὲ αδαμ οὐχ εὑρέθη βοηθὸς ὅμοιος αὐτῷ […] καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς τὴν πλευράν ἣν ἔλαβεν ἀπὸ τοῦ αδαμ εἰς γυναῖκα καὶ ἤγαγεν αὐτην πρὸς τὸν αδαμ—LXX Gen. 2:20, 2:22). Consequently, within the geographical space of Paradise, there coexist Adam, the specific beasts of the field operating under his authority, and his woman as a "helper like him" (see also Gen. 3:16).

Conversely, Scripture organically connects the serpent with the "beasts which the earth brought forth" (Gen. 1:24-25), which constitutes the natural origin of the earthly flesh of desires and the womb of the subsequent Law for the lawless (1 Tim. 1:9-10). The beasts of the earth, the creeping things, the great sea monsters, and the winged birds (Gen. 1:19-24) chronologically preceded the creation of Adam and are clearly distinguished in biblical terminology from the "beasts and birds of the field"—the domesticated ones—which God formed afterward ("yet", ἔτι).

The careful hermenutical significance of this "yet" (ἔτι) as a distinct paradisiacal creation is fully confirmed by the corresponding phrasing regarding the planting of the garden, where it is stated that "God caused to spring up yet out of the ground every tree beautiful to the sight and good for food and the tree of life in the midst of the paradise and the tree of knowing good and evil" (ἐξανέτειλεν ὁ θεὸς ἔτι ἐκ τῆς γῆς πᾶν ξύλον ὡραῖον εἰς ὅρασιν καὶ καλὸν εἰς βρῶσιν καὶ τὸ ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς ἐν μέσῳ τῷ παραδείσῳ καὶ τὸ ξύλον τοῦ εἰδέναι γνωστὸν καλοῦ καὶ πονηροῦ—LXX Gen. 2:9). Just as the "yet" (ἔτι) of the trees denoted a special, subsequent vegetation exclusively for Paradise, so too the "yet" (ἔτι) of the beasts of the field denotes a distinct, subsequent creation, meant to operate under the immediate authority of man within the very same sacred space.

For every "living creature" (ψυχὴ ζώων—LXX Gen. 1:21) that preceded Adam, the divine blessing decreed for him and his woman: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over all the cattle and all the earth, and over all the creeping things that creep upon the earth" (Gen. 1:28). This authority over the rest of creation was given as a future prospect that presupposed the filling of the earth by man’s descendants, rather than as a present state within the garden.

2. The Commandment to Adam and the Departure of the Woman from the Institutional Domain

Adam had received an explicit institutional commandment “to work” (ἐργάζεσθαι, ergazesthai, Strong’s G2038) and “to guard” (φυλάσσειν, phylassein, Strong’s G5442) the Paradise of luxury. In the biblical text, "to work" (Heb. ‘āḇaḏ) does not signify manual toil—since arduous labor was imposed as a penalty after his expulsion ("cursed is the ground in your labors; in sorrow you shall eat of it...", LXX Gen. 3:17). On the contrary, "to work" denotes a functional ministry in the service and presence of God within Paradise, where the yielding of fruit from the earth occurred effortlessly and without toil.

This primary fruitfulness is spiritually linked to the fruit of the holy Spirit, which is impossible to yield within the cursed nature of earthly humanity apart from Christ (John 15:4–5). Furthermore, "thorns and thistles it [the ground] shall bring forth to you" (Gen. 3:18) constitutes a prophetic precursor to passages such as Mark 4:7 and Hebrews 6:8, regarding the anxieties, the deceitfulness of riches, and the remaining desires that overwhelmed the earthly "type of the One to come" (Rom. 5:14), Adam, and his descendants after his expulsion from the Paradise of luxury.

The divine statement "in sorrow you shall eat of it" (ἐν λύπαις φάγῃ αὐτήν, LXX Gen. 3:17) reveals that the curse structurally struck the ground itself and, by extension, qualitatively altered its produce. After Adam's expulsion, man ceased to be nourished by paradisiacal fruits; the now-altered food of the cursed earth introduced biological weakness, disease, arduous labor, and a gradual, dramatic decrease in life expectancy into the human body—a fact demonstrating that "cursed is the ground" operated upon the earthly nature of Adam and his descendants, as clearly reflected by Lamech, Noah's father: "and he called his name Noah, saying: Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands”. (Gen. 5:29).

Concurrently, "to guard" (φυλάσσειν, Heb. šāmar) was not limited to defense against external threats, but pertained to internal protection and the preservation of institutional order within the sacred space. In Pentateuchal jurisprudence and Levitical legislation, this exact pair of verbs is used exclusively to describe the priests and Levites who perform their sacred service ("work") and maintain structural order ("guard") within the Tabernacle of Testimony (cf. LXX Num. 3:7–8, 18:3–5). Adam, therefore, beyond being the First man "out of the earth" (ἐκ or ἐξ  Strong’s G1537, 1 Cor. 15:47), constituted the first minister of the Most High —in anticipation of Him whom Scripture defines as the Second man "out of heaven" (1 Cor. 15:47), who is Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession (Heb. 3:1).

The woman, therefore, escaped the protective oversight of her husband—with his shared responsibility—and moved into a domain entirely foreign to her, shattering the ordained institutional order.

On the other hand, the serpent—as an entity belonging exclusively to the beasts of the earth and lacking access to the internal events of Paradise—was unable to know the divine commandment. His opening, investigative phrase—"What is it that God said: You shall not eat of every tree that is in the paradise?" (τί ὅτι εἶπεν ὁ Θεός, οὐ μὴ φάγητε ἀπὸ παντὸς ξύλου τοῦ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ; —LXX Gen. 3:1)—constitutes an immediate reaction to a preceding disclosure or chatter by the woman. Furthermore, the qualifying phrase "that is in the paradise" (τοῦ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ) categorically demonstrates that the conversation is conducted outside the sacred space, since the serpent refers to Paradise as a place external to him.

The woman, having departed from her dwelling place, not only communicated the prohibition to her new environment, but distorted it legalistically. In her response, she arbitrarily added a decree of her own making: "but from the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of Paradise, God said, 'You shall not eat from it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die'" (Gen. 3:3). The addition of "nor shall you touch it" constitutes the first historical manifestation of ritualistic legalism and self-imposed religion (ἐθελοθρησκία, ethelothrēskia, Strong’s G1479; Col. 2:23). God had prohibited exclusively the eating, but the woman, by enacting an arbitrary human dogma, inaugurates that very mechanism which Paul would later describe as "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch" (Col. 2:21).

3. The Terrestrial Logic of the Serpent and the Commandment as a Mechanism of Deceit

The question posed by the serpent, therefore, does not enclose any metaphysical sabotage, but constitutes a candid inquiry-challenge of earthly/terrestrial nature, which was ignited by the very words that the woman recklessly vocalized into her new environment. This rationalistic approach of earthly logic is also reflected in the subsequent assurance: "You shall not die by death" (οὐ θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε, Gen. 3:4). As the woman feared immediate biological death, the serpent presents her with a terrestrial reality: eating would not induce instantaneous physical cessation—after all, nourishment was necessary for biological survival. The deceit lies in the fact that human reasoning and the desire of the flesh are incapable of conceiving that transgression of the commandment brings about eternal death, which consists in severance from God (Rom. 6:23).

The apostolic writings highlight the commandment (ἐντολή, entolē, Strong’s G1785)—with the "serpent" serving as its archetypal symbol—as the instrument of deceit that works death ("through it killed"). The commandment works desire, which, having conceived in the heart, carries and gives birth to sin, and sin, when fully grown, produces death, taking occasion through the commandment (the Law).

"But sin, taking occasion through the commandment, worked in me all manner of desire; for apart from the law sin was dead" (Rom. 7:8).

"But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desire and enticed; then desire, having conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when fully grown, brings forth death." (James 1:14–15)

"I was alive apart from the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died; and the commandment, which was unto life, was found to be unto death for me." (Rom. 7:9–10)

"For sin, taking occasion through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me." (Rom. 7:11)

Thus is explained the woman’s final confession: "The serpent deceived me, and I ate" (Gen. 3:13), which aligns completely with the Pauline diagnosis regarding the operational mechanism of the commandment.

4. The "Tree of Knowing Good and Evil" and the Pauline Diagnosis of the Deviation

The forbidden tree differed radically from the rest of the fruit-bearing trees that had been granted to man from the outset for food. It was not a conventional tree of biological sustenance. The precise phrasing "of the tree of knowing good and evil" (τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν, LXX Gen. 2:17), in combination with the corresponding expression "of making known good and evil" (τοῦ εἰδέναι γνωστὸν καλοῦ καὶ πονηροῦ, LXX Gen. 2:9), utilizes exclusively verbal forms—the infinitives γινώσκειν (ginōskein, present infinitive, Strong’s G1097) and εἰδέναι (eidenai, perfect infinitive, Strong’s G1492)—rather than the static noun "knowledge" (γνῶσις, gnōsis).

This specific biblical choice reveals that the tree does not constitute a repository of pre-packaged information regarding "good and evil." On the contrary, it constitutes the arena through which man—not merely intellectually but empirically—would come to know what good means and what evil means, depending on the decision of obedience or disobedience he would execute. Furthermore, the transition from the static description of verse 9 (τοῦ εἰδέναι γνωστόν = that something be rendered intellectually manifest/known) to the active syntax with an accusative in verse 17 (τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν = that man empirically experience this distinction) shifts the emphasis onto human freedom and volition itself.

The experiential knowledge of this distinction is born from the act itself, rendering the forbidden fruit a means of testing the mind and the will. Here lies the exact foundation of the Pauline diagnosis of the deviation: the departure from the divine presence is not due to the existence of good and evil per se, but to man's attempt to enter into this εἰδέναι and γινώσκειν autonomously, on his own initiative. Paul captures this transition from spiritual to autonomous empirical knowledge as follows:

"Wherefore we from henceforth know [οἴδαμεν] no man after the flesh [intellectually]; even though we have known [ἐγνώκαμεν] Christ after the flesh [empirically], yet now we know Him so no more." (2 Cor. 5:16).

In this manner, the act of transgression renders man fully responsible for his decisions, yet simultaneously severed from the divine favor—an existential reality that the Apostle Paul analyzes as the existential captivity of the human will:

"For I delight in the law of God after the inward man; but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members." (Rom. 7:22–23; cf. Rom. 7:15–21)

5. The Motive for the Woman's Departure: The Promise of Dominion and Authority, and the Restoration of Order

Until that point, the woman was defined exclusively by her gender identity, without having yet received a personal name. Likewise, Adam (meaning "man" / human) was defined by his own nature, as Paul also notes: "For man is not from woman, but woman from man" (1 Cor. 11:8). The woman had already experienced the blessing of painless childbearing within the Paradise of luxury. The subsequent divine decree, "I will greatly multiply your sorrows and your sighing; in sorrow you shall bring forth children" (Gen. 3:16), does not define childbearing itself as a penalty, but rather the sorrows and sighing that would henceforth accompany childbirth.

This truth is sealed by the naming reserved for her by Adam following the transgression: "And Adam called his wife’s name Life [Eve], because she was the mother of all living" (καὶ ἐκάλεσεν Ἀδὰμ τὸ ὄνομα τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ Ζωή, ὅτι αὕτη μήτηρ πάντων τῶν ζώντων, (Gen. 3:20). The use of the present participle (τῶν ζώντων, tōn zōntōn, "of those currently living"—rather than of those who were future to be born) seals the fact that childbearing was already an existing reality. Besides, the initial blessing they received from their Creator was explicit: "Be fruitful and multiply" (Gen. 1:28), a fact that dismantles all subsequent guilt and taboos surrounding marital relations. Similarly, the penalty toward Adam, "Cursed is the ground in your labors; in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life" (Gen. 3:17), does not introduce nutrition as a punishment, but rather the arduous labor required to obtain it.

The woman, keeping in mind the supreme divine injunction to fill the earth, subdue it, and rule over the entire animal kingdom (Gen. 1:28), deemed it advisable to explore the field of this dominion. Attempting to test her authority autonomously over cattle and creeping things, she crossed her boundary. Acting without the legitimate counsel of her husband, she departed from the protective framework of their shared habitation. For this reason, corrective divine intervention followed, which restored institutional order: "and your turning/alignment shall be toward your husband, and he shall rule over you" (“καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα σου ἡ ἀποστροφή σου, καὶ αὐτός σου κυριεύσει”) (Gen. 3:16).

Here, the Septuagint term “ἀποστροφή” (apostrophē, Strong’s G654; translating the Hebrew təšūqāh, signifying a turning, orientation, or direction) is devoid of any emotional or sexual connotation. It realistically denotes the direction of speech, counsel, and decision-making. Because the woman turned away from God and her husband to converse autonomously with the serpent, God now decrees that she "turn" (direct) her speech and consult her husband, thereby restoring the institutional and protective equilibrium of their common journey.

6. The Biblical Restoration of Genesis 6:1–4 and the Refutation of the Gnostic Error

The realization that the woman had already borne children within Paradise—being the "mother of all living" (μήτηρ πάντων τῶν ζώντων, (Gen. 3:20)—restores biblical truth against one of the most widespread Gnostic and extra-biblical misinterpretations: the speculation that the "sons of God" were incorporeal, rebellious angelic entities who descended from heaven to unite carnally with the "daughters of men" (Gen. 6:1–4).

This Gnostic view introduces a metaphysical distortion that stands in absolute contradiction to biblical literature and the very nature of angels, as clarified by Jesus Himself: "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as angels of God in heaven" (Matt. 22:30). Concurrently, it transfers Adam's disobedience and expulsion from the Paradise of delight onto a fictional, metaphysical angelic plane, stripping the historical event of its purely anthropological dimension.

A text-centered reading reveals that the narrative of Genesis 6:1–4 describes a purely intra-human reality. This constitutes the historical development of the distinct genealogical lines that took shape after Adam's expulsion from Paradise, whom his wife voluntarily followed.

On the one hand, we see Cain, who is never named firstborn because he was not, but constitutes an "acquisition" (κτῆσις / ἐκτησάμην, Gen. 4:1, Strong's G2932 & G2933)) outside of Paradise. The writings of the Apostles clearly characterize him as someone who was "of the evil one" (A' John 3:12). The phrase "of the evil one" has exactly the same meaning as Christ's words: "you are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father" (John 8:44). This does not mean that the devil is a metaphysical entity and their father—since a metaphysical entity does not reproduce or give birth to mortal humans—but it clearly points to the corrupted human intellect, which has become alienated and hostile toward God (Col. 1:21), generating carnal desires. This tendency of the fleshly man to think evil thoughts and to be led astray by desires contrary to the will of God—which his heart generates due to its ignorance and hardness (Eph. 4:17)—shows that evil thoughts are simply an internal psychological projection of the evil one, who functions as the father of lies and a murderer. On the other hand, following the murder of righteous Abel (Matt. 23:35, Heb. 11:4) by Cain, the lineage continues through Seth, preserving the biblical genealogy of promise that reaches all the way to Christ (Luke 3:38).

The "Sons of God" (Gen. 6:1) were the genealogical line of those "living ones" (τῶν ζώντων) who had been born within Paradise. These individuals repeated in history the exact same stumble of the woman: they were drawn away by the "lust of the eyes" (1 John 2:16) and acted through autonomous will: "and the sons of God, seeing the daughters of men that they were beautiful, took for themselves wives from all whom they chose" (Gen. 6:2).

Thus, the refutation of the Gnostic mythmaking regarding marriages of fallen angels does not require extra-biblical philosophical constructs; it emerges automatically from the consistency of the biblical text itself: sin and corruption were transmitted exclusively through man, as Paul proclaims: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin" (Rom. 5:12).

7. The Mechanism of the Law and the Consequences of Sin

This "departure" of the woman from the boundaries of her habitation toward friendship with the world constitutes "enmity with God" (Jas. 4:4) and represents the timeless biblical motif of the mechanism for the alienation and darkening of the human mind “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds” (Col. 1:21).

This internal mechanism unfolds historically on a universal scale, as the failure of the one man regarding the primary commandment sealed the fate of the entire human race. Paul deterministically connects this transgression with the dominion of death, pointing out:

"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (for until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come" (Rom. 5:12–14).

At this juncture, Pauline knowledge illuminates a profound historical truth. Eternal death (the loss of immortality) prevailed even "over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression". Paul clearly refers to the "living ones" —the offspring of the Paradise of delight. Although they had not violated the specific divine commandment, "but of the tree of knowing good and evil, ye shall not eat of it" (Gen. 2:17), nor had they yet received the Mosaic Law, eternal death reigned over them. This universality of death is sealed by the blocking of access to the Tree of Life and the guarding of the way by the Cherubim (Gen. 3:24)—a closed path which Christ triumphantly opened once again through Grace “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God” (Rev. 2:7).

8. Deception as the Result of the Human Heart

The voluntary decision to execute that which was forbidden "and she took of its fruit and ate" (Gen. 3:6) corrupts and darkens the mind while hardening the heart, leading deterministically unto death (Eph. 4:18, Jas. 1:15). For man to walk through life guided by the vanity of his mind constitutes by definition an act of self-expulsion and departure from the presence of God (Eph. 4:17).

Evil reasoning as the source of the mechanism of departure from God is declared from the very dawn of biblical history: "And the LORD God saw that the wickedness of man was multiplied upon the earth, and that everyone intently devises evil in his heart all the days" (Gen. 6:5).

The transgression of the commandment is finalized with the biblical symmetry of divine justice. The final expulsion of Adam leads him back to the exact same geographical space where the woman had initially attempted to probe that which was foreign/alien, as the text seals that God "cast out Adam and settled him opposite the Paradise of luxury" (Gen. 3:24). This signifies that he was also definitively suspended from his liturgical service, as seen analogously in the book of the prophet Hosea: "...because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me..." (Hos. 4:6).

At this point, however, a supreme demonstration of repentance and active obedience is recorded on the part of the woman, Eve: her decision to follow Adam outside the garden is not the product of coercion, but her own conscious choice. Voluntarily abandoning the comforts of Paradise to share the toil and the curse of the ground alongside her husband, the woman immediately puts into practice the divine command of "turning/alignment" (ἀποστροφή, LXX Gen. 3:16). She now turns her life, devotion, and mind toward her husband, converting her departure into an act of spiritual restoration.

Here the dual mechanism of transgression is unveiled: while the woman was deceived at the level of her perceptions/reasonings, Adam did not fall victim to delusion. When Scripture states that the woman "gave also to her husband with her, and they ate" (Gen. 3:6), it illuminates the fleshly weakness of the man. Adam obeyed the voice of his wife not because he conversed with the serpent, but because he was overcome by fleshly emotion and desire, preferring the condemnation of the commandment and his expulsion opposite the Paradise of luxury over losing "flesh of his flesh." Thus, sin utilized cognitive deception in the woman and fleshly attachment in the man to subject both to the dominion of death—the separation from the hope of immortality (Gen. 3:22).

9. The Corruption of the Mind

In reality, Paul identifies the mechanism of the "Serpent of Genesis" with the deception of the commandment (Rom. 7:11) and the corruption of the mind that leads to departure from simplicity toward Christ, warning:

"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Cor. 11:3).

And again, he emphasizes the necessity of putting off this state:

"That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts" (Eph. 4:22).

The Law, therefore, functions as the ultimate testing ground of the human heart, precisely as occurred historically with Joseph, of whom it is recorded that "the word of the LORD tried [refined/tested] him" (Ps. 104:19).

For anyone who violates the commandment, the Law automatically turns into an accuser (diabolos / adversary), which uses the very letter of the text to condemn man to departure from the hope of eternity.

10. Did That Which Is Good (the Law) Ultimately Become the Cause of My Death?

To the crucial question of whether the Law caused the loss of life, apostolic literature answers categorically:

"Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin" (Rom. 7:13–14).

In no way, therefore, did that which is good become the bringer of death. On the contrary, sin, in order to expose its true, destructive nature, utilized the commandment itself as an instrument to execute condemnation. The serpent, consequently, is not presented as an autonomous, evil metaphysical entity, but embodies the archetypal mechanism of the commandment, which becomes the instrument of deception that brings about death ("by it slew me," (Rom. 7:11). Sin possesses no creative power of its own; it "steals" and usurps the authority of the commandment, converting it into an accuser.

This parasitic alienation of the Law is vividly depicted in the divine judgment upon the serpent:

"And the LORD God said to the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy breast and belly shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." (Gen. 3:14)

In biblical anthropology, the breast is the seat of the heart from which evil thoughts proceed (Matt. 15:19), whereas the belly represents fleshly desire and the ritual prohibitions regarding food to which legalists attached paramount importance (cf. Phil. 3:19, "whose god is their belly").

This curse reveals that the commandment, detached from its authentic spiritual environment—since "the law is spiritual" —was degraded due to human carnal-mindedness; it "fell" to the dirt and began to feed on the earth. That is to say, it was transformed into fleshly ritualism, into "commandments and doctrines of men" (Col. 2:22), and into sterile legalistic traditions.

In this sense, the Law, instead of being a source of life, became a "curse" (Gal. 3:13) for its recipients, functioning as a barrier to the arrival of true blessing. Trapped within the very same condemnatory verdict ("cursed art thou,") that God imposed upon the serpent, the Law was altered into a mechanism that exposed man to death. It was this curse that Christ had later to redeem, becoming Himself a curse on behalf of the recipients of the Law upon the cross, so that the promise of the holy Spirit—the blessing of life given to Abraham—might be released and poured out upon all nations.

The Apostle Paul vividly captures this redemptive transformation:

"Christ hath redeemed us [the Jews] from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." (Gal. 3:13–14)

At the same time, the explicit temporal limitation "all the days of thy life"  reveals that this legalistic mechanism of the curse possessed an expiration date from the very outset. It was not eternal, but temporary, destined to function pedagogically (Gal. 3:24–25) until the arrival of Grace through the seed of promise, which would restore free access to the Tree of Life for the regenerated.

11. The Divine Economy of Symbols

From the above emerges the following profound understanding: in the Genesis narrative, God employed the symbolic types of the Law (represented by the Serpent)—which by definition was incapable of imparting life—as well as the trees "of knowing good and evil" and of eternal Life (Gen. 3:24).

This framework was applied to the earthly First Adam, who functioned as a "type of him that was to come" (Rom. 5:14), a character embodying earthly humanity in general. Maintaining the Old Testament genealogical line of the sons of God through Seth (Gen. 4:25, Luke 3:38), this "old type of the new spiritual man in Christ" was placed under a temporary pedagogical status until the Seed of Promise should appear in history.

Already from the paradise commandment sin manifested itself, and later the carnal people of God were placed under guardians and stewards until the Seed (Christ) should come. Through Him, man—as a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17)—now acquires the inherent faculty to discern both good and evil (Heb. 5:14)—something that Adam, as the first liturgical minister in the Paradise of luxury, and the Levitical priesthood failed to teach, both resulting in the suspension/cessation of their functional ministry (Lev. 10:10–11, Hos. 4:6).

Paul uniquely summarizes this deterministic necessity of Grace over the Law:

"Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." (Gal. 3:21–22)

12. The Brazen Serpent of the Wilderness and the Elevation of the Law on the Cross

This profound mechanism of the Law, which functions as a testing ground as well as a potential accuser (katēgoros / diabolos), is vividly depicted in one of the most characteristic historical events of the Old Testament. During the journey of the Israelites in the wilderness, following their liberation from Egyptian bondage, transgression and murmuring against God brought forth death.

The book of Numbers records:

"And the LORD sent lethal serpents into the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died" (Num. 21:6)—an event that symbolized the deadly consequences resulting from the violation of the decrees of the Law.

The remedy indicated by God to Moses was highly symbolic:

"Make thee a serpent, and set it upon a sign [standard]; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live" (Num. 21:8).

In response: "And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon a sign." (Num. 21:9)

The "serpent" itself—the symbol of condemnation—was elevated upon the pole/standard as the sole means of salvation. Whosoever was wounded and fixed his gaze upon it was healed, proving that the divine economy converts the instrument of pedagogical trial into a source of healing and forgiveness.

This type is fulfilled with absolute precision in the person of Jesus Christ, who decodes the historical event in the Gospel of John: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:" (John 3:14)

13. The Disarming of the Accuser

The lifting up of Christ upon the Cross was not a random sacrifice, but the historical moment wherein Christ elevated and nailed the very "Serpent/Law" itself to the cross—that is, the "handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us" (Col. 2:14). Upon the Cross, Jesus took upon Himself the curse of the Law in order to definitively liberate those who, through fear of death and legal guilt, were all their lifetime subject to the bondage of the legalistic system.

By this supreme act of the divine economy, Christ achieved the disarming of institutional principalities (Col. 2:15) and the total abolition of the dominion of condemnation, as proclaimed in the Epistle to the Hebrews:

“Since therefore the children partake of blood and flesh, he also, in like manner (“παραπλησίως” paraplésiós Strong’s G3898), took part in the same, that through death he might annul him who has the might of death, that is, the devil; and might set free all those who through fear of death through the whole of their life were subject to bondage" (Heb. 2:14–15 Darby).

The Historical-Biblical Demolition of the Legalistic System is thus brought to completion. The "devil" (diabolos / accuser)—analyzed here not as the holy, divine will of the Law (nomos, Rom. 7:12), but as the Law in its alienated, carnal operation as an Accuser (katēgoros) and mechanism of condemnation—possesses absolute zero legal force. This abolition of the dominion of death exerted a bidirectional action for those "in Christ"—the new creation—according to the apostolic literature:

"For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we have been discharged from the law having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet” (Rom. 7:5–7). 

14. "He Who Deceiveth the Whole World": The Ultimate Alienation of the Law

How, then, did the legalistic system "deceive the whole world" (Rev. 12:9)? The answer lies in the total spiritual downfall and alienation of its very ministers. The ruling priestly class of the second Temple period, instead of preserving the Law purely as a tutor/pedagogue, transformed it—through the mixture of human traditions—into a mystical system, into ritual magic, and pure idolatry. Through this carnal people, the delusion of hypocrisy, ritualism, and false justification was disseminated everywhere as a spiritually contagious network.

The prophets systematically denounce this terrifying aberration using the term "whoredom/harlotry" —a concept possessing a dual, utterly concrete entity:

• Spiritual Whoredom: The total breach of the Covenant, the worship of foreign gods, and religious unfaithfulness toward the true God (Jer. 3:6, Ezek. 16:15–22).

• Physical Whoredom: Absolute moral licentiousness, as idol worship was practically realized through orgiastic rituals under sacred trees (Hos. 4:12–14).

The apostate Jews are described by the prophet Isaiah as being driven by pagan passion for idols "under thick-foliaged trees," even reaching the absolute horror of "slaying their children in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks" (Isa. 57:5).

This worship of idols—which biblical literature itself explicitly identifies with "demons", that is, the false, material deities of the nations, rather than autonomous metaphysical entities "for all the gods of the nations are demons," (Ps. 95:5, Deut. 32:17, and 1 Cor. 10:19–20)—had a systematic, institutional character. It included specially designed holy places, ritual vestments, ecstatic dances, self-laceration (1 Kings 18:28), screaming, and hallucinations induced by the vapors of psychotropic herbs.

These dark practices are directly equated by biblical literature with "sorcery” p (“φαρμακεία” pharmakeia, Strong’s G5331. Gal. 5:20, Rev. 9:21) [1]—that is, the use of magical potions and herbs aimed at orgiastic arousal, so that initiates might falsely render themselves "possessed/divinely inspired" (entheoi) after the custom of the surrounding nations.

Pauline theology explicitly categorizes "sorcery"  and "idolatry" among the "works of the flesh" (Gal. 5:19–20), confirming that this deception does not originate from external metaphysical entities, but constitutes a product of man's carnal nature alienated from God, manifesting through evil works.

15. Tangible Proof: The Thirty Pieces of Silver

The absolute historical and archaeological confirmation of this idolatrous downfall is sealed in the most dramatic manner within the episode of Christ’s betrayal. The "thirty pieces of silver" (Matt. 26:15) received by Judas from the Temple treasury were not common earthly coins, but Tyrian Shekels.

According to official rabbinic tradition (Mishnah, Shekalim 1:4; Talmud, Bekhorot 50b), the Sadducean Temple aristocracy had instituted a specific religious law decreeing that all Temple contributions and taxes be paid exclusively in this particular currency, owing to the exceptionally high purity of its silver (exceeding 94%). The tragic and spiritual irony of this institution is utterly profound:

• On the obverse side of the coin: A relief bust of Melqart was struck—the principal pagan deity of Tyre (whom the Greeks identified with Heracles).

• On the reverse side: The idolatrous eagle was depicted, the city's emblem, bearing the Greek inscription: "ΤΥΡΟΥ ΙΕΡΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΣΥΛΟΥ" ("Of Tyre, Holy and Inviolable Sanctuary").

The Sadducean High Priesthood and the ruling Temple authorities—the supposed uncompromising guardians of the Law, which strictly forbade any graven image or likeness "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything" (Exod. 20:4)—financed the arrest and execution of the Son of God using the Temple's official money, which bore the effigy of a foreign god! Ritualism and religious legalism had utterly sacrificed spiritual purity on the altar of carnal, economic, and political transaction.

16. Final Conclusion: The Elevation of Christ and the Fall of the Dragon

Biblical and historical research confirms that idolatrous aberration and legalistic hypocrisy did not constitute a mere theoretical error, but a universal, institutional captivity of the human spirit and body.

The Elevation of Christ upon the Cross is directly paralleled by the Lord Himself to the lifting up of the brazen serpent in the wilderness:

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up" (John 3:14).

Christ "was made a curse for us" (Gal. 3:13—meaning those under the Law), in order to redeem those who were under the condemnation of the legalistic system. Drawing onto Himself the condemnation of the commandment—the very "serpent" itself—He disarmed it, "made a shew of them openly" (Col. 2:15), and abolished it definitively.

When, therefore, the book of Revelation triumphantly proclaims:

 “And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world— he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God” (Rev. 12:9-10), it is not describing a metaphysical war among the stars.

Jewish apocalyptic literature utilizes cosmic and astronomical symbols to portray earthly, historical, and institutional upheavals. It celebrates the historical end of the authority of the Accuser (nomos / Law) and the historical-biblical demolition of the legalistic system. The "fall" means that the Law no longer functions before God as an accuser day and night, but rather, the sacrifice of the cross does. This means that the earthly condemnations imposed by the Law upon transgressors previously had a reflective, binding effect and representation before God—in much the same way that "whatever is loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 18:18), and conversely, just as there is "joy in heaven over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:7).

Along with the system (the Dragon), its "angels" —that is, the earthly institutional ministers, emissaries, and judicial agents of the ministration of condemnation (Acts 9:1–2, 2 Cor. 3:9)—were likewise cast out and stripped of their spiritual authority.

The "handwriting of ordinances that was against us" was nailed to and annulled upon the Cross (Col. 2:14); the rulers and authorities of the old, alienated age of ritualistic Judaism were brought to naught (1 Cor. 2:6, 15:24); and the bondage of the Law gave way, definitively and irrevocably, to the absolute freedom of the endless age of Grace through Jesus Christ, for "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth" (Rom. 10:4).

Footnote:

[1] The term pharmakeia (φαρμακεία, Gal. 5:20, Rev. 9:21, 18:23) in Graeco-Roman and Hellenistic Jewish literature of the Early Roman period does not merely denote benign medicinal practice, but specifically the deployment of toxic, mind-altering substances for sorcery, poisoning, and ritualistic incantations. Philo of Alexandria (De Specialibus Legibus 3.93–103) explicitly contrasts beneficial medicine with the illicit "evil-art of pharmakeia" (kakotechnos pharmakeia) practiced by mages and poisoners. Similarly, Flavius Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews 17.62, 17.132) consistently employs the term to describe clandestine poisonings and demonic sorcery within political and religious intrigues. The historical and archaeological validity of psychoactive substance use within cultic settings in the region has been empirically corroborated by Organic Residue Analysis (ORA) at the Tel Arad sanctuary (Arie, Rosen & Namdar, 2020), which identified cannabis residues on incense altars, providing concrete material evidence for the convergence of cultic rituals and mind-altering agents in the ancient Near East.

Βibliographic reference

• Arie, E., Rosen, B., & Namdar, D. (2020). "Cannabis and Frankincense at the Judahite Shrine of Arad." Tel Aviv, 47(1), 5-28.

• Philo of Alexandria, De Specialibus Legibus (On the Special Laws), Book III.

• Flavius Josephus, Antiquitates Judaicae (Antiquities of the Jews), Book XVII.

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