That Old Serpent

“And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.”  Revelation 20:2

This prophetic vision given to John leaves no doubt as to the identity of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. That “old serpent” (literally, “that primeval serpent”) who deceived our first parents into rebelling against the Word of God, is none other than the devil, or Satan, often viewed in Scripture as typified by a “great dragon” (Rev. 12:9), the fearsome animal of ancient times; probably the dinosaur.

His ultimate doom is sure - he will be bound a thousand years, then finally “was thrown into the lake of fire...tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev. 20:10). At present, however, he is not bound, for “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). We must be sober and vigilant, “so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes” (2 Cor. 2:11).

His devices are manifold, but all are deceptive - he was the most “crafty” of all God’s creatures (Gen. 3:1), malevolent, and designed to turn us away from the true Christ. “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3).

He is the great deceiver. He can appear as a fire-breathing dragon or a roaring lion, deceiving us into fearing and obeying him instead of God. “For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14), deceiving us into trusting the “false words” of his “false teachers” (2 Pet. 2:3, 1) instead of the Holy Scriptures of the God of creation. Our recourse against his deceptions is to “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:11).