The Judgment Of Satan

One of the things you will note as God pronounces judgement in these verses is this: he deals with each party in order of their sinning against him.

TODAY OUR FOCUS IS GOING TO BE ON THE WORD OF JUDGEMENT PRONOUNCED UPON SATAN in v.14-15

In order to properly understand the text it is quite important to own this: The serpent being judged in Genesis 3 is Satan. As proof I refer you to Revelations 12:9 where it says “the great dragon was hurled down- that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled down to the earth, and his angels with him.”

Throughout the scriptures Satan is referred to as a snake or a serpent and his followers as Jesus called the Pharisees “a brood of vipers”

Why is Satan called a serpent? It would seem that it’s a name that fits his character and person perfectly.

As mentioned, our focus today is going to be upon the words of judgement pronounced by God against Satan. A great irony is this: What was to Satan a word of judgment is to us who are in Christ a word of blessing.

“Cursed”

-Adam and Eve are not the ones who are cursed by God. The serpent/ being Satan is cursed

-to be cursed is to be subject to and under the wrath of God. It means “to be damned”. Indeed, these are the words announced to Satan.

In v.14-15 Satan’s end is spelled out for him by God. Verses 14-15 are words of judgement addressed to Satan. The final script is read to him by God. His fate is sealed. He will be judged. He will be crushed and defeated. He will be opposed and harassed. He will suffer under God’s wrath and endure all sorts of humiliations.

I would like to propose to you that v.14 is figurative language that depicts the utter humiliation of Satan.

Those who crawl on their bellies and eat dust are those who have been subjected to abject humiliation.

God utterly humiliated Satan when he threw Satan and his angels out of heaven and onto the earth.

Listen to Revelations 12:7ff “And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down- that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”

Satan’s humiliation lies in the fact that he, once a holder of a great position in Heaven, was cast down to this earth. His being on this earth is part of his humiliation. This is God’s judgment upon him. For all the rest of his days: this once mighty one amongst the angels of Heaven is subject to having the dust of the earth as the ground upon which he slithers/walks.

I know it’s hard to imagine but try to imagine that Satan, at one time being a very important angel of God, was chucked out of the beauties of heaven and restrained to a ball of dirt known as Earth. Being on this earth is part of Satan’s humiliation, and how is it that God portrays Satan on this earth? “As a snake crawling on his belly before God and eating dust”