Wassup with the Talking Snake? (Part III): The Snake-Crusher
Portraits of Chaos in the Scriptures
Who will crush the snake’s head in Genesis 3:15? My guess is that many Bible readers would say, “Jesus!” While that’s true 100 percent, what if other biblical characters are portrayed as snake-crushers, too? What if these biblical characters form the tracks that lead to Jesus as the ultimate snake-crusher?
Let’s look at where it all begins.
Defeat of the Snake
…And I will put hostility
between you and between the woman,
and between your offspring and between her offspring
He will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.1
Here, in God’s speech to the snake, he speaks of the ongoing feud that will happen between the offspring of the woman and that of the snake (see Part II). Then, we find ourselves reading an interesting statement about a descendant of the woman who will fatally strike the snake on the head while being struck by the snake as well.
This raises the question again: who is this descendant?
Yet, I want to raise this again: are there multiple descendants of the woman that will crush the heads of the snake’s descendants throughout the biblical story, too?
We could explore a handful of places in the Scriptures, but for the sake of one blog post, let’s see how this feud plays out in a few particular scenes — beginning with the book of Exodus.
The Shrewd Pharaoh
The book of Genesis ends with the family of Israel (Jacob) reuniting with Joseph in Egypt. The book of Exodus begins with an increase in the number of Israelites in Egypt. Now remember, this increase is a fulfillment of what God promised to their forefather, Abraham. However, a new Pharaoh rises to power and sees this increase as a threat. So, he begins to scheme up a plan to oppress the Israelites by saying:
9 …Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, otherwise they will multiply, and in the event of war, they will also join those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.2
Due to fear, Pharaoh desires to deal with the Israelites “shrewdly” or “wisely.” Although the Hebrew word here isn’t the same word used to describe the snake’s shrewdness in Genesis 3:1, there’s a thematic parallel between Pharaoh and the snake.
The snake uses its shrewdness to deceive and contribute to the demise of humans. Pharaoh uses his shrewdness to oppress and contribute to the demise of the Israelites. So, the author portrays Pharaoh as an offspring of the snake who chooses to inflict harm upon the Israelites—the offspring of the woman. As we keep reading Exodus 1, Pharaoh enslaves the Israelites and attempts to destroy them by commanding the execution of all newborn Israelite boys.
The Israelites need someone who can deliver them by dealing a fatal blow to Pharaoh's oppressive power.
Moses enters the chat.
Baby Moses is rescued from Pharaoh’s execution plan, grows up in Pharaoh’s house, and flees Egypt after murdering an Egyptian. One day, while Moses is tending a flock in a wilderness, he encounters God. In this encounter, God calls Moses to be the vehicle of deliverance for his fellow Israelites still in Egypt. But Moses objects to this calling and doubts that he fits the job.
So, God gives him signs to reassure him that this mission will succeed. Let’s look at God’s first sign to Moses:
2 The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
And he said, “A staff.”
3 Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.”
So he threw it on the ground, and it turned into a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 But the LORD said to Moses, “Reach out with your hand and grasp it by its tail” — so he reached out with his hand and caught it, and it turned into a staff in his hand…3
God empowers Moses as the authoritative snake handler via his staff. As the story of Exodus goes on, God tells Moses to use this staff to inflict some of the plagues upon Egypt. The staff is also used to part the sea so the Israelites can escape to freedom. In a nutshell, Moses’s snake staff is used to crumble the kingdom of Egypt and its snake-like Pharaoh. This snake is crushed.
But as the biblical story continues, we will see that being a snake-crusher isn’t exclusive to men.
Snakes in the Promised Land
In Judges 4, the Israelites face oppression and warfare with a Canaanite king named Jabin and his army commander, Sisera. Although this happens as a result of the Israelites’ rebellion against God, God hears their cries as his covenant people. For 20 years, hostility resides between the Israelites and these particular Canaanites, who are portrayed as the offspring of the snake.
The Israelites need someone who can deliver them by dealing a fatal blow to Jabin's oppressive power.
Deborah enters the chat.
The prophetess and judge, Deborah, tells a man named Barak that God will give them victory over Sisera and his army. But Barak says he won’t go into the battle against Sisera unless Deborah joins him — she agrees. But before they leave, Deborah says:
I will certainly go with you; however, the fame shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.4
Afterward, the scene briefly shifts to a Kenite man named Heber, who leaves his tribe to live in a distant land. Then, the scene shifts back to the upcoming battle. As the battle takes place, the Israelites kill every member of Sisera’s army, causing Sisera to flee for his life to Heber's residence.
Heber’s wife, Jael, enters the chat.
As Jael “offers” Sisera hospitality, he requests:
20 …Stand in the doorway of the tent, and it shall be if anyone comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there anyone here?’ that you shall say, ‘No.’ 21 But Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died.5
Jael’s literal crushing of Sisera’s head leads to the Israelites defeating king Jabin once and for all. These snakes are crushed.
Let’s explore one more biblical scene where we will see that the young and outcast can be snake-crushers, too.
The Giant Snake
In 1 Samuel 16, God sends the prophet Samuel to anoint the next king of Israel in Bethlehem. Samuel encounters the family of a man named Jesse, as God instructed him to do. Samuel surveys Jesse’s sons to see who God will declare as the next king. But, none of the seven sons present were chosen — but the youngest son was absent, tending the sheep.
After Samuel summons the young boy, God says:
Arise, anoint him, for this is he.6
The boy is David, and he’s anointed as the next king of Israel. But he won’t step into this role until years down the road. In the meantime, in 1 Samuel 17, the Israelites prepare to battle against the Philistines, with each army standing on opposite sides of a valley. A particular Philistine named Goliath steps forward – and he’s a giant covered in armor.
His armor was full of bronze:
5 And he had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore scale-armor which weighed five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 He also had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze saber slung between his shoulders.7
The Hebrew word for bronze here is nekhosheth (נְחֹשֶׁת). In Hebrew, words have a three-letter root. If we compare this word for bronze with the word for snake – nakhash (נְחֹשֶׁת), we will see that both words share the same three-letter root (נחש).
Goliath is described here as a giant, scaly-armored, snake-warrior — who threatens the terrified Israelites with violence and bloodshed.
The Israelites need someone who can deliver them by dealing a fatal blow to Goliath.
David re-enters the chat.
Jesse sends David to give food to his brothers who were in the Israelite army. When he arrives, David hears Goliath talking CRAZY and sees that his fellow Israelites are scared to battle against Goliath.
Long story short, David steps up to the plate to fight Goliath. But he has no armor or sword – just his staff, sling, and a handful of stones. Goliath keeps running his mouth, only to be struck in the head by one of David’s stones.
Goliath collapses face-first on the ground – dead. Then, David takes a sword and cuts Goliath’s head off, and the Philistines flee. This snake is crushed.
Conclusion
Later in the story, Jesus will enter the chat to defeat the snake ultimately. That’s a blog post for another time, but for now, each time you read a story about hostility between individuals or groups of people in the Scriptures, you might find yourself in a replay of Genesis 3:15. Take your time and meditate on the text!
Genesis 3:15
Exodus 1:9-10
Exodus 4:2-4
Judges 4:9
Judges 4:20-21
1 Samuel 16:12
1 Samuel 17:5-6