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The Serpent Seed doctrine is a controversial religious belief, which attempts to explain the Scriptural account of the fall of man by saying that the serpent in the Garden of Eden mated with Eve, impregnated her, and that the offspring of their union was Cain. Much of Scripture was written allegorically, figuratively, prophetically, and symbolically. Proponents of the Serpent Seed doctrine decipher the Genesis account of the fall of man with the understanding that it was written symbolically. The problem is that the Serpent Seed doctrine follows a preconceived storyline and refuses to look at the Scripture and scientific exculpatory evidence that proves that the serpent in the garden could not have impregnated Eve, but instead makes leaps in assumptions and logic, liberally using Scripture to support the doctrine. This article will review excerpts of the Serpent Seed doctrine, in italics, and will show that man’s original sin was an act of disobedience to God in the Garden of Eden, but was not an act of sex between Eve and the serpent. This article will also show that the serpent did not impregnate Eve, resulting in Cain being born as the spawn of the serpent.

The origin of the Serpent Seed doctrine goes back thousands of years, appearing in Gnostic writings and early Jewish texts. Mainstream Christian theologians and the early Christian church rightly rejected the Serpent Seed doctrine as unscriptural.

THE DOCTRINE OF THE SERPENT SEED [1]

SS DOCTRINE:
“And the Lord God said unto the Serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and every beast of the field; upon thy belly thou shalt go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel.”
-Genesis 3:14-15

GENESIS 3:1:
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field, which YHWH (the Lord) God had made.

The serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field. Scripture does not declare that the serpent was a beast of the field.

The Serpent Seed doctrine promotes the idea that Genesis 3:14-15 is to be understood in the following way:

SS DOCTRINE:
“And the Lord God said unto the Serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and every beast of the field; upon thy belly thou shalt go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy [SERPENT’S] seed and her [ADAM’S] seed; it [CAIN] shall bruise thy [ABEL’S] head, and thou shall bruise his heel.”
-Genesis 3:14-15

In the NKJV translated text, with the following [INTERPRETATIONS], the Serpent Seed doctrine is rebuked:

GENESIS 3:14-15:
So YHWH (the Lord) God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you [SATAN] and the woman [EVE’S OFFSPRING – MANKIND], and between your [SATAN’S] seed [OF REBELLION SIN] and her [RIGHTEOUS] Seed [YESHUA (JESUS)]. He [YESHUA (JESUS)] shall bruise your [SATAN’S] head, and you [SATAN] shall bruise His [YESHUA’S (JESUS’)] heel.”

A problem of omission in the Serpent Seed doctrine is that Genesis 3:15 proclaims, “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” A case to uphold the Serpent Seed doctrine can be made that Cain ‘bruised’ Abel’s head…

GENESIS 4:8:
Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

Cain bruised Abel’s head and killed him by taking a rock and striking him in the head with it. “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” reveals that IF Genesis 3:15 was a reference to Cain who bruised Abel’s head, THEN Abel died without ever bruising Cain’s heel. The bruising of the head and heel is a reference the spiritual conflict between Yeshua (Jesus) and Satan.

ROMANS 16:20:
And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.

REVELATION 20:2-3,10:
He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit.
The devil… was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Yeshua (Jesus) will crush Satan under His feet, and bruise His head, but He will not kill him. Satan will be cast alive and confined in hell forever.

PSALM 22:16:
They pierced My hands and My feet.

Satan bruised Yeshua’s (Jesus’) heel, at least one of them, when Yeshua (Jesus) was nailed through His hands and feet to the cross and crucified.

LAW OF REPRODUCTION

SS DOCTRINE:
Now, it is stated in Genesis 1:11,12 and 24 that God commanded every species of life, whether plant or animal life, to bring forth seed after its own kind. Therefore to hybridize two different species of animals is to go against God’s commandment and law of reproduction. (Keep this law in mind so that you may understand later how, and why, the hybridizing of Mankind with the Serpent-kind had brought forth the sin that could be passed down to all men today.)

The hybridizing of man and serpent as being the reason sin is passed down to all men today is not recorded in Scripture and is rebuked by Scripture.

ROMANS 5:12:
Therefore, just as THROUGH ONE MAN SIN ENTERED THE WORLD, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:22:
In Adam all die, even so in Messiah (Christ) all shall be made alive.

Sin entered the world through Adam, not by a hybrid offspring of Adam. All men inherit sin and die through Adam’s sin of disobedience.

CERTAIN BREEDS COULD CROSSBREED

SS DOCTRINE:
The seed of the Serpent could fuse with the egg of the woman. This seems very far-fetched to most people. But just look at what some men have done with some of the animals. They have produced a liger, a cross between a lion and a tigress; a zedonk, a hybrid between a zebra and a she-ass. The most common hybrid that we know is the mule, which is a mixture of the donkey and the mare. Scientists have tried to commingle beast and man without success. Beast and man cannot intermingle and reproduce. But the chemical affinity between them proves their close relationship. However, the intermingling between an animal (Serpent) and a woman (Eve) did take place in the garden of Eden. But God had completely destroyed that pattern of the Serpent, and no other beast can commingle with man again.

JOHN 3:6:
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Eve could not have been cross-kind impregnated by the serpent, whether the serpent was a beast
of the field or a spirit being, Satan himself.

Many unscientific assumptions are made to uphold the Serpent Seed doctrine. The foremost unscientific assumption is that the seed of the serpent could, and did, fuse with the egg of the woman, Eve. Kinds can crossbreed with similar kinds, but kinds cannot cross-kind. Ligers, mules, and zedonks are all hybrid offspring from the same kind of animals. Humans can reproduce interracially, but not with any other kind of animal, beast, or spirit being (Satan).

God created all creatures, including man, to be able to reproduce according to their own kind and prevented creatures from breeding outside their kind (Genesis 1:24-25). A dog cannot cross-kind reproduce with a pig.

GENESIS 1:26:
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; LET THEM HAVE DOMINION over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

GENESIS 2:18-20:
And YHWH (the Lord) God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Out of the ground YHWH (the Lord) God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.
So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam THERE WAS NOT FOUND A HELPER COMPARABLE TO HIM.

GENESIS 3:1:
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field, which YHWH (the Lord) God had made.

The Serpent Seed doctrine acknowledges that modern man has not been able to breed with any animal, but assumes in the garden that this was not the case. The Serpent Seed doctrine claims the serpent to be an upright, bipedal, talking, and walking beast of the field, comparable to Adam and Eve, capable of mating with Eve. Scripture proclaims that Adam and Eve had dominion over every living thing that moved on the Earth (Genesis 1:28). Scripture further proclaims that Adam did not have a helper comparable to him (Genesis 2:20). The serpent therefore could not be comparable to Eve, nor could the serpent impregnate Eve, since it was a being, either a beast of the field, or a spirit being, that was not comparable, not the same kind of being, that Adam was.

SPIRITUAL SEED, NOT FLESH AND BLOOD SEED

JOHN 8:44:
“You are OF YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL, and the desires of your father you want to do.”

A Serpent Seed doctrine adherent believes that a person is the literal descendant of Satan, instead of one who is spiritually of Satan by doing evil.

1 JOHN 3:9-12:
Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for HIS SEED remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever DOES NOT PRACTICE RIGHTEOUSNESS is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? BECAUSE HIS WORKS WERE EVIL and his brother’s righteous.

EPHESIANS 6:12:
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Whoever repents and is spiritually born of God, and remains faithful to God, His spiritual seed remains in that person. The children of God are those who practice righteousness and the children of the devil are those who do evil works. We are not God’s children or Satan’s children through biological seed genealogy, but through our deeds, whether they are righteous or evil. Our battle is not a flesh battle, over biological seed, but is spiritual warfare against the wickedness of Satan.

FROM SERPENT TO SNAKE

SS DOCTRINE:
In passing His judgment, God did not destroy the Serpent, whose head was the Devil. Instead he cursed him above all the creatures of the field. The Serpent was cursed and transformed from an upright animal to a belly crawling reptile – a snake! Without his limbs, dust would become a part of his diet every time he feeds himself – “dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.” Remember, he went on his belly after the curse, and not before.

To suggest that the serpent, a beast of the field, was an upright, bipedal, human-like creature, made in the image of man, is a great assumption and takes a leap of faith and reason to believe. The serpent was Satan who spoke directly to Adam and Eve. Satan is an upright, bipedal, human- like angelic being made in the image of God.

LEVITICUS 20:15-16:
If a man mates with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them.

When beasts are misused they are subject to being cursed or killed, even though the beast itself is not responsible for its actions, as a superior being, man or Satan, forces or guide the animal in sin.

ONE FLESH – TWO PEOPLE

SS DOCTRINE:
The crossing of the two lines of people, generation after generation, from Enoch to Noah, naturally caused the bloodstream of the sons of God to be perverted with the evil nature of the Serpent seed. The spiritual quality of divine revelation within them gradually became watered down. Evil attributes were bred (increased) while the righteous traits diminished (decreased) throughout those generations until the two peoples became one flesh. The intermingling of the seeds was so complete in the generation prior to the Flood that all the people of the earth were involved. Noah, who was the last of the pure righteous firstborn of the Sethic line (Gen.5:28-29), also took to wife a Cainite, or a woman of mixed seed.

ACTS 17:26:
And He has made FROM ONE BLOOD EVERY NATION OF MEN to dwell on all the face of the earth.

Scripture rejects the Serpent Seed doctrine’s notion that man had two bloodlines. There is no serpent-man hybrid bloodline of people, past or present. God created all men of one blood. Men of one blood dwell in every nation on the Earth. Righteousness is not a matter of bloodline, but of obedience to God.

SIN OF DISOBEDIENCE

SS DOCTRINE:
THE FORNICATION of the woman with the Serpent had brought forth DEATH to the world. It was actually Eve’s disobedience to God’s commandment not to eat of that Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

It was through Adam’s sin of disobedience, not Eve’s sin of fornication, that sin entered the world.

ROMANS 5:12:
Therefore, just as THROUGH ONE MAN SIN ENTERED THE WORLD, and DEATH THROUGH SIN, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.

If Adam had not sinned, after Eve had, it has been theologically argued that sin could have been dealt with in the garden, and would not have been spread to the world. That scenario is a matter for theological debate, as Adam did sin, and Adam was blamed for causing sin to enter the world.

PLEASANT – WISE – SEXUAL UNION?

SS DOCTRINE:
Genesis 3:6 says that the tree was “pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise…” How could the eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree make one wise? Because Eve harkened to the whispers of the Serpent and was enchanted with the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Perverted Knowledge), and “saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desired to make one wise, she took of the tree thereof, and did eat” She lusted for that knowledge by what she saw (understood) of it, and not knowing that she was being deceived, she fornicated with the Serpent.

The Serpent Seed doctrine makes a valid point in asking, “How could the eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree make one wise?”

GENESIS 3:2-7:
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”’ Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

To say that Eve merely looked at a physical tree and deduced that its fruit was not only edible, but that by consuming it she would become wise, does not seem like a good, literal explanation.

The Serpent Seed doctrine leads adherents to believe that Eve thought that by having sex with the serpent, this would make her wise. The only ‘wisdom’ Eve could have possibly gained by fornication with the serpent was unlawful carnal knowledge.

To suggest that the serpent was the fruit and Eve had sex with the serpent, and that Adam afterward had sex with Eve, and that Eve conceived twin sons, Cain from the serpent and Abel from Adam, takes great leaps in assumption to believe. The storyline of the Serpent Seed doctrine has many gaps in the Genesis account and in science, which the doctrine fills by liberally applying Scripture with loose scientific facts to adhere to the tale.

HOW WAS EVE TEMPTED BY FRUIT PLEASING TO THE EYES WHICH COULD MAKE HER WISE?

GENESIS 3:6:
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Scripture does not specifically say how or why Eve was tempted by a piece of fruit, but using a little conjecture and imagination it may have been a temptation like something in the following scenario…

The serpent (Satan) struck up a conversation with Eve. He was friendly and seemed wise. He lured Eve over to the midst of the garden, where the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was. Satan then took from the tree’s fruit and ate of it himself, showing her by example, then …

GENESIS 3:4-5:
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

So, Eve saw that the serpent (Satan) was enjoying this fruit, and he seemed to be wise, so…

GENESIS 3:6:
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

As human beings, we all can recall sometime during our life when someone first approached us, then tempted us with some unlawful fruit. There was a time when someone was smoking a cigarette before us and said, “Try one, it’s enjoyable and it won’t kill you.” Then we observed that person smoking, seemingly enjoying it and it not killing the person, so we took a cigarette and smoked.

The fruit could be a cigarette, cigar, narcotic drug, alcohol (as a minor), or something else that we knew we shouldn’t have been doing.

This is the most plausible, most likely explanation of how Eve was tempted by a piece of fruit.

1 TIMOTHY 2:14:
And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.

While Eve was deceived into believing the fruit could make her wise, it should be noted that Adam was not deceived as Eve was, but ate anyway. Adam most likely sinned and ate of the fruit as he did not want to be parted in knowledge or culpability from his helper Eve.

WHO WAS THE SERPENT?

GENESIS 3:1:
Now the serpent was MORE CUNNING than ANY BEAST of the field.

The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that Eve ate from was not sex with the serpent. The serpent was not a beast of the field, but was more cunning than any beast of the field. Beasts of the field do not speak.

GENESIS 3:2-3:
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of THE FRUIT OF THE TREE WHICH IS IN THE MIDST OF THE GARDEN, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

The serpent approached Eve somewhere in the garden (not in the midst), and Eve said to the serpent that the tree and the fruit from the tree IN THE MIDST OF THE GARDEN was what she was commanded not to eat or touch. The serpent lured Eve to the midst of the garden and ate fruit from the tree, not the serpent’s fruit (or sexual organ). Therefore, the serpent’s fruit was not the fruit from the tree in the midst of the garden that the Serpent Seed doctrine maintains Eve fornicated with. The serpent in the garden was Satan himself and the tree Eve ate fruit of was from a stationary tree in the midst of the garden that the serpent (Satan) lured her to.

REVELATION 12:9:
So the great dragon was cast out, THAT SERPENT OF OLD, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.

REVELATION 20:2:
He laid hold of the dragon, THAT SERPENT OF OLD, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

The fruit of the tree was not Satan’s sexual organ that he used to impregnate Eve with. Satan is a spiritual being, not a flesh and blood human being. Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ) is the only spiritual being to have ever crossed over from the spirit realm to take on human flesh (Romans 8:3).

THE SERPENT CURSED

GENESIS 3:14-15:
So YHWH (the Lord) God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And 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.”

A strictly literal explanation of the serpent’s curse was that the serpent was a beast of the field that Satan spoke through and God cursed this animal, transforming it into a snake that goes on its belly. This image has been engrained in many people’s minds.

The serpent of the garden is Satan, so a more figurative interpretation of the serpent’s curse is necessary. God devalued the serpent (Satan) beneath all of His creatures and crippled him.

GENESIS 3:14-15 [WITH INTERPRETATION]:
So YHWH (the Lord) God said to [SATAN] the serpent:
“Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life [YOU ARE CURSED TO HUNGER AND WILL ‘EAT DUST,’ NOT BE SATISFIED OR RECEIVE BLESSINGS ANY LONGER]. And I will put enmity [SPIRITUAL WARFARE] between you [SATAN] and the woman [EVE], and between your seed [OF SPIRITUAL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS] and her Seed [YESHUA (JESUS), THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE – JOHN 14:16]; He shall bruise your head [BIND YOU – REVELATION 20:2], and you shall bruise His [YESHUA’S (JESUS’)] heel [BY SEEING THAT HE IS NAILED TO THE CROSS – PSALM 22:16].”

ADAM AND EVE WERE WARNED THAT THEY WOULD BE CURSED

The Serpent Seed doctrine proclaims that God would not have cursed Adam and Eve to death if they merely disobeyed Him by eating fruit from a tree.

GENESIS 2:15-17:
Then YHWH (the Lord) God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And YHWH (the Lord) God commanded the man, saying,
“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

God commanded Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and promised him that if he did eat of it, he would die. God is holy and keeps His covenant promises and His word, lest He would not be holy. An act of disobedience against God was sufficient enough to curse Adam and to cause all of mankind to inherit original sin.

1. Gan, Richard, “The Serpent Seed The Original Sin,” 1974,
<http://www.propheticrevelation.net/original_sin/the_serpent_seed_3.htm>.