Genesis 3:14 Commentary and Bible Study

But God judges the serpent next. He does not ask the serpent any questions. The serpent is not asked for an explanation, as the man and the woman are. This is because the real moral agent behind the temptation was Satan, who is not going to be offered any opportunity for forgiveness by God, and so was not invited to confess his sin and repent of it. The difference is this – for the man and the women there will be mercy available; there is going to be opportunity to repent. They are going to die, but not altogether, not at once. For the serpent, there is not going to be any mercy. He is already a fallen creature; he is already under judgment . So his sentence, as it were, comes directly, without any questions.Why then does God address the serpent and not Satan directly? Because Satan had chosen to use this animal and even though it was not morally responsible, because it had been so used for such an evil purpose God must give a token judgment to the serpent itself. Because Satan had used this creature to serve his purpose, he was to be branded permanently with its name (Revelation 12:9), and the judgment of God on the animal was to be a picture of the unavoidable judgment that would fall on Satan himself; indeed the terms of the judgment on the serpent show that God certainly had in mind more than just an animal when he passed this sentence.God now proceeds to pass judgment on the parties in reverse order. In this way neither Eve not Adam can complain that God has not taken into account the blame attached to the other parties before coming to them. Truly Eve was right to attach blame to the serpent, but that does nothing to diminish her own blame. And when the serpent has already been judged by the Lord before he comes to her, then she knows she is being judged fairly for what she has done. This creature employed by Satan, is to be reduced and humbled, and appears to eat dust and to grovel on the ground.