The Saga of the Serpent — Part Two

The difference between the sons of God and the sons of Adam is staggering.  The sons of God were once the sons of Adam, too, but have literally been born again–this time of the Spirit–and have escaped the heritage and bondage of sin.  John 3:1-8:

1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

If you cannot point to a time where you have surrendered your life to Christ, a place where you repented of your sins, believing upon the blood of Christ for the redemption of your soul, and began to follow Christ Jesus in God’s Word, then you are not born-again.  The great commission given to the saints is discussed in Mark 16:15-16:

15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

If you are not born-again, you can change your situation right now.  If you would like to become a son or daughter of God today, if you would like all your sin and shame erased, if you would like a powerful life filled with purpose and promise, then today is your day of salvation.  Click onto “Further With Jesus” right now for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God.  Do it now! We will wait for you here.  NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.    

GOD SAID, Genesis 3:1:

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

GOD SAID, Isaiah 14:12-14:

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

GOD SAID, Revelation 2:12-13:

12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

13 I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

GOD SAID, Revelation 12:7-9:

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

MAN SAID: I am wise.  I am erudite.  I am able.  Who needs the antiquated God of the Bible?  A devil and a serpent in the Garden of Eden? Foolishness!

Now THE RECORD.  Satan took on the persona of the serpent in the beginning because “the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.”  The personage of the Satan serpent is interwoven in every aspect of carnaldom and is hidden, in many cases, in plain sight.  Keep in mind that the Bible states that Satan is the god (little g-od) of this world. 

In Part One of this series, it was noted that God calls Satan “the great dragon,” “the old serpent.”  On GodSaidManSaid, it is also noted that, in the Bible, creatures such as are commonly known as dinosaurs were, in times of old, called dragons, leviathan, behemoth, fiery flying serpents, cockatrice, and other such names.  Prior to the 1840s, the word dinosaur, which means terrible lizard, was not yet coined.  The dragon and the dinosaur are one and the same. 

Satan, “the great dragon,” “the old serpent,” is everywhere.  Consider these sentences from the GodSaidManSaid feature “The Saga of the Serpent–Part 1:”

The intricacies of Satan’s spider’s web, by which the souls of men are snared, are beyond impressive; yet most of the time, his deceptions are hidden in plain view.  Let’s take a more in-depth look at one colossal Satanic snare that’s hidden in plain view.

When one arrives at the house of faith, he or she is greeted by the Word of God and His Christ.  When one arrives at the cathedrals (museums) of the anti-Bible people, he or she is greeted by a dinosaur, a dragon – their Goliath – a symbol of their organized rebellion against the credibility of God and His Bible.  Should it then be any surprise to you that Satan – the enemy of the cross of Christ – is known as the old serpent and great dragon?

Revelation 20:1-3

1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after than he must be loosed a little season.

At our house of worship, we meet Jesus Christ and the God of the Bible.  At academia’s house of worship – their universities and museums – they meet the dragon, Tyrannosaurus Rex, and his companions. [End of quote]

In last week’s feature, we also discussed Nehustan, the brazen serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness, and how it was a shadow and type of the redemption process that was accomplished at Calvary.

The great dragon, the old serpent, is everywhere.  Jesus Christ speaks of Pergamos as “Satan’s seat,” the place where “Satan dwelleth.”  The following paragraphs have been lifted from the GodSaidManSaid feature “Pergamos–Where Satan Dwelleth:”

The following excerpt is from The Bible and Archaeology:

How did serpent worship begin in Pergamos?  Some historians trace it to the collapse of the Babylonian Empire, when some Chaldean priests established their religious center in Pergamos.  “The defeated Chaldeans fled to Asia Minor, and fixed their central college at Pergamos,” notes historian William Barker in his book Lares and Penates of CiliciaI.

Certainly, the Old Testament identifies Satan’s chief seat of activity as being in ancient Babylon, where the doctrines of its mystery religion “made all the earth drunk” (Jeremiah 51:7).  This would make its religious successor, Pergamos, the temporary new “Satan’s seat” of the Babylonian mystery religion. 

“That seat,” comments Alexander Hislop, “after the death of Belshazzar (the last Babylonian king), and the expulsion of the Chaldean priesthood from Babylon by the Medo-Persian kings, was at Pergamos, where afterwards was one of the seven churches of Asia.  There, in consequence, for many centuries was “Satan’s Seat.” 

“There, under favor of the deified kings of Pergamos, was his favorite abode and was the worship of Asklepios, under the form of the serpent…Pergamos itself became part and parcel of the Roman empire, when Attalus III, the last of its kings, at his death, left by will all of his dominions to the Roman people in 133 BC.”

In this way, the Roman emperors had become the heirs of “Satan’s seat” during John’s day.  Later, when the Roman Empire collapsed, its successor, the Holy Roman Empire, would inherit the role.  It is noteworthy that Revelation 17:4-5, 18 reveals that in the end time, a powerful religious system from the ancient past will again reign over the nations and be identified as “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth.” [End of quote]

The central, false deity of Pergamos was the sun-divinity worshipped under the form of Asklepios Soter, which means “the man-instructing serpent and savior.”

We see Satan taking on the form of the serpent in the Garden of Eden.  This man-instructing serpent converses with our great-grandmother in Genesis 3:1-6:

1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Satan’s instruction concerning the deadly forbidden tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, was to go ahead and eat, and that they would not die, but would be as gods, knowing good and evil.  Note that he promises them that they would be like gods, which is Satan’s desire: “I will be like the most High.”

Revelation 12:9 reads:

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Again, from The Bible and Archaeology:

The remains of the shrine to Asklepios have been uncovered by archaeologists.  “A 450-foot segment of the widest section was excavated and reconstructed so visitors to the site can experience a beautiful approach to the Asklepieion,” notes John McRay.  “Dedicated to Asklepios Soter, the god of healing, the Askepieion was a kind of Mayo Clinic of the ancient world…Numerous treatment rooms, sleeping rooms, and temples were located here…Patients coming to the shrine believed that Asklepios would heal them.  There was no perceived dissonance between science and religion in the ancient world.”

“From all over the world,” added William Barclay, “people flocked to Pergamos for relief of their sicknesses.” R. H. Charles has called Pergamos “the Lourdes of the ancient world.”  Thus, pagan religion had its center in Pergamos.  There was worship of Athene and Zeus, with its magnificent altar dominating the city (now partially reconstructed in the Pergamum Museum in Berlin).  There was the worship of Asklepios, bringing sick people from far and near, and above all, there were the demands of Caesar worship, hanging forever like a poised sword above the heads of the Christians.” [End of quote]

Asklepios Soter not only means “the man-instructing serpent and savior,” but was also known as the god of healing. [End of quotes]

The Satan serpent is everywhere, especially dominant in anti-Christian societies.  Quotes from various sources follow.

Source: Wikipedia.org, “Snake Worship:”

Over a large part of India, there are carved representations of cobras or nagas, or stones as substitutes.  To these, human food and flowers are offered and lights are burned before the shrines.  Among some South Indian, a cobra which is accidentally killed is burned like a human being; no one would kill one intentionally.  The serpent-god’s image is carried in an annual procession by a celibate priestess. [End of quote]

Source: English.ohmynews.com, “Hindus worship Snake God on July 30:”

On “Naag Puja” (Snake Worship Day), also known as “Naag Panchami,” on July 30, doors of many houses are decorated by a poster of Naag, the snake god.

Today, the poster of Naag is worshipped with vermilion powder, flower, sacred grass (dubo) and pasted in the door with cow dung, not by glue.  Cow dung is considered as pure, unlike paste.  The poster is then splashed with cow’s milk because milk is the food of snakes.

In the crown of Buddha, we can see the design of Naag.  This evidence shows that Naag is worshipped as God.

On this day, all Hindus clean their house and splash cow urine (holy water) all around the house.  Then, the poster of Naag is pasted first at the top of the main door, and the other doors of the room also. [End of quote]

Source: Gty.org, “Pergamos: The Church of Satan’s Throne:”

You look, for example, at a time period, say from the year 300 to 600, and you see that, under the Roman Empire under the direction of Constantine in those early years, the church married the world.  Heathen priests became Christian priests.  Heathen temples became Christian churches.  All children were required to be christened, they were therefore supposedly made Christians by putting a little water on their heads.  Heathen days of feasting and drunkenness were made into Christian days like Christmas and all other sorts of saint’s days.  And Christianity got lost in all of this.  It was merely a mass state religion.  And that is perhaps the most dominant period in the church history when the Pergamos mentality was evident.

In the city of Pergamos was a medical school.  And this was a famous place of medicine.  Mingled into their medicine, of course, was a lot of superstition.  And the emblem or the idol of Asklepios was a snake.  If you have ever seen the medical symbol, you will notice that, in the middle of a medical symbol, winding down its way around the pole, is a snake – that is the ancient god Asklepios, the god of healing.  When you went to the temple of Asklepios, you went there to be healed.  In the temple, harmless snakes slithered all over the temple floor.  And, in order to be healed, you had to go in there and lie down and stay there.  You slept on the temple floor, and while you slept, the defused multiplicity of the deity of Asklepios crawled over your body, and infused you with his healing power.  Satanic? Yes.  Right from the old serpent himself.  [End of quote]

Source: Truthmagazine.com, “Asklepios: The Greek God:”

Pergamos was the center of the worship of Asklepios, or as the Romans called him, Aesculapius.  The Egyptians deified an historical physician, Imhotep, exactly as the Greeks deified the historical Asklepios, i.e. Aesculapius.  In 420 B.C., the worship of Asklepios was introduced at Athens, coupled with that of Hygieia (in Greek mythology, the goddess of health).  Asklepios was the name of the Greek god of medicine, the son of Apollo and the nymph Coronis. 

The practice of sleeping in these sanctuaries was very common.  The emblem of Asklepios is the serpent.  The serpent was intimately connected with one of the ways in which cures were effected in the Asklepeion.  Sufferers were allowed to spend the night in the darkness of the temple.  In the temple , there were temple snakes.  In the night, the sufferer might be touched by one of these tame and harmless snakes as they glided over the ground on which he lay.  The touch of the snake was held to be the touch of the god himself, and the touch was held to bring health and healing.  It was supposed that this Greek god Asklepios effected cures or prescribed remedies to the sick in dreams.  There was a temple of Asklepios at Athens, as there was at Pergamos. 

Is there anything in the worship of Asklepios which might account for the fact that John said Pergamos was the place where Satan’s seat was (Rev. 2:13)?  There are two possibilities.  The characterization of Asklepios was “Asklepios Soter,” “Asklepios the Savior.” Savior is the word which in the belief of any Christian belongs uniquely and exclusively to Jesus Christ.  It might well be that the Christians felt that the application of this title to a heathen god was indeed a Satanic perversion of the truth.  There was something even more suggestive than that about the worship of Asklepios.  Since the emblem of Asklepios was the serpent, many Jews and many Christians with knowledge of the Old Testament believed the serpent was nothing less than the emblem of Satan himself.  The serpent was bound to carry the thoughts of these individuals back to the old story of man’s first sin in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3).  Therefore, this might well be why John regarded Pergamos as “Satan’s seat.”  Pergamos had the temple of a god whose emblem was the serpent, an in that temple, snakes crawled about and were regarded as incarnations of the god himself. [End of quote]

And Satan said, “I will be like the most High.”

“The great dragon,” “the old serpent,” is everywhere and the following list is not exhaustive:

• Hindu and Buddhist populations
• India
• China
• Cambodia
• Greece
• Europe
• Africa
• Australia
• Native Americans
• Nordic Mythology

In Genesis 3, Satan takes on the persona of the serpent and dragon and he wants to be like God.  That’s what God’s Word said, and we see the serpent’s head the world over.  Prepare yourself for next week (God willing) and the Saga of the Serpent–Part III.

GOD SAID, Genesis 3:1:

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

GOD SAID, Isaiah 14:12-14:

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

GOD SAID, Revelation 2:12-13:

12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

13 I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

GOD SAID, Revelation 12:7-9:

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

MAN SAID: I am wise.  I am erudite.  I am able.  Who needs the antiquated God of the Bible?  A devil and a serpent in the Garden of Eden? Foolishness!

Now you have THE RECORD.

 

 KEEP READING

References:

Authorized King James Version

GodSaidManSaid, “Pergamos – Where Satan Dwelleth”

GodSaidManSaid, “The Saga of the Serpent–Part I”  

Eldridge, G., “Asklepios: The Greek God,” www.truthmagazine.com

“Pergamos: The Church at Satan’s Throne,” www.gty.org

Sapkota, R., “Hindus Worship Snake God on July 30,” www.ohmynews.com

“Snake Worship,” www.wikipedia.org

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