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THE SERPENTS MEAT
The ancient Serpent, having beguiled Eve, became the recipient of the first curse in history. Most students of the word know
that man was cursed, the women was cursed, the ground was cursed, the earth was cursed, but few remember that before all this
the serpent was cursed. The curse is first mentioned in Gen 3:14 "and the Lord God said to the Serpent, because you have done
this, YOU ARE CURSED above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon the belly shall you go, and dust shall you
eat all the days of your life".
It will prove most instructive to note God's order of speaking,
and then the judgment or sentence passed. The Lord called to the man, inquiring, "where are you?" and Adam answered that they
had hidden themselves, because of their shame, as they realized they were naked. Then God said to the women, "what is this
that you have done?" and Eve replied that the Serpent beguiled (deceived) her, and she did eat of the forbidden fruit. Then
God spoke to the Serpent and said, "because you have done this, YOU ARE CURSED!" Most of us have thought that he was cursed
long before this! In the passing of the judgment sentence, God began with the Serpent, then to the women, and ended with the
man, reversing the order from when He first spoke to them. In the curse to the Serpent, He said, "upon your belly shall you
go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life". The Serpent, being called before the tribunal of the Almighty, received
a two fold curse, recorded here in strong speech, which sternly emphasizes the power of Judgment: UPON YOUR BELLY SHALL YOU
GO AND DUST YOU SHALL EAT.
Science will tell you that snakes
do not eat dust. They eat rodents and insects. When God inspired Moses to write Genesis, He knew that snakes do not eat dust.
These terms are symbolic and spiritual. This is not speaking of a literal snake dangling from a tree limb in some ancient
paradise. The Serpent in Eden had not only the ability of speech, but reasoned upon matters relating to God and man; he speaks
of good and evil as though possessed of a thorough knowledge of the Laws of the Kingdom of God; he argues against the divine
prohibition, and finally persuades her to disobey the commandment of the Lord. It is evident that no mere animal could be
capable of what is attributed to the Serpent! Further more, loss of speech was not a part of the curse; if the Serpent in
Eden were a literal snake, his descendants crawling around on this planet today should be able to talk! This is a symbol and
the deceiver, satan, that old Serpent, the devil, has to eat dust WHAT IS THE DUST? It is the dirt of the ground. It's not
even dust from rodents, field mice ect. In the passing of the judgment sentence, God began with the Serpent and said, "Dust
shall you eat". Then to the man, God said, "In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, til you return unto the ground;
for out of it was you taken: for DUST YOU ARE, and UNTO DUST shall you return" (Gen 3:19). So that first adam, fleshly, sinning,
and cursed is declared by the counsel of the Lord God to be dust. The wise man said, "for He knows our frame; He remembers
that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14). That we are dust! Not very flattering, not very complimentary, is it? This great gob of
mud called man, strutting his superior know it all attitude even in the face of the Almighty!
He remembers that we are dust whether we do or not.
Our words are inadequate when
trying to explain the things pertaining to the spiritual realm. Only in Spirit can we understand the incomprehensible. May
The Spirit of wisdom and revelation from God enlighten the eyes of our understanding.
Here we have a word picture,
describing the relationship which exists between "that old Serpent the devil" and the realm of death. Just as "DUST" speaks
of a waterless soil, so the realm of the Serpent is separated from the realm of the Holy Spirit. Adam was formed of the ground,
of the physical, carnal, earthy sense realm, and as such, became the rightful food for the Serpent. This means that the Serpent
the negative spirit realm now finds its base of operation and fulfillment of its negative desires, and purposes through mankind.
By the very nature of things, when the Serpent eats, he seeks to satisfy HIS APPETITE AND GRATIFY HIS DESIRES. Originally
he found pleasure and purpose in higher things and had access to higher realms (of spirit), but the curse of "eating dust"
limits the object of his devouring. Today, the sphere of satan's activity is us (dust).
"BE SOBER, BE VIGILANT; because your adversary the Devil, as a roaring lion, about seeking whom he may devour"(1Pet5:8).
All the animals of the forest are constantly on alert because some animal of prey may catch them unaware and devour them,
that's why we are warned to be sober and vigilant for as sure as the snake swallows the rabbit, so certain is it that Satan
seeks to DEVOUR YOU, YOUR DUST! Your earthiness, your flesh, your carnal Adam man nature is the SERPENTS MEAT! By feeding
upon the DUST MAN, who loves earthly things, Satan destroys or devours him and makes him part of himself! It means that your
whole being is swallowed up into the negative spirit realm, captive to and expressing the negative energy of that realm.
This gives a fresh and clear
meaning to the statement of the Apostle, "The whole world lieth in the wicked one (1John5:1)The whole world has been consumed
is captive to and living out of the negative realm! Who can deny it? The message
is clear. Adam and those belonging to him are of the earth, earthy. The Holy Spirit bears witness: "and so it is written,
the first man Adam was made a living soul; the second Adam was made a quickening Spirit. The first man is of the earth , earthy:
the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthly, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such
are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly"
(1Cor15:45-49). The amplified Bible reads, "the first man was from out of the earth, made of dust earth minded; the second
man is the Lord from out of heaven, so also are those who are heaven minded. And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so shall we also bear the image of the man of heaven". PRAISE GOD!
Ray Prinzing once wrote: "the
curse was on the Serpent, for deceiving, and the seed of the Serpent still carries that curse and the nature of the deception
that caused it. There are two seeds which are spoken of, the woman's seed and the Serpents seed. One speaks of the positive
realm, the other speaks of the negative realm. However it is to be pointed out that if the woman's seed has a literal fulfillment,
personified in a man and a people, so also the Serpent's seed has to be literally fulfilled in a man and a people. A seed
line that is evidenced in those `after his own kind'. The Serpent's seed was also expressed through people is evident when
we read that Cain `was of that wicked one' (1John3:12). This is more explicit in the Greek text, where the work of is ek,
literally out of the wicked one. Then Jesus spoke of some, saying, `you are of your father the devil and the lusts of your
father will you do' (John8:44). If they are of that same spirit, then they will do the lusts of that spirit realm. Obviously
Cain, who was out of the wicked one, received the curse reaffirmed on him, for
he slew the TRUTH and propagated a false system. Righteous Abel fell victim to the cursed one, for a time, but there is one,
whose blood now speaks better things than the blood of Abel, and TROUGH JESUS VICTORY COMES.
It is not the creature (us),
but the negative spirit force motivating the creature (us), against whom we take dominion. When the `spirit of the world'
is now energizing to disobedience, there is an immediate conflict between that spirit and the Spirit of God dwelling within
us. In some, this is but a small thing and the `contrary spirit' is held in control by their normal congenial disposition.
But in others, this Serpent spirit is so aggressive, that when you walk into their presence, or they come into yours, there
is an immediate clash without either one saying a word. Our warfare is not with the various races on earth today, or with
men of our own lineage, but we do contest the spirit of the deceiver that motivates them. It is not the man or woman but there
are natures spirits, curses that remain in the earth today, that the CALLED OUT OF THE LORD are facing in this conflict of
the ages. That is why we need to be filled with the SPIRIT OF GOD, lest we become carnal and start fighting flesh on a carnal
realm." end quote. Praise
God for this anointed word given through this servant of God for us.
Whenever we live in the earthy
life of Adam, we are earthly and fall into the sphere of satan's activity, becoming the object of his devouring drawn deeper
and deeper into that negative realm. Do you wonder why satan tempts us? pressures us? torments us? and why we have constant
battles with that realm? It is because we are still bearing at least a portion of that image of the first Adam THE MAN OF
DUST. Dust is the Serpent's meat. He has the power to eat on us as long as we have that nature of Adam in us. On the other hand, whenever we live in the heavenly life of Christ, the identity of the image (Or,
reflection) of God, we are heavenly and in heaven. Thus, we transcend satan's sphere of activity and are no longer subject
to his devouring. THIS IS THE SON REALM, where no dragon abides, for he is cast
out of this heaven where the man child reigns! (Christ).
Would you reader, like to starve
that old Serpent, the Devil? then get rid of the DUST!(Truth does it) Stop bearing the image of Adam, renounce that mistaken
identity, and as the Apostle Paul exhorts, "let us bear the image of the man of heaven". When you have been completely transformed
( By renewing our mind) into the image of Jesus Christ, then you will have nothing in you for satan to feed upon, nothing
to satisfy his appetite or gratify his desires. And it is there that death will be conquered! Can we not see that the more
we live and walk in the Spirit of God, the less we are disturbed by the agitations of the soulish realm, or the shenanigans
of the flesh? Caught in the lowlands of the flesh, one is an easy prey for the serpents and scorpions and creeping things
which inhabit that low realm. Rising up to walk in the Holy Spirit a new perspective is found, flesh is both seen and recognized
for what it is, and left behind, while the horizons of the Spirit beckon onward, and upward, in the realm of the heavenly,
where no dragon dwells. So many of God's precious people dwell in the dust realm, and someone said, there is no need to describe
at length the "dust storms", we have all faced them far to often, the jealousies, the envying, the backbiting, gossiping,
anger, agitations, lusts, fears, bitterness, striving, and all the other expressions of the carnal nature, the realm where
the Serpent dwells and eats to the full! It's not news to any of us that we are in a war between two kingdoms: the Kingdom
of God and the kingdom of satan. It should not be news to us that WE are the battle ground! The focal point of the battle
is our mind. There the battle rages at it's greatest intensity, because the war is a struggle for our hearts and loyalties,
the very souls and lives of men and women. The subject in this message is, THE SERPENT THAT DWELLS WITHIN US. It is that force within us that opposes the ways of God in our lives and tries to keep us from seeking
those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God.
Lets go back to the curse laid
upon the Serpent in the beginning: "UPON YOUR BELLY SHALL YOU GO". This judgment speaks of infinitely more than a literal
snake slithering along upon his literal belly, just as the word "heel" speaks of infinitely more than a location on the foot,
and the word "head" speaks of something greater far than a mere physical head in the words of the next verse: "and I will
put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; and it shall bruise the HEAD, and you shall bruise
his HEEL." (Gen3:15) So, "upon your belly shall you go", paints for the eyes of our understanding, the picture of the Serpent
crawling in humiliation, prostration, limitation, and subjection upon the ground. A similar expression in Psalms 44:25, "for
our soul is bowed down to the dust, our belly cleaves to the earth". The very fact that God states that the Serpent was now
to crawl on his belly, which obviously he had not done before, reveals that there was a descending from one realm to another,
from a greater to a lesser, from a higher to a lower. Moving on his belly limits the sphere of the Serpents activity, Now
he can only creep along the ground. Previously he had access to loftier realms, his sphere of activity extended to higher
domains - exalted realms of pure Spirit expressions - but he is now lowered into the dust - realm, into the world of man,
and confined to the earthy, restricted to action upon and expression through THE MAN OF DUST. How truly this accounts for
the words of the Apostle in Eph 2:2, "and you has he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: wherein in time past
you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, THE S-P-I-R-I-T THAT N-O-W
WORKS in the children of DISOBEDIENCE".
Yes, this evil spirit is in man!
When the Serpent was lowered into the dust realm, man became the base of operation for his activity. I declare to you, that
you will find satan operating in no other realm in the whole universe!!! YOU DO NOT
meet the devil in rocks, trees, fish, mountains, rivers, clouds, birds, nor on far away planets, distant galaxies,
flying saucers, nor in any other location outside of MAN. You do not have to
worry about the devil stealing the keys to your car and running off with it! But you may have to worry about the devil in
men doing it! You don't have to worry about the devil walking into your living room with a shotgun and shooting you, but the
devil in men has done it many times. The devil as a invisible spirit that motivates man to do such things. I must tell you
that I haven't had any problem with that devil out there someplace, but I have had a great deal of difficulty with that devil
whose face I behold each morning when I look in the mirror. Can we not see that under the curse, God limited satan to the
dust of the earth, to the realm of the first Adam - THE MAN OF DUST? Many have seen the connection between satan and the carnal
mind, but have not by revelation understood the origins of these things and have assumed that the carnal mind is satan. The
truth, however, runs deeper than that - it goes to the spirit of the mind. Through the curse, satan became one with man, the
energy force of human nature (dirt-man nature), the spirit of the carnal mind, slithering about in the lowest realms of man's
earthiness, in the crooked thoughts, selfish desires, distorted emotions, in the illusions and delusions of the sense-realm
of the world of appearances, and in all the corrupt motions of the flesh. MAY GOD GRACIOUSLY GIVE US ENLIGHTENMENT TO SEE
that included with satan is the kingdom of satan; therefore, since satan is in man, the kingdom of satan is also in man. Man
is the very center of the creation in every aspect. If one would meet satan, there is no need for us to go to any special
place - by going to man we will meet satan. If we desire to find the kingdom of satan, there is no need to go to some distant
planet or to some far away hell - by going to man we will encounter the kingdom of satan. It is the same with the world. Within
man there is the world, sin, satan, death, flesh, the carnal mind - all that pertains to the negative realm, the kingdom of
darkness. The first Adam is not a small man! On the contrary, he is a big, all-inclusive man! The whole vast realm of reality,
positive and negative, is centralized and personified in man. The reason so many fail when it comes to the wiles of the devil,
is that we do not really want to resist him. You see, satan never appears as a monster with horns and a forked tail carrying
a pitch-fork. HE COMES IN OUR THOUGHTS! HE APPEARS IN OUR DESIRES, HE COMES IN OUR IMAGINATIONS AND REASONING!
Some people are always saying, "I hate the devil". Well, we may as well say "I hate myself!" One day
I asked God, "God why don't you just kill the devil and let it be over with?" The answer was, "If I kill the devil, you will
die". The scripture says, "and verily I say unto you, except a man hate his own life, and will count all things but loss,
and reckon himself-indeed to be crucified with Christ, HE WILL NEVER KNOW VICTORY OVER THE WICKED ONE. You will find men and women who claim to hate the devil and all he stands for, but no man ever hated his own flesh,
but nourishes and cherishes it. In so doing, he gives place to the devil. It is the flesh that lusts against the Spirit! The
flesh unceasingly wars against the King and His Kingdom that IS WITHIN YOU. Just as the
religious leaders of the Jews cried, "we will not have this man to rule over us". So the flesh, your flesh, my flesh, desperately
striving to perpetuate the corrupt nature of Adam within, would push Christ from the throne of the heart and reign in his
stead (place). The energy force and motivating power of the flesh is the ancient Serpent of Eden. Multitudes do not understand
this mystery (The mystery of iniquity, 2Thess2:7) and few will proclaim this
truth.
The
sacred mysteries of God are revealed only by the Spirit of truth.
This is one of the mysteries today. It is never our striving against the evils of the world, the flesh and the devil
that gains us any victory at all. THE ALMIGHTY CHRIST WITHIN US would destroy them all
in one smashing defeat, but we have the wretched habit of refusing to YIELD our hearts
to the King. Christ alone can put the adversary under foot and forever bruise his head! Our responsibility is to RESIST
THE DEVIL and YIELD ourselves unto God, that He may reign. PRAISE GOD ALMIGHTY!!!!!
The word declares that God has a man, the valiant champion, who crushes the head of the dragon.
THE TRUTH, THE CHRIST OF GOD: The
mystery of ALL ages is, CHRIST IN YOU THE HOPE OF GLORY ( Or, VICTORY). Christ within you.
Just as surely as satan is incarnated in mankind, so is the LIVING CHRIST OF
GOD enthroned within the saints! The greater grander truth is, beloved of the Lord, THAT
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU! The Christ that we preach is nigh at hand. "He is not
far from every one of us", The Apostle Paul says, "say not in your heart, who shall ascend into heaven? (that is to bring
Christ down from above) or, who shall descend into the deep? (that is to bring Christ up from the dead) But what does it say?
The word (Christ) is nigh you, even in your mouth, and in your heart" (Romans10:6-8) "Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today,
and forever". Unless we are sure that He is unchanged and unchangeable, that He is right here with-in us in every turn of
life as really as He was in the body of Jesus of Nazareth, unless we live daily in the power of this knowledge, our life will
never be pure, we will never see His works, we will never know His quickening, we will never conquer sin and death, and be
brought to the Father. Therefore why strain your eyes to pierce the clouds? THE CLOUD THAT HIDES CHRIST FROM US IS
IN OURSELVES, in our LOVE OF SELF, in our BLIND ADHERENCE TO TRADITION, in our DEVOTION TO THE OUTER WORLD OF APPEARANCES.
Let us ask God to send the living
wind of His Spirit from the innermost part of our being, to blow that cloud aside, and then we will see Christ as our life
at every step of our journey. We can never over-come our seducing enemy by our own efforts, wisdom or strength. Christ
alone can put our enemy under foot and forever bruise his head.
CHRIST IS OUR LIFE! ARISE, ARISE O YOU MIGHTY ONES, AND CONQUER - FOR THE MIGHTY ONE IS WITHIN YOU!!!
THANK YOU, ALMIGHTY GOD, FOR YOUR WORD!!!
Sincerely in Christ, John
This word is from Kingdom Bible Studies
By
J. Preston Eby
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