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Adam and Eve; Cain and Able #1
Who or What is the Crouching Beast? Common is the identification of the serpent in Genesis 3 with Satan and the great dragon (Revelation 12). In a similar moral tale there is a crouching animal which is sin. Have you wondered who or what is the crouching beast of Genesis 4?
Let’s look at “crouches”: To crouch can mean “laying down, stretched out”. Look at Ezekiel 39:3 how it is used:
“…Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, ‘My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.’” (ESV Ezekiel 29:3)
The NET notes say the dragon is a “serpent”. Is the crouching beast of Genesis 4 is the same serpent of Genesis 3?
As to the identity of the ”croucher” in Gen 4:7, it is, of course, impossible to prove that it is the serpent of chapter 3. But the possibility should not be ruled out. But it does make sense that Satan is sin personified.
Whether a lying, coiled, serpent, or a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:5), or a crouching beast, Satan is waiting. But if you do what is right… (Genesis 4:7).-
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