In those early days the serpent was the most intelligent of all the animals. It "was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made" (Genesis 3:1). It seems as if the serpent had the power to walk upright and it could certainly talk, and it used this ability to persuade Eve and her husband to sin.
Those who believe in the fallen-angel devil will say, "Ah yes, but it wasn't just a serpent. It was Satan, who had taken possession of the serpent's body and was speaking through the serpent."
To this suggestion there can only be one answer. Who says so? The Book of Genesis certainly does not! Genesis plainly says it was the serpent talking, and never even hints at the presence of any evil spirit.
So does the apostle Paul. When he referred to this incident he said, "the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning" (2 Corinthians 11:3). Not, "Satan deceived Eve" as so many people wrongly imagine, but, "the serpent".
It is interesting to see that Paul does not say the serpent was "wicked", but just "cunning", or, to use the word that Jesus used in Matthew 10:16, "wise". God has never given laws to the animals, as He has to men. Consequently an animal cannot sin, even though it may cause human beings to sin.
Paul does not blame Satan for Adam's sin. Although he speaks of Adam's fall in several places, Paul never once mentions the devil or Satan in this connection. Instead, he tells us plainly who was to blame:
"Sin came into the world through one man ... Adam" (Romans 5:12-14).
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