Let me start off by saying that this topic has actually been one of the more fascinating ones that I came across in a long while. This is also the topic that sparked my interest and brought my attention back to religious matters. It should as well be noted that many adherents of literal interpretation would have you believe that the “Serpent seed” teaching is heresy. Though Proverbs 3:13 throws anything they have to say out the window. With out further adieu on with the show.
"Serpent seed, dual seed or two-seedline is a controversial religious belief, which explains the biblical account of the fall of man by saying that the serpent in the Garden of Eden mated with Eve, and the offspring of their union was Cain". ~ Wikipedia
The Garden of Eden, the forbidden fruit and the serpent, one the most know scenes in the Bible. What if it wasn't as innocent as it appeared to be? Lets take a look at the Bible verses and start with the break down.
Now the serpent was more subtil 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 garden2 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. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
First off, in order to get anywhere with this prophecy we must understand that the word "Serpent" is just another name for Satan. I know this is really difficult for some adherents to wrap their minds around this, but even a 5 year old would have a harder time not making the connection. Revelation 12:9 and Revelation 20:2 are two verses that may help you out with making that connection if need be. Now that we have cleared up that issue hopefully we are all on the same page that the "Dragon", "Devil", and "Serpent" are all the same person. Now lets go a little deeper into the story and take a look at Genesis 3:14
Genesis 3:14 - And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
If you look up the word in Genesis 3:14 that is translated as “serpent” you’ll find that it is Hebrew word "Nachash" which also translates as "the shining one” it stems from word which means, “to hiss like a serpent” and can be used metaphorically as “whisperings of a soothsayer.” Is this starting to make sense to you at all now? I hope it is, I find it hard not to. Now, God calls Satan “the Serpent” because of his shining supernatural appearance, also his cunning and elusive ability to deceive others. Is this getting clearer that it was not at all a snake in the garden and more along the lines of a illustrious shining being? Apparently an angel! Whom Eve submitted to, and acknowledging him as a being of a superior knowledge. I don't know about you but I cannot conceive Eve literally holding a conversation with a snake, but I can understand her being captivated by an "angel of light”. The most important and most revealing verses I can think of where even Christ himself even teaches about the “Serpent seed” in a parable is The Parable of Tares in Matthew 13. At the end of that parable Jesus explains that the “tares” were actually Satan’s actual children brought into the earth by way of Satan’s seed. It reads as follows:
Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
This only proves (at least in my mind) that the "Forbidden Fruit" that the Bible speaks of, is not a literal piece of fruit but is really referring to sexual defilement with the Serpent. I'd also like to point out that 1 John 3:12 also makes note of Cain being of the wicked one.
1 John 3:12 - Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
Never was Satan’s wisdom so cleverly used as when he secured world wide acceptance of the traditional belief that what was Forbidden was an actual piece of fruit. This is Satan's deception in preserving his false testimony of the “snake” and the “apple” because it ministers to the acceptance of his falsehood. In this lie Satan triumphed in the hiding of God’s truth, and guaranteed the stumbling of the weak in faith. I think I've honestly established that it was not a literal snake that tempted Eve in the Garden and more along the lines of the fallen one, but one lingering question remains. What is the “seed” of the serpent? What is this all about? Hebrew word Zera was translated as seed in Genesis 3:15 in this context it means "offspring“ (children). It’s self-evident that the Serpent’s “seed” represents Satan’s “literal” descendants. Cain was Satan’s son! Now I can go on and on about this topic, about how some believe that Cain and Abel were indeed twins (Superfecundation). Or even how some even believe that some how Cain's descendants survived the flood of Noah, but I'll spare you the messy details and keep longer than what I've already have. I provided a heck of a lot of information here, and I know its a lot to take in all at once...so thank you for baring with me and reading what I had to say. I hope you enjoyed, and I will end this entry with one last Bible verse...
2 Corinthians 11:3 - But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.