Well, I didn’t mention the serpent...thought it couldn’t have been God, because God doesn’t attempt to mislead nor contradict His own word.
There’s no excuse for sins. We choose daily-—God or the devil. Good or evil. Satan existed long before we ever came along.
There are many, many people who have experienced real supernatural evil...sometimes because they invited it, sometimes not. You don’t have to look far to find them or their accounts. Those people know firsthand that the devil exists.
I won’t go any deeper than that because I suspect you wouldn’t be disposed to believe, but...there it is.
I don’t see God contradicting his own word with regard to the serpent.
And just one example of Satan in the universe before Man? Just one?