"Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,"
AH HAH!!!! FIGURATIVELY speaking that OLD SERPENT is the DEVIL.
Ahaa, so the serpent was not a snake or a serpent. Since the Bible proves that Gen 2 is figurative, we can discard the literal story and take it as a figurative spiritual lesson.
You can't have it both ways. The Noah story is the same. When something is obviously figurative, since the facts don't jive with reality, we can't insist someone believe it literally.
For clarity I would say, the scripture consistently uses the figurative language "serpent" when referring to Lucifer/Satan/Devil. The context of the passage allows one to discern whether a literal serpent/snake is being described or if a figurative theme is being described.
js1138 - How do you know if this is literal or figurative?
All a person needs to do in order to determine if figurative/symbolic language refers to literal things/entities is compare scripture with scripture i.e.:
Isa 28:10 For precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little:
If one stumbles on a figurative idea which is presented in the same way throughout a document, an attentive reader bridges the concept to add meaning to the theme of the piece. A stubborn refusal to acknowledge the most obvious figurative/literal bridges, can only limit a readers depth of understanding. The less frequent figurative references have less impact on the theme and naturally should be weighted when comparing plot lines.
Insisting on doctrine based on one figurative reference can be tenuous, and should be weighted against more established themes to gain incite into the intended significance.
js1138 if you do a "Words/Phrase to Search" at http://www.blueletterbible.org/ on the word "serpent", you will be able to easily discern the figurative vs. literal usage. Again, figurative usages can be referring to a literal thing/entity. Children's stories do these things all the time, so we learn to discern these things at an immature age.