That Crafty Serpent

FOR TUESDAY EVENING DECEMBER 2nd Genesis 3:1-5; 13-15 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals... Isn't that an interesting word? Crafty. The NIV, TNIV, NASB, and NRSV all use it. Others use shrewd or cunning or clever. The NET Bible notes say that the Hebrew word 'aram basically means clever but it can be used in a positive sense meaning something like prudent. Proverbs uses it this way. Or, it can mean something negative like cunning or, more interestingly crafty. The American Heritage Dictionary says crafty comes from an Old English word meaning skilled. The serpent's got skills! And it seems Adam and Eve are powerless against them. And no one after them has done any better. Quite frankly, for thousands of years our situation has seemed hopeless. But there, in the second half of our reading God offers hope. The serpent is cursed to crawl on his belly and he is promised that a descendant of Eve would crush his head. That descendant is, of course, Jesus. With all of humanity we await his birth as the sign of Satan's certain demise. And, with all of humanity we await Jesus's return to deliver the final crushing blow. No more of his tricks. Doom for that crafty deceiver.