God asked Adam, where he was and if he had eaten the fruit of the tree that he had commanded him not to eat of. God asked the woman (who was beguiled by Satan) as to what she had done. But God did not ask, Satan, where he was (for God knew that he had fallen from heaven to earth – Luke 10:18; Revelation 12:9), or if he had rebelled against God (which was not new for Satan – Ezekiel 28), but instead cursed him for his deception.
Though man had sinned against God, the first curse was on Satan, who brought it upon himself for God said “Because thou (Satan) has done this (beguiling man to sin), you are cursed above all cattle and every beast of the field.” (Genesis 3:14).
The first curse of God can be exposited as being both literal and reflective. Literally, serpents crawl on their belly but what about eating dust? Snakes don’t eat dust or do they? Snakes have been observed to flick their tongue and lick the dust of the earth and take odor particles from the dust to an olfactory sensory organ (Jacobson’s organ) that is found in the roof of their mouth (buccal cavity). Once these particles reach the organ, the chemical compounds in these odor particles bind to receptors in the organ and sensory messages are sent to the brain. These organs helps snakes to hunt and track their prey, which in a sense is akin to eating (licking) dust to eat (hunt and track).
Reflectively, this first curse of God was on Satan, the ancient serpent (Revelation 20:2). The Bible teaches us that the things that go on their belly in an abomination (Leviticus 11:42). God told man that he was dust and to dust he shall return (Genesis 3:19). The Bible also teaches us that Satan is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (eat) (1 Peter 5:8). So reflectively, to eat the dust for the rest of his life implies that Satan will continue to seek to devour mankind, till his appointed time.
To go (crawl) on the belly is a sign of disgust (abomination) To eat dust is a sign of despondency (Micah 7:17) which is the current cursed and future (the rest of his life) state of Satan
Points to ponder:
Sin brings with it a curse – the curse of death for the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and the soul that sins shall die (Ezekiel 18:20). Let us be sober (in the Lord) and watchful and not allow ourselves to be devoured as dust by Satan but let us be transformed now by believing in Jesus and look forward to the transformation of our bodies of dust (jars of clay – 2 Corinthians 4:7) to an eternal celestial glorious one like his (Philippians 3:21).
Genesis 3:14 (KJV)
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:
Leviticus 11:42 (KJV)
42 Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all four, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination.
Micah 7:17 (KJV)
17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee.
