Evil existed before The Fall. If you question that, just consider that both the Shiny One (the serpent) and fruit of knowing both good and evil were already present. The Fall wasn’t the beginning of evil itself.

But human sin didn’t exist pre-Fall (Rom 5:12). This section of our text will teach us the consequences of sin entering into the world.

God’s cross examination regarding the sins that were committed proceeded in the order of: Adam » Eve » Serpent.

He will now deal with those sins in the reverse order: Serpent » Eve » Adam.

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Genesis 3:14 The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."

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God says 5 things here about how the serpent would be cursed for deceiving Eve:

1. He is cursed more than other animals
2. He will crawl on his belly
3. He will eat dust
4. God will put enmity between the serpent and the woman through each of their offspring
5. “He” (Eve’s offspring) will bruise the serpent on his head, and the serpent will bruise Eve’s offspring on His heel.

Let’s examine these in order:
1. THE SERPENT IS CURSED MORE THAN ALL ANIMALS (v.14)
This is more a statement of fact than part of the curse itself. It doesn’t say “cursed more than all the other animals.” It simple says “more than all cattle, and … every beast of the field.”

2. HE WILL CRAWL ON HIS BELLY ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE (v.14)
As in modern language, crawling on your belly meant extreme humiliation.

3. HE WILL EAT DUST (v.14)
Also as in modern language, the phrase “eat dirt” demonstrates extreme, humiliating defeat. These two parts of the curse highlight the symbolic language of the whole story. We have already seen the snake talking to Adam and Eve, maybe standing on his legs. Now part of the curse is that he will eat dust. But snakes don’t literally eat dust, do they? The ancient Hebrews would have known that just as we know that. We could say the Bible is mistaken here, but that isn’t necessary if we accept that this is symbolic language. The writer of the story simply used a snake to symbolize – in mythical, story form – this shiny one, the devil, as a serpent who would be brought low and then defeated.

4. GOD WILL PUT ENMITY BETWEEN THE SERPENT AND THE WOMAN THROUGH EACH OF THEIR OFFSPRING (v.15)
Simply put, there will always be a spiritual battle, and mankind (Eve’s offspring) will always be caught in the middle of that battle. What is meant by the serpent’s offspring? There is probably a clue in John 8:44. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” The seed in each case is spiritual – those who would make their father the devil and those who would make their Father God.

5.“HE” (HER SEED) WILL BRUISE (יְשׁוּפְךָ֣ SHUPH) THE SERPENT ON HIS HEAD, AND THE SERPENT WILL BRUISE (יְשׁוּפְךָ֣ SHUPH) EVE’S SEED ON THE HEEL (v.15)
We know now - though it couldn’t be known when the story was originally given - that this refers to God’s final conquest over sin and its effects by freeing mankind from the curse and restoring fellowship between God and man through Jesus Christ paying the penalty of death for us.

More immediately, Jewish believers saw themselves – Israel, the people of God’s covenant – as the fulfillment of this promise. For us, we know that this ultimate defeat would come through Jesus Christ. Jesus was bruised on his heal (a minor wound) at the cross. But ultimately, that bruise was part of the Master’s plan for His seed – Jesus Christ and His followers – to bruise the serpent on his head (a fatal wound).

Consider John 12:31-33: “31 "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32 "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." 33 But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.”

Today we know even more about Satan’s final destiny that was revealed in Genesis:

• Revelation 12:9 says that “the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”
• Revelation 20:7-10 says that the nations will be deceived into disobedience – just as Eve was – and will be punished for their disobedience just as Eve was and then “the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”