Serpent in the Hebrew is  naw-khawsh’; from H5172; a snake (from its hiss):—serpent.

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Subtlety is a quality of our enemy. God is direct and forthright.

Genesis 3:9,11 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

A hissing sound is soft almost whisper like but it is a warning of who speaks where God’s whisper is an encouragement. Satan’s hiss is a subversion of truth. God’s Word is truth.

Psalm 58:4-5 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.

Listening to Satan is likened to being struck by a puff adder, which attacks your hearing, preventing you from hearing God’s whispers.

In reference to yesterday’s devotional and my closing comments, here is a hiss from Satan; “That is the truth of God, and that is all it means.”

2 Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

Satan would have you believe it means one thing and one thing only. Just to clarify the meaning of prophecy, it means the revealed mind of God. It cannot be private in the sense that it means only one thing. God will use every Word at his disposal to correct and direct us.

The issue here is discerning the difference between Satan’s hiss and God’s whisper.

Luke 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

I Jesus Christ the Lord of your life? If so, then answer me this question; what is He saying to you?

There will be a fair segment of yes answers that will say, “I’ve read my bible and I know what it says.”

Me too, for decades I have been reading and rereading, over and over again. I know the human mind is prone to forgetfulness. The only answer to that is refreshing our minds. That helps with one of our failings, but what of the other?

We fail to use the Word of God to direct our steps every day, all day. Our “know it all” attitudes will tell the whispering Holy Spirit, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.” That is hearing, but it isn’t listening. There is a difference.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Look at the last two items here, thoughts and intents. Since the Word is a divider of soul and spirit, then the division of thoughts and intents fall into those two categories. We learn our lessons, are taught sound doctrine, are given practical applications by teachers and preachers who are addressing principles and practices. We store those in memory.

Preachers and teachers don’t know you every thought nor intent. God does and when God wishes to address any specific issue with you through His Word, we must not allow what we know to be a barrier, a wall, a self-defense mechanism to God’s correction or growth for us.