Week 4 Why the Serpent?

Genesis 3.

God strolling in the garden in some organic form can't find his children. The naughty ones are hiding and in this communication with God it is the first time that God and man actually have a dialogue. No longer is God just a commanding voice, he's like a person and he's looking for his kids. Without the GPS system he can't find them.

When he finds them, like a intuitive parent he know something is up and he gruels them on what happened. First he asks Adam who gallantly blames his "wife". Then he asks Eve who passes it on to the serpent.

The serpent, by the way is a fascinating character. It seems that before the fruit was eaten we were able to communicate with the animals- like Dr. Doolittle. The serpent however has taken an interest in us unlike any other creature. And don't forget Adam was in charge of naming all the animals and he names this one the "serpent" And like a father defending the actions of his children God only directly curses the serpent. But what a punishment? God says " You will crawl on you belly and eat dust." As far as I see it the serpent already crawls on its belly so what's the big deal? The big deal is that this poor creature of God is fated to be a symbol of danger, and evil to man.

I can't figure out why God would take a creature he has created and want it to be reviled and hated my all of mankind, the symbol of man's downfall. Why didn't he pick the cat, the dog the monkey or elephant? I'm at a loss here. Maybe you have some ideas? Why the serpent?