Your iniquities have separated between you and your God... They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. (Isa 59:2,5)
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. (Isa 11:8)
Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. (Isa 14:29)
For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord. (Jer 8:17)
- Iniquitous people are cockatrices (Isa 59:2). Those are they who sin against God. The greatest sin is denying God, is it not?
- Cockatrices have"eggs." (Isa 59:5)
- Those sinners "weave the spider's web" or are deceitful. (Isa 59:5)
- The cockatrice's eggs causes death. (Isa 59:5) The cockatrice's eggs hatch into a viper. (Isa 59:5).Children, apparently, will play with the cockatrice as if it is not harmful (Isa 11:8). They will not fear its bite or venom. The cockatrice is from the seed of the Serpent (Isa 14:29).
- Once hatched, the egg shall transform into a fiery flying serpent. (Isa 14:29). That is dragonlike.
- God will send cockatrices among the wicked; not merely vipers, but those specific species (Jer 8:17). God will use them to punish sinners. Unlike vipers, they cannot be charmed (Jer 8:17). Or probably induced to a domesticated creature by men.
- Cockatrices shall bite sinners. (Jer 8:17). The bite shall cause death it is assumed because their eggs are poisonous. (Isa 59:5).
Let's be honest, there is no known creature existing in reality with those characteristics. There are no dragons, flying vipers, or anything like them in the physical realm. However, Isaiah and Jeremiah confirmed their existence. Then one of two things: (1) They are symbolic, or (2) they are beasts in another realm, or the supernatural. A third option, is that they are allegorical of behaviors of wicked people!
All types of unfamiliar creatures exist in the supra-natural. They are too numerous to mention them all, but there are cherubim who guard and seraphim who praise and sing. There are all types of demons, principalities and so on. The heavens are full of unseen creatures. Enoch, in his Book of Secrets, indicates that the second heaven is the spiritual pathway for all types of creatures. They can only be seen by people with special spiritual vision.
Allegories are symbolic. In this case, it seems logical that cockatrices are allegorical. I believe they represent certain types of wicked people since Isaiah indicated that iniquities have separated them from God. Let's examine what the world believes about cockatrices because that word is a late invention for some unknown Hebrew RTV (pronounced tseh'-fah). Although Strong's Dictionary calls them "adders, poisonous vipers, and snakes," they were written about in addition to those creatures. They were not adders, vipers, nor snakes.
Wikipedia describes cockatrices from the world's viewpoint:
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A cockatrice is a mythical beast, essentially a two-legged dragon or serpent-like creature with a rooster's head.
The ichneumon lay in wait for the crocodile to open its jaws for the trochilus bird to enter and pick its teeth clean.
The cockatrice was the product of an egg laid by a cock (a male chicken) and incubated by a toad; a snake might be substituted in re-tellings.
It has the reputed ability to kill people by either looking at them—"the death-darting eye of Cockatrice"—touching them, or sometimes breathing on them. It was also thought that a cockatrice would die instantly upon hearing a rooster crow, and according to legend, having a cockatrice look at itself in a mirror is one of the few sure-fire ways to kill it.That the cockatrice is a basilisk, a legendary reptile reputed to be a serpent king, which was hybrid from a rooster and a serpent, who can cause death with a single glance.
Albeit, the RTV was called a cockatrice by the translator John Wycliffe, that must be only a comparison using extant descriptions. The reader must be satisfied that the translators identified that legendary beast the best they knew how. However, Wycliffe used the passages from scripture to arrive at his conclusion; that the Hebrew RTV was much like the legendary cockatrice of mythology.
However, its traits can be applied to men - specifically sinful ones. With that deduction, I conclude that it was befitting of people in prophecy since Isaiah and Jeremiah were prophets. One person comes to mind. Peter! Not the righteous Peter who was crucified upside down, but denying Peter who vicariously crucified Jesus and was so ashamed later that he would not allow his executioners to crucify him right-side-up (Foxe's Book of Martyrs).
Why Peter? The greatest sin is blasphemy - not being reverent to God. Peter did that to Jesus when he denied him three times! Peter's denial was coincidental with the cock crowing three times. Cocks crowing announce the dawning of a new day - a time of transition from darkness to light. The cock crowing was saying, It is time for Jesus to die. When Peter denied Jesus, it was announced by the cock. Why would a cock crow in scripture unless it had meaning? Perhaps, that was the cockatrice the prophets saw in their vision. The most obvious candidate for crowing when Jesus death was eminent was the Serpent. Perhaps, the Serpent crowed in pride when he heard Jesus's own apostle deny him!
When Jesus died, the Earth turned to darkness. As the self-proclaimed angel of light, Lucifer was defied when Jesus's death caused darkness. The light of the cock was defied, and soon after the Light of God shined. It was finished!
Peter's denial of Jesus was the greatest sin. Peter at that time followed Jesus but had not been converted. Guess who else followed Jesus? The Serpent! He too believed in Jesus enough that he wanted him destroyed. Why would the proud cock crow? To announce a new king perhaps.
How about cockatrice eggs? I believe that implies the doctrine of sin called the "law of sin." Peter had the Serpent's "egg" - original sin - within him, just as Judas did. That "egg" is the propensity to sin. David in Psalm 51 called it "shapen in iniquity." Although Peter was called (to hatch or be converted) he was imbued with the Serpent''s attributes. His spirit was as the Serpent's, not really as God's.
The Serpent was crocodilian in the beginning. From Genesis it was condemned to crawl on it's belly, implying that originally it had legs. Fossil specimens have purportedly been found of snakes with numerous short legs, thus validating scripture. The Egyptian god was for a long time a crocodile. Egypt represents sin in the Bible, and Pharaoh the Devil (Serpent). When Peter denied Jesus, spiritually, as did the Hebrew people, their hearts went back to Egypt and Pharaoh. He chose iniquity over truth.
Peter wove a spider's web. When he denied Jesus he made up lies to cover his tracks. Although he lied, he was still recognized by observers. His lies didn't save him from death for his time had not come. Jesus had better plans for him. He would convert Peter from a cockatrice to a martyr. Jesus acknowledged in advance how Peter would die!
Cockatrices can not be charmed. That would be by the devices of men. Peter was converted upon seeing Jesus die. Peter's conversion was not like Simon the magician, but a miracle. Peter was remade from a Serpent crowing into a new creature. That is what trusting Jesus does to all sinners. Everyone who has not repented are much like Peter; they too are cockatrices.
None of the apostles, at the time Peter denied Jesus, had been converted. They were as the poisonous snakes who bit the Hebrews in Moses's time. The apostles were special kind of snakes. He sent all the apostles among the wicked just as Isaiah foresaw. Only the miracle of the new birth (born-again) changed all the apostles of whom Peter was the chief sinner at that time. (Later Paul would claim that distinction.)
Cockatrices will bite other sinners. Their poison is contagious, just as sin is a contagion. Imagine, the impact Peter had on those to whom he denied Jesus. What would they think? Even his followers deny him!
Cockatrices undergo transformations. The thought (egg) turns into a fiery flying serpent. That, according to scripture, is how sin develops.
I believe that Peter confessed to being a cockatrice when he wrote, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy" (1 Pet 4-12-13). For a period, Peter was that fiery serpent, then Christ changed him, not a magician!
Simon the magician changed many people. As the father of Gnosticism, half were convertd to Simon Magus and half to Christ. Simon remained a cockatrice. The people accepted Simon Magus much as children will. However, I believe that it was Peter specifically that Isaiah and Jeremiah saw because of the cock crowing, especially since Peter was changed by the Lord Jesus.
In scripture, words means things or they would not be there. Scripture must be applied. Cockatrices were mentioned four times because those traits are important. I easily recognized the cockatrice in Peter, and then added Simon the Sorcerer. Only later did I see the cockatrice in myself!
The cockatrice examples apply more than to Peter but to everyone because we all have sinned because our nature is like the Serpent's. When the "egg" is hatched, everyone becomes a cockatrice - a product of the Serpent. Like the proud cock, pride is our manner. When we look in the mirror and see that serpent with the head of a cock, we should see ourselves. We cannot be charmed and changed by our own efforts or others, but the born again experience changes our natures from the old cockatrice creature to a new creation!
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