Serpent in Eden

Question: Was the Serpent in Genesis 3 just an animal with the ability of speech (like Balaam’s donkey), was it Satan in disguise, or was it an allegory for what Carl Jung might call Eve’s shadow?

The Old Testament (OT) shows that Satan has free-will which showed in the Garden of Eden in Genesis, but it is surmised that his existence is much older. Scripture refers to him as the Covering Cherub of an earlier situation, Ezek. 28:14 (in the KJV, the "art" should be translated "wast"), hence the supposition that Satan in his earlier pre-rebellious mode was an appointed trustee by Almighty God which he reneged against.

The fact that Satan tried successfully to pervert the Words of God to Eve and Adam regarding “the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”, cuts no ice with Pharisaic Jews, and they merely say that all Satan was/is an angel of God, and only a “servant” subject to God’s commands, and is without free-will!

They also say that God uses Satan to "test" people, to see how they react and behave! This of course is nonsense; as that would mean that God created evil, which is not the case. (See: Did God create Evil?)

Satan quickly showed himself to be against God in the Garden of Eden, using his free-will to usurp God and His created Adam and Eve!