SEED OF A WOMAN
Genesis3:15 talks of a curse and in the curse there is a message of hope and a blessing. The place is the Garden of Eden, the time – the saddest period of human history when our first parents break the commandment God had given them a few days earlier: do not eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. And they know the repercussions only too well: they will surely die. The culprit (the serpent) is there together with God, and the two humans.
It is in this context that the judgement is set: the putting of enmity between the seed of the woman and the serpent. On the literal level, this forms good content for etiological narratives: why human beings and snakes are enemies.
On the spiritual front, the stakes are much deeper. There is the stylistic device called foreshadowing, and we are given a glimpse of what will happen ultimately: the crucifixion of Jesus – the bruising of the heel according to Genesis 3; and the destruction of the devil the crushing of the head of the serpent. This gives the believer hope for the restoration of Eden and oh what a joy that will be!
Be blessed.
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