Mensa Otabil - The Woman's Seed
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Genesis 3:1-15: «And I’ll put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.» This statement was directed to the serpent that had tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and now God is speaking to the serpent about its end — there will come a time when the serpent’s head will be crushed. Many people consider this the first prophecy about the coming Messiah; it is about the woman who brought sin into the world and the woman who would take sin out of the world.
Two things I want you to notice from this statement from God: the first is that the woman’s seed shall bruise the deceiver’s head. Right here, it does not indicate that it will be the man’s seed; it will be the woman’s seed. This confirms or aligns with the prophecy of Isaiah we looked at yesterday: the Virgin shall conceive. The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent. What does all of that mean? Well, Adam and Eve were tempted through a serpent, and so the serpent is what we would normally call a snake, although it is not exactly what we call a snake today.
It says that this seed of the woman will bruise the head of the serpent; it will crush the head of the serpent. That means it will destroy the serpent. Now, when the passage says that it will bruise the head of the serpent, it doesn’t mean it will kill the serpent-not exactly — because Jesus did not come to kill Satan, but the head represents the crown of glory, the authority, and the power. This seed of the woman will destroy the power of the serpent over mankind. He will crush the head, meaning the serpent will lose its headship over man-its authority, rulership, and power. That’s what Christ came to do; not to kill Satan, but to destroy his power.
The second thing that the prophecy says is that in the process, the deceiver shall bruise the heel of the woman’s seed. In the process of the seed of the woman crushing the head of the serpent, the serpent shall bruise the heel of the seed of the woman. This means that in the process of Satan’s power being broken, he will inflict some pain on the person who is doing it, and we know that person to be Jesus Christ. This speaks of His suffering, betrayal, the beating, and the crucifixion- all of that was part of the bruising of the heel of the Redeemer. But that’s all he could do. When you bruise the heel of a person, they recover from it, but when you bruise the head, the head is crushed; you don’t recover from it.
So Jesus recovered from His bruise; He resurrected, and His body was transformed. The temporary harm was overcome through the resurrection. In the process of our redemption, the power of the serpent, the power of Satan, is broken. The head of the destroyer is broken, but in the process, Christ suffered. The good news is He resurrected from His suffering and He even conquered Satan in that process. The seed of the woman truly bruised the head of the serpent, and that’s what Christmas is all about.
Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, thank you for paying the price for my redemption. I receive your gift of salvation in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.»