As we enter into the Christmas season ,we are going to take
a brief break from our series in Hebrews to, like the wise men two thousand
years ago, trace Christ all the way to the manger by asking and answering one
simple question of a couple of famous passages throughout the Old Testament—“What
Child is This?” The passages we are going to be perusing throughout the next
couple of weeks each in their own way point forward to the Christ child and
ultimately to the redemption that He alone provides from sin and death. This is
nowhere more typified than in the first ever prediction of Christ in all of the
Scripture—Genesis 3:14-15. Here, in one of the most disappointing episodes in
all the Bible, God shines His bright light of redemption. In fact, much as God
was able to use the uninviting rural town of Bethlehem to welcome His only Son and
cradle the God Child in the confines of a horse trough, God has always been
about the business of bringing hope in the midst of despair. In Genesis
3:14-15, the blessing of God is found as He utters a curse! Today, we are going
to witness two implications of the curse placed on the Serpent in the Garden of
Eden and, more importantly, behold that this curse spells for believers.
I. IMPLICATION #1:
PRESENT HUMILIATION-3:14
Before we look at the implications of the curse placed on
the serpent let us ask a question that I often raise to my two-year-old
daughter—“what happened here?” How in the world did this mess come about in the
book of Genesis? In the perfect world God created, The Lord allowed Adam and
Eve free range over the planet and the free will to choose to obey His only
rule—not to eat of the tree of knowledge. This one stipulation was necessary,
for, in order for freedom to exist there must be a choice. It was one thing for
Adam and Eve to enjoy perfection. However, it was another thing entirely for
them to choose God freely when given the choice not to.
Capitalizing on this opportunity, a tempter enters the
garden named Lucifer who, again, is introduced in order to provide an
opportunity for mankind to choose God over and above themselves and/or others.
He approaches Eve, misconstrues God’s words, and deceives her into believing
that she knew better than God. As a result, she eats of the very fruit her Lord
forbade her to consume. Where was Adam? His sin was worse and maybe even first!
He was right there watching the whole thing and did absolutely nothing to stop
it, protect his wife, and honor the Lord’s wishes. Instead, he eventually took
a bite of the fruit himself!
Ashamed by their sin, both Adam and Eve run and hide from
God (I guess once you introduce stupid into the world it only goes downhill
from there!). God finds them (surprise,
surprise) and after everyone blames everyone else, God has enough and begins to
spell out the consequences of each party’s actions. This is where we pick up
the story in verse 14. The first one to receive what is due is the serpent who
instigated this entire spectacle. The first implication of the curse dealt to
him is present humiliation.
Verse 14 is introduced with “the Lord God said to the
serpent” (3:14). Though this introductory phrase is normally glossed over,
consider the comparison made in these words. On the giving end of this curse we
have the “Lord God” (Yahweh Elohim) whose proper name is juxtaposed alongside
His Trinitarian plurality. On the receiving end we have a serpent. This is
significant in at least one regard. Many in this world believe that the tension
between good and evil involves two opposite and equal forces (thinking that God
is as good as Satan is evil). This could not be further from the truth. God is
Yahweh Elohim—Satan is a snake compared to Him! The comparison between God’s
exalted status and the humiliation of the snake is something that will continue
to permeate the rest of this passage.
God begins by saying to the snake, “because you have done
this” (3:14). Done what? Believe it or not, he has done a lot to deserve what
he is about to receive in punishment. First, he was motivated to destroy God’s
perfect paradise. Second, he approached the woman with the intent to deceive
her. Third, he misrepresented God’s ordinance about the tree. Fourth, we was
successful in getting these two individuals to choose themselves over God just
as he had done in the heavens (wanting to be equal to God—see Ezekiel 28 and
Isaiah 14). All of this the serpent (Lucifer) had already accomplished.
Because he had done all of “this” God issues this curse, “cursed
are you more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field” (3:14c).
Though the entire world and all of creation would suffer under the curse of God
following this sin, the judgment issued on this snake would be more severe than
any other beast.
Normally, people’s response upon seeing a snake is one of
two extremes—love or hate. I’ve never understood a person who loves a snake because
in my view the good kind of snake is a dead one. There is no other animal I’m
more turned off by than these slithery creatures. Maybe, at least here, I’m
sympathetic to what the Bible says about their cursed status (me and Indiana
Jones!). Throughout history, the snake has been the subject of scorn and ridicule.
Only in pagan religions is it exalted and revered.
God continues and says, “On your belly you will go, and dust
you will eat all the days of your life,…” (3:14d). This was not the proudest
posture this creature would assume—especially considering that earlier the
serpent was described as “more crafty than any beast of the field” (3:1). How
fitting it is that this serpent would spend the rest of his days slithering around,
literally eating the rest of God’s creatures’ dust. The verbs used in this
verse suggest an ongoing state of affairs—i.e. from now on, the proudest
creature would be the lowest creature.
Here, the justice of God is exceedingly poetic. In putting
his cleverness to nefarious use, the serpent earned himself a life in the
mud—where no proud creature would want to spend much time at all. However,
God’s curse is not yet over and if you thought the serpent’s present
humiliation was bad, consider verse 15.
II. IMPLICATION#2:
FUTURE DEFEAT-3:15
The second implication of the curse laid out on the serpent
is future defeat. From this point on, there will be conflict between the
serpent and the woman—representing wickedness and mankind respectively, “and I
will put enmity between you and the woman” (3:15a). Before this ordeal the
world existed in perfect tranquility. Now, conflict will ensue between mankind
and evil.
This conflict will continue through the ages, “between your
seed and her seed” (3:15b). Inasmuch as mankind multiplies and fills the earth,
so too will evil multiply and fill the same earth with wickedness by means of
demonic activity and moral decay. “Seed” is often used in the Old Testament to
describe descendants (this is especially true in the book of Ruth both
figuratively and literally) in connection with men and their sons. Evil sows
seeds of evil and men sow their seed in the production of more men and women.
However, this is the ONLY time in the entire Bible in which a woman is said to
have seed. Why? Because women do not have seed nor is it their responsibility
to provide the “seed!” in the populating process. However, God says to the
serpent here that one day a descendant will emerge solely from a woman—miraculously—who
will see the conflict between wickedness and the human race come to a head.
This passage of Scripture is known as the
protoevangelium—the “first good news” as it is the first prediction of Jesus
Christ who would be born of a virgin woman (“seed of the woman”) and defeat the
forces of evil once and for all! Leave it to God to redeem a moment of darkness
in history with the bright light of the gospel! Here, even as early as in
Genesis 3, man’s failure is promised to be overwhelmed by Jesus’ victory, and
Satan’s victorious moment is promised future and forever defeat.
When we answer the question, “What child is this?” of this
passage, the answer is clear. This child is Jesus Christ who is promised to
come and right the wrongs that mankind brought on itself.
This promised child and coming Savior will solidify His
victory over the serpent and all that he represents by dealing a death blow to
Satan’s head, “he shall bruise you on the head” (3:15c). Bruising of the head
is euphemistic for total destruction. In fact, the word used here for “bruise”
can also be translated “crush.” Jesus would accomplish this by means of His
incarnation, ministry, passion, and glorification—demonstrating once and for
all that death has no sting and has been swallowed up in victory.
1 Cor. 15:54b-55- "Death has been swallowed up in
victory, O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?”
Though the promised victory spells complete and total defeat
for the serpent, rendering his efforts to undermine God ultimately
unsuccessful, Satan would in fact be allowed to bruise the seed of the woman on
the heal. This image foreshadows the crucifixion of Jesus Christ which,
although a horrific spectacle of pain and anguish, was a temporary ordeal that
was later eclipsed by a bodily resurrection. Jesus’ bruise was temporary,
Satan’s crushing would be irrecoverable. Ultimately, the curse that God issues
this serpent involves his ultimate and total demise. The only victory this
serpent will ever know would come when he temporarily and superficial wounds the
seed of the woman.
So What?
The serpent and all that he stands for by the end of this
passage is humiliated and promised future defeat at the hands of a promised
seed that will one day crush his head. Satan, to this day, wreaks havoc on the
world not as someone who believes he has a shot at victory, but as someone who
knows it is just a matter of time before his time is up. His only consolation
is the possibility of misdirecting as many people into following his failure of
a program all the way to hell, where he already knows he has to spend eternity.
However, the victory of the seed of the woman is available to all who know the
identity of this “seed” and as a result have a relationship with Him. Who is
this seed? What child is this? His name is Jesus! He is the promised victor
over sin and death and the miraculous Messiah who, born of a virgin, lived a
perfect life so that we could know life in the first place. This is what we
celebrate this Christmas season—that God from the very moment the problem of
sin was introduced, put a plan in place to save us that has everything to do
with Jesus.
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