"And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. " And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [art] thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [was] naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou [wast] naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest [to be] with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What [is] this [that] thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. " (Genesis 3:1-15) The serpent unequivocally represents Satan, also human beings that are, consciously or not, serving his purpose ( "your seed" ). The woman represents Christ and the church ( "her seed" ). It has always been a struggle between these two parties, the outcome of which is just staggering. It has to do with God's plan of salvation in producing children for God's family, and Satan endeavoring to damage and destroy as much as possible of that plan. In a small way, it applied to the people of Israel, in OT, ( the "church in the wilderness", Acts 7:38 ) as the Devil enticed the Israelites to sin and disobey. Most of all it applies to the NT church. Satan tried to kill the Messiah, soon after He was born, through Herod. As that failed he used the Pharisees and other enemies to try to make Jesus stumble, right up to the His crucifixion. That having failed, he endeavored to make "her seed," the church stumble. He has had, tragically, some success there, as some of God's children have lost out and more will. All this is the fulfillment of "thou shalt bruise his heel". What about the other part, "it shall bruise thy head" ? Christ will crush Satan, his power and his empire of demons at the end of this age: "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 11:15) Around 500 years earlier Daniel prophesied the same event: " Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet [that were] of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. . . . And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, [but] it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." (Daniel 2:34-35, 44). There are many more prophecies adding more details of this glorious future event. Tragically, before that fulfillment, mankind will have to learn a very painful lesson. Two world wars have not driven the lesson home yet . . . the next one will (see Matthew 24:21-22.) Answer Given By: Adriano Borean
|
