Our Christmas Hope: The Seed of the Woman
The Annunciation By. Gustave DoreAs Christmas passes year by year, Christians can become short-sighted and forget the hope celebrated in the advent of our Savior. In the exchange of gifts, we forget THE gift. Many Americans actually come out of Christmas more depressed than when they entered. In light of the waves of perceived defeat in 2020, maybe we should look into the hope found in a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. This is a hope for our time in the grit of struggle and hardship. Our hope is found in the seed of the woman.
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” Genesis 3:15 (NASB)
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command and obeyed Satan, God met all three parties with curses. There were punishments for sin and this sin issue would plague all of humanity. Even the creation itself would groan under the effects of sin. Every evil we face today finds its root in the sin of Adam and its resulting effects.
In the midst of these curses came a promise. When issuing the curse on the serpent (Satan), God promised that there would be enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. This promise began a theme in scripture of tension and struggle between those who would trust God and those who would rebel against him. We will consider a couple of these passages leading up to Christ.
The latter part of this promise suggests that victory will emerge through the struggle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. The serpent shall bruise the heel of the woman’s seed, but the woman’s seed shall bruise his head. Clearly, a head wound is lethal, while a heel wound involves sacrifice and pain.
Theologians call this promise the protoevangelium. “Proto” is a prefix meaning “first” or “earliest form of” while “evangelium” is a word meaning “the gospel”. This promise is seen as the earliest or first proclamation of the gospel because it promised deliverance from sin through the seed of the woman. Throughout this article, we will trace the idea of the seed of the woman as well as the crushing of the seed of the serpent's head. The hope of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15 is important for the church today because their hope is our hope.
“And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Genesis 12:3 (NASB)
Genesis 4-11 displayed the global effects of sin as well as the progression of genealogies. The need for a deliverer and the descent of the deliverer are kept in view throughout the Old Testament, but especially in Genesis. In Genesis 12, the scene of God’s redemptive work narrows from a worldwide perspective to focus on a man and his family.
Abram was a man called by God to venture away from his homeland in order to trust the promises of God. The seed of the woman keeps narrowing in focus throughout the book of Genesis (Seth-Noah-Abram). It isn’t anything special about these people, only that God desires to use them to bring about His deliverer. God’s purposes for Abraham are clear in Genesis 12:3. In Abraham, all the families of the earth will be blessed. What does this mean?
“The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.” Galatians 3:8 (NASB)
By looking in the New Testament, we can interpret what Genesis 12:3 meant. Paul clarifies its meaning by saying the scripture was proclaiming the gospel to Abraham. The promise to Abraham was foreseeing the justification of Gentiles(in addition to Jews) by faith and therefore preaching the gospel. So God is declaring that through Abraham the promised seed of the woman would come and bless all nations.
“Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.” Exodus 1:22 (NASB)
After the book of Genesis, the seed of the woman had narrowed from Abraham to Isaac and then to Jacob or Israel. The people of Israel had multiplied in the land of Egypt by the hand of God. The Pharaoh of Egypt became fearful of the Israelites and ordered for their baby sons to be slaughtered. This was no mere political maneuver. Pharaoh’s actions were a direct result of the spiritual warfare going on behind the scenes. Throughout the Old Testament, Satan continually sought to stamp out the seed of the woman. By acting in this evil way against the LORD and the seed of the woman, Pharaoh aligned himself with the seed of the serpent.
In this battle for the gospel, God is never taken by surprise. He provided the means for Jochebed to place Moses in the river and provided a deliverer for His people. This provision is typological and forward-pointing to another deliverer who would be provided through the midst of infanticide.
“When they brought these kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came near and put their feet on their necks. Joshua then said to them, “Do not fear or be dismayed! Be strong and courageous, for thus the LORD will do to all your enemies with whom you fight.” Joshua 10:24-25 (NASB)
When Joshua led the people into the promised land, five kings joined forces and came against the people of Israel. The LORD delivered all of their armies into the hands of the Israelites, even causing the sun to stop and lengthen the day. The five kings were found hiding in a cave from the Israelites. Joshua ordered these kings to be brought out and for the people to put their feet on their necks. This isn’t an arbitrary sign of victory. When God promised deliverance from sin in Genesis 3:15, he described the victory as the head of the serpent being bruised by the seed of the woman. By commanding the men to step on the necks of these kings, Joshua is identifying with Genesis 3:15 and God’s promises to Israel.
This event teaches two ideas which will be applied later. 1. Joshua’s conquest of Canaan serves as a typological foreshadowing of Christ and his rule over all nations in righteousness through the gospel. 2. God accomplishes his promises through his people. By using Israel to conquer these kings, God sets the precedent of using his people for his glory. God could utter a word and accomplish anything he desires; however, his desire (as revealed in scripture) is to accomplish his plans through his people. Keep these things in mind because they will be applied later. As for Joshua, we see the continuing line of the seed of the woman standing on the head of the seed of the serpent.
“Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.”” 1 Samuel 17:45-47 (NASB)
Nearly everyone knows the story of David and Goliath; however, very few see the typological significance of their battle. All too often we are quick to apply this story to our own battle rather than see God’s intention for the story. Goliath stands as the representative of the armies of the Philistines, a perennial enemy of Israel. Goliath uttered blasphemous curses against the God of Israel, yet none would trust in God’s promises and stand against the giant. However, David stood as the representative of the LORD of hosts. Once again we see the enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.
David is especially significant in this story because God would later narrow the “seed-line” from Judah to David himself. God was continuing his work of providing a deliverer while telling about the deliverer through his ancestors. Many of us read the story of David and Goliath and stop after the stone strikes the giant in the forehead; however, David removes Goliath’s head with his own sword. The significance is clear. The seed of the woman will have victory through the bruising of the serpent’s head. David gave a very clear object lesson in the progressive fulfillment of Genesis 3:15.
“Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.” Matthew 2:16 (NASB)
When THE seed of the woman was born, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Herod took a page from Pharaoh’s book and ordered that all males two years and under be slaughtered. The Messiah was preserved through this infanticide in order to deliver his people. This is how Moses’ story points forward to the story of Christ.
As we consider the hope found in Christ, we must also realize that this hope came through the battles between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. The bruising of the serpent’s head comes at the price of a bruised heel. There is hope for victory, but not without sacrifice. Our themes that we are following throughout scripture are beginning to crescendo as we behold the substance of the promise made in Genesis 3:15.
“So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?” Matthew 23:31-33 (NASB)
In Matthew 23, Jesus brings a stinging indictment against the religious leaders of his day. These are the individuals who would be responsible for his crucifixion in just a few short days. These men had rejected the seed of the woman, their Messiah. They preferred their own traditions over the word of God and led others down the condemning path of a works-based salvation. Jesus commanded them to recognize their lineage. They were the sons of those who murdered the prophets. In another passage, Jesus even tells them that they do the works of their father, the devil. In order to make himself abundantly clear, Jesus calls them serpents. This is not just an arbitrary insult. Jesus is identifying the religious leaders with the seed of the serpent. Their actions testify to this because they stand in direct opposition to THE seed of the woman.
These religious leaders would later have Jesus crucified under the authority of the Romans. Just like their fathers who murdered the prophets, like Pharaoh who murdered babies, like Goliath who uttered curses, and like Herod who also murdered babies, these men did works in keeping with the seed of the serpent. They assumed that they were victorious over the seed, but Jesus Christ merely suffered from a wounded heel. After three days he rose again victorious over sin, death, and the grave, thereby crushing the head of the serpent. “And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull,” Matthew 27:33. Even the name of the area on which Jesus was crucified testifies to his crushing of the head of Satan.
“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” Romans 16:20 (NASB)
All of our themes coalesce in this verse. Through his gospel promises, God has crushed the head of the serpent by the foot of Christ. This crushing didn’t come without a price. All throughout the Old Testament, we saw the seed of the woman suffer many heel wounds. Christ himself suffered the most severe wound by bearing the wrath of God for his people. We learned from Joshua that God intends to use his people in the process of crushing the serpent’s head. So God’s people suffered heel wounds, yet Christ suffered the definitive heel wound. In the same way, God’s people will crush the head of the serpent, following the definitive crushing performed by Christ himself.
Paul seems to have this theme from scripture in mind when he writes this verse in Romans 16. As the body of Christ, the church will crush Satan under her feet by the power of the God of peace. This happens only through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. As the church proclaims the gospel, people are saved from their bondage to sin, twisting the foot on the head of Satan. As people are saved, they affect their families, churches, and culture to the glory of God. God will do this. It is his purpose and promise to do so. Our Christmas hope is found in the seed of the woman, born in a manger. He has conquered sin so that we might be freed from its bondage. As you celebrate Christmas in a year full of heel wounds, remember that Christ has victoriously crushed the head of Satan, and as his body, the church is called to follow suit.
