And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Gênesis 3:15.
The defeat of the evil that hangs over humanity.
Who is the serpent in the Genesis 3:15 metaphor? As already seen in the post Genesis 3:15 - Part 2: The Serpent, she is Satan, the enemy of Christ and the human race. By his work, Adam and Eve were tempted and, by their own decision, they rebelled against God and against the covenant celebrated with him, which subjected them and all their descendants to death.
Since then, death and evil have loomed over all human beings. Satan, with his cunning, deceives men into turning away from God and remaining in sin and condemnation.
The prophecy of Genesis 3:15 points to the defeat of Satan through the woman's seed: by this the serpent's head would be crushed. This also means for Adam and Eve the extinction of the evil that has befallen them and all their descendants.
Now, no one else could overcome the devil except Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is the seed of the woman.
The woman's seed.
In the Hebrew text, the word translated as seed is zer’a (זֶרַע), whose translations can be: seed; grain; semen, sperm; son, descendant; planting time (Hebrew Pro dictionary).
In the context of Genesis 3:15, zer'a can mean seed, descendant and child. Also included are the offspring and posterity translations.
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it will hurt your head, and you will hurt its heel. Genesis 3:15 King James Version
I will put enmity between you and the woman, between her offspring and her offspring; he will strike your head, and you will strike your heel. Genesis 3:15 New International Version.
In the situation in which Adam and Eve found themselves, the "woman's seed" meant for them a Savior, a descendant of them who would defeat evil by the power of God. It was a promise of humanity's redemption, which was subject to death because of the decision that the couple had made.
In the context of the complete Scriptures and the revealed plan of God, the “seed of the woman” is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came down from heaven and incarnated in order to present himself as a representative of the human race to carry out his redemption.
But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, Gálatas 4:4
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel to Abraham, saying, In you shall all nations be blessed. Galatians 3:8
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He said not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to your seed, which is Christ. Galatians 3:16
The Humanity of Christ and the Holy Lineage
From the prophecy and revelation of God, Adam and Eve began to wait for the Savior's arrival and to live by faith in the redemption promised by God.
In Sete, son of Eva, the holy lineage of the Savior began. It included, among others, Noah, Shem, Abraham and David (Genesis chapters 5 and 11 and Matthew chapter 1).
All of these were people chosen by God to renew, over the years, the promise made in Eden about the coming of the Savior, until he arrived in the world at the time determined by God.
The prophecies of Scripture, confirmed in the New Testament, expressly say that the Anointed One of God (Messiah, from Hebrew, and Christ, from Greek), in addition to being born of a woman (Genesis 3:15 and Galatians 4: 4), would be born:
of Abraham's offspring (Gen. 22:18 and Galatians 3:16),
of the Tribe of Judah (Genesis 49: 10-12 and Revelation 5: 5) and
of the family of David (2 Samuel 7: 12, 13; Psalm 132: 11 and Luke 1: 27,31-33).
And to close the list of the chosen names that made up the Messiah's lineage, God chose the young Mary, from whom the Savior was born.
And the angel said to her, Fear not, Mary: for you have found favor with God.
And, behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name JESUS.
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give to him the throne of his father David:
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Luke 1:30-33
The Savior's incarnation was a miracle of God. Through her the Savior came into the world and became a representative of the human race, so that he could accomplish her redemption as the woman's seed, as promised to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15:
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately.
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, you son of David, fear not to take to you Mary your wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Matheus 1:18-23
BIBLIOGRAPHY
<https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/akjv/index> Bible online American King James Version. Consulted in 05/13/2021.
<https://www.bibliaonline.com.br/nvi/index> Bíblia Nova Versão Internacional. Consulta em 18/12/2020.
<https://www.hebraico.pro.br/dicionario/qdrsdic.asp> Dicionário Hebraico Pro. Consulta em 15/12/2020.
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