We have been working our way through a series that focuses on the relationship that man was created to have with the land. Having seen man’s sin and the initial consequences of it, namely its effects on creation as observed first with the man and woman fleeing from the presence of God, then the direct punishment levied on the serpent, we turn now to the second part of the serpent’s curse. This particular judgment from the Lord ensures that His original command and commission to man will be fulfilled.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
Genesis 3:15
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
In this sentencing from the Judge, we find a well-known promise of offspring, fascinatingly addressed to the serpent. In looking at the various parts, first God deals with the cozy relationship that had existed between the serpent and the woman leading to the original sin. In doing so, God places enmity, meaning hostility or hatred, between the two thus severing and preventing any future conspiring to commit sin. Secondarily, this isn’t limited to just the woman and the serpent, rather it extends to all future generations as noted by the use of offspring or seed, a familiar theme throughout Genesis. The enmity that God places between the two pairs is perpetual and ongoing between their offspring.
Here we need to pause and make certain that we understand this is not simply opposition between little snake babies and the woman’s infants, though this is at least partially true in the opposition between the two. Nor does it mean that the serpent will procreate with the female species and produce a hybrid species beginning with Cain, as those who promote the serpent-seed doctrine teach. Looking closely again at the passage we see that there are two mentions of offspring, in the plural. This is a clear demarcation between two peoples that will fill history, two seeds as it were, with that of the woman’s culminating in the birth of the Messiah (note the singular use of He). The serpent, that is Satan, as a spiritual being does not have physical offspring. The woman will have physical offspring, but the enmity is not understood to be between Satan’s spiritual offspring and the woman’s physical offspring. Rather, what we have here intertwined in the meaning of the woman’s offspring is two implied spiritual seeds coming out of the physical seed. In other words, two peoples, one of which is referred to as the offspring of the serpent and the other referred to as offspring of the woman. The prototype for this relationship is seen in Cain and Abel, both obviously come physically from the woman. However, Cain is referred to as, “of the evil one” (1 John 3:12). Further clarity on these two peoples can be found in Jesus’ words to the Jewish leaders in John 8:41-44 as they are from Abraham physically, but are said to be their, “father the devil.” (John 8:44)
As this enmity extends, we see that it will ultimately result in the one offspring, as we have now in the singular as indicated by ‘He’, bruising the head of the serpent and in return the serpent bruising His heel. In context, this is a promise of both the fulfillment of God’s original command and commission for man to take dominion over all creation as well as to be fruitful and multiply. Here, we find in the midst of this curse, the promise of reversal of the present situation in which the serpent had deceived the woman. The deception had come by means of the serpent to the woman, now the reversal of that will come by means of the woman to the serpent through her Seed. The crushing of the serpent’s head by the Messianic Offspring signifies dominion by the latter and defeat of the former. The symbolism conveyed by the promise ensures that man will return to his position of regency by taking back the dominion over the land and all that fills it which was lost thereby fulfilling the commission that God had commanded.
The judgmental curse that God levied on the serpent addressed what had caused the original sin, countering it by inserting enmity in the relationship between the woman and the serpent. Furthermore, the judgment also contained a promise of fruitfulness and multiplication in the promise of a plurality of offspring. Additionally, it contained the promise of salvation in the person of the Offspring, Christ, as we know, in this protoevangelium. In this promise was the guarantee of the fulfillment of man’s original commission that he had been given and had subsequently failed to deliver on.
With this in mind, next we will look at the punishment levied directly to the woman and then the man. There were consequences for their sin, but was it called a curse? How will the fulfillment of the first promise, as well as the original commission take place?
