Simply the Bible Blog

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

Genesis 3:15

Eating the forbidden fruit seemed like such a small thing, but it began a chain reaction. Sin and death entered the world. Innocence and harmony were lost. Sin brought separation so that Adam and Eve could no longer enjoy sweet fellowship with the LORD as they had done before. They were naked, and they knew it. It wasn’t so much about lacking clothing as it was about not having the spiritual covering of righteousness. But in a crude attempt to cover themselves, they sewed fig leaves together.

When God asked Adam if he had eaten the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam passed the blame.

“The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

Genesis 3:12

What a shame that man couldn’t take ownership for his sin but blamed his wife and blamed God for giving her to him! When God questioned Eve, she blamed the serpent.

Therefore, God cursed the serpent. Since he had used his mouth to deceive, he would crawl on his belly and eat dust all of his days. And God would put enmity between the serpent and the woman. Before the curse, the serpent was probably beautiful, for Eve was attracted to him. But now the woman would hate him. I can testify that my wife hates snakes! But God’s words against the serpent had a much deeper meaning. There would be enmity between the serpent’s seed and the woman’s Seed. This Seed would bruise (crush) the serpent’s head, and he would bruise (crush) His heel. Every other time in the Bible when speaking about people, “seed” refers to the descendant of a man. But God spoke here of the Seed of the woman. This could only refer to Christ who would be conceived by the Holy Spirit and born to a virgin.

While Adam and Eve were still reeling from their sense of guilt and shame, God revealed His plan of redemption. As soon as sin and death entered the world, God provided the solution.

“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

John 1:29

It would be thousands of years before this Seed would be born of Mary. He came to crush the serpent’s head, and on the hill of Golgotha He would triumph over all the powers of darkness. He was cursed and crushed for us so that we could receive God’s mercy and forgiveness. No matter what we have done or what we have become, there is always hope if we will call upon His name.

“Heavenly Father, thank you for providing your Son to crush the serpent’s head and cancel the deadly effects of sin. Thank you for saving us by your grace. Forgive us of all our sins and help us to follow Jesus. In His name we pray. Amen.”

Listen to the complete podcast