Genesis as a Hermeneutical Foundation
Christians need the book of Genesis because it provides for us the beginning of the grand story of the Scriptures. Genesis 3:15 promises an ongoing conflict and a great hope that the seed of the woman will emerge victorious over the serpent. The rest of the Bible sees this conflict play out before our eyes. Genesis 3:15 then serves us as a hermeneutical foundation for reading our Bibles. That is to say it provides for us a method of interpreting the events, actions, and words recorded for us throughout the Scriptures.
Who is the seed of the serpent? After Cain murders his brother Abel, God said to Cain cursed are you. Those who are the enemies of God’s people are the seed of the serpent. Those who attempt to kill the promised seed of the woman are the seed the serpent. Genesis makes it clear that there will be two groups of people within humanity. There will be the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. The city of God and the city of man. Not only are we looking for a collective seed of the woman, but we are also looking for A seed of the woman who will crush the head of the serpent.
As you study your Bible, you need to think in the terms of Genesis 3:15. For example, Exodus 1 recounts for us the atrocities committed by Pharoah as he had the offspring or the seed of the Israelites thrown into the Nile River. Satan is using Pharoah in an to attempt to kill the promised seed of the woman. He is so paranoid of his own demise that he wages war against all the seed of the woman for fear that one might be THE seed of the woman who will crush him. Martin Luther said it this way, “This promise and this threat [from Genesis 3:15] are very clear, and yet they are also very indefinite. They leave the devil in such a state that he suspects all mothers of giving birth to this Seed, although only one woman was to be the mother of this blessed Seed. Thus, because God is threatening in general when He says, “her Seed,” He is mocking Satan and making him afraid of all women…. This obscurity increased Satan’s care and worry…. He was hostile and suspicious toward all those who gave birth from that time on until Christ was revealed.”
There are numerous stories between Exodus and the book Samuel that make this conflict explicit. However, when we get to the book Samuel, we have three stories in particular that draw our attention to mortal head wounds. The first occurs in 1 Sam 5:3-4. The Ark has been captured in battle by the Philistines and carried into exile out of the land of promise. The Philistines place the ark in their pagan temple before their god. In the morning, they find Dagon, their false god, laid prostrate before the Ark of the Covenant, with both his hands and his head broken off. The second story occurs in 1 Sameul 17. The famous story of David and Goliath. Goliath’s armor is described as if he were covered in scales, one might say like a serpent. In battle David crushes the head of Goliath with a stone. David then rushes forth and decapitates Goliath with his own sword. The final mortal head wound occurs in 1 Samuel 31 when none other than Saul is decapitated by the Philistines. What is the message? Saul has shown himself to be the seed of the serpent. He is a King like all the other nations surrounding Israel (1 Sam. 8:4-5). In the story of the coming King (1 and 2 Samuel) we have the enemies of God receiving mortal head wounds. Why would the author present his material in such way? He has read Genesis 3:15. He understood that those who oppose the plan and promises of God get their heads crushed.
Genesis 3:15 teaches how to read our Old Testament and our New Testament. When we get to the pages of the gospels, we read of John the Baptist calling the Pharisees a brood of vipers. He is not simply calling them names, he is telling them that they are actually the seed of the serpent (Matt. 2:7). Jesus would tell the Pharisees much the same thing in John 8 when he tells them that they are of their father the devil (John 8:44). Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus back to Adam the son of God and then immediately goes into the temptation narrative. Jesus has been in the wilderness for forty days and is hungry. The devil then tempts Jesus to doubt God’s word. Contrast the temptation of Adam and Eve for a moment. Adam was in a lush garden filled with all manner of things to eat. The serpent questions the word of God and Adam immediately caves. Jesus, however, overcomes where the first Adam failed. Though volley after volley was targeted at Jesus, he withstood the temptation.
At the end of the gospel accounts, Jesus receives a mortal wound as he dies upon the cross. The serpent has struck the heel of the seed of the woman. It appears that he has won the battle, but death could not keep its prey. Jesus arose victorious from the grave and assured the victory for all the saints of God. The devil will not have the last laugh for the mortal wound has been delivered to him. Paul would tell those in Roman that the God of peace will crush Satan under their feet shortly (Rom. 16:20).
Revelation 12 records this cosmic drama for us as it has unfolded and continues to unfold throughout history. The serpent has made and continues to wage war against the seed of the woman, those of faith. Satan is once and for all defeated in Revelation 20 and what follows is a New Heaven and a New Earth described in much the same way as the garden of Eden. It is a beautiful realm of life unmolested by sin and death (Gen 1-2, Rev. 21:4). It is a place where God dwells with His people (Gen 1-2, Rev. 21:3). It is filled with gold and precious stones (Gen. 2:12, Rev. 21:18-20). It is place filled with life giving waters (Gen 2:10-14, Rev. 22:1). The tree of life is there and there is no Cherubim blocking our access to it (Gen 3:22-24, Rev. 22:2). The seed of the woman has over come the seed of the serpent and recaptured what was lost in the fall. This brief survey of Genesis 3:15 is but one example of how Genesis provides for us a hermeneutical foundation.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis is not a book about long ago and far way but about here and now and you and me. It’s the story of a promise making promise keeping God and it is vitally relevant for our day.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor Cadon