Subscription Lists
Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
The God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1.3) is the same God who sometimes delivers messages of sorrow. In our first installment of The God of all Comfort, we reviewed how Adam and Eve heard messages of overwhelming sorrow from the mouth of the One who had previously been such a comfort to them. To be swallowed up in sorrow is not a good thing; it takes away one's will to live and grow spiritually. God knew this to be a fact and before He delivered His messages of sorrow to Adam and Eve, He prefaced it with a message of comfort and hope. In today's devotional, we will take a quick look at this message and its impact on the rest of history.
“So the LORD God said to the serpent: 'Because you have done this [tempted the man and woman to sin], You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 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 3.14-15). There is every reason to believe that Adam and Eve heard these words and knew any hope for the future hung on the curse which God pronounced upon the serpent. First, we will examine the words and their meaning.
Notice that God used an expression which incorporates the concept of the woman's seed. This is indeed rare in biblical language. Man is generally spoken of as the progenitor of seed, not the woman. However, in this case, God made a special point of the fact that the seed of the woman would take decisive action regarding the serpent. The actions involved are expressed in two phrases. First, the serpent was going to bruise the heel of the man who was the seed of woman. Secondly, the man who was the seed of the woman was going to bruise the head of the serpent. It has been correctly explained that a bruise to the heel is a painful but non-lethal blow. On the other hand, a bruise to the head is both painful and lethal. The serpent would severely wound the Man, but the Man would bring to on end the life of the serpent!
Due to space constraints, we will summarize quickly the next 4000 years of biblical history. Initially, there were no “time markers” associated with God's promise of the Seed. When Eve's firstborn, Cain, came into the world, she said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.” (Genesis 4.1). It is likely that even at that early date, she hoped that the promise seed had come. After Cain proved to be an evil man by murdering his brother Abel, it was apparent that he was not the one who was to deal the crushing blow to the serpent. A third son was born later to Adam and Eve, and even his name, Seth (which means substitute) was likely to have come from Eve's hope that the promised Seed would come directly from her body. Upon his birth she said, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” (Genesis 4.25).
Throughout the years of Hebrew history that followed, every woman who trusted in God hoped that it would be her seed that would bring to fruition the victory that God had predicted in the shadows of Eden. Culturally, it became a disgrace for a Hebrew woman to be childless for this very reason. However, the Seed was not to come for many years. Eventually when the fulness of time was come, “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman.” (Galatians 4.4).
God's Son born of a woman was and is God's greatest promise of comfort. It was delivered and fulfilled from a heart overflowing with mercy! That is our God!
Questions:
1. What is unusual about the idea of a man-child being the seed of woman?
2. What type of blow would the seed of woman deliver to the serpent?
3. What does the name Seth mean? What is its significance in this story of Adam and Eve and three of their sons?
4. According to Paul in Galatians 4, when did God send forth his Son? How could He be called the Seed of Woman? What was different about how he was conceived? Why was He not the seed of man?
Receive the newest devotional each week in your inbox by joining the "Today's Little Lift" subscription list. Enter your email address below, click "Go!" and we will send you a confirmation email. Follow the instructions in the email to confirm your addition to this list.