Shomer
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Joined: 30-April 07
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Jesus in the Old Testament #1: The First Promise
I am hoping, over a period of however long it ends up being, to write a series of short articles on fore-shadowing and predictions of Jesus in the Old Testament. My intention is two-fold; I am aiming first and foremost to equip the Christian with knowledge of Scripture, and particularly some keys on understanding and interpreting the Old Testament. But this writing will however be a side-shot at any non-Christians getting a hold of this writing; to show them that the Bible is astounding in its accurate predictions and prophecies, and that Jesus really is the Son of God, our only Hope.
That being said, let’s dive right into Genesis chapter 3.
| QUOTE | Genesis 3
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
"Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel." |
Tempting as it is (excuse the pun) to delve into the terrible events documented above and remind us all of the sinful, fallen beings we are, I want to home in on a surprisingly tiny section of the 15 verses cited above; the very last one, verse 15:
“And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel." Genesis 3:15
What we have here is absolutely staggering, monumental, amazing, mind-boggling prophecy. Better yet; a direct promise of God that wouldn’t be fulfilled for many thousands of years.
God is addressing the serpent at this point (aren’t you glad I gave you it all to read rather than one verse?) who is, at this point, either a symbol for, or a creature being indwelt by, the Devil, the Fallen Angel Lucifer (Rev. 12). God is telling the devil of the struggle he is about to enter into with Jesus Christ for the rest of his sorry days. You see, Eve here is an archetype (foreshadowing, prediction) of the Virgin Mary. HOLD UP! I’m not about to give you a Hyper-catholic interpretation. I do not exalt Mary as anything more than a sinner saved by grace, like the rest of us. Blessed among women, sure, but not some kind of mediator; for there is one mediator between God and men and that is the man Christ Jesus. However, the verse IS predicting an enmity (warring, battling) between the offspring of a woman and the offspring of the Devil. The woman being described here is Mary, because of the rest of the verse;
“he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel."
Let us pause and take note of the ‘he’. Clearly, this offspring of the woman a man, right? This man will crush the devil, destroy Satan, defeat him (crush your head). He will also suffer as he does so (strike his heel).
People, what we have right here, right at the very beginning of the Story of God’s Love for the World, is a promise. A Promise that, in spite of the terrible judgement about to fall, the enemy will be defeated; ultimately, there is victory. God is promising deliverance, salvation, an “evangel” – some Good News! God promises the eventual crushing of the serpents head; a prophetic prediction, nay, Promise of God, regarding the Cross.
The Cross of Christ is the place where History meets Eternity. At the Cross, Satan is defeated and paraded for all to see, yet at a terrible price; the Christ, the Holy One, God Incarnate, is struck to death, for our transgressions. All of the heavens are silent, as Jesus pays the awesome price of Sin, for the defeat of Satan and the freedom of humanity. Christian believer, this Cross is why you have the victory. This Cross is why you are free. This Cross is why you can look forward to an eternity with God in Heaven. This is Cross is why, though the battle rages, the war is won. Rejoice! All else pales in comparison to this blessed truth; In Christ we have the victory! Hallelujah!
Jesus here is predicted on paper, 4000 years before He is ever even born. And apparently, the Bible is the unreliable document. LOL.
Concluding Thoughts
So what have we learned here?
Well, we’ve learned one important lesson in Victory in the Christian Life; it’s all about the Cross. We’ve also learned to interpret the Old Testament in light of its fulfilment; Jesus life measures up to all the hype, I promise. We’ve also seen that the Bible accurately predicts events thousands of years before they are fulfilled; but don’t worry you non-Christians, they get more exact than this one.
Your Servant for the sake of Christ,
Arron
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"Run, Run" the Law commands, But giveth neither feet nor hands, A greater Hope the Gospel brings, It bids thee fly and gives thee wings.
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Jesus In The Old Testament #1, Brand New Study Series starts right here
