One theme that runs through all of Scripture is the great foundation promise given by God in Genesis 3:15:

“I will put enmity between you (the serpent) and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (RSV).

As Christadelphians, we are rightly called “the people of the Book”. All the Bible should be our province of study — we should search all the Scriptures, knowing that in every part they testify of Christ. In him especially was the conflict joined, between the “serpent” of sin and the imperishable “seed” of righteousness. In him, finally and for all, was the battle for Truth won.

“In him the tribes of Adam boast

More blessings than their father lost!”

Several years ago a black man named Alex Haley, a middle-aged author of no special note, wrote a book entitled “Roots”. It was a fictionalized history purporting to describe the odyssey of Haley’s family from slavery to freedom, covering some 300 years. The book was serialized on American television, becoming an overnight sensation — the most watched program in history. This epic story further encouraged the popular study of “family trees”.

There is great interest today in genealogical research. Enthusiasts delve through dusty tomes in forgotten corners of old libraries and court-houses, in the hope of finding some scrap of an official record to trace their “roots” backward one more step.

Believers in Christ have “cut off the flesh” in baptism, thereby repudiating ties of natural descent. The true sons and daughters of God are reckoned as having been “born in Zion” (Psa 87). Their “mother” is spiritual Jerusalem (Gal 4:26), their brother is Christ, and their family consists of those who do the will of their Father in Heaven (Mat 12:48-50).

There are in reality only two “families” of mankind, and they are delineated in the early chapters of Genesis. Like the feuding Hatfields and McCoys of West Virginia, these two families have had continual enmity toward one another from one generation to the next.

Our “roots”, naturally speaking, are of no special consequence. But our spiritual “roots” are of great consequence. Our eternal fates are bound up in the “family” to which we give allegiance — either the seed of the serpent or the seed of the woman (Gen 3:15). The “roots” of these two families can be traced back to their very beginnings, in the Garden of Eden, and then forward even into the future kingdom. The only “digging” necessary to unearth these “roots” is the careful study of Scripture.

This series outline, with accompanying notes, the most prominent passages tracing these two families through the Bible — especially as they appear in their antagonisms toward each other. Our starting point is Gen 3:15 — where, after the cataclysmic sin in Eden, God addresses the serpent:

“I will put enmity between you (the serpent) and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (RSV).

(Here the RSV helps our understanding by making the pronoun references to the woman’s seed to be masculine.)

With this verse as our starting point, we now begin our journey — a journey which might be subtitled “Genesis 3:15 in All the Bible”.

The writer hopes that this summary might help to redress an imbalance in Christadelphian circles. The imbalance is this: that, while the promises to Abraham and David have received great stress (and rightly so!), the great foundation promise of all the Bible (Gen 3:15) has been comparatively neglected. Perhaps one reason for this neglect is the common assumption that Gen 3:15 is not quoted in the rest of the Bible. But the studies which follow demonstrate that the Edenic promise is a golden thread woven through-out the tapestry of Scripture. Though not directly quoted elsewhere, as are many other Messianic prophecies, it is alluded to many times, and it is at the root of the whole plan of redemption.

Genesis 3:20

“And Adam called his wife’s name Eve (Heb ‘Chavah’); because she was the mother of all living.” Adam’s wife already had a name — “Isha” (2:23) — a name which fitly described her origin, for it signified “out of man (ish)”. But in view of the great redemptive promise just received, Adam evidently felt she needed a new name — one in keeping with her destiny. What more appropriate than “Life”! Through the woman, by a specially prepared birth, would come a son — the “seed of the woman”. He would (in some way probably only dimly perceived by Adam at this time) destroy the power of death brought by the serpent. Whereas the serpent was the “father” of death, this man-child would become the “father” of life (he is called, prophetically, the “father of eternity” in Isa 9:6), and his mother therefore would be the “mother of all life”!

Genesis 4:1

In no way did Eve lag behind her husband in this expectation of the fulfillment of God’s promise of a Redeemer. In fact, so eager was she for the promised deliverance that she seized upon her firstborn, Cain, as the “seed of the woman”. “I have gotten a man from the LORD” may just possibly be translated; “I have gotten a Yahweh-man!” By this Eve may have meant that this child was the special “seed” promised by Yahweh, the representative of Yahweh, and thus the “Yahweh-man” (we might say “God manifest in the flesh”) commissioned to defeat the serpent and abolish death.

But, alas! Eve’s firstborn proved himself to be instead a son of the serpent, by his enmity against the typical “seed of the woman”, Abel — an enmity which culminated in the death of his righteous brother. Thus Cain, like his “father” the old serpent, showed himself “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44; 1Jo 3:12).

The “Seed” passages

It is not often recognized that all the “Seed” passages of Genesis arise out of Gen 3:15. Each fresh reference is an amplification of the previous promises: The “seed of the woman” will be also the “seed” of Abraham (Gen 12), who shall inherit the land of promise (Gen 13), while the natural seed is disinherited (Gen 16). A type of the woman’s seed was Isaac, the “seed of promise” who was miraculously conceived (Gen 21), typically sacrificed (Gen 22), and then given a special bride selected out of the Gentiles on account of her faith (Gen 24).

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Those who regularly use the RSV, which is In some respects a fine translation, should take careful note of Gen 13:15:

“For all the land which you (Abraham) see I will give to you and to your descendants (AV ‘seed’) for ever.”

On this point the RSV is not even internally consistent, since its translation of Gal 3:16 rightly states that this promise was to Abraham and his “offspring” — singular: “referring to one… which is Christ.”

Both “seed” and “offspring” appropriately translate the Hebrew original “zera”, which is itself ambiguous as to number. But the RSV’s interpretive translation, “descendants”, is in direct violation of Paul’s later exposition, and therefore clearly wrong. Only translators totally ignorant of the significance of the Abrahamic promises could make such a blunder.

The same erroneous translation occurs in the RSV of Gen 22:17,18:

“And your descendants (AV: ‘seed’) shall possess the gate of their (AV: ‘his’) enemies. And by your descendants (AV: ‘seed’) shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves.”

This, despite the fact that the New Testament repeatedly interprets this promise as fulfilled in Christ, who destroys his great enemy death by gaining possession over its “gate”, the grave (1Co 15:26,55,56; Rev 1:18; 20:6)!

Leviticus 11:42

Among the animals forbidden for food were “whatsoever goeth upon the belly… and creeping things that creep upon the earth”. We are told elsewhere in Scripture that there is nothing unclean of itself (1Ti 4:4; Rom 14:14,20; Mark 7:15). Therefore it is reasonable to conclude that all the creatures rendered “unclean” by the Mosaic law were made so to teach moral lessons. What lesson is taught by Lev 11:42?

This verse is an obvious allusion to the curse upon the serpent in the Garden of Eden:

“Because thou hast done this (ie, enticed Eve into sin), thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life” (Gen 3:14).

The serpent indirectly brought sin into the world, though without question the moral offence of Adam and Eve was greater than his — they being “under law”. The sin of our first parents was crystallized in a change of nature, from “very good” to mortal, which they experienced as a direct punishment from God. This change in nature also meant that their minds would thereafter be prone, or inclined, toward sin.

This mind of the flesh, or “serpent-mind”, has been inherited by all their descendants. It is a frame of mind characterized by thinking according to the natural desires, rather than the spiritual guidelines of God’s word. This is an “abomination”; any man who lets the flesh take over his mind is “going upon his belly”; He is letting the grosser, more materialistic impulses — his “belly” — crowd out and choke the Spirit-mind that a concentration upon Scripture could cultivate. Such a state of mind, if persisted in, will at last bring the curse of Eden upon its holders — death without remedy!

In similar language Paul speaks of such “natural men” — and he describes the moral (or immoral!) equivalent of this Mosaic “abomination”:

“The first man is of the earth, earthy” (1Co 15:47) — he never elevates himself above the dust of his origins, but is always looking downward and groveling in those things that are merely sensual. He “feeds” upon the “dust” (Gen 3:14)!

“For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things” (Phi 3:18,19).

The fact that Paul uses the word “walk” of these men, and his exceeding sorrow at their conduct, imply that these men were nominally “brethren” of Christ. What had made them “enemies of the cross of Christ”? The cross was the means whereby Christ conclusively put to death the lusts of the flesh, and it is the invitation and the challenge to us to do the same: to crucify “the world” (Gal 6:14) within ourselves.

Any who aspire to put on the name of Christ, yet make no meaningful attempt to live as he did, are really his “enemies” and not his friends. They profess friendship, but their actions make them liars. Their God is not Yahweh — it is their “belly”; their mind is not on heavenly, spiritual things — but upon “earthly” things! They see all the enticements of the world. Like Eve did with the fruit of the tree, they desire, they take, and they “enjoy”; like the serpent, their “end is destruction”.

It is not surprising that many of the abominations and “uncleannesses” of the Law reflect the events in the Garden of Eden. Not only is the serpent an abomination (Lev 11:42), but nakedness is to be scrupulously avoided (Exo 20:26). In fact, to uncover another’s nakedness becomes, in the Hebrew, a euphemism for sexual union (Lev 18:6-19; 20:11) — probably because the sexual union of Adam and Eve followed close upon their realization of their “naked” state. Since the image of the “serpent-mind” is inherited by each generation from the preceding one, therefore childbirth brings a stigma of uncleanness (Lev 12:1-8). Even the reproductive functions of both men and women in their most innocent aspects are nevertheless “unclean” under the Law (Lev 15:16-28)!

Since death came into the world because of Adam’s sin, merely to touch a dead body brings an unclean condition. And the legal decree of Deu 21:23, finding its fulfillment in Gal 3:13 (“Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree”), no doubt has its origin and justification in the fact that sin first entered the world in the eating of fruit from a tree!

The tragedy of Eden, then, was kept before the eyes of the Jews in many ways. It must not be forgotten, since it was the reminder of how they had come to be in their fallen condition. But for those who looked beyond the surface, these were also prophetic types of the redemptive work of Christ. In becoming the “last Adam”, in order to undo the consequences of the first Adam’s sin, he came under all the effects of the Edenic curse: he was born “of a woman, under the law” (Gal 4:4), necessitating a cleansing sacrifice even by his birth (Luke 2:21-24). He possessed a “serpent-nature” in common with all men, and ultimately he crucified that nature by lifting it up on a “tree” (Num 21:6-9; John 3; 14), in the process being stripped naked. And thereby he died, again bringing legal uncleanness to himself and those who handled the body.

Numbers 21:6-9

When the children of Israel set out from Mount Hor, they grumbled in the wilderness against God and against Moses. So God sent fiery serpents among them which bit them, bringing death to many. After the people acknowledged their sin and begged Moses to intercede for them, the Lord commanded Moses to make a “bronze” serpent and lift it up on a pole. The erection of this brass snake was the token that God had conquered their plague, and the act of looking upon it was a gesture of faith in God’s work.

The children of Israel were notorious for giving in to their own lusts and complaining against God. In this enacted parable God emphasized their deep enslavement to sin, an enslavement without remedy unless He intervened. His intervention took the form of a lifeless, powerless brass serpent on a stake. Here was a “serpent” of brass — signifying man’s flesh, but a serpent that had been made incapable of stinging, now uplifted as an ensign witnessing to all men. The message was that the serpent-power of sin in human nature would be once and for all conquered by God, and those who had faith in Him would — despite their own personal shortcomings — be saved from death.

Jesus expressly connects this parabolic event in Num 21 with his own death:

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14,15).

In making comparison between those former Israelites and those to whom he was then speaking, Jesus was plainly intending to stress two resemblances.

1. The first — between the “snake-bitten” then and the “sin-bitten” now — is easy to grasp because we remember the role played by the serpent in the garden. Because sin entered into the world through the first couple’s acceptance of his suggestion, the serpent became the fitting symbol of sin. He was in fact the true Bible “devil” (Rev 20:2). By extension, then, the Bible “devil” now dwells in each of us because we bear the condemned nature of Adam, a nature prone to the blandishments of the “serpent”.

So, Jesus says, this generation is dying because it is bitten by “sin”. He scarcely needed to add that every generation since Adam has met or will meet the same fate. We are born of the flesh, “born in sin”, and dying just as surely as the Israelites fell in the wideness — unless a divine miracle brings us back to life.

2. Thus is the way prepared for the second intended comparison; between the serpent on the pole and Christ “lifted up”. The serpent was the symbol of sin and therefore the serpent on the pole was the symbol of sin conquered. By “lifting up”, Jesus unquestionably meant crucifixion (John 12:32,33). His crucifixion was to be the conquest of sin.

This of course implies that in some sense “sin” was attached to Jesus. But we err if we call him a “sinner”:

“He did no sin” (1Pe 2:22).

“He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15).

“Which of you convinceth (ie, convicteth) me of sin?” (John 8:46).

How then did Jesus the sinless man partake of “sin”? How could he, with any degree of reasonableness, be symbolized by a serpent? Paul gives the answer:

“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom 8:3).

Jesus was associated with sin because he possessed “sinful flesh”. The death of Jesus accomplished in full what the erection of the brass snake had done in part. It condemned sin, or the serpent, in human flesh; it destroyed it; and it provided a focus for the faith of those who needed forgiveness and deliverance from their sins.

No individual Israelite in that day was able completely to destroy (by his own will and strength) the “serpent” or diabolism in his bosom. And neither can we! But one special member of the human race, with a nature just like theirs (and ours), totally subdued the evil desires of the flesh in himself, and finally took that serpent-nature that inevitably tended to sin and hung it upon a tree. What a wonderful illustration of our redemption is that serpent of brass!

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It should be stressed here, so that no false conclusion be drawn, that the serpent in the Garden was undoubtedly a literal serpent. It is indisputable that other passages (for example, Rev 20:2) use “serpent” symbolically. But, as with other figures of speech, the only basis for such figurative language is a foundation of literal truth. In short, there could be no “serpent” symbology unless there had been a real serpent in the first place!

1 Samuel 17

The story of David’s victory over the Philistine giant Goliath is an enacted parable of the promise of Gen 3:15. It typifies the work of Christ in two different, though related, aspects: (1) Christ’s moral victory over the power of sin in himself, and (2) Christ’s coming military victory over sin in its governmental forms. It was necessary that Christ first conquer the “world” in himself, by subduing the lusts of the flesh, so that he might be qualified to conquer the nations and rule over them. Both these victories — one now past, the other yet future — are beautifully outlined in the stirring drama of 1 Samuel 17. In this epic encounter between faith and force, spirit and flesh, the godly and the earthly, we see all the redemptive purpose of God, unfolding from Eden onward.

“The Philistines gathered together their armies to battle” (1Sa 17:1). The name “Philistine” has found a place in the English language as a common noun, describing those who are ignorant and uncultured, those who are “of the earth, earthy” (1Co 15:47), without the least aspiration toward higher things.

The Philistines pitched their tents in “Ephes-dammim”, which signifies “the border of blood”. This site was a little south of Jerusalem and halfway over toward the Mediterranean Sea, at the border between the Israelite hills and the Philistine plain. It was “between the seas in the glorious holy mountain” (Dan 11:45) — the locale where the great invader of Israel in the last days will meet ignominious destruction!

The “border of blood” marked the crest, or high point, of human power — the point where it was broken and turned back. It typifies both Golgotha in the past, and Armageddon in the future. “Ephes-dammim” is closely related in meaning to Acel-dama (“the field of blood”), where the traitor Judas met his fate (Acts 1:19).

“And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel… on the other side: and there was a valley between them” (1Sa 17:3). Mountains in Scripture often represent military powers (Zec 6:1), while valleys are places of sorrow, humiliation, and trial — and sometimes of destruction, such as the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:12), where the serpent-power of the Gentiles will be broken. Like David, Jesus had to go into “the valley of the shadow of death” (Psa 23:4) to conquer the “giant” of sin.

“Goliath” (v.4) means “exile”; “Gath” means “winepress”. The Philistine giant was, like Cain (Gen 4:14,16), an exile from God because of sin. He was trodden down by David, even as all human power and pride will be trodden down by Christ in the great winepress of the wrath of God (Rev 14:19). Goliath’s height was six cubits (the number of man: cp “666” in Rev 13:18) and a short span. Perhaps this “span” represents the brief transition period between six thousand years of human rule and the kingdom (it was the “span” portion of the Image that the little stone struck).

Goliath was covered with brass — symbol of flesh. He was the human equivalent of the brass serpent of Num 21 — the power of sin destroyed by Christ on the cross. He was arrayed in armor and weapons of the flesh, in contrast to the spiritual arsenal of Eph 6:13-17, which was David’s trust (1Sa 17:45) as well as Christ’s.

This mighty champion of the flesh came out into the valley between the two armies, every day for forty days, to defy the God of Israel. It was a sad, shameful spectacle; not a man of Israel, not even Saul (himself a giant — 1Sa 10:23!), had the faith and courage to confront this blasphemer (17:11).

Now comes a sudden break in the narrative (v 12), introducing the second antagonist in this epic struggle; David, a young man, a shepherd of Bethlehem (v 15), had been sent by his father to take provisions to his three older brothers serving in Saul’s army (vv 17-19).

David, when he came to his brethren, was met with mockery and derision (v 28). Likewise Jesus, when he came to save his brethren from the “giant” of sin, met the same ridicule. How much natural man needs salvation; yet how little he realizes it!

The boy David could not understand the inaction of Saul’s men:

“Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (v 26).

The words of this shepherd boy come to the ears of the distraught king, who is so desperate that he sends for him. And the poor shepherd boy says to the mighty king;

“Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine” (v 32).

Saul reasons according to the flesh, which is fatally obsessed with size and natural advantage:

“Thou art not able…” (v 33).

But why not, if God is with him? How often do we forget the strength of faith, and make the same mistake — tentative, timid, and even fearful? How often we forget that, if God be for us, no man or no thing can stand in our way!

David wisely refuses Saul’s offer of armor. The children of the Spirit are no match for the children of the flesh if they attempt to meet them on their own ground and do battle with their own weapons. The “seed of the woman” will always be outclassed by the “serpent brood” in numbers, experience, prestige, and learning. Their defense and offence must be in the “shield” of faith and the “sword” of the Spirit (Eph 6:16,17)!

For his weapon, David took his sling and then chose five smooth stones out of the brook. (Why five? Was it because Goliath had four brothers, also giants?) The sling, made of animal skin, would require a death for its preparation. Like the garments that God prepared to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness after their sin, the sling also typified a sacrificial death.

The sling (a sacrificial death) gave all the power to the stone which David hurled against the giant. The stone which brought down Goliath typifies Christ: He is the stone rejected by the builders, but later made the cornerstone of God’s building (Psa 118:22). He is also the stone cut out of the mountain of human flesh without hands (ie, born of a woman without human father: Gen 3:15), which smote and destroyed Nebuchadnezzar’s image (Dan 2:34), and then filled the whole earth.

The smiting of the “dream” image in Daniel 2 is parallel to David’s smiting of Goliath, with one significant difference: One stone smites Goliath in the head (cp Gen 3:15), which symbolizes the vital life center. The other strikes the image on the feet, symbolizing the time when destruction is accomplished. But the end result is the same — the Image destroyed, and Israel saved.

The Nebuchadnezzar image represents the accumulated history of the four great empires that collectively make up the “serpent-power” of the Kingdom of Men, which oppressed God’s kingdom of Israel. David’s selection of five stones relates his victory to the fifth great Kingdom, the Kingdom of God that will finally conquer all and fill the earth with His glory.

“The stone sank into Goliath’s forehead” (1Sa 17:49) — the typical fulfillment of the Edenic promise that the woman’s seed should bruise the serpent’s head. The antitype stretches from the cross to the military destruction of the last vestiges of human misrule and oppression, when Christ returns.

So “David ran… and drew out Goliath’s sword… and cut off his head” (v 51). And he brought the head to Jerusalem (v 54). David’s act symbolized the destruction of the head of sin, accomplished by Jesus in his own body, and finalized at Golgotha (the place of the skull!) just outside the walls of Jerusalem. (Hebrew tradition suggests that Golgotha was so named because it was the burial place of Goliath’s head.)

David’s act also prefigures the cutting off of all mortal ruling power, and the transferring of all the world’s headship to Jerusalem, “the city of the great king” (Mat 5:35).

David’s wonderful feat revitalized the army of Israel, which then went on to rout the Philistines. Those who were powerless and afraid to face Goliath received new strength and courage in the victory of David. Like David, Jesus was the only one capable of winning the special victory over the “serpent” Yet his victory over the “devil”, like David’s over Goliath, delivered his brethren who “through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb 2:15).

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?… But thanks be to God, Who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Co 15:55,57).

Psalm 8

The subscription of Psalm 8 (mistakenly given in most Bibles as the superscription of Psalm 9) links this psalm with 1Sa 17. “Muth-labben” signifies “the death of the champion”, or “the death of the man who stands between (the camps)”, with an obvious link to 8:2:

“…that Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.”

Goliath was the champion of the Philistines and the enemy of Israel. Standing between the two camps, he defied the living God. David, who slew him with a Spirit-directed stone, was by contrast no more than a “babe” or “suckling” (v 2):

“When (Goliath) saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth” (1Sa 17:42).

Psalm 8 appears to be the rejoicing of David after a long and arduous day, as he gazes upon the moon and stars of heaven and realizes that the God who created such wonders has also ordained the strength of his arm and crowned him with glory and honor. What day (or more especially, what night) might this have been? The account in 1Sa 17 provides some clues.

After David’s victory over Goliath, the revitalized army of Israel proceeds to rout the Philistine host, pursuing them as far as the gates of their own cities. No doubt David participated in this chase. It is logical that they did not return until the evening, when David was ushered into Saul’s presence (v 57). (It looks as though Saul, sad and melancholy, had not even led his army in the evening campaign!) Saul would reaffirm the promise that the man who slew Goliath would receive great riches and his own daughter to wife.

So in one momentous day, from sunrise to sunset, the lowly shepherd boy David vaulted from obscurity to glory and honor and dominion (Psa 8:5,6). His faith in upholding the most excellent name of Yahweh against the blasphemies of the Philistine (Psa 8:1,9; 1Sa 17:45,46) was now rewarded. He stood once more over the body of the vanquished “champion” — whom God had put in subjection under his feet (Psa 8:6)! Goliath had threatened to give David’s flesh to the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field, (1Sa 17:44), but that which he thought to do to David had been done to him (cp. Psa 8:7,8)!

The echoes of Genesis are plain in this psalm. God is seen as the Creator of the heavens (v 3) and of man (v 4). God has created man a little (or for a little time?) lower than the angels, so that he might undergo a period of probation (v 5). Yet man was the crowning glory of God’s creation; so God had given him dominion over all His other works (v 6; Gen 1:28). Implicit in David’s thoughts is Adam’s tragic loss of that dominion because of sin. Instead of benevolent rule over the animals there would be perpetual fear, uncertainty, and — in the case of the serpent especially — enmity (Gen 3:14,15).

The only remedy for the fall would be a special “seed”, who would be ordained by God to “still the enemy”, to gain ascendancy over the “serpent” of sin, and thus recapture that dominion and preeminence over all creation that Adam had lost. David’s victory over Goliath takes on a timeless aura in Psalm 8; it provides the pattern for Christ’s conquest over sin. It links David’s typical conquest with both Genesis (Eden lost) and Revelation (Eden recovered) through the eternally effective redemptive work of the seed of the woman.

The New Testament links with Psalm 8 (and thus indirectly with Gen 1:28 and 3:15) are many: Mat 21:16; 28:18; John 16:33; 17:1,2; 1Co 15:24-28; Eph 1:20-23; Phi 2:5-11; 3:20,21; Col 1:15-23; Heb 2:8-16; 1Pe 3:22; Rev 5:5,12-14. Some of the more obvious ones will be considered in later chapters.

Psalm 144 bears a strong resemblance to Psalm 8, especially in vv 3,4. It extols God, Who “teaches my hands to war” (v 1); and it asks deliverance from the “sons of the alien” (vv 7,11). It appears to be the song and prayer of David, which he composed (what a time to be composing a new song!) as he prepared to face Goliath. Its counterpart, Psalm 8, is the song celebrating that victory.

Psalm 22

These well-known words of David are indisputably prophetic of Jesus. Our Saviour, as he hung on the cross, quoted the opening words of the psalm:

“My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (Mat 27:46; Mark 15:34).

Among the extreme trials of crucifixion, Jesus experienced the shame and humiliation of nakedness. This is implied in the counting of his bones (Psa 22:17) and the parting of his garments (v 18). The women who witnessed his crucifixion stood “afar off” (Mat 27:55; Luke 23:49), possibly due to a natural modesty at the sight.

As he hung there, all the signs of corruption became a part of him — many being echoes of the curse of Genesis 3: the sweat (Gen 3:19), the dust (Gen 3:19 again), and the nakedness (Gen 3:7).

“Thou art He that took me out of the womb” (Psa 22:9) is a faint echo of the promise in Gen 3:15 — the special “seed of the woman” conceived by the power of God’s Holy Spirit. True to the Edenic curse, the woman was to have sorrow in conception (Gen 3:16); Mary knew such sorrow — a sword piercing her own soul also (Luke 2:35). But her sorrow would finally dissolve into joy, when her son was “born” from the tomb to new and glorious life (John 16:20-22).

The crucified Saviour finds his enemies encircling him like bulls (Psa 22:12), dogs (vv 16,20), and lions (vv 13,21). All God’s “creatures” were his enemies, but by his obedience (where the “first Adam” had failed) he would re-establish man’s promised dominion over them (Gen 1:28).

“Thou hast brought me Into the dust of death” (v 15) is a conscious remembrance of the curse of Eden; “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen 3:19).

Psalm 41:9

The circumstances that gave rise to Psalm 41 were, almost certainly, Absalom’s rebellion and the traitorous behavior of Ahithophel, David’s counselor. But v 9 is cited in John 13:18 as applicable to Judas Iscariot in his betrayal of Christ:

“He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.”

This is, of course, an allusion to Gen 3:15, but with a peculiar twist! Judas is put in the place of the woman’s seed, lifting up his heel to crush a dangerous “serpent” underfoot — and that “serpent” is Jesus! Surely this tells us, by implication, something about the motives of Judas: that he had at least begun to accept the reasoning of Israel’s leaders, that the troublesome Jesus was an evil that must be gotten rid of!

The climax was that the “serpent” was indeed crushed in the death of Jesus, but certainly not in the way the leaders of Israel (and Judas!) expected. God used these wicked men to accomplish His righteous purpose — the condemnation of sinful flesh. Peter explained this to these men on the day of Pentecost:

“Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death; because it was not possible that he should be holden of it” (Acts 2:22-24).

The “heel”

The allusion to “heel” in Psa 41:9, coupled with Gen 3:15, suggests an interesting word study:

“AQEB”, or “heel”, appears for the first time in Gen 3:15. “Aqeb” is the root word in the name Jacob, since Jacob took his brother by the heel when they were “born (Gen 25:26; Hos 12:3). Figuratively, then, to take by the heel signifies to trip up and to supplant — which, of course, Jacob did to his older brother Esau (Gen 27:36) in appropriating the blessing and birthright.

The antitype is Jesus, the “last Adam”, who has supplanted the first Adam in receiving the blessing and dominion which he lost. (Notice that Esau’s other name is Edom — virtually equivalent to “Adam”!)

The other Scripture occurrences of “aqeb” are not numerous, but some are quite suggestive:

1. Gen 49:17: In Jacob’s prophecy, Dan (“Judgment”) is called a serpent that bites the horse heels, causing its rider to fall backward. Perhaps Dan is given the serpent role because this tribe sponsored the introduction of idolatry among the twelve tribes (Judges 18; 30) — the reason, perhaps, also for Dan’s omission from Rev 7. The “idolatrous” influences (of a different sort!) in Israel at the time of Christ caused his bruising in the heel.

2. Gen 49:19: “Gad, a troop shall overcome him, but he shall overcome at the last “(literally, ‘at the heel’).” This is certainly typical of Jesus, overcome by a mighty “troop” in his death, yet finally himself overcoming his enemies “at the heel” — an obvious allusion to Gen 3:15!

3. Jos 8:13: In order to conquer the Canaanite city of Ai, Joshua set “liers in wait” nearby (literally, “at the heels” of the city!). By serpent-like subtlety, he drew the men out of the city, which was then captured by those who waited “at the heels”, and the power of Ai was broken!

4. Job 18:9: Bildad pictures, among the calamities that would befall the “wicked” Job, that “the gin (trap) shall take him by the heel (‘aqeb’)”. But the “gin” of God’s judgment that took Job by the heel finally proved out to his vindication, and to Bildad’s condemnation! The enemies of Christ set a snare for his heels also; but in the climax they found they had tripped up themselves (Pro 1:16-18)!

5. Psa 49:5: “Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?” But consider this alternate translation as suggestive of Christ: “Why should I fear in the days of evil, when my wicked supplanters (or those wicked ones who would trip up my heels) shall compass me about?” Jesus had nothing to fear from such men, for he knew that even when they “tripped him up” in death, God would “lift him up” out of the grave to vindication and glory.

6. Psa 56:5,6: “Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps (‘aqeb’), when they wait for my soul.” But…”In God have I put my trust; I will not “be afraid what man can do unto me… Wilt not Thou deliver my feet from falling?” (vv 11,13).

7. Psa 89:50,51: “Remember, Lord, the reproach of Thy servants; how I do bear in ray bosom the reproach of all the mighty people; wherewith thine enemies have… reproached the footsteps (‘aqeb’) of Thy Messiah.”

8. Song 1:8: When the Shullamite inquires where her beloved is to be found, she is counseled to follow the footsteps (or heels) of his flock. If we would follow in Christ’s “heels”, we will of course do as best we can what he did: use our “heels” to crush the head of the “serpent” Sin!

Psalm 72:9

A beautiful picture of the Kingdom age, modeled after the imperfect type of Solomon’s reign. When Christ shall have dominion (Gen 1:28) from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth (Psa 72:8), then they that dwell in the wilderness will bow down before him, and his enemies (the “seed of the serpent”) will lick the dust (Gen 3:14)!

Psalm 91:13

This was a passage recognized even by Christ’s tempter as prophetic of the Messiah, since vv 11,12 are quoted as justification for his casting himself down in the sight of all men (Mat 4:6; Luke 4:10). But Jesus understood that, while the prophecy applied to him, it could not be perfectly fulfilled until he had proven himself obedient unto the death of the cross. By a life of perfect obedience, and by a perfect sacrificial death, Jesus would “tread upon the adder” of sin (v 13). Thereafter, God would give His angels charge of Jesus (v 11), to bear him up from the grave (v 12); God would deliver him and exalt him to heaven (v 14) and show him His salvation (v 16).

In addition to obtaining salvation, Jesus would also receive dominion over all the wild beasts (v 13) — indeed, over all creation (Col 1:15-23).

Isaiah 7:14

The traditional Jewish interpretation of Isaiah’s prophecy was along these lines: that a virgin would marry and then conceive (in the natural way) a son who would become the Messiah-but not literally the Son of God. But the visit of Gabriel to Mary, and the conception of Jesus in accordance with his words, leave no doubt as to how God intended to fulfill-and did fulfill — the prophecy of Isa 7:14:

“The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God… for with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:35,37).

Mary’s response — “Behold the handmaid of the Lord” (v 38) — revealed her awareness of the rather obscure passages in Psalms (86:16; 116:16) that, like Gen 3:15, implied Messiah was to be the “seed of a woman” but not the “seed of a man”.

The special name — “Immanuel”, or “God with us” — stressed that God would be actively employed in the redemption of mankind; it would not be something that just “happened”. Though Adam and Eve brought death upon themselves by their own actions, their children would not be left to their own devices to find deliverance. Short of divine intervention, “no man can redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him” (Psa 49:7). Genesis 3:15 and Isaiah 7:14 emphasize, therefore, that God would be “in Christ, (actively) reconciling the world unto Himself” (2Co 5:19), and that God would be “manifest in the flesh” for the unfolding of the mystery of godliness and justification and salvation (1Ti 3:16).

Of the actual conception of Jesus the gospel accounts tell us nothing, and we must conclude that such precise knowledge is too sacred for mortals. How was this miracle accomplished? In the jargon of modern science, what was the “genetic code” begotten of such a union? Prudence cautions us to explore no further along these lines than Scripture expressly allows. But perhaps Psalm 139 gives us an insight or two into this greatest of all mysteries — “God with us”:

“For Thou didst form my inward parts,

Thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise Thee, for Thou art fearful and wonderful.

Wonderful are Thy works!

Thou knowest me right well;

My frame was not hidden from Thee,

When I was being made in secret,

Intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.

Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance;

In Thy book were written, every one of then,

The days that were formed for me,

When as yet there was none of them.

How precious unto me are Thy thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!”

(vv 13-17, RSV).

Isaiah 11:6-8

Sometimes the continuity of theme in Scripture is lost to us if we rigidly adhere to the daily reading schedule of the “Bible Companion”. Such a system has great merit in encouraging a steady diet of the Word of God. But one not-so-desirable byproduct is that thoughts designed by God to be seen side-by-side are artificially separated by several days, and by the interposition of readings from other portions of the Bible. This seems to be the reason why the obvious connection between Isaiah 7:14; 9:6,7; and 11:6,8 is often lost sight of.

The words of Isaiah describe a scene of complete tranquility, when all the savagery of the beasts of the field has been removed:

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Isa 11:6-9).

It is certainly a picture — in broad, general terms — of man’s reclamation of dominion over the earth, and his subjugation of the animal kingdom (Gen 1:28). But it is more than that; it is a picture — in specific terms — of Christ’s victory over sin and death. And this is precisely what a failure to link together the Scriptures may cause us to miss. Since Christ is the son born of the virgin in 7:14, and since he is also the child born “unto us” in 9:6, then he is just as surely the “little child” in 11:6, and the “sucking child” and finally the “weaned child” in 11:8. So the beautiful vision of these verses is not impersonal, but rather it centers on Christ!

Verse 6 shows Christ as the “little child” because of his perfect trust in God (Mat 19:13,14); he is the “babe” ordained in strength (like David) to still the enemy and to have dominion over all creation (Psa 8:2,6-8).

Verse 8 shows Christ as the “sucking child” and then the “weaned child” — feeding first on the “milk” and then on the “meat” of the word, growing in spirit and wisdom and grace (Luke 2:40). Both “asp” and “cockatrice” belong to the “seed of the serpent” (Gen 3:15; Mat 3:7; 23:33). Jesus, under the nurture and admonition of his Heavenly Father, steadily grew in spiritual strength, and steadily faced one by one the trials of the “adversary” in his flesh. He had nothing to fear from the power of the serpent, for he faced it and overcame it with a greater power — faith in God’s word and promises. And, finally, in the kingdom age, the “den” of the serpent will hold no fear whatsoever for Christ, or for those who like him have become “little children” in faith!

Isaiah 27:1

“In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.”

Leviathan, serpent, and dragon are figurative terms representative of the sin-powers of the world in their latter-day political and military aspects. The figure of speech is based upon Gen 3:15 and Lev 11:42, which broadens the “serpent” class of cursed beasts to include all reptiles, or creeping things. (The dragon’s identify with the serpent is also proven by Rev 12:9 and 20:2.) Both leviathan and dragon appear to designate the crocodile, which was a symbol of Egypt (Eze 29:3; 32:2, mg) and Babylon (Jer 51:34).

It hardly needs stressing, then, that the “Sword of the Lord” will be Christ, “the seed of the woman” designated to crush the many-headed “serpent” of sin in all its manifestations upon his return in glory.

Isaiah 53:5,10

Though the Hebrew words are different, the connection between these verses and Gen 3:15 is perfectly obvious;

“He was bruised for our iniquities… it pleased the Lord to bruise him.”

The bruising, or crushing to death, of Jesus was the means of fulfilling the promise of Eden. It was, we well know, the final act of obedience in a perfectly obedient life. It was the ritual condemnation of sin in the flesh (Rom 8:3) by a righteous God (3:25). And it was, as it were, the final “nail in the coffin” of that “old serpent” Sin! And God, Who set in motion the plan of redemption, Who foresaw even from the fall the “lamb of God” (1Pe 1:19,20), was “pleased” to “bruise” His Son, the “seed of the woman”! He was “pleased” to do so, not because He took delight in the sufferings of any man, much less His beloved Son — but because He so loved us that He was willing even that His own Son might die on our account (Isa 53:5; John 3:16: Rom 8:32).

Isaiah 59:2,5-7,16

The word “viper” in v 5 (Hebrew “epheh”) is from a root meaning “to hiss”) it emphasized the tongue’s evil power, since it was by verbal communication that the Edenic serpent Implanted “the lie” in the mind of Eve, If it had been otherwise (or if the serpent in Genesis 3 were a symbol only!) there would be no real force to Paul’s allusion in 2Co 11:3,4: “… As the serpent beguiled Eve… (so) he that cometh preacheth another Christ.” It was the power of speech in both cases, says Paul, that brought temptation and sin!

The word “epheh” appears only two other times in Scripture:

1. Job 20:16: “The viper’s tongue shall slay him.” From this we learn the viper was deadly, as is the tongue of the wicked speaking lies. It was recognized as a miracle that Paul escaped death after being bitten by one (Acts 28:3,5,6).

2. Isa 30:6: The viper inhabits “the land of trouble and anguish” — ie, the wilderness of Sinai. So we see that those who are “bitten” by it are led at last to the “wilderness of death”.

“He that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.”

Isaiah 59:5 lays stress on the “eggs”, or the “seed” of the viper — directing us, of course, to Gen 3:15. We are all by nature a part of the serpent brood. The “lusts of the flesh” are an integral part of the mental make-up of Adam’s descendants. If we have any desire toward God’s service, then we will attempt to destroy these lusts within us. Figuratively, we will try to “crush the eggs of the viper” (v 5)!

But we fail, dismally, inevitably. We may crush the eggs beneath our feet, but always the vipers — a hardy breed! — break out with renewed strength. There is no escape; our iniquities have separated us from God (Isa 59:2).

Is God’s arm “shortened” that He cannot save? (v 1). “He saw that there was no man (cp Psa 49:7), and wondered that there was no intercessor” (Isa 59:16). Not a single man could crush the viper’s eggs, and destroy the serpent’s power, without himself “perishing” from the serpent’s “bite” — sin.

So God ordained a special man: “His arm” to “bring salvation” (v 16), a “man made strong for Himself” (Psa 80:15,17); in short, the special “seed of the woman” divinely empowered, though himself a man, to bruise the head of the “viper”! Thanks be to God!

Isaiah 65:17-25

A glorious picture of the garden of Eden restored: “a new heavens and a new earth” (v 17), no more sorrow (v 19; cp Gen 3:16,17), no more the “child” (like Abel?) that dies an untimely death because of another’s sin.

“For as the days of a tree are the days of my people” (v 22) — the “tree of life” in the midst of the garden, its fruit free for the taking (Rev 2:7; 22:2)!

“They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble” (v 23) — the removal of the “labor” curse of Genesis 3.

“And dust shall be the serpent’s meat” (v 25). One thing will not change in the Kingdom Age. The serpent will still be cursed to eat the dust — a graphic figure of sin cast down forever, without remedy!

Micah 7:17,19

When God delivers His people, the nations “shall lick the dust like a serpent.” And God, through Christ, will “subdue (literally, trample underfoot) our iniquities”.

Like the Old Testament, the New is also filled with allusions to the great foundation promise of Gen 3:15.

Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13

The wilderness temptation of Jesus, which followed immediately upon his baptism, is recorded in detail by both Matthew and Luke. Mark has only a short allusion to the temptation (Mar 1:12,13), adding, however, something which Matthew and Luke both omit, that he “was with the wild beasts”. This minor point serves to stress that Jesus was reliving the temptation experience of his first parents, but with a big difference. Whereas they had been placed in a lovely garden of delights, where the animals were peaceably subject to their human masters (Gen 1:28), Jesus was placed in a fierce wilderness, among wild beasts (cp Psa 91:13) — their attitudes toward man reshaped by the fall itself.

Matthew and Luke each record different sequences of the three temptations. It is suggested that Matthew’s is the chronologically correct one because of the precise “then’s” (Mat 4:5,10) and “again” (v 8). But in view of Luke 4:2, it is not unreasonable to suppose that each of the temptations were considered and suppressed by Jesus more than once during his 40-day wilderness sojourn. So Luke’s different sequence should not necessarily be thought of as incorrect.

Luke, however, seems to have arranged the three temptations for reasons other than mere chronology. There is in his chosen sequence a clear echo of both Eve’s temptation and the Apostle John’s commentary on temptation:

Luke 4	Genesis 3:6	1 John 2:16
Jesus is tempted to…	“When the woman saw that the tree was…”	“All that is in the world…”
1. Turn stones into bread (vv 2-4)	1. “Good for food…”	1. “The lust of the flesh…”
2. Obtain the kingdoms of the world by worshiping the “devil” (vv 5-8)	2. “Pleasant to the eyes…”	2. “The lust of the eyes…”
3. Cast himself down from the Temple pinnacle (vv 9-12)	3. “To be desired to make one wise…”	3. “The pride of life…”

The three scenes express all the possible sources of temptation; as John wrote, these three are “all that is in the world”. There may be many subtle variations of worldly temptation, but they differ little from these main categories.

The first temptation played upon the lusts — the natural hungers — of human nature; the second temptation, upon the natural desire for power; and the third, the just-as-natural desire to be thought well of, to be worshipped and honored.

These three temptations epitomize the three shortcomings of natural man, those three things in which human nature desires to glory — wealth, might, and wisdom (Jer 9:23)! The three classes of leadership in Israel easily fitted into these categories (their twentieth-century “brethren” fit just as well into the same categories!):

1. The chief priests, Sadducees, and Herodians were the wealthy of the nation. They were content to subordinate every principle to the acquisition and maintenance of wealth. They wanted “bread” and lots of it!

2. The Zealots wanted the kingdom, or at any rate a kingdom — to throw off the grievous yoke of the Romans, and have power for themselves.

3. And the proud Pharisees, outwardly “righteous”, had succumbed to the most subtle of the temptations — they loved to be seen and admired of men as “wise” and “righteous”.

All these temptations Jesus faced in turn. Whereas each had played its part in luring Eve into sin (Gen 3:6), each was expressly considered and repudiated by the Lord. In that wherein she had failed, her “seed” (Gen 3:15) succeeded. She brought sin into the world; it coils, serpent-like, in the bosom of each of us, and its sting brings death. But her descendant Jesus, unlike Eve, did not grasp at equality with God (cp Gen 3:5 with Phi 2:6). Instead, he humbled himself and became obedient even unto death, knowing that — if he overcame where she had fallen — God would highly exalt him, at the proper time (Phi 2:9).

Matthew 3:7; 12:34; 23:33

The carnal mind, or thinking of the flesh, was generated in our first parents by the serpent’s untruthful reasoning. Therefore, those who are unenlightened by God’s truth are the “serpent” in the flesh — a generation, or offspring, of vipers. Such language is used once in Scripture by John the Baptist (Mat 3:7), and twice more by Jesus, against the established leaders of Israel.

Their minds were contrary to the will of God. Like the first serpent, who was their “father”, they attempted to entrap their victim (in this case Jesus) by subtlety (Mat 26:4). Their sophistry, however, availed them nothing. He saw through their subterfuges and condemned them for what they were:

“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of Gehenna?” (Mat 23:33).

Luke 10:19

Sending forth the seventy to preach, Jesus told them:

“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions.”

This promise can be understood either literally (cp Mark 16:18) or figuratively — the serpent being symbolic, and “Satan” (Luke 10:18) being indicative, of Capernaum (v 15) and other proud cities that rejected the gospel. Perhaps both ideas have their place. No matter which, of course, the words of Jesus are obviously based upon Gen 3:15. The “seed of the woman” has power to crush underfoot the serpent, and he has committed that power also to his servants. Symbolically, in their own lives now, his followers must “tread upon” the “serpent” in their own natures. And in the future, they will be empowered from on high to tread underfoot, without harm to themselves, both literal serpents and the political and religious institutions of which the serpent was the symbol. The promise to the seventy in Luke 10:19 was the earnest, or pledge, of all this.

John 8:44

“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

Jesus employed personification here in defining the spiritual pedigree of the “Jews” (v 22). In the beginning, the serpent spoke the first lie, “Ye shall not surely die” (Gen 3:4). This lie, believed and acted upon by Eve, brought sin and consequently death into the world. Thus the serpent became the father of liars in the same sense that Jubal became “the father of all such as handle the harp and organ” (Gen 4:21).

According to Jesus, men can have only one of two fathers: They can be the seed of Abraham (John 8:33) — but only if they do the works of Abraham (v 39) — fleshly descent is not enough. Or they can be the seed of the serpent (vv 41,44), if they do his works — that is, lying, subtlety, murder. In seeking to kill the true “seed of Abraham” (v 40), these Jews were admitting that they belonged in the other family.

So it is with us. Merely having a “name to live”, and coming into the Abrahamic covenant nominally, is not enough. We must do the works of Abraham before we can claim to be his spiritual seed, and thus sons of God and heirs of God’s precious promise given through Abraham. If we profess to follow Christ, while betraying him and denying him with our actions, then we have demonstrated that the Diabolism, the “serpent”, is our true father, and we will never be “free”.

Acts 13:6-12

The missionary efforts of Paul and Barnabas on the island of Cyprus brought the gospel to the attention of the Roman proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul was a “prudent” man (v 7) who sought truth, but he was unfavorably influenced by Elymas, an apostate Jewish sorcerer (vv 6,8).

As he listened to Barnabas and Saul, meanwhile observing the interest shown by his benefactor, Elymas (or Bar-Jesus) began to fear the loss of his position and influence. So, interrupting the two preachers, he began to engage them in debate. This assault was so rude and blasphemous (and coming from a “wise” Jew, who should have known better!) that Paul severely rebuked him;

“O full of all subtilty, and all mischief, thou child of the devil (diabolism), thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And now, behold, thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season” (vv 10,11).

Immediately the Apostle’s words took effect, and the blinded Elymas began to stumble about, groping with outstretched hands for someone to lead him. Sergius Paulus was impressed by the spectacle, and believed the gospel preached to him.

“Bar-Jesus” signifies “son of salvation”. Casting off the wonderful heritage implicit in such a name, the false Jew had become a devotee of the “moles and bats” of human “wisdom”. His acquired name — Elymas, or “wise one — reflected his new philosophy. It is easy to see this man as a typical representative of the Jewish race in their apostasy (of which Saul of Tarsus had been a prime example!). Elymas was a “child of the devil”, a description recalling Christ’s words about the Jews:

“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do” (John 8:44) —

all, of course, directly traceable to the serpent’s “seed” of Gen 3:15! Compare also the serpent’s “subtilty” (Gen 3:1) with that of Elymas (Acts 13:10).

Like the Jews described by Christ, Elymas had lost sight of the characteristics of a true son of Abraham. Like the Jews, he had become an “enemy of all righteousness” (Acts 13:10) and an enemy of the gospel (Rom 11:28).

Elymas’ main concern was the preservation of his source of wealth (the munificence of Sergius Paulus), his power over the proconsul (who was himself an important man — so much the better!), and his pride at his own presumed “wisdom”. In short, Elymas was motivated by the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1Jo 2:16)!

The sentence of blindness passed upon Bar-Jesus suggests, in this typical parable, the spiritual “blindness” decreed upon Israel because of their rejection of God (Deu 28:28; Isa 6:10). However, just as the sorcerer’s blindness was temporary (“for a season” — Acts 13:11), so Israel’s blindness will be temporary:

“Blindness in part is happened to all Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in” (Rom 11:25).

The final act in this miniature “play” is the conversion of Sergius Paulus — which surely signifies the initiation of the Gentiles into the hope largely abandoned by Israel. The opposition of the apostate Jew provided the very opportunity for the Gentile to believe!

This one incident, then, is seen to set the pattern of Paul’s work as a missionary to the Roman world: the unbelief of the Jews and the faith of the Gentiles. Thus is summarized, for that matter, the broad outline of two thousand years of ecclesial history. It appears that, in recognition of God’s expanding purpose with the Gentiles and the instrumental part he was to play in it, Saul of Tarsus then and there adopted the new name “Paul” from his Gentile convert.

Acts 9:5; 26:14

Luke recounts three times the miraculous conversion of Saul; two of these passages give the words of the glorified Jesus to Saul:

“Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick (‘laktizo’) against the pricks (‘kentron’).”

“Laktizo” (which only occurs in these two passages) signifies literally to “lift up the heel”. The “kentron” was a goad used on cattle, but the word also signifies a “sting”, as of a serpent! Other than the two verses in Acts, “kentron” appears twice in Paul’s joyful exclamation:

“O death, where is thy sting?… The sting of death is sin” (1Co 15:55,56).

The only other instance is Rev 9:10, a description of the Apocalyptic “locusts” with their tails like scorpions, and “stings in their tails”.

The most obvious meaning of Christ’s words to Paul was that it was as useless for him to resist the power of the gospel as for an ox at the plough to kick against the master’s goad.

But there is a deeper meaning: The Pharisee Saul, steeped in the law, proud of his own “righteousness”, had undertaken to crush underfoot the “serpent” of sin. His endeavor to destroy the infant ecclesia of Christ was the next logical step for a man who put all his trust in the law. To such a man, the religion of Jesus of Nazareth was an evil “serpent” to be trodden under foot.

However, Saul discovered on the road to Damascus that Jesus was no “serpent” who could be crushed by him. Jesus had once been the “serpent” lifted up on a stake (Num 21:9; John 3:14,15), but no more was that so. He was now alive for evermore, his victory over sin and the grave complete. In his intense pursuit of the Nazarene’s followers, Saul had placed himself squarely in opposition to this marvelous fact; he was attempting to “tread underfoot the Son of God” (Heb 10:29).

And in trying throughout his early life to conquer the sin-power by his own strength — lifting up his own heel against its “sting” — Saul was foredoomed to failure. He was failing to recognize that the despised prophet of Nazareth had already accomplished what the Pharisee could never do — bruise the serpent’s head! The only thing left for the proud young Jew was to humble himself, and accept in faith the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ:

“Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6).

Romans 3:9-19

In proving that both Jews and Gentiles are “under sin” (v 9), Paul brings to bear the witness of Scripture. He gathers together a number of passages from the Psalms and Isaiah. None are righteous; all are departed from the way. Vv 10-12 are from Psa 14:1-3 / Psa 53:1-3; v 13 from Psa 5:9; 140:3; v 14 from Psa 10:7; vv 15-17 from Isa 59:7,8; and v 18 from Psa 36:1. The verses are clearly selected from those that apply to Jews, under the covenant, so that their import cannot be sloughed off on the really “wicked” Gentiles only!

Throat (v 13), tongue (v 13), lips (v 13), and mouth (v 14) trace the stages of speech. Finally the feet (v 15) and the eyes (v 18) get into the act also. But serpent-like speech (Gen 3:1) is clearly the foundation and source of all wickedness. From the speech of that subtle denizen of Eden has sprung, indirectly, all sin. His throat was an “open sepulchre” (Rom 3:13). His tongue, the “little member” full of boasting, brought on the defilement of the whole bodies of both Adam and Eve (Jam 3:5,6). The great fire of corruption was kindled by his words, and human nature was changed for the worse. Now it can rightly be said of all mankind that “the poison of asps is under their lips” (Rom 3:13)!

Romans 16:17-20

Paul concludes his letter to the Roman ecclesia by warning the brethren against the danger of false teachers. Almost every phrase in this section is an obvious allusion to the Genesis record of the serpent and the woman’s seed:

The serpent subtly cast doubt on God’s Word and taught contrary to it. The false teachers of Paul’s day (probably Judaizing Christians) were the serpent’s “seed” (cp Mat 3:7; 12:34; 23:33). After the example of their “father” they professed a superior knowledge and thus were able to lead away the simple (2Co 11:13-15).

The influence of this particular “Satan” was drastically reduced by the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD. But the final bruising of “Satan” in all his aspects must of course be the work of the glorified Christ at his second coming.

1 Corinthians 15:24-28,55,56

In vv 24-28 Paul describes the purpose of God’s Kingdom under Christ: the subjugation of all enemies:

“For he must reign, till he hath put all things under his feet.” This will be in fulfillment of the commandment God gave to Adam in Gen 1:28:

“Subdue it (the earth)… and have dominion over every thing.”

The first Adam, because of sin, was unable to fulfill this directive. The “last Adam”, because of his perfect sinlessness, will be able to subdue all creation to its intended purpose — the glory of God (Num 14:21; Isa 11:9).

“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

This is the goal to which all of Christ’s work is pointed. The last enemy to be conclusively destroyed under the heel of the conquering King will be death, the serpent’s “offspring” (see Jam 1:13-15).

Death, at the end of a slow process of decay, has been an inextricable part of man’s nature since Eden. Now, through Christ, it will finally be destroyed — not merely offset or neutralized, but vanquished, routed, literally “swallowed up”!:

“Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.”

The strength of sin, as a destroyer of men, lay in the law — the law which, while holy and just and good, nevertheless condemned all men (even the most conscientious) to death as sinners. But in Christ, their righteousness was by faith in him (Rom 3:21,22) — not their own righteousness, which was by the law, but the righteousness which was of God by faith (Phi 3:9). Thanks be to God Who gives us the victory through His Son (1Co 15:57)!

2 Corinthians 4:2-4

In an allusion similar to Rom 16:17-20, Paul refers to those “believers” who trusted in the law of Moses. They had not “renounced the hidden things of dishonesty”. They were still “walking in craftiness” and “handling the word of God deceitfully ” — thus living up (or down!) to the example of their spiritual “ancestor” — the old serpent!

Continuing his analogy, Paul evidently has in mind again the tragic history of Eden lost. In seeking to be like the Elohim, Eve departed from her “first estate”. She was reaching for “greater light”. She found instead darkness — deceived by the serpent, or the “god of this world”. Her mind was blinded by “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1Jo 2:15,16), and consequently she “believed not” God. Thus was the creation plunged down to ruin.

But God’s ultimate purpose with the earth would not be thwarted by a pair of sinners. The God who commanded light to shine out of darkness at the first creation (2Co 4:6; Gen 1:3), set about immediately with a plan to reclaim His fallen creation. This plan called for another “light” to shine into the world, that is, a new “Adam” made in the express image of his Father (Heb 1:3). In all the things wherein the first “Adam” and his wife failed, the last “Adam” would succeed. He would renounce the hidden works of darkness; he would handle God’s word aright; he would reject the evil and choose the good. He would show forth the full knowledge of the glory of God, which had since Eden been clouded and dim. And through his work, he would redeem his “bride”, from the serpent’s folly.

2 Corinthians 11:2,3

Paul continues the same analogy:

“I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

“Simplicity”, as used by Paul, should not be equated with “simple-mindedness”. Rather, in keeping with the metaphor of Eve and the serpent, “simplicity” is a single-mindedness which will not be beguiled by subtle serpent-arguments. Such “simplicity” presupposes uncomplicated vision and motives. We must remember the extreme “deceitfulness of sin” (Heb 13:3) and the inherent weakness of the flesh. We must keep these things in mind, recognizing also that strength comes from God, His word, and prayer — and that we must cling close to these. If we do this, then in a simple single-minded devotion, we will be waiting and ready when our Saviour the Bridegroom cometh.