The Curse on The Serpent signaled his doom having his head crushed by the Promised Seed. Yet this Promised One would also suffer a deadly wound from the strike of the Serpent (the same Hebrew term I translated as “crush” by an action of the heel, I translate “strike” by a viper since injection of venom is a different action although the outcome is shared). The difference is that the woman’s Seed is also the Author of Life so that death had no hold over Him. Instead, He provided redemption as a sinless substitute in our stead and conquered death in the process.

This concept that treats Gen. 3.15 as a prophetic parable I personally rejected during my early years as a Christian. I held the same view as Rashi and Calvin that the text was descriptive of a new reality where animals and humans were conflicted unlike the original design of Eden. However, just as the video explains, the greater context of God’s disclosure in the scriptures (and oral preaching-see Ezek. 38.17) indicates that He is speaking cryptically and creating a mystery for redemptive purposes.

Even though I was a Christian, I could still not know aspects of God’s plan in scripture unless God the Spirit taught me. Initially, I thought I could use my storehouse of knowledge and experience in life to read and understand the bible, but without the Spirit, I could get it wrong. The things of God cannot be grasped by fallen human understanding as 1Cor. 2.14 states. And, as a Christian, I still had a fallen nature that could fool me. Eventually, however, God taught me the importance of this promise as a central theme in scripture.