Genesis 3:15

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

Many scholars cannot recognize this as the great Protoevangelium of the O.T., which of course, it surely is. Their blindness is due to their failure to recognize that the key to understanding the O.T. is Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:15,16). The terminology of this verse is such that it cannot apply to anything in heaven or upon earth except the long spiritual conflict between Christ and Satan.

"Between thee and the woman ..." Woman here stands for the whole of Adam's race, a point emphasized a little later in Genesis 3:20, where it is stated that Eve is the "mother of all living." Enmity indicates the hostility of Satan toward humanity. God's statement here that he would "put enmity" cannot mean that it did not exist previously, but that it would be intensified and continued, a fact mentioned in Revelation 12:12. However, this warfare is more than Satan's campaign to destroy humanity; it also includes the warfare between:

"Thy seed ..." that is, the followers of Satan, and

"her seed ..." that is the seed of woman. Note the singular here, a ...," that is the seed of woman. Note the singular here, a characteristic continued in the pronoun he: "He shall bruise thy head." Now, the only "seed of woman" ever known upon earth was and is Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul's statement to the effect that Christ was "made to be of a woman" (Galatians 4:4) implies not only the virgin birth of Christ but his pre-existence also.[18]

"He shall bruise thy head ..." is a promise of ultimate and complete victory over evil by the Lord Jesus Christ. This, of course, took place on Calvary, where Christ slew him "that had power of death" (Hebrews 2:14). The Charter of Redemption was achieved on the Cross, and full rewards of it will be bestowed upon the righteous at the time of the eternal Judgment.

"Thou shalt bruise his heel ..." is undoubtedly a reference to the Crucifixion. And one should not be surprised by the fact of so terrible a death being compared to a mere heel-bruise, because, the comparison is valid when contrasted with the casting of Satan into the lake of fire.

SUMMARY OF THE PROTOEVANGELIUM

Thus, this 27-word promise of healing for the sins of Adam's race conveyed limited information, but the significance of it is unlimited. In the light of subsequent events, it comprises as comprehensive and definite a statement of God's Plan of Redemption as could have been devised in so few words. Here is a summary of what was included:

1. it outlines the doctrine of the Incarnation;
2. and of the Virgin Birth;
3. has a prophecy of the crucifixion; and
4. of the final overthrow of Satan in hell;
5. announces the ultimate overthrow of evil;
6. the long agony of the human race; and
7. provides a message of hope and salvation for fallen humanity. (See an entire chapter on this subject in my book, The Mystery of Redemption, pp. 12-21.)