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« And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head, and you will strike him in the heel »
(Genesis 3:15)
What is the message of this prophetic enigma? Jehovah God informs that his purpose to populate the earth with a righteous humanity will surely be fulfilled (Genesis 1:26-28). God will redeem the humanity through the « offspring of the woman » (Genesis 3:15). This prophecy has been a « sacred secret » for centuries (Mark 4:11, Romans 11:25, 16:25, 1 Corinthians 2:1,7 « sacred secret »). Jehovah God revealed it gradually, over the centuries. Here is the meaning of this prophetic riddle:
– The woman: she represents the heavenly people of God, composed of angels in heaven: « Then a great sign was seen in heaven: A woman was arrayed with the sun, and the moon was beneath her feet, and on her head was a crown of 12 stars » (Revelation 12: 1). This woman is described as the « Jerusalem above »: « But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother » (Galatians 4:26). She is described as the « heavenly Jerusalem »: « But you have approached a Mount Zion and a city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and myriads of angels » (Hebrews 12:22). For millennia, in the image of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, this heavenly woman was sterile, childless (regarding the mentioned offspring of Genesis 3:15): « Shout joyfully, you barren woman who has not given birth! Become cheerful and cry out for joy, you who never had birth pains, for the sons of the desolate one are more numerous than the sons of the woman with a husband,” says Jehovah » (Isaiah 54: 1).
This prophecy announces that this barren woman will give birth to many children (King Jesus Christ and 144000 kings and priests), as the apostle Paul wrote, under inspiration: “For it is written: “Be glad, you barren woman who does not give birth; break into joyful shouting, you woman who does not have birth pains; for the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than those of her who has the husband.” Now you, brothers, are children of the promise the same as Isaac was. But just as then the one born through natural descent began persecuting the one born through spirit, so also now. Nevertheless, what does the scripture say? “Drive out the servant girl and her son, for the son of the servant girl will by no means be an heir with the son of the free woman.” So, brothers, we are children, not of a servant girl, but of the free woman” (Galatians 4:27-31). This free woman is symbolized by Sarah, Abraham’s wife: “Tell me, you who want to be under law, Do you not hear the Law? For example, it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant girl and one by the free woman; but the one by the servant girl was actually born through natural descent and the other by the free woman through a promise. These things may be taken as a symbolic drama; for these women mean two covenants, the one from Mount Sinai, which bears children for slavery and which is Hagar. Now Hagar means Sinai, a mountain in Arabia, and she corresponds with the Jerusalem today, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother” (Galatians 4:21-26).
– The offspring of the woman: The book of the Apocalypse reveals who this son: « Then a great sign was seen in heaven: A woman was arrayed with the sun, and the moon was beneath her feet, and on her head was a crown of 12 stars, and she was pregnant. And she was crying out in her pains and in her agony to give birth. (…) And she gave birth to a son, a male, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was snatched away to God and to his throne » (Revelation 12: 1,2,5). This son who will « shepherd all the nations with an iron rod » was designated by the angel Gabriel as Jesus Christ: « This one will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and Jehovah God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule as King over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end to his Kingdom » (Luke 1: 32,33). Nevertheless, the child whose heavenly wife gives birth refers to the Kingdom of God, whose Jehovah anointed his Son Jesus Christ as King (Psalms 2). In the continuation of the narrative of the Apocalypse (14:1-5), we can read that King Jesus Christ is accompanied by 144,000 kings and priests, who constitute the New Jerusalem (21:1,2), the bride of King Jesus Christ. The King’s wife is part of this « child » of the direct offspring of this heavenly Woman because the apostle Paul, in Galatians 4:26, wrote that she is the mother of those, still on earth, called to reign alongside with King Jesus Christ.
In Galatians 4:24-26, it is written that these two women, Hagar and Sarah, represent two covenants. Hagar, the Covenant of the Law and Sarah represent the New Covenant. The beneficiaries of the Covenant Law were the 12 tribes of Israel. While the beneficiaries of this New Covenant represent those who are and will be part, in the future, of the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). This Israel of God has a heavenly part, the New Jerusalem, also referred to as twelve tribes of Israel, being the 144,000 (Revelation 7:1-8; 21:1,2). Nevertheless, according to Jesus Christ, this Israel of God will have an earthly part, in the future earthly paradise: « Jesus said to them: “Jesus said to them: “Truly I say to you, in the re-creation, when the Son of man sits down on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israell” (Matthew 19:28 and Luke 22:30). This earthly spiritual Israel will be composed. of the Great Crowd of all nations that will come oute of the Great Tribulation and as well as the earthly resurrected ones who will inherit everlasting life on earth (Apocalypse 7:9-17; John 5:28,29).
On the evening of the last Passover, Jesus Christ celebrated two covenants, the New Covenant (Luke 22:19,20) and the Covenant for a kingdom (Luke 22:28-30). As we have seen, all of the Israel of God, both in Heaven and on Earth, are part of and beneficiaries of this covenant. However, regarding the Covenant for a Kingdom, only those who will reign with Christ in heaven are part of it, that is, the 144,000 kings and priests.
– The original serpent is Satan the devil: « So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him » (Revelation 12:9).
Jesus Christ described the devil very concisely: “That one was a murderer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks according to his own disposition, because he is a liar and the father of the lie » (John 8:44). Satan the devil is not the abstraction of evil, but a real spiritual person (Matthew 4:1-11). Likewise, the demons are also angels who have become rebels who have followed the example of the devil (Genesis 6:1-3, to compare with the letter of Jude verse 6: « And the angels who did not keep their original position but forsook their own proper dwelling place, he has reserved with eternal bonds in dense darkness for the judgment of the great day »).
When it is written, « he did not stand fast in the truth », it shows that God created this angel without sin and without any trace of wickedness in his heart. This angel, at the beginning of his life had a « beautiful name » (Ecclesiastes 7:1a). However, « he did not stand fast » in his integrity, he cultivated pride in his heart, and over time he became « devil », which means slanderer, and Satan, opponent; his old beautiful name, his good reputation, has been replaced by one of the everlasting disgraces. In the prophecy of Ezekiel (chapter 28), against the proud king of Tyre, it is clearly alluded to the pride of the angel who became « devil » and « Satan »: « This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: “You were the model of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eʹden, the garden of God. You were adorned with every precious stone —Ruby, topaz, and jasper; chrysʹo·lite, onyx, and jade; sapphire, turquoise, and emerald; And their settings and mountings were made of gold. They were prepared on the day you were created. I assigned you as the anointed covering cherub. You were on the holy mountain of God, and you walked about among fiery stones. You were faultless in your ways from the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you » (Ezekiel 28:12-15). Through his act of unrighteousness in Eden, he became a « liar » who caused the death of all of Adam’s offspring (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12). Currently, it is Satan the devil who rules the world: « Now there is a judging of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out » (John 12:31; Ephesians 2:2; 1 John 5:19) .
– The offspring of the original serpent represents the heavenly (demons or angels of the devil) and earthly enemies of the Kingdom of God, those who actively fight against the sovereignty of God and against King Jesus Christ and the holy ones on earth: « Serpents, offspring of vipers, how will you flee from the judgment of Gehenna? For this reason, I am sending to you prophets and wise men and public instructors. Some of them you will kill and execute on stakes, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, so that there may come upon you all the righteous blood spilled on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar » (Matthew 23: 33-35).
– The wound of the heel represents the sacrificial death on earth, of the Son of God, Jesus Christ: « More than that, when he came as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, yes, death on a torture stake » (Philippians 2:8). Nevertheless, this wound on the heel has been healed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: « Whereas you killed the Chief Agent of life. But God raised him up from the dead, of which fact we are witnesses » (Acts 3:15).
(The sacrifice of Christ allows the salvation of an obedient humanity to God (John 3:16,36))
– The crushing of the serpent’s head means the eternal destruction of Satan the devil and demons and the earthly enemies of the Kingdom of God, at the end of the thousand years of the reign of Jesus Christ: « For his part, the God who gives peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly » (Romans 16:20). « And the Devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire and sulfur, where both the wild beast and the false prophet already were; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever » (Revelation 20: 10 ).
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Is she the Divine Virgin?
Would the heavenly woman of the book of Apocalypse, chapter 12, correspond to the Divin Virgin (to use the expression of the followers of the Marian cult)? Given what is written, there are similarities with what Mary, the mother of the child Jesus, experienced. It is about a pregnant woman who gives birth to a child who is to shepherd the nations: « Then a great sign was seen in heaven: A woman was arrayed with the sun, and the moon was beneath her feet, and on her head was a crown of 12 stars, and she was pregnant. And she was crying out in her pains and in her agony to give birth. (…) And she gave birth to a son, a male, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was snatched away to God and to his throne” (Apocalypse 12:1,2,5). In order to demonstrate the resemblance of this vision, with the announcement of the birth of the child Jesus, here is what the angel Gabriel declared to the virgin Mary: « So the angel said to her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And look! you will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus. This one will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and Jehovah God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule as King over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end to his Kingdom.”” (Luke 1:30-33). The vision of Apocalypse showing a woman giving birth to the heir to the royal throne and the angel Gabriel announcing to Mary that she will give birth to a child who will be heir to the royal throne, seems very similar.
Added to these two similarities, another, that of the devil’s attempted murder of the child: « And the dragon kept standing before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth, it might devour her child” (Apocalypse 12:4). Regarding the events following the birth of the child Jesus, it is evident that the devil attempted to arrange to have the child Jesus murdered, to the point that an angel warned the parents in charge of the child, to flee to Egypt: « After they had withdrawn, look! Jehovah’s angel appeared in a dream to Joseph, saying: “Get up, take the young child and its mother and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I give you word; for Herod is about to search for the young child to destroy it” » (Matthew 2:13). Indeed, the heavenly woman could represent the virgin Mary. However, according to the context of the whole of chapter 12, this is not the case.
Indeed, the different visions describing the events of this heavenly woman can also make us think of Moses. The visions in chapter 12 show that the devil is persecuting this symbolic woman. In the Gospel account, there is no mention of this kind of persecution towards Mary. For example, in this same chapter, the devil attempts to drown the woman: « And the serpent spewed out water like a river from its mouth after the woman, to cause her to be drowned by the river » (Apocalypse 12:15 ). This vision would tend to allude to an episode in the life of Moses, when he almost died by drowning (Exodus chapter 2). This is what is written in the next verse: « But the earth came to the woman’s help, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon spewed out from its mouth » (Apocalypse 12:16). The woman was saved from drowning, but what does the name Moses mean? saved out of water. This vision appears to allude, cryptically, to Moses, one of the two witnesses mentioned (not by name) in Apocalypse 11:3. Given the understanding of this vision which alludes to the life of Moses, are we going to say that the heavenly woman would represent Moses? It is not because a vision of the heavenly woman in the Apocalypse is very similar to an aspect of the life of one of the historical characters, whether Mary and then Moses, that she is in fact, one of these historical figures. There is no reciprocity in the comparison (For example, when it is written that God is love (1 John 4:8), this does not mean that love is God (there is no reciprocity)).
In the whole context of the Bible, whether it is the prophecy of Isaiah (chapter 54), or Paul’s letter to the Galatians (chapter 4), at no time is there any question of saying that this heavenly woman (corresponding to Revelation 12) would be Mary. Whether it was Jesus Christ and his disciples, they never suggested that Mary would play a central role in heaven as a symbolic woman, or even that she should be the subject of special worship. Jesus Christ, indirectly, did not encourage to worship his mother, Mary (who was a virgin at the time of his conception) (Luke 1:34,35). Here is what is written about a homage paid by a woman to Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ: « Now as he was saying these things, a woman from the crowd called out to him: “Happy is the womb that carried you and the breasts that nursed you!” But he said: “No, rather, happy are those hearing the word of God and keeping it! » (Luke 11:27,28). It is true that Mary was an « highly favored one », to use the greeting of the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:28). The opportunity would have been entirely chosen, if it had been the case, for Jesus Christ, to mention the Marian cult. However, Jesus Christ never mentioned the Marian cult which has Greco-Roman origins, and therefore has no place in the Bible.
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The gist of his understanding of the Promise of God
It is Abel who, it seems, understood the essential message of this enigmatic promise of God (Genesis 3:15). Regarding the birth of the first son of Adam and Eve, Cain, and then his brother, Abel, it is written: « Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said: “I have produced a male child with the help of Jehovah.” Later she again gave birth, to his brother Abel” (Genesis 4:1,2a). When Eve said, “I have produced a male child with the help of Jehovah”, maybe she thought that she was the symbolic woman of Genesis 3:15, and then, Cain was her main offspring. If it would be the case, then that would mean that Cain would have been raised in this perspective, making him a very important person, in the eyes of his parents, while his brother Abel would have grown up in his brother’s shadow. Concerning the birth of Abel, it is not mentioned any special statement from his mother. Putting the situation in this perspective, then we understand better why Cain took God’s approval of the sacrifice of his brother Abel as a real affront, a humiliation which led him to murder his brother.
It is written in the continuation of the narrative, that both of the brothers presented a sacrifice: « Abel became a shepherd of the flock, but Cain became a cultivator of the ground. After some time, Cain brought some fruits of the land as an offering to Jehovah. But Abel brought some firstlings of his flock, including their fat. While Jehovah looked with favor on Abel and on his offering, he did not look with any favor on Cain and on his offering. So Cain grew hot with anger and was dejected. Then Jehovah said to Cain: “Why are you so angry and dejected? If you turn to doing good, will you not be restored to favor? But if you do not turn to doing good, sin is crouching at the door, and its craving is to dominate you; but will you get the mastery over it?” » (Genesis 4:2b-7).
Before examining the two sacrifices presented by Cain and Abel, let us see where could he have presented this sacrifice? The most likely location is where the gates of Eden were, now closed to all humanity: « So he drove the man out, and he posted at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubs and the flaming blade of a sword that was turning continuously to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:24). Indeed, the place where the sword was turning, between the two cherubs could well symbolically represent the presence of God, preventing the entrance to the Garden of Eden. It is interesting to note that on the cover of the Ark of the Covenant, there was also the representation of two cherubs facing each other and bowing towards its center, representing the presence of God, through the Shekinah, on it (Leviticus 16:2; Numbers 9:15,16).
Regarding the two sacrifices, it is precisely the kind of sacrifice of Abel that would demonstrate that he understood the main meaning the promise of God. In the narrative of Genesis, it is written, about the sacrifice of Cain, that he came with some vegetables which he presented on his altar. That was a bloodless offering, which shows about his lack of discernment. The continuation of events will demonstrate that he was not a spiritual man, but a physical man who was unable to control his feelings of jealousy, pushing him to commit murder. The sacrifice of Abel was bloody, he offered « some firstlings of his flock ». We can say that in terms of spiritual insight, Abel was far ahead of his time because this is exactly what Jehovah God would ask later, in the Mosaic Law (Exodus 13:12,13). The gist of Abel’s understanding of God’s promise (Genesis 3:15) is that to save humanity, it was necessary bloodshed, symbolized by the woman’s wound on his heel. And that the shedding of blood would be that of a man who was represented by the offering of the firstlings of his flock. Would, the fact that God later symbolized the sacrifice of his Firstborn Son by a lamb, be in memory of Abel’s faith and spiritual insight (John 1:29,35)?
Abel was a very spiritual and insightful man, unlike his murderer brother (1 Corinthians 2:14,15). According to Genesis 4:8-10, Abel had a sad end because he has been murdered by his brother. However, in the resurrection, he will have everlasting life, given to the righteous. Abel is a very good example of faith, fidelity and discernment. Jesus Christ said that Abel’s blood was « righteous blood » (Matthew 23:35). The apostle Paul cited him as first example of courageous man of faith, even unto death: « By faith Abel offered God a sacrifice of greater worth than that of Cain, and through that faith he received the witness that he was righteous, for God approved his gifts, and although he died, he still speaks through his faith” (Hebrews 11:4).
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The Meaning Of The Promise Of God Made In Eden (Genesis 3:15)
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