In this verse we read of the punishment that befalls the devil. This punishment also contains a glorious promise for man—yes, for man who has actually earned eternal death.
The Lord shows in Genesis 3:15 that he intervenes and controls everything. He will put enmity between the devil and the woman. Indeed, it is God who puts this enmity in place. The Lord will work in the woman in such a way that she will continue to hate the devil throughout her life and continue to love the Lord. This work of God shows the devil that he has not won the true victory.
The enmity that God puts in place here will not end when Adam and Eve die. God continues to work this enmity throughout the generations and throughout history. The Lord speaks here of your offspring
and her offspring.
The word offspring
or seed
can designate either one person or a whole group. When it speaks here of the serpent and his seed, it points to the devil and that part of the people who follow him; the people who live without God, without real union with Christ. The seed of the woman consists of the believers who want to belong to his people in love for God. The Lord will ensure throughout history that there remains enmity between people who follow the devil and those who follow God in love. That is God’s work. If God had not intervened here, all people would follow and continue to follow the devil as slaves.
This war will not last forever. The seed of the woman, God’s people, will overcome. It is going to happen through the One who is the seed, the offspring of the woman in a very particular way. That is Jesus Christ. He is promised here in a very particular way. He is the seed that will bruise the head of the devil.
The fact that the seed, the believing offspring of the woman, is primarily about Christ, can also be seen when Paul, in Galatians 3:16, explains that the word offspring
in Genesis 12:7 points to Christ in a special way. You see this clearly in these two texts placed next to each other:
Genesis 12:7 - To your offspring I will give this land. So he (Abram) built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Galatians 3:16 - Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, And to offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one: And to your offspring, who is Christ.
Christ will defeat the devil in such a way that the day will come when the devil can do nothing. I will mention three instances from the New Testament that make this very clear:
Romans 16:20 - The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
1 John 3:8 - Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
Revelation 20:10 - And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
The battle to gain complete victory over the devil and his seed will be a hard one. The devil will use all his power and strength. We see this in the last part of this verse: and you shall bruise his heel.
Christ will overcome after a tremendously hard battle. It will take him to the cross. No matter how hard, there he overcomes. The seed of the woman conquers, and this is also evident in Christ’s resurrection from the dead on the third day, his ascension into heaven, his reigning from heaven, his pouring out of the Holy Spirit, and his return one day on the clouds.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”