Scholars refer to Genesis 3:15 as the “First Gospel”, or the Protoevangelium. Historically, Genesis 3:15 is regarded as the first verse in the Bible where the concept of the “gospel” message appears, even though the specific word “gospel” is not used.
As mentioned in my previous post, in Genesis 3:15, early on in the Biblical record, we find a very interesting reference to a battle involving two enemies, one the victor, and the other, the conquered.
"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.”
Notice the language of enemies and the bruising, a poetic way of describing a battle. This verse is considered the Bible’s epic verse regarding the battle between “good and evil”, between God and the Devil. God, here declares WAR on Satan!
Also notice the immediate warriors referenced in this battle are “you”, referring to Satan, the ancient serpent, the Devil who has been thrown down to earth-(Rev 12:9) and his offspring, and “the woman” referring to Eve and her offspring.
However, the ultimate focus is on the offspring or ‘seed’ of both. One ‘seed’ will be the victor while the other ‘seed’ will be the conquered of this war.
Paul, in his letter to the Romans -(Romans 16:20), alludes to this battle specifically identifying Satan as the one who is crushed under the feet of the offspring.
“May the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”
The imagery is the crushing blow to the head of a snake by stomping it with the foot.
Historically, the interpretation is the crushing blow and victory of the conquering God of peace. The one who is defeated is the, “ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.”- (Revelation 12:9)
The phrase, “he shall bruise your head” conveys the crushing of Satan as the one who is conquered, by the victor, the one who “shall bruise his heel.” Historically, his bruising is interpreted as the battle wound of the crucifixion of Jesus, but not the ultimate death blow to the victor, as the ultimate war-victory of Jesus’ resurrection demonstrates.
It is very interesting to note the shift in referents doing battle in each stanza of the poem. Satan, on one hand is defined as the enemy of the woman and her seed and the one doing battle in each stanza. He is considered co-referent with his offspring and the one doing battle, (between your offspring…you shall bruise). On the other hand, the woman is the referent in the statement about the enemies, but, she is not identified as the one doing battle against Satan. The battle is fought by one from among her offspring and referred to as “he,” (between your offspring and her offspring...he will bruise...). This “he,” who battles and defeats Satan, historically, has been understood to be the Messiah. (Galatians 3:16)
As a result, this declaration of war and the defeat of Satan is regarded as the first announcement in the Bible of a coming Messiah. Genesis 3:15 is considered a Messianic prophesy, a prophecy of the defeat of Satan at the hands (literally at the foot of) Jesus the victor bringing salvation and peace to His people. This war-victory imagery is in essence the definition of the term “gospel” as we have so far seen from previous blogs.
It is also interesting to note that in this verse, “gospel” DNA is discovered for the first time in the Bible in the vocabulary used by the prophet Moses. The word that is translated into English as “offspring” or seed” is the Greek word spermatos, from which we get the English word “sperm”, the God-designed vehicle by which human DNA is transported to the womb.
Genesis 3:15 is also the prophesy of the human birth of the Messiah and the defeat of the devil by a human, a God/human. As we see in John 1:1, “in the beginning was the Word,” and later in John 1:14, “the Word became flesh and lived among us,” the idea of the human birth of the Messiah was originally conceived in Genesis 3:15. So also was the defeat of Satan originally conceived in Genesis 3:15 by a human, one who was the God/Man and had the power to ultimately crush Satan underfoot.
So, although the prophet Samuel uses the term “gospel” in its first three occurrences in the Bible in the context of war and victory, here in Genesis 3:15, we actually see the idea of the “gospel”, in the context of war and victory, initially conceived.
Genesis 3:15 becomes pregnant with the “gospel.” Or to say it another way, perhaps Genesis 3:15 impregnates the whole of scripture with this idea of “gospel,” and as we will see in upcoming blogs, this idea will grow to gestation, until we are able to prepare a birthplace for a more robust understanding of the term in the New Testament.
I will suggest that Paul’s letter to the Romans is a fitting manger in which to lay this “gospel” term as it lays there swaddled in Old Testament context.
In my next blog, I will look to prepare a birthplace for The Gospel, Wrapped and Laying in the Romans Manger.
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