Hello, Tuco:
The "Seed of the woman"- the First Prophecy in the Bible of the coming redeemer Jesus Christ, The Messiah, who would take away the sin of the world is found in Genesis 3:15, at the beginning of time, in the Garden of Eden:
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."
Some observations:
- This was the curse upon the serpent.
- This was the first clear prophecy of a coming redeemer.
- The use of "He" reveals that one person is meant.
- The word "seed" speaks of offspring or descendant.
- Women don't have "seed", Men have "seed"
-[b] Only one descendant of Eve was born of a woman (Virgin) and not a man- Jesus Christ. Christ's Father is the Holy Spirit-[/b]
Gal 4:4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
Rom 16:19-20 And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.
Matthew 1:18 tells us "18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they
came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost."
- The word "enmity" speaks of warfare.
- Satan’s seed is fallen man.
- Bruising the head speaks of crushing one’s authority.
- Christ’s heal was bruised when He was crucified. Crucifixion is the
only form of capital punishment that bruises the heel.
- Satan’s head was crushed when Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead.
[b]All of the Newer Versions (NIV, New American Standard, Living Bible, etc. etc. etc.) miss this FIRST prophecy, that the seed of the woman (an impossibility) will come at a future time and redeem fallen man from the sin imputed to him by Adam. God was revealing His Son, Jesus Christ to mankind, here in the Garden of Eden! The newer versions, created by the Gnostics, who were the first "Textural Critics" could not understand the term "seed of the woman", so they changed the text to read "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers" or "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring". So, to understand and teach this properly to anyone, use the King James Bible.[/b]
KJV Bible:
14. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;"
God began with the promise in this text above, and this the elect lived upon, till the time of Abraham. To him (Abraham), God made further revelations of his eternal council concerning man's redemption. Afterwards, at sundry times, and in divers manners, God spoke to the fathers by the prophets, till at length the Lord Jesus himself was manifested in the flesh, and came and tabernacled amongst us (Hebrews 1:1-2 "1. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;")
Look and see what Job had to say about His redeemer (that is our redeemer as well). Job is considered to be one of the oldest Books in the Bible.:
Job 19:25-27
" 25. For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
26. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
27. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me."
[b]All those, before the Cross, who believed in the “seed of the woman”, in the Messiah to come, before He came to the earth are saved--all those who offered a blood sacrifice, a firstborn lamb, without blemish or spot, on the altar, as a covering for their sin, are saved. [/b]
All of those, after the Cross, who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who took on human flesh, and became a man, and shed His precious blood, and died on the cross at calvary as a substitutional sacrifice for all of the sins of humanity, and rose again from the grave on the third day[b] are saved.“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” 2 Cor 5:21[/b]
Who are some of these men who died before the cross, that are now in Heaven? We know Abel was one of them. In Hebrews, Chapter 11, we have a list of some of those before the cross that are in Heaven, waiting for their new Resurrected bodies:
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us:
[b]Abel; Enoch; Noah; Abraham; Isaac and Jacob; Sarah; Joseph; Moses; Rahab; Gedeon; Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets;[/b]
How do we know that the saved before the Cross are in heaven?
In Luke 16:22-31 we know that those that believed in the Messiah went to a place called Abraham’s bosom, and those that did not believe went to hell.
“22. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23. And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: 28. For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
All of these saints, who believed in the Messiah to come, upon their death, were in a holding tank, in a place called Abraham’s bosom, in a place called Paradise, waiting for Messiah to take them to heaven when He came:
Psalm 68:18-20 gives us the Prophecy of this upcoming event:
[b]18. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.
19. Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. 20. He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.[/b]
In the New Testament,[b] we find that Jesus Christ has fulfilled the Prophecy of Psalm 68:18-20 when we read in Ephesians 4:7-10[/b]
7. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10. He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.):
Early in the morning, on the first day of the week, in the Garden, before Christ had ascended into heaven, before he took those in captivity (Abrahams bosom, or Paradise)"captive" He would not allow Mary to touch Him because He had [b]not yet ascended:[/b]
John 20:17
17. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
However, later that same day, in the evening, He visited the disciples in the upper room and he showed them his hands and his feet:
John 20:19-20
19. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
20. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
Then, 8 days later, Christ returned again to confront Thomas:
26. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
27. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
28. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
So, we know for sure that He had not yet ascended on High, to take captivity captive in the early morning, but the same evening he appeared to his Disciples with no mention of not being touched. Then, 8 days later, he encouraged a doubting Thomas to place his finger into His wounds in His hands and in His side.
[b]So today we can understand a little bit of how Christ was teaching to the the two disciples from the Old Testament about Himself, The Messiah, the Seed of the Woman, the Redeemer for all of humanity, from the beginning of time, in Luke 24:13-31:[/b]
25. Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27. [b] And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.[/b]
Sincerely,
Walter
tuco wrote:
Was talking to a friend about this, and he was concerned about a few things.How will the people who died before Jesus be judged by God?
Also about people in he world who die without ever hearing about Christ or God.
Or raised in such a way to believe whatever there parents religion/country beliefs are, and if we were born into such a situation we would believe the same as them.
saying that just because we happened to be born into a home with christian parents or a country where you will hear the gospel preached.
How is this fair? compared to those who are born and raised in say India as Hindu and thats all they know.
I know how he has placed his law in our hearts, but i didn't know how to answer him, and also wonder about these things at times.
I would like to hear some of your thoughts.
