SCRIPTURES: 
Old Testament 
Gen. 3:8-15, Gen. 4:25, Gen. 12:7, Job. 1:12, 1 Ki. 19:12, Is. 40:15-26, Dan. 7:2-3 
New Testament 
Mt. 3:2, Mt. 4:17, Lk 4:5-7, Jn. 3:19, Rm. 16:19, Heb. 4:16, 1 Jn. 2:29, 1 Jn. 3:12, Re. 13:1-2

Tim Miller

Curse

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<li>Concept of “Kingdom” assumed from Hebrew Scriptures</li>
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1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mt. 3:2, ESV)
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mt. 4:17, ESV)

OT BACKGROUND

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<li>A kingdom characterized by darkness</li>
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“Throughout the Bible darkness is the symbol of evil, chaos, and judgment.”
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<li>Examples: 
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<li>Evil: darkness/night=the time for murderers, thieves, and adulterers (“those who rebel against the light”; Jb. 24:13-17); darkness=moral ignorance, lack of knowledge about God and His ways (Jb. 12:24-25; Rm. 2:19; Eph. 4:17-19); &#8220;the deeds of darkness” (Rm. 13:9); darkness=the place where fools walk (Ec. 2:14); hating brother=walking in darkness (1 Jn. 2:11)</li>
<li>Chaos (confusion/absence of order/distress): darkness along formlessness and emptiness (Gn. 1:2); the blind “grope in darkness” (Dt. 28:29; Jb. 12:25); “distress and “anguish,” “ruin and devastation” associated with “day of darkness” (Zeph. 1:15) </li>
<li>Judgment: Sheol a place of darkness (Jb. 10:21, 17:13; Ps. 88:6); Tartarus—“chains of gloomy darkness” (2 Pt. 2:4); the ninth plague=“a darkness so thick it can be felt” (Ex. 10:21, NET; judgment on Re, Egypt paralyzed and plunged into fear and chaos); judgment of being put on a “dark and slippery” path (Ps. 35:4); day of the Lord=“a day of darkness and gloom” (Jl. 2:2; Zeph. 1:15); the sun darkened (Is. 13:10; Jl. 2:31; Mt. 24:29; Ac. 2:20; Re. 6:12); Lake of Fire/Gehenna=”the outer darkness” (Mt. 25:30)</li>
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19 This is the verdict: Light (“the light” [ESV]) has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. (Jn. 3:19, NIV)
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<li>Authority—illegitimate claim; deluded attempt to usurp, yet allowed by God
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<li>Important to use a proper analogy here, given the modern nation-state. Rebellious territory within the Kingdom of Creation. A rebellious state or territory within a nation gives a better picture—e.g., a state within the U.S. or some other nation</li>
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5 So he took Him up  and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time (“in an instant” [ISV, NIV, NRSV]). 6 The Devil said to Him, “I will give You (“you” being emphasized) their splendor and all (“all” being emphasized) this authority, because it has been given over (Gk. paradidōmi; “delivered” [ESV]; “handed over” [BHT, TEV]; cf. Is. 40:23-23; Dn. 2:21, 4:17; Re. 13:1-4; temporarily, not ultimately) to me (“me” being emphasized),  and I can give it to anyone I want (only true insofar as allowed by God on some level; cf, e.g., Re. 13). 7 If You, then, will worship me, all will be Yours.” (Lk. 4:5-7, HCSB)
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<li>12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands (consent from Yahweh required), but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” (Jb. 1:12, NIV)</li>
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19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of (“lies in the power of” [CJB, NET]; “lies under the power of” [NRSV]; “lies under the control” [ISV]; “is under the rule of” [TEV]) the evil one.  (1 Jn. 5:19, HCSB)
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<li>Craig Keener: “Most of early Judaism understood that the devil ruled the present age of human rebellion, but that ultimately God remained sovereign. The world did not technically belong to the devil (Dan 4:32), who owned human hearts and societies only as a usurper (acting through powers subordinate to God, e.g., Dan 10:13)”</li>
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1 And the dragon (Satan; see 12:9) stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea (cf., e.g., Is. 17:12-13). He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority (cf. 2 Th. 2). (Rev. 13:1-2, NIV)
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<li>Beastly kingdoms led by beastly spiritual powers</li>
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2 Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. 3 Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. (Dan. 7:2-3, NIV)
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<li>Power/ability temporarily permitted by God</li>
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21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? 22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. 23 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. 24 No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. 25 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. (Is 40:15-26, NIV)

WHAT?

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<li>Generally speaking, the Fall represents the beginning of the rebellion. Adam and Eve disobey and rebel against God by eating the fruit, and at some point before this “wickedness” (NIV) and pride entered the heart of the serpent/guardian cherub (Ezk. 28:15-17). At what point exactly was wickedness “found in” (Ezk. 28:15 [NIV]; “discovered in” [NET]) the guardian cherub? Perhaps through the Genesis 3 event: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Gn. 3:13, ESV). God comes down from the mountain in what scholars sometimes refer to as “storm theophany” (God appearing/manifesting Himself visibly in a majestic/terrifying storm).
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<li>A better translation of Genesis 3:8: “Then the man and his wife heard the thunderous voice of Yahweh God as he was going back and forth in the garden in the wind of the storm and they hid from Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.”
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<li>Similar situation at 1 Ki. 19:12: “And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire a roaring, crushing, thunderous voice.”</li>
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<li>Genesis 3:15</li>
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3:15 And I will put hostility (Heb. êḇāh—“enmity” [NASB, ESV, NIV]) between you (i.e., the serpent) and the woman and between your offspring (Heb. zěrǎʿ—“seed” [HCSB, NASB, NKJV]; masculine noun [grammatically], collective singular; cf. “seed” or “deer” in English—&#8221;his seed,” or “his deer”) and her offspring (Heb. zěrǎʿ—“seed” [HCSB, NASB, NKJV]; masculine noun [grammatically], collective singular); her offspring (Heb. hûʾ—grammatical agreement with “seed”) will attack (Heb. šûp̄—“strike” [HCSB, NLT]; “crush,” or “batter” [see DBL Hebrew, #8789], cf Jb. 9:17) your head, and you will attack (Heb. šûp̄) her offspring’s heel (“you will strike him [grammatical agreement with “seed”] on the heel” [LEB]) (Gen. 3:15, NET)
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<li>Collective singular</li>
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4:25…She named him Seth, saying, “God has given me another child (Heb. Heb. zěrǎʿ—“has appointed another seed for me” [NKJV]) in place of Abel because Cain killed him.” (Gen. 4:25, NET)
7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring (Heb. zěrǎʿ) I will give this land.” (Gen. 12:7, ESV)
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<li>Corporate solidarity: “emphasizes the close relationship between a progenitor and his offspring”; “…the one who represents the group and the many who are represented are equally a part of the same single meaning intended by the author” (italics original)</li>
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12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one (Gk. ek tou ponērou; being emphasized, focus on source) and murdered his brother. (1 Jn. 3:12)
29 If you know that he (i.e., the Messiah) is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him (Gk. ex autou gegennētai). (1 Jn. 2:29, ESV)
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<li>29 If you know that the Messiah is righteous, you may be sure that all who are living according to his righteous example have by God’s power been newly conceived. (1 Jn. 2:29, BHT)</li>
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<li>Genesis 3:15 has sometimes been referred to as the “first gospel” (protoevangelium)—i.e., a concise prophetic statement relating to the defeat of Satan through the Messianic “seed” of the woman. The Septuagint (ancient Greek translation of the OT) seems to have interpreted “the seed of the woman” as referring to the Messiah:</li>
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15 I will place enmity between you and between the woman, and between your seed and between her seed (Gk. sperma—“seed”; a neuter noun in Greek); he (Gk. autos—masculine subject pronoun, breaking grammatical rules) will watch carefully (Gk. tēreō) your head, and you will watch carefully his heel.” (Gen. 3:15, LES)
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<li>Others see it more as a general depiction of hostile relations between the serpent’s seed and the woman’s seed after the Fall: “The repetition of the verb ‘attack,’ as well as the word order, suggests mutual hostility is being depicted, not the defeat of the serpent.”</li>
<li>I believe that it is referring to both; they are two sides of the same coin. There is a descriptive/prospective aspect (i.e., “here is what you can expect as the norm from this day forward”), as well as a prophetic aspect (“here is something I am promising to do, something sure in which to put your hope.”) We expect an intense conflict, but also trust and confidently expect God to come through for us at the appointed time according to His faithfulness and promise (Gen. 4:26: “At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD” [ESV]). The grand climax of the story is in the Day of the Lord.
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<li>Some Biblical examples of the pattern: Cain kills Abel (strike to the heel), but God provides Seth (strike to the head); pre-Flood wickedness (strike to the heel), but judgment/salvation of a remnant through the Flood (strike to the head); Tower of Babel (strike to the heel), scattering of the peoples and calling of Abraham (strike to the head); enslavement and oppression of Israel (strike to the heel), deliverance in the Exodus (strike to the head); temptation of Jesus (strike to the heel), Jesus overcomes (strike to the head); crucifixion (strike to the heel), resurrection and exaltation (strike to the head); temptation of believers (strike to the heel), resisting temptation through the Spirit’s power/Messiah’s intercession (strike to the head); tribulation at the end of the age (strike to the heel), resurrection and punishment of Satan (strike to the head!—hallelujah!)</li>
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<li>We must not forget that the same verb (Heb. šûp̄; LXX. tēreō) LXX is used for both, and that it describes an intense, calculated conflict (“crush/batter/strike/attack” in the Hebrew; “watch carefully” in the LXX). This is not a light or an easy battle. Satan and his kingdom strike heavy blows to cripple us. In Scripture, “walk” is often used metaphorically to refer to one’s behavior, conduct, and way of life (see, e.g. Pr. 20:7). Satan wants to cripple us and stop us from walking in righteousness. When he strikes, we must lean on the Lord and trust Him to give us victory.</li>
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20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (Rm. 16:19, ESV)
16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Heb. 4:16, NIV)

WHEN?

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<li>Read the story of Jesus’ temptation in Matthew 4 together. In what ways to you see the Genesis 3:15 prophecy/pattern playing itself out here? What principles does this passage teach us about the nature of temptation and how to resist it?</li>
<li>In John 8, Jesus says that Satan was “a murderer from the beginning” (Jn. 8:44). What do you think Jesus means by this? In what sense is Satan a “murderer”? What are the means or the tactics that he uses to kill or bring about death?</li>
<li>Take some time now to pray for strength to resist temptation—for yourself, your family, your church, etc.</li>
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

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