A Biblical Theology of Mission (The Protoevangelium – Genesis 3:15)

What is the first good news proclaimed in Scripture. Perhaps it is Yahweh Elohim’s proclamation that His creation is good, indeed, very good (Genesis 1:31). But in terms of good news proclaimed after mankind’s fall into sin, Genesis 3:15 fits the bill of proto (first) evangelium (gospel or good news).

¹⁴ Yahweh God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the cattle and all the living creatures of the field! On your belly you will crawl and dust you will eat all the days of your life. ¹⁵ And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed; he will crush your head, and you will crush his heel.” (Genesis 3:14,15)

Yahweh is addressing the serpent, that creature that was brighter than any other of the creatures of the field, who was used by Satan to tempt Adam and Eve. His punishment is to be cursed more than the rest of the creatures of the field (all creation has fallen under a curse because of Adam’s sin, but the serpent even more so). He is transformed into a belly crawler, which may have included an anatomical change.

But the next part seems to belong more to Satan, the one who filled the serpent. There is to be enmity or hostility instilled by God between the serpent and the woman. Before she was very open to the serpent and to his suggestions, but not now. And there will be enmity between the seed of the serpent and the woman’s seed. The serpent’s seed appears to be those humans who are following the way of Satan, which would then make the seed of the woman those humans who are following the way of Yahweh. We see this immediately in the conflict between Cain and Abel.

It is a strange concept to speak of the woman having seed, something normally attributed to males only. This suggests that the offspring of the woman mentioned here might be uniquely conceived, which fits with Jesus’ miraculous conception without a man. He will be the one who crushes the head of the serpent/Satan, while the serpent crushes his heal (one a fatal blow, the other not ultimately fatal). There will be a defeat of the one who caused the fall of mankind, a victory for mankind in the person of the seed of the woman.

And here is the missional aspect of God’s plan. All of mankind is to be included in this restoration of God’s kingdom on earth, the kingdom lost in the garden. All mankind will be involved in the conflict that leads to victory over Satan, our mortal enemy. God is concerned for all the peoples on earth and promises their eventual salvation.

And mankind has a mission: to produce this seed of the woman who will restore the kingdom. “She will be saved through childbearing.” Adam responds with faith in the promise by naming his wife Eve, the mother of all living. Yahweh responds to Adam’s faith by sacrificing animals and using their skins to cloth the redeemed pair. Bearing children becomes a supreme mission and the family through which the Seed will come a crucial narrowing, from Shem, to Abraham, to Judah, to David. Preserving this line against the assault of the Serpent becomes a divine priority.