Regarding Genesis 3:15, Tell me what you think

by unbaptized 11 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  unbaptized

  Genesis 3:15 states " I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed." " He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel."

  I did some meditating on this scripture and came to the realization that this prophecy could have somehow been misinterpreted. Think about this for a minute.

  Some people speculate that the bruise to the head is to be considered a death blow. But a person can receive a bruise to the head without it necessarily being a death blow. It could also be considered as a blow to ones supremacy or one's mental disposition. A bruise would be considered in some terms as a nagging and painful sore. Something that causes agitation or discomfort.

  The scriptures state that satan was cast out of heaven and so was his angels that followed him. Rev 12:9-12. Before that time Satan was said to have ruled the world of mankind from heaven and that this authority was given him. Luke 4:6-7, 2 Cor 4:4, 1John 5:19

  It has come to my understanding that the bruise that Satan had felt was his organizations removal from heaven and his confinement to the earthly realm (footstool) and since that time he knows that he only has a short time left to run his organization or seed. So he goes off to wage war against the remaining ones of the anointed flock on earth and the great crowd which could be considered a bruise to Jesus heel. If this is so, then there could possibly be a slight misinterpretation of that scripture. Some say the bruising of the heel was the time when Jesus was executed on the torture stake. Jesus told his followers that the wicked one has no hold on him. John 14:30 Jesus also stated that because of him his followers will suffer the same persecutions as he did, by no being part of the world. John 15:19. So it's safe to assume that Satan could never hurt Jesus directly because Jesus knew he would complete his mission, so he takes his anger out on Jesus followers on earth which could be considered a heel wound to Jesus, since we are figuratively at his feet by living in the earthly realm.

  Tell me what you think?
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  JosephMalik

  Genesis 3:15 states " I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed." " He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel."

  Unbaptized,

  This prophecy is another way of saying that throughout time here on earth there will be wheat/weeds sheep/goats good/bad human beings depicted as entities. In due time the wheat/sheep/good entity will overcoming the weeds/goats/bad entity. The woman producing the good entity is Eve as revealed at: 20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. (seed of course)

  Joseph
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  Narkissos

  If we leave NT interpretation aside and focus on Genesis 2--3, we find neither "Satan" nor a "promise". It's a curse throughout.

  The snake embodies wisdom (3:1) and the mysteries of life (its sloughing was commonly interpreted as a potentially endless renewal of life, already in the Gilgamesh epic) and death (it is known as deadly, especially poisonous snakes) which are now separated from mankind (who stole knowledge from the gods but was barred from immortality) through mutual dread and hostility.

  (Add to those universal themes, which suit the primeval stories made to explain human condition, probable specific polemics against the goddess Asherah and serpent worship in Israel: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/73244/1.ashx.)
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  Leolaia

  As Narkissos already pointed out, this is a curse not a "messianic" prophecy. The woman's zr` "seed" is simply her offspring (see especially 4:25, in which Eve's child Seth is termed zr` 'chr "another seed", cf. Exodus 32:13, 1 Kings 2:33, 11:39, Isaiah 1:4, 41:8, 43:5), and the serpent's seed (zr`k "your seed" in 3:25) is simply the serpent's offspring.....hence the curse is stating the etiological origin of the enmity or antagonism between humans and snakes. That the serpent is not anything other than an animal is indicated in v. 14, in which the serpent is made lower than "all cattle and every beast of the field" and which shall go "upon its belly and eat dust all the days of its life". The messianic protoevangelium interpretation assumes a switch of reference from a literal serpent (used by Satan) to Satan himself between v. 14 and v. 15, but this is not grammatically permissible, neither is there any indication that the serpent is anything other than a talking serpent. The contrast between the two "broods" of the serpent and the woman is reminiscent of the contrast in 1 Kings 2:33, in which the word zr` is similarly used in its usual sense of "offspring": "Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his seed forever, but upon David and upon his seed and upon his house and upon his throne shall there be peace forever". The reference is not to a specific offspring but to humanity in general (as Eve is "the mother of all living," 3:20), who continue to be victim of snake bite to this day.
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  PrimateDave

  Narkissos and Leolaia. Thanks. You two are gems of knowledge.
  
  Dave
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  LtCmd.Lore

  As with pretty much every other bible prophecy, it's so darn vauge it's impossible to disprove.

  Here's my prophecy...

  "The quail will been eaten by the cat, the cat has indigestion. Soon the cat will die and the mice will rejoice for 40 days."

  OK now it's up to you do determine who/what the quail symbolizes and who/what the cat symbolizes, and who/what the mice symbolize. And how long the 40 days really are, since they may not be real days, or they may simply be symbolic. And what the period of indigestion stands for. And did the cat have indigestion before, after or during consuming the quail.

  This could be applied to pretty much any event in human history, or future. And if, by some remarkable coincidence, this cannot be applied to ANY event in the whole of human existence. Then it can be applied to some invisible heavenly event... The bible prophecies are meaningless, nobody seems to know what they meen untill after they happen, and even then there is dispute over whether that's what it was talking about or not.

  But anyways, back to the topic at hand. This prophecy might not have anything to do with satan at all, the scripture said that god was talking to the serpent. It didn't mention Satan. Also Satan never did anything to Jesus, it was gods own chosen nation that had him executed... so was satan in control of gods chosen nation? If so, that's not saying much for god.

  LtCmd.Lore
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  lfcviking

  To me the most misleading thing about the JW interpretation of this scripture is the identity of the 'Woman'. In V15 the 'Woman' according to the JW's is 'Gods Organisation' and her seed is the 'annointed remnant on earth'. This seems remarkable because in the previous sentence in V13 the 'Woman' was Adams mate 'Eve', so in the space of a few words the meaning of the 'Woman' has completely changed.Why would the identity of the 'Woman' switch from meaning a single real female person to a whole organisation of people in the same utterance? To me this sounds completely out of context and hence have always struggled with accepting this doctrine as plausible ever since i heard it.

  LFCV
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  tetrapod.sapien

  hmmm...

  it's a prophecy from the age when man first began to really gradually awaken into self consciousness from animal consciousness. with this awakening into this level of consciousness (the one most of us reside in) came the glimpse for some that there would be an awakening again. a brief glimpse into the next evolutionary leap. from mind to meta mind. a higher consciousness spiritually *and* technically.

  the serpent represents our dna, and the hold that it has had on us. the prophecy says that we will one day turn and take control of our dna, and in the process control of our spiritual evolution, or psychogenesis. the fears of our animal past will be gone, and with it debilitating belief systems.

  it's like a prophecy of the death of yhwh, and the birth of you, the human being.

  tetra
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  agapa37

  Tell me what you think?

  Me think we should stick to the WT interpretation!
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  wozadummy

  Perhaps when god is speaking he starts off not to the serpent but just to the man and woman and is emphasing their now changed relationship with each other as a result of what they have done ,with satan just witnessing what god just said.

  Adam and Eve just heard god prophesy that their children would be at enmity with each other all through history because the harmony of human relationships will fail now as a result of what Adam and Eve have done.

  So it's just a simple statement not a prophecy that remains hidden and unexplained till a handful of men in the 20th century say what this scripture means.

  Nowhere in the bible does any prophet ,not even Jesus, try to break down this scripture and explain it as applying to his Kingdom with him at the head and then kill satan.

  It is only WTS teaching(and maybe others for they have borrowed lots of teachings from other religions) that strains to join this simple scripture and make it more than it is.

  Am I wrong here ,have I forgotten a scripture somewhere?