Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy approaches Bible teaching with a passion for getting the basic doctrines explained so that the individual can understand them and then apply them to circumstances in their life. These basic and important lessons are nestled in a framework of history and progression of revelation from the Bible so the whole of Scripture can be applied to your physical and spiritual life.
Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
NT Framework - The First Good News
In the very earliest pages of the Bible, there is tragedy and triumph. The tragedy is obvious, original sin and the fall of man through Adam; the triumph though is less obvious. In fact, it's only a hint of the coming victory.
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This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).
Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner.
Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament Framework. Today a smaller, bite-sized piece from the larger lesson. We hope you enjoy it.
Speaker 2:So let's look at some of the predictions that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. First of all by turning to Genesis 3.15. Now this is known as the Proto-Evangelium. Proto means first evangelism for gospel. So the first gospel, or the first good news, it's after the fall of man. So God, at that point, brings in some good news. This is the first time the good news is proclaimed and it's in the context of the curses upon the woman and the man and the serpent and all that. And so notice it's snuggled into the curses. But that's good news, right, that's what we need to know. In spite of the curse, there's still good news.
Speaker 2:So in verse 15, the Lord says and I will put enmity between you, he's speaking to the serpent. Verse 14, speaking to the serpent, so between you, the serpent, and the woman. So this is a conflict between Satan and the woman, eve, and between your seed, that's the serpent's seed, and her seed. And then it says he, he shall bruise you on the head, meaning her seed. Right, her seed is the he and it's a singular, it's masculine. He shall bruise you on the head and you, the serpent, shall bruise him on the heel. So this verse gets a lot of attention, of course, among scholars as to the meanings of all these things the serpent, the seed, the bruising on the head, the bruising on the heel, what all this signifies. But basically what's interesting is that there's this conflict between the serpent's seed and her seed and the question is well, who's the seed? I mean in a general sense now this is a by the way this word seed is zera in the Hebrew, it's a collective noun, zerah in the Hebrew it's a collective noun, and a collective noun can refer to one or it can refer to many. It's, as I've used the word before, deer. Deer is a collective noun because you don't say deers. If you're talking about more than one deer, you still say deer. So you have to have some context to know if you're talking about just one or a whole field of deer. It's a collective noun. This usage here in general. Of course, the offspring of the woman Eve it's said in a few verses that she's the mother of all living are her seed, just as the seed of the serpent, that's all unbelievers and probably also inclusive of demons and things like that His offspring, so to speak. But that's general, because if you look at the immediate context of verse 15, right after he says between your seed and her seed, he says he Is he more than one or is it just one? It's just one.
Speaker 2:So the specific meaning of seed here ultimately really is the Messiah right. It's the one that will come forth from the woman who will defeat the serpent. The serpent, of course, can bruise the heel or batter the heel. The Hebrew means like a battering of the heel. It could render you where you couldn't walk. It's not something to be taken lightly, but the position of the heel of a human over a serpent, we're in the superior position right. We can crush the head of the serpent and defeat it totally. So there's a lot of imagery here being used, with the natural imagery of just a human and a serpent, and it's looking forward ultimately to the Messiah right who will defeat Satan. But in the process Satan will injure, so to speak, the Messiah.
Speaker 2:So some have looked at this and said and I agree that this actually does hint at the virgin birth, and the reason is because they say that the woman has a seed and that throughout the rest of the Old Testament for example, I think it's Genesis 36 or 38, where Onan spills his seed Seed is usually ascribed to a male. It's a term for sperm and they say well, you know, a woman doesn't have sperm and we all know that. I'm just using modern terminology to convey this concept. But somehow a woman is going to have a sperm and the point is to hint at or foreshadow, or look forward to the idea of a virgin birth, even here in the first giving of the good news, the proto-evangelium. But it's really only a hint, it's not super clear. So I make the point, but I make it with some reservations, okay.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas. If you would like to see the visuals that went along with today's sermon, you can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spokane Bible Church. That is where Jeremy is the pastor and teacher. We hope you found today's lesson productive and useful in growing closer to God and walking more obediently with Him. If you found this podcast to be useful and helpful, then please consider rating us in your favorite podcast app, and until next time, we hope you have a blessed and wonderful day.