Genesis 3:15 “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.”
Enmity means an active state or feeling of hostility. That may seem like a strange thing to promise, but God is basically telling the Serpent, “my children who you just kidnaped into your apostasy and rebellion will receive from Me the ability to resist and fight against you. You will have a rebellion against your rebellion!”
The Serpent had no doubt felt ecstatic with his 100% success rate with humanity. He had first spread his seed of rebellion in heaven with 33% returns among the angels (Compare Revelation 12:4 and 9 with Job 38:6-7) and now on earth he was two for two. He must have expected Adam and Eve’s full cooperation, and the obedience of all their children after them. Instead, God said it would be war.
It is interesting that God mentions the woman instead of Adam. Right where the Serpent started his attack on humanity, just there is where God initiates His counter-measures. Yet there is another reason God mentions the woman instead of Adam. The woman he refers to here is not just Eve, but rather every human being who by faith receives the empowering grace of God to resist the government of Satan and return allegiance to the Creator. The woman is a symbol for the redeemed, the people of God (See Jeremiah 6:2 and Ephesians 5:28-32).
The Seed of the woman, however, is the Hero of the story. He is the Singular Seed born through the line of God’s people who embodies and provides the empowering grace to overthrow the kingdom of evil. He Himself would bruise the Serpent’s head, and in so doing His heel would be bruised. He would sustain a very painful and limiting wound in order to deal the death blow to Satan.
Did you know that every time you choose to do something good and right it is thanks to God's Fighting Grace, the enmity that He promised? Without it we would all be an endless series of wicked thoughts and actions, hopelessly enslaved to a despotic and malevolent master.
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