Questions From Readers
● In fulfillment of the first prophecy, at Genesis 3:15, when is the head of the “serpent” bruised by the “seed” of God’s woman?
The Jerusalem Bible translation of Genesis 3:15 reads: “I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. It will crush your head and you will strike its heel.” Rotherham’s The Emphasized Bible reads: “He shall crush thy head, but thou shalt crush his heel.” The crushing of the heel of the “seed” of God’s woman resulted in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. In retaliation, the glorified Jesus Christ will crush the symbolical serpent, Satan the Devil.
After the “birth” of God’s kingdom at the close of the Gentile Times in 1914, Revelation chapter 12 tells of Michael and his angels battling with the symbolic dragon and his demon angels and banishing them from heaven, adding: “So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him.”—Rev. 12:5, 7-9.
Just following the description in Revelation 19:11-21 of the war at Armageddon, in which Jesus leads the heavenly forces to victory over all earthly opposers, John envisions the abyssing of Satan: “And I saw an angel [undoubtedly the archangel Michael] coming down out of heaven with the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he seized the dragon, the original serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he hurled him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, that he might not mislead the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended.”—Rev. 20:1-3.
Jesus Christ, as the “seed” of God’s woman, could surely crush “the original serpent” to the full extent, to his complete extinction, at that time, rather than just abyssing him. But Jehovah, in his wisdom, has determined that perfected mankind should be subjected to temptations from the same challenger of his universal sovereignty, following the 1,000-year reign of Christ. This will remove any possible doubt about the integrity of those who refuse to be misled by the Devil.
There is a final attempt of the earthly opposers, led by Satan, to take over the earth. John describes the result as though it has already taken place, saying: “Fire came down out of heaven and devoured them.” And concerning the bruising of the head of “the original serpent,” the account says: “And the Devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire and sulphur.” (Rev. 20:9, 10) This means his complete destruction. Thus, in connection with the bruising in the head of God’s chief opposer there is not only a thorough ridding of the universe of opposers but also the complete sanctification of His most holy name. This fulfills completely the promise at Romans 16:20 to Christ’s joint heirs that “the God who gives peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.”—Heb. 2:14, 15.