4. Who make up the seed of the woman, and what will that seed do?

⁴ Soon after the rebellion in Eden, Jehovah made a promise that a “woman” would produce a “seed.”a (Read Genesis 3:15.) That seed would eventually bruise the serpent, Satan, in the head. Jehovah later revealed that the seed would come through Abraham, belong to the nation of Israel, be a Judean, and be a descendant of King David. (Gen. 22:15-18; 49:10; Ps. 89:3, 4; Luke 1:30-33) The principal part of that seed proved to be Christ Jesus. (Gal. 3:16) The secondary part of the seed is made up of the spirit-anointed members of the Christian congregation. (Gal. 3:26-29) Jesus and these anointed ones unite to form God’s Kingdom, the instrument with which God will crush Satan.​—Luke 12:32; Rom. 16:20.

5, 6. (a) How many great powers do Daniel and John identify? (b) What do the heads of the wild beast of Revelation stand for?

⁵ That first prophecy given in Eden also stated that Satan would produce a “seed.” His seed would express enmity, or hatred, for the seed of the woman. Who make up the seed of the serpent? All those who imitate Satan’s hatred of God and oppose God’s people. Throughout history, Satan has organized his seed into various political movements, or kingdoms. (Luke 4:5, 6)

 7. What does the first head represent, and why?

⁷ The first head of the beast represents Egypt. Why? Because Egypt was the first major power to express enmity toward God’s people. The descendants of Abraham​—through whom the promised seed of the woman would come—​grew numerous in Egypt. Then, Egypt oppressed Israel. Satan attempted to wipe out God’s people before the seed could arrive. How? By motivating Pharaoh to execute all male Israelite children. Jehovah thwarted that attempt and liberated his people from enslavement to Egypt. (Ex. 1:15-20; 14:13) Later he established the Israelites in the Promised Land.

 8. What is the identity of the second head, and what did it attempt to do?

⁸ The second head of the beast represents Assyria. This mighty kingdom also attempted to wipe out God’s people. True, Jehovah used Assyria as his instrument to punish the ten-tribe kingdom for their idolatry and rebellion. However, Assyria then attacked Jerusalem. Satan may have had the goal of obliterating the royal line that would eventually lead to Jesus. That assault was not part of Jehovah’s purpose, and he miraculously delivered his faithful people by destroying the invaders.​—2 Ki. 19:32-35; Isa. 10:5, 6, 12-15.

¹³ Jehovah used the Medo-Persian Empire to fulfill prophecy by overthrowing Babylon and restoring the Israelites to their homeland. (2 Chron. 36:22, 23) However, this same power later came close to eradicating God’s people. The Bible book of Esther records a plot hatched by the prime minister of Persia, a man named Haman. He arranged for the extermination of all the Jews who lived in the vast Persian Empire and set a specific date on which the genocide was to happen. It was only due to Jehovah’s intervention that His people were once again protected from the animosity of Satan’s seed. (Esther 1:1-3; 3:8, 9; 8:3, 9-14)

However, in the second century B.C.E., Greece, the fifth head of the wild beast, attacked God’s people. Antiochus IV, one of the heirs to Alexander’s divided empire, placed a pagan altar on the grounds of the temple in Jerusalem and made practicing the Jewish religion a crime punishable by death. What an act of hatred by part of Satan’s seed! Soon, though, Greece was supplanted as the world power.

17. The sixth head played what key role in fulfilling Genesis 3:15?

¹⁷ Rome was the dominant power when John received the vision of the wild beast. (Rev. 17:10) This sixth head played a key role in the fulfillment of the prophecy recorded at Genesis 3:15. Satan used Roman officials to deliver a blow that temporarily crippled the seed, bruising it “in the heel.” How so? They tried Jesus on the false charge of sedition and had him executed. (Matt. 27:26) But that wound soon healed because Jehovah resurrected Jesus.

18. (a) What new nation did Jehovah choose, and why? (b) How did the serpent’s seed continue to express animosity toward the seed of the woman?

¹⁸ The religious leaders of Israel conspired with Rome against Jesus, and the majority of the nation also rejected him. Thus, Jehovah abandoned natural Israel as his people. (Matt. 23:38; Acts 2:22, 23) He now chose a new nation, “the Israel of God.” (Gal. 3:26-29; 6:16) That nation was the congregation of anointed Christians made up of both Jews and Gentiles. (Eph. 2:11-18) After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the seed of the serpent continued to express animosity toward the seed of the woman. On more than one occasion, Rome attempted to wipe out the Christian congregation, the secondary part of the seed.c