“At the end of Genesis 3:15, the Lord makes a prediction that will reverberate throughout the rest of Scripture. It would be simplistic to say that all of Scripture is about this. And yet it would be shortsighted to ignore how vital this promise is to its main storyline.
You might be thinking, “Um, isn’t the Bible ultimately about Jesus?” Yes, of course. And it’s here that he first shows up. Look again at the final line of God’s verdict: “He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Who’s the “he”?
Well, in Moses’ mind, it’s probably a bit foggy. He’s recording this prophetic curse because it had been passed down through generations. He knows the Lord said it. More than that, Moses believes that one day a particular seed of the woman will crush the Enemy’s head, even if in the process his heel is bruised.
Who could have imagined that God was talking about himself here? Who could have imagined God would deal death its deathblow through the death and resurrection of his Son? As we read through Scripture, we find our fair share of head crushers: Moses, Jael, David, and more.
But all of these temporary heroes eventually get swallowed up by death. Though they strike the serpent’s head, the curse of sin still crushes them.
Until Jesus shows up. He’s temporarily swallowed up by death before he swallows death up in victory—and then spits it out when he walks out of the grave.
The first spark of the gospel shows up in Genesis 3:15. The bad news for the serpent is good news for us.
His curse is our blessing.”
–Alex Duke, From Eden to Egypt: A Guided Tour of Genesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2025), 32-33.
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