Covenant in Eden

The Edenic Promise.
Jehovah God, at Genesis 3:15, stated his purpose prophetically in the garden of Eden in the presence of Adam, Eve, and the “serpent.”

As to the identity of those involved in this promise and prophecy: The vision given to the apostle John, at Revelation 12:9, informs us that the “serpent” is Satan the Devil. Evidence indicates that the “seed” of the “woman,” long looked for by righteous men, is to be identified with the “seed” of Abraham, Jesus Christ. (Galatians 3:16; Matthew 1:1) The “seed” was to be bruised in the heel by the serpent. Jesus Christ was put to death, a wound that proved not to be permanent, however, for God raised Jesus out of death. But the “seed” is, in turn, to bruise the serpent’s head, defeating him permanently.

Who is the “woman” involved in the covenant? Certainly not Eve, who had become God’s enemy. In order to defeat, “bring to nothing,” the spirit creature Satan the Devil, the “seed” would have to be, not human, but spirit. (Hebrews 2:14) Jesus at birth was a human Son of God, but at the time of Jesus’ baptism God acknowledged him as His Son, sending holy spirit down upon him. Jesus here became the spirit-begotten Son of God. (Matthew 3:13-17; John 3:3-5) Later, at his resurrection, he was “made alive in the spirit.” (1Peter 3:18) Who, then, was the “mother,” not of the human babe Jesus but of the spirit-begotten Son of God? The apostle Paul says that Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Hagar, and Ishmael figured in a symbolic drama, in which Isaac represented those who had heavenly hopes, including Paul himself. Paul then states that their “mother” is “the Jerusalem above.” Jesus Christ calls these, his “brothers,” indicating they have the same mother. (Hebrews 2:11) This provides a basis for identifying the “woman” of Genesis 3:15 with “the Jerusalem above.”—Galatians 4:21-29.

The terms of the promise imply a lapse of time during which the “serpent” would bring forth a “seed” and enmity would develop between the two ‘seeds.’ Some 6,000 years have passed since the statement of the promise. Just prior to Christ’s Thousand Year Reign the “serpent” will be hurled into the abyss of inactivity, and following the end of the thousand years he will be annihilated forever.—Revelation 20:1-3, 7-10; Romans 16:20.