Many crucial Bible prophecies begin with one individual and his descendants. What promises will God fulfill through the family of Abraham?
Prophecy begins with a promise God made in the Garden of Eden. Immediately
after "that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan" (Revelation 12:9)
lured Adam and Eve into committing their first sin, God said to Satan, "I
will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her
Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel" (Genesis 3:15).
Here is one of the first and most far-reaching prophecies-the promise
that God will rectify the problem of deception and sin brought on by Satan.
He promised that from Eve, the first person to be deceived, would come
a "Seed"-a descendant-who would "bruise" (crush) Satan's position
of rulership (his "head") over humanity by which he deceives the world.
God revealed that the "seed" of Satan-people under his influence -would
be hostile toward the "Seed" God had promised through the woman. Satan
would succeed in temporarily disabling (like a severe bruise on the heel)
the Seed promised by God.
Thousands of years later, the life and work of that promised Seed were
indeed interrupted, as God foretold, for three days and three nights by
the crucifixion of Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:40).
On that foundational promise-that God would send a Seed, the Son
of Man, as humanity's Redeemer to defeat Satan-stands a series of
other promises God gave to His servants down through the ages. Collectively
these promises-each amplifying and expanding the original promise-form
the basis of Bible prophecy.
