15.2 Bait, Bruising, and Pain
© 2016 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
The first three points of the curse go together to teach us of living inside the kingdom of Satan in this world.
So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And 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.” To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children…” (Genesis 3:14-16a).
In all this, the “I will” is assumed by the translators; it is not in the Hebrew words.
A Snake in the Dirt
On your belly you shall go and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. As we read these words, we understand that we are looking at English words translated out from a post-Christ Babylonian Hebrew translation of a post-Captivity Hebrew translation of a Chaldean document written down originally nearly 3500 years ago out from a prior oral tradition. By the time we come down to the English translators, we see that they want to read only a literal and animal meaning in the “Masoretic” text. Thus most read this as little more than a snake crawling around in the dirt.
The actual meaning of this line is, however, something entirely different.
The Dust of Human Flesh
“You shall go” is translated primarily as “to walk,” as well as to come or to go or to continue. We could think of the idiom – an army marches on its belly. That idiom means that consistent proper food is of primary necessity in getting an army into battle and capable of fighting.
Then, God gives us exactly what He means by “dust” in verse 19, speaking to Adam: “For dust you ARE.” The “dust” the serpent eats and the “dust” that Adam is are the same thing – human flesh. The human body that God created to be His dwelling place, now becomes the dwelling place of the serpent and his angels, and the joy of being human becomes the misery of being eaten.
Symmorphic Man
This line is speaking entirely of symmorphic man, the beginning of all that is curse. We want to look at the meaning of this line, then, at two different levels. The first level is that fallen angels gain their strength from partaking of human iniquity. As humans sin, demons are satiated. Thus the cry of the demon is always for more “food.”
But the deeper level is more important; the deeper level is the present condition of human symmorphy. Humans are symmorphic and do not exist apart from being inhabited by other creatures, either in the physical body (bacteria, etc.) or in the spirit body (angels vs Christ).
The Spirit Now Working
You once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2).
The word “disobedience” is from the Greek apeitheia, which means, literally, “not persuaded” and can be translated as willful unbelief as well. Let me suggest a better English word – refusal, sons of refusal, that is, those who refuse to hear the good-speaking of Christ always sustaining them. Since Satan is a finite and limited person, we know that “the spirit now working” must refer to individual angelic spirits symmorphosed together with every refusing human.
Common and Familiar
Humans simply do not function except by being energized by heavenly spirit persons. Demons are 100% common and familiar to, living inside of, every human being on this planet. Yet the human is always in charge. “You have crowned him (man) with glory and honor, and set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him (Hebrews 2:7-8).
Demons can only serve, yet they serve by deceit and control by persuasion. But demons have no “super” powers. They work only by convincing their human masters of things that are not true. The source of evil is the human heart, not the demon.
By Express Permission
We refer back, now, to Symmorphy I: Purpose, Lesson 12.3 The False Covenant. I suggest you read that portion again. The lust of the serpent was to become the lens, the image, through which all humans would see and thus define “God.” In agreeing with the serpent, Adam contracted never to call himself “what God looks like” ever again – and to put to death any human who dared do such a “blasphemous” thing.
And we understand even more clearly that Adam and Eve were unfinished, that their condition in the garden was entirely incomplete. God would not dwell in them, symmorphosed together with them through Christ, except by their express permission.
Subtlety
But remaining “empty” was never an option for humans; such a condition is not viable; that is, life would cease. God could not reveal Himself through us except He make us symmorphic. And being made symmorphic, we must be filled with other persons.
Yet the primary quality of all fallen angels is subtlety. They are highly skilled at remaining invisible, in the background, just as worms do in the intestines. They do not want to be found out. And just as worms eat the food meant for ourselves and for the good bacteria needed by our physical bodies, so fallen angels “eat the food” of humans fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind (Ephesians 2:3).
Enmity
We will investigate further how this kingdom of darkness works in the next session, here we want to continue with the next parts of the curse regarding the “prince” of this world.
Enmity will exist between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel. (Again, we are free by the Hebrew to re-phrase “I will put.”) Enmity means the hatred of war.
The seed of the serpent is the mystery of iniquity; the seed of the woman is the mystery of godliness. That Seed is Christ Jesus, yes, but Jesus shows Himself through many; He is our only life.
The Woman
The mystery of iniquity, however, is developed more fully in the second part of the curse. Here we want to continue understanding the relationship between mankind and fallen angels by the covenant of Adam. The woman refers to Israel first and the Church second. Or we could say the Church as Israel and the Church as the plant of Christ. Or we could say Israel under the Old Covenant as well as Israel under the New.
God is giving the serpent notice that he will not be having an easy time of it in his effort to control how all humans view God. Not only will there be a “woman” always at war against him, but out of that woman will come those who reject the serpent as the image of God, those who insist on God manifest in human flesh.
Bruising
Notice the positioning of the assault in that ongoing warfare. The word “bruise” is the effects of the weapons of war from each side. There is a lot of bruising going on.
The attack of the evil one is against the “heel” of Christ, that is, against the earthly part of those of Christ walking upon this earth. And the weapons of Christ are always against the “head” of the evil one, that is, against any and all claims he might possess to place or rule. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it (Colossians 2:15).
Constant Intermingling
Now, we must continue to increase our understanding of the world in which we exist. We humans intermingle constantly with two other kinds of creatures, animals and angels, and we intermingle with angels more than we intermingle with animals. Humans related with animals much more in the past than now because of technology, but we still keep animals close to us, dogs and cats, mostly because they don’t poop in the house. However, billions of “animals” live in and on our bodies, and many of those species are essential to the life and health of our physical bodies. There are as many species of angels as animals, many of which also relate together with humans all the time.
Casting Down Accusation
The claim that an angel cannot attack a Christian to make him or her hurt is the exact same claim that a dog cannot attack a Christian or that another human cannot attack a Christian. Such a claim is pure nonsense. To tell someone that a demon inflicting constant pain on them is just “Christ as them,” and that they should just learn to “live with it” is irresponsible cruelty. To allow any demon to inflict pain on you is simply stupid.
You see, refusal is a gift from God. Certainly, we can refuse Christ, but we can easily use the same human quality to refuse the accusations and lies of demons. We cast down all accusation.
Sorrow
Your sorrow in conception shall increase greatly; in pain you shall bring forth children (modified).
The pain of childbirth continues today for most Christian women. Our liberty in Christ has not yet removed that portion of the curse. The Lord has graced my wife and I with less sorrow in our children than most Christian couples we have ever known. Yet the relatively small amount of sorrow we have known has been for me the greatest and most penetrating of all sorrows, and I hardly measure to the sorrow and the joy that is the heart of my wife over her children.
Yet even from the start, the Father begins to share His own pain with us.
No Curse, but Christ
Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. There is no curse for the Christian, not because we do not bear all the hardship of this world, but because, in giving thanks for all things, we, together with our Father, are turning everything difficult towards the blessing and goodness of Christ.
Here is where one of Paul’s really odd statements fits: Nevertheless she will be saved through childbearing (1 Timothy 2:15). God has dispensed with Adam and with the rule of man on this earth; it is through the woman that He brings forth the revelation of Jesus Christ into the universe. – To transform all the rubble of our life into the goodness of Christ in us.