(This series is excerpted from our book, The Case for Jesus the Messiah (ATRI Publishing, 2014). This entire book, which details several additional clues, is available in our online store: The Case for Jesus the Messiah.)
Ed. Note: The authors have frequently done their own translation of the verses quoted herein.
The term “Messiah” is taken from Psalm 2:2 and Daniel 9:25-26 where Mashiach (Hebrew), Messias (Greek) means “Anointed One.” The term took its meaning from the Jewish practice of anointing prophets, priests, and kings to their respective offices. As a generic term it could be applied to an earthly king such as David (2 Samuel 19:21) who was anointed to fulfill the divine purpose of his office.
However, there was one unique individual to whom the term “Messiah” applied in a special sense. God spoke about a future Ruler of Israel who would sit on the throne of David and usher in an age of righteousness and peace. He would simultaneously hold all three offices of prophet, priest, and king. He would be the reality and ultimate fulfillment to which all other usages of the term “Messiah” would be but shadowy pre-figures.[1]
He would be the One to come whom God would uniquely identify beforehand. As the apostle Peter said, “But this is how God fulfilled what He had foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ [Messiah] would suffer” (Acts 3:18).
In this series of articles we will look at four specific prophecies about the Messiah and give intriguing background information about this One whose birth we celebrate at Christmas.
The Biblical Text
So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,... I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15)
The context of this passage is the temptation and Fall of Adam and Eve by the deception of “the serpent.” Revelation 12:9 and 20:2 identify him as, “the serpent of old, who is the devil or Satan.” For those who accept only the Hebrew Scriptures as authoritative, the serpent in Genesis 3:14 cannot be just an animal. The serpent must be a person. The word “enmity” in the Hebrew Scriptures always refers to hatred between persons. It is never used between an animal and a person.
In this passage Satan has already deceived Adam and Eve. All three are now addressed by God. What God says is astonishing.
God is speaking to the serpent, who is not an animal and is identified in Revelation as Satan. God says He will put enmity between the serpent and the woman, and between their seeds. Then God speaks of one particular male descendant of the woman, “he,” who will bruise the serpent’s head while the serpent bruises his heel. This pronoun clearly refers to a person, not a thing, showing that a future male descendant will deliver a decisive blow to Satan.
This descendant will crush Satan’s head, meaning total defeat, while Satan will only wound his heel—a serious but temporary injury. This promise points to a coming victory over evil. The Hebrew word translated “bruise” can mean “crush” or “smite in pieces.”[5] Franz Delitzsch described it as “the definite promise of victory over the serpent because it suffers the deadly tread.”
This prophecy refers to the Messiah. Many Jewish rabbis have understood it this way throughout history. For Adam and Eve, it represented hope—a future Person who would conquer the deceiver. Jesus fits this prophecy perfectly. He came to destroy the works of the devil (John 12:31; 16:11; Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8). Through His death and resurrection, Jesus broke Satan’s power over humanity and secured eternal victory. At His second coming, He will permanently defeat Satan (Romans 16:20; Revelation 20:10).
The “seed of the serpent” refers to Satan’s followers—demons and those who reject God—while the “seed of the woman” represents humanity. This conflict continues throughout history, with God’s promise that one day the Messiah will triumph completely.
Jewish tradition long recognized this verse as referring to the Messiah. The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 3:15 interprets the verse as referring to “the days of the King, Messiah.” The Jerusalem Targum agrees. Scholars have shown that as early as 247 B.C., Jewish interpreters in Alexandria saw this passage as Messianic. H. C. Leupold affirmed that “the Jewish church regarded this passage as Messianic from a very early day.”[12]
Whoever the Messiah is, He must fit the following description: He, a male child, will be born of the seed of the woman and will crush Satan’s head while being bruised in the heel. This first prophecy points directly to the Messiah who brings redemption and victory over evil.