What Was the "Sentence of the Serpent"?
The "sentence of the serpent" as the passage in Gen. 3:15 is called, was a far-reaching one. The prophecy concerning the posterity of the woman, who were to be at enmity with the seed of the serpent, "points to the continual struggle between the woman's offspring and the grand enemy of God and man--the mighty conflict, of which this world has ever since been the theater," between sin and righteousness. In the clause in question perhaps the more accurate reading would be: "I will permit enmity between thee and the woman," etc. God is not the author of evil; but when his holy Spirit is withdrawn from a man or a community or a nation, evil comes and takes the place of good.
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