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No.15.
The evident importance of the Seed
in the unfolding purpose.
pp. 231 - 234
We have seen by the examination of Gen. 1:-3: that "The Seed", its purity, its
preservation and its enemies therein foreshadowed, justifies the title that has been given
to these early chapters of Genesis, namely "The Seed Plot" of all Scripture. If this be
admitted it will be further acknowledged that, lying at the very centre of the purpose there
foreshadowed, is the dual prophecy concerning the Seed of the Woman and the seed of
the Serpent (Gen. 3: 15), and that any attempt to understand or explain the purpose of the
ages that fails to give a prominent place to this prophecy, must necessarily be deficient
and possibly misleading. Before concentrating upon the actual terms of this prophecy let
us take a large view.
The last of the prophets is Malachi, and he it is that points back to Gen. 2: and 3:,
and by so doing brings the teaching of the whole of the O.T. revelation to a full circle.
When we open the N.T. we are confronted with a genealogy "The book of the generation
of Jesus Christ" as the son of David, the son of Abraham, and in a peculiar sense the son
of the woman, a son who is nevertheless Emmanuel "God with us", and in perfect
correspondence with this, on the last page of the N.T we read of Him Who is both the
"Root" as well as "the Offspring of David".
We have therefore O.T. and N.T. linked together as prophecy and fulfillment, by these
four passages:
A |
Gen. 1:-3: The Seed of the Woman.
B
| Mal. 2: 10-16. The Seed of God.
A |
Matt. 1: The Son of the Virgin. Emmanuel.
B
| Rev. 22: 16. The root and offspring of David.
Let us examine this passage in Malachi.
The A.V. reads in Mal. 2: 15 "a godly seed", but in the margin informs the reader
that the Hebrew reads "a seed of God". When the O.T. writer wished to speak of the
"godly" he used the Hebrew chasid, a fitting word, meaning one who has received grace,
and so should be gracious. Here, in Malachi, something deeper is intended and the
Hebrew word Elohim should be translated "God" in chapter 2: 15 as it is in the six other
passages where it occurs in Malachi. Malachi reproves both the priests and the people,
and the first two chapters are devoted to this dual theme. It would take us too far afield to
exhibit the complete structure of Malachi but a brief outline of Mal. 2: 10-16 will enable
the reader to see the unity of the theme, and the essential features will be thrown into
prominence.