 |  |
Gen. 6: 9 is that Noah was uncontaminated so far as his pedigree was concerned, and the
channel through which the Seed of the Woman could come, though narrowed down by
the well nigh universal corruption that had set in, was still preserved.
As we proceed with the history of the Seed of the Woman, we can assemble a series of
Divine interpositions, each one marked by its own peculiar character, and together
building up a system of teaching that points irrevocably to Christ.
(1)
While no supernatural intervention is to be supposed in Gen. 3: 15, the fact that the seed Who
should bruise the serpent's head is called "Her Seed" is suggestive.
(2)
The Seed is in the second place bound up with vicarious suffering; His "Heel" shall be
wounded in the conflict with the Serpent.
(3)
Ultimate victory is prophesied for the Seed of the Woman, for although in the conflict He shall
be wounded in the "Heel", it is the "head" of the serpent that is bruised.
(4)
The next principle that emerges is the principle of substitution. The attack upon Abel is
countered by the "appointment" of "Seth" or as the Hebrew reads God hath "sethed" me
another seed. Seth was appointed "instead of Abel whom Cain slew" (Gen. 4: 25).
(5)
The sending of the Flood, and the destruction of every living person except "the eight souls"
preserved in the Ark, or as Peter puts it, God "spared not the old world, but saved Noah",
reveals the solemn fact that the question of numbers does not enter into the plan. If the seed
can be preserved, though it cost the destruction of millions, the Lord will do it. If such a
conclusion should appear harsh let us remember that the selfsame word "spare" is used of
Christ. "He that spared not His own Son".
(6)
The provision of the Ark introduces into the record another aspect of the Redemptive side of the
story of the seed. It is common knowledge with students that the noun and verb "pitch it
within and without with pitch" (Gen. 6: 14) employs the word kaphar and kopher which
are used by Moses and the rest of the O.T. Scriptures for the propitiation made by the
sacrificial offerings, indicating in fuller measure the nature of the "bruising" that should be
received in the conflict with the serpent. "It pleased the Lord to bruise Him" said Isaiah,
showing that even though "wicked hands" took and crucified the Son of God, that bruising
of His heel was at the same time the sacrificial offering made for sin.
(7)
Finally, or at least so far as we have gone, the preservation of the seed is associated with
newness of life, resurrection ground, the beginning of a new world, and a new day. This is
forced upon the attention of the reader throughout the record of the Deluge, as we have
already seen, by the fact that the date when the Ark rested on one of the mountains of
Ararat, namely the seventeenth day of the seventh month, became after the revision of the
calendar at the Passover (Exod. 12: 2), the "third" day after the offering of the Passover on
the fourteenth day of the month, and so the very day of the Saviour's resurrection. The
emphasis upon the "first year", the "first month" and the "first day" in Gen. 8: 13 carries
the idea forward, while the numerical features associated with Noah and his family, each
emphasizing the number "eight" and the commencing of a new period, rounded off this
testimony to resurrection and newness.
Although the purpose of God concerning the Seed was so far safeguarded, the words
already noted in Gen. 6: 4 "also after that" prepare us for further conflict. This will
appear as we continue our study.