When I set out to explore the idea of the “pleasure of God’s soul” last week, I did not anticipate where that would lead. But as I have considered how to explain all that is going on at the end of Hebrews 10, it has become clear that we need to take our time, and let the Larger Story unfold, so that we can understand what brings pleasure to God’s soul . . . and what does not.
So, relax, sit back, and let’s consider the major developments of the Story.
Last week we went all the way back to the beginning and reviewed the Bad News that lies behind the Good News. In summary, the Bad News is that, in our choice in the Garden, we –
- Abandoned all the identity and significance that was ours as God’s representatives.
- Abandoned the fulfillment of life in the Garden – the sustenance, beauty, and intimacy available there.
- Aligned ourselves with the enemy of God, making ourselves rebels, objects of God’s wrath.
- Chose a path that would lead to physical death.
So, what’s the Good News? “You’re forgiven. You will never be who you were intended to be, and life as it was in the Garden is forever lost to you, but at least you’re forgiven.” Is that the Good News? Is that the only hope we have?
Fortunately, the answer is “No”.
In fact, in the curse itself we find the first glimmer of hope (Genesis 3:15). At first glance, it seems this verse simply explains people’s general hatred for snakes. But, slowing down, we see that something else is going. In cursing the serpent, God said that He would place enmity between it and the woman, and also between it’s offspring (seed) and the offspring of the woman. This seems to fit the “we hate snakes” interpretation, so, the next line is a little surprising – “He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel. “He/him” looks back to the “seed of the woman“, where “seed” seems to indicate the multiple offspring of future generations. Yet in this statement, one of the woman’s offspring is set apart. Out of all the descendants of the woman, One comes into focus, who will be hostile, not to the serpent’s offspring, but to the serpent himself.
Now, there is a lot of theology in this verse, and statements that will make more sense as the larger Story unfolds. Later, the identity of the serpent will become more clear. Now, for the most part, he seems to simply be a snake, one of the creatures over which Adam was to rule. I say “for the most part” because there is one troublesome detail – he speaks. And we know that snakes don’t speak. So, there is more going on here than first meets the eye. By adding details that will be revealed later, we can clear this up:
- In the Garden, the serpent is presented as one of the “beasts of the field” (Genesis 3:1,14).
- Much later in the Story, Satan is identified as the serpent (Revelation 12:9).
- We will discover at least one other incident in which a beast is supernaturally empowered to speak (Numbers 22:27-30).
Thus, we will come to realize that the serpent is indeed, a real snake, through which Satan operated to deceive Eve, and introduce rebellion into God’s Kingdom. And, by adding other details revealed later in the Story, we will discover that the descendant of the woman who will crush his head will be Jesus Christ.
But for now, for Adam and Eve, it is enough to realize that God promises “One Who will come (a descendant of Eve) and defeat this enemy who incited rebellion and brought about the collapse of God’s kingdom on earth (the serpent).” This is not the end.
As the story continues, darkness spreads over the earth as man seeks life on his own terms. My Bible takes 1749 pages to tell the whole Story (Old & New Testaments). By the time we get to page 8, “the wickedness of man was great on the earth . . . every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).
In the midst of this deterioration, there were some who looked to God and His promises. Adam had another son, Seth, who had a son Enosh. In connection with this line, “men began to call upon the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:26). Seth’s line is traced through several generations to a man named Lamech, who had a son (Genesis 5:3-28). Here, we get more details than in the other generations –
“Now he called his name Noah, saying ‘This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed.” (Genesis 5:29)
Lamech named his son “Noah” (“rest“) in the hope that he would bring relief from the sweat, thorns and thistles of the curse. In place of exhausting labor and futility, he hoped for “Rest”. Lamech expected relief from the curse, and he anticipated that it would come through the birth of The One. Perhaps “Noah” would be the “One”.
While Noah starts out as a good candidate, he clearly turns out not to be “The One.” But it is the anticipation of this One Who will come that drives the development of the Story all the way to the New Testament.
While not explicitly called “Good News” at this point, there is hope. But note, the hope was not in redemption, but in the anticipated defeat of the enemy responsible for the overthrow of God’s kingdom on earth, and in the reversal of the effects of the curse. They are not looking forward to being forgiven, though that will come. They are looking forward to a time when the threat to God’s Kingdom is crushed, and when they can rest in the abundant provision of the earth, rather than toiling in sweat, and battling thorns and thistles. They are looking for a return to the way things were before the fall. And they expect all of this in the coming of The Promised One.
The story is just getting started. There is much more that we will learn about this Promised One and the hope that He brings.