The Seed of the Serpent
The ruin of mankind, and
of our present universe, began when our first parents, Adam and Eve disobeyed
God.
Before Eve was taken from
the side of Adam the following took place:
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of
the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die
[lit: dying you will die]." (Genesis 2:16-17)
In order to have viable
relationships, when two or more parties exist, free choices must be available
to the parties. This means that men must be given the right to reject God as
well as to embrace Him:
Now the serpent [nachash] was more cunning than any beast of the field which the
LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You
shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the
fruit of the trees of the garden; "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has
said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'" Then
the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. "For God
knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be
like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree
desirable to make one
wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and
he ate.
After both Adam and Eve
had fallen, God came to seek them out and to restore their broken relationship
with Him. (Genesis 3:1-6) (To this day, we sons and daughters of Adam and Eve
do not seek God—He must seek us first, Romans 3:11).
Though they were
immediately restored to fellowship with God. But the consequences of their
disobedience were long lasting:
Then
the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and
they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
And
they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the
day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God
among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to
him, "Where are you?" So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden,
and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself." And He said,
"Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I
commanded you that you should not eat?" Then the man said, "The woman
whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate."
And
the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The
woman said, "The serpent [Hebrew, nachash, "the shining one", i.e. a fallen angel]
deceived me, and I ate." So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because
you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every
beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the
days of your life.
15.
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and
her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."
To
the woman He said: "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your
conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for
your husband, And he shall rule over you."
Then
to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have
eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of
it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All
the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall
eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust
you are, And to dust you shall return." And Adam called his wife's name
Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Also for Adam and his wife the
LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them." (Genesis 3:7-21)
Verse 15 is remarkable in
many ways. Ordinary the seed, or offspring, comes from the man. Here there is a
reference to the "seed of the woman," not to the seed of Adam.
Likewise, the term "the seed of the serpent" is obscure.
Some years ago, a Canadian
scholar, Arthur Custance, suggested the possibility that "original
sin" (which causes the death of the body, and our innate and total
predisposition to sin)—is transmitted to the next generation through the
male sperm, not through the female ovum.
(Custance's book,The Seed of the Woman is online).
Custance suggests that a
child born to an ordinary woman, a descendent of Eve, could be a sinless child
if her ovum were fertilized supernaturally. Thus he is suggesting a mechanism
for the virgin birth of our Lord Jesus.
Most scholars consider
that the phrase the seed of the woman in Genesis 3:15 does refer to the virgin birth of Jesus as the
Redeemer and Savior of our race. In fact verse 15 is often called "the
protevangelium," or first announcement of the gospel.
Likewise the seed of
the serpent refers to the
antichrist—a fully human opponent of the true Messiah who would appear at
the end of the age. (The Greek prefix anti can mean "against" or "opposed to" but it more
often means "instead of.") The antichrist is a counterfeit, fake
messiah. (See for example Chuck
Missler, The Man on Horseback, and The Worthless Shepherd, and The Antichrist).
Down through history there
have been many antichrists (1 John 2:18), but the final antichrist, Paul's man
of sin, will eventually appear on
the stage of human histry. He is described in passages such as 2 Thessalonians
2:3-11, Matthew 24:15-24, Revelation 19:19-20.
In every generation some
have tried to identify the final antichrist by name, but he can not appear on
the stage history until after the rapture (removal) of the true church. So this pursuit is futile.
Until now, no successful
genetic experiments (that we know of), have resulted in the birth of a human
child without fertilization of a female ovum by a male sperm.
My friend and Colleague Bryce Self agree that the coming "man of sin" may not be genetically a biological "seed of the serpent, but he will be fully "possessed" by Satan.
And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. 4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who islike the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”
5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. 6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over evey rtribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. (Revelatiom 13:1-9)
Bryce writes, "Not genetically primarily (if at all). Jesus: 'You are of your father the devil' is spiritual kinship-alignment-commitment. Same for: 'Have I not chosen you all, and one of you is a devil’ regarding Iscariot. We know in his specific case that satan did actually personally take 'possession' of him, just as the first quote above showed at least a strong degree of spiritual influnce upon/within Israel’s religious leaderhip.
This would be similar to the way the the Spirit of God would 'come upon' a prophet or a judge in OT times (not taking up inner residence as under the New Covenant). Jesus also prophesied the wholesale demonization of all Israel as a entire people as a result of their rejection and killing of Himself. We might also onclude for illustration and confirmation the many 'exorcisms' recorded as performed by Jesus and the Apostles. None of the above were physical, rather varying degrees of spiritual bondage are delineated.
Those who have thought there is a physical component are usually heretical — offspring of Adam & Lillith, or Eve & the serpent, or Cain, or Ham, or Canaan, etc. Then of course there are the nephilim, eradicated in the Deluge, seemingly finally killed off by the Israelites in the post-Deluge resurgence, and due for a technologically engineered final appearance in the near future. Perhaps because of their artificial hybrid nature they do not have human spirits and so must be animated by demons or fallen angels? We siply do not know, and are forbidden to pursue in detail.
And, as you say, the man of lawlessness will be personally indwelt by satan long-term, not merely for an occasion as for Iscariot. This person must surely be an actuall fully human man who willingly relinquished himself to the prince of evil—counterfeit of Jesus as The Man submitting to the Father and being indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
This is the Almighty's personal addresss to satan. The enmity is first and immediately between him and Eve individually, established and maintained by the Lord.
Then there is the general result—“class warfare” between the devil’s followers (primarily human must be meant) and those exhibiting the contrite repentance for sin and trust in the Lord’s mercy that Eve was exhibity at that very moment (immediately afterward is when Adam prophetically dubs her “Mother of All Living”). This is the fundamental division of mankind, and the one ultimately valid and significant distinction between humans—augustine’s City of God and City of Satan.
Included in this generality of the woman’s seed is that One Seed in particular—the incarnate Kinsman-Redeemer to come that is being promised in this “proto-Evangelium". Jesus is likewise included in God's continuing pledge as this same individual Seed in the promises made to Abraham and the other Patriarchs (see Romans, for instance). Jesus Christ is the “point Man” in whom the woman’s Seed is summed up and fulfilled. But His warfare is not directed to ther serpent’s seed in general (as was the hostility of the woman’s common seed as a collective group). Jesus takes on the great dragon that is head of the kingdom of darkness in an extremely personal conflict. It is in defeating that ancient and primary foe that all who are subservient to the devil are brought under the rod of ther conquering Christ.
MATTHEW: "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house."
LUKE: "But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.”
Envisioning a World Without Men--Scientist Says Female-Only Reproduction Is Only a Few Years Away
By
NICK WATT
LONDON, April 28, 2008
Imagine a world without men: Lauren Bacall but no Bogie, Hillary
Clinton but
no Bill, no Starsky or Hutch.
Could the entire male sex vanish from earth?
This isn't just an unlikely sci-fi scenario. This could be reality,
according
to Bryan Sykes, an eminent professor of genetics at Oxford
University and
author of "Adam's Curse: A Future Without Men."
"The Y chromosome is deteriorating and will, in my belief,
disappear," Sykes
told me. A world-renowned authority on genetic material, Sykes is
called upon
to investigate DNA evidence from crime scenes. His team of
researchers is
currently compiling a DNA family tree for our species.
Y Chromosome 'Fatally Flawed'
The Y chromosome is passed from father to son, it's what makes
babies into
boys. Basically the human template is a female: the Y chromosome
kicks in a
few weeks after conception and makes a boy. "Men are
genetically modified
women," explained Sykes. But unlike other chromosomes, the Y
chromosome can't
repair itself and will, says Sykes, disappear altogether in about
125,000
years.
"Every generation one percent of men will have a mutation
which reduces their
fertility by 10 percent," explained Sykes. Unlike most
chromosomes, the Y does
not travel through the generation in pairs, so can never repair
itself from a
mirror. Flaws are never repaired. "So if that goes on for
generation after
generation," Sykes argued, "eventually there are no
functioning Y chromosomes
left."
So no more men ... sparsely populated sports bars, Ferrari would
lose the lion's
share of its business, and Hooters would probably go out of
business.
It's a long time, 125,000 years. But we men have a far more
immediate problem:
sperm counts have fallen by an incredible 20 percent in the past 50
years.
Stress? Alcohol? Environmental pollution? Who knows, but it's
deeply
concerning for those of us with a vested interest in the survival
of the male.
Sykes has received hate mail. "To seem to be saying that men
will become
extinct, which is what I am saying," he mused. "I've had
all kinds of messages
from male groups saying, 'how can you betray your gender?'"
But would the absence of men make the world a better place? There
would be far
fewer wars without men on the planet, and the U.S. prison
population would
drop a colossal 97 percent. Road deaths in the U.S. would fall 70
percent. The
Olympics would be half as long, which some people might view as a
good thing.
Female-Only Reproduction
But surely, flawed Y chromosome or not, bad behavior or not, we are
needed for
procreation. Women can't have babies without us ... right? I'm
afraid, pretty
soon they won't need our sperm, our chromosomes, our anything.
Until now, female-only reproduction has been limited to the plant
and animal
kingdom. So-called parthenogenesis, observed in the Cape Honey Bee,
the Kimono
Dragon and the hammerhead shark. In humans: confined to 1950s B
movies. But
Sykes says the technology for women to procreate without us is just
around the
corner.
"Within the next few years you will get two women having a
child who is the
biological child of both of them," Sykes said. "And
entirely normal in every
respect, but always female."
They've already done it with mice. Two mothers: the genetic
material from one
used to fertilize the egg of the other.
Two Mommies
The picture that Professor Sykes is painting is of a nuclear family
without a
man in sight. We went in search of what could be the template for
the survival
of our species. Laura and Natalie are a lovely couple who live in
South London
with their 13-month-old daughter Sanne. They agreed to let our
all-male crew
take a peek into their lives. Natalie actually gave birth to Sanne.
The sperm
came from an anonymous donor. She's raised by two moms.
"That the child will be well balanced with just two moms:
Well, that's been
proven back in the 40s," explained Natalie, who is also a
child psychologist.
"It's the care giving and the relationship between the
care-giver and the
infant that is the important part."
Laura, who right now is the bread winner, thinks any family will
work as long
as the child is, "getting the attention, the affection, the
discipline."
Looking at her very contented daughter, Laura told me, "She's
obviously
confident. She's very stable and secure. So I think so far we're
doing okay."
Laura attended both the dads' and the moms' prenatal classes. I
asked Natalie
if having Laura as the partner was better than having a man?
"I had actually a
couple of mothers saying, 'Well, at least Laura's a woman she will
understand
better.'" Natalie told me. "And I said, 'no.' ... She was
exactly the same as
the dads!"
Could Laura mount a defense? "I would like to think that I
separate from the
dads in that I'm not hooked on the ball games and things like
that," she
explained. And I must say, she was knee-deep in diaper changing and
feeding
time while we were hanging out.
So judging by this family, two moms aren't necessarily better, but
can be just
as good. But surely they must need a burly man for some things? I
offered to
put up some shelves, or change some light bulbs. "Actually,
Laura is very,
very handy," Natalie told me, trying not to hurt my feelings.
"My father's a mechanic, so there's nothing about a car that
disturbs me,"
explained Laura. "I've also ... I renovated a house. So, I'm
really not
concerned about that either."
Maybe our only hope as men is that women decide to keep us alive
for their own
amusement. For the pop music, perhaps, or maybe the dancing. We can
be good at
that.
This virgin-born son of a
virgin would not, however be an incarnation of the Son of God. He could be
"the seed of the serpent."
Rather than being possessed by the Holy Spirit and committed to doing
the will of God the Father, this son of Satan might well be possessed by Satan.
This conjecture would
suggest that the "seed of the serpent," as Satan's final attempt to
be the master of our race, would involve a very supernatural man—but a
man wholly committed to serving Satan, the Adversary of man and God.
Enough said! Historically
speaking, controversy over the "seed of the serpent" has been heated,
wild, even bizarre--often going well beyond anything Scripture clearly teaches.
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1999/9910chap.asp.
I recommend that none of
you get caught up in endless discussions on this subject. Let's all wait and
see. The above recent news item is very interesting for us in our day. It seems
quite clear to a good many Bible scholars that we are rapidly approaching the
time of the end when a final conflict will ensue between the returning Lord
Jesus Christ and the present "god of this world" who opposes the Son
of God. Our enemy will make one, final last-ditch stand—and utterly fail.
What is clear in the New
Testament is the fact that Satan has already been fully defeated. This happened
at the Cross of Christ when... "it pleased the Father that in Him all the
fullness should dwell, and by Christ to reconcile all things to Himself, by
Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the
blood of His cross."
(Colossians 1:19-20)
Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Jesus asked
that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you
say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; "and in the morning,
'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.'
Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern
the signs of the times." (Matthew 16:1-3)
ADDENDUM:
Science
Friction: Hybrid Embryos Stir Controversy
Khouse.com from the May 13, 2008 eNews issue
Animal-human hybrids
were once purely the stuff of science fiction, however fiction has become
reality. Scientists have created sheep that possess human hearts and livers,
pigs that have been born with human blood, and a variety of other creatures
whose genetic makeup has been tampered with. Biologists call these hybrid
animals chimeras. They are named after a mythical Greek creature that was said
to possess a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.
In recent years
cross-species experimentation has become more widespread. Scientists at
Newcastle University recently created Britain's first ever human-animal hybrid
embryos. Researchers inserted human DNA from a skin cell into cow eggs from
which the genetic information had been removed. The human-cow hybrid embryos
will be used for stem cell research.
The Yuck Factor
The frightening reality
is that there are not currently any federal guidelines to regulate chimeric
experiments. Researchers have been left alone to regulate themselves, but there
seems to be no consensus within the scientific community over what is and is
not considered ethical.
Moral objections to
chimeric research are often dismissed by proponents as simply knee-jerk
reactions based on instinctual, rather than logical, thinking. These misgivings
are sometime referred to by scientists as the "yuck factor."
Unfortunately, many researchers describe the "yuck factor" as though
it were an obstacle to scientific discovery, instead of evidence of a troubled
conscience.
Exploring these new
frontiers of science and medicine without the guidance of a strong moral
compass will lead us into an ethical quagmire with dangerous repercussions.
Without some kind of clear guidelines, we risk adopting a form of logic that
would leave us tempted, not only to ponder, but also to do the unthinkable.
We are embarking upon an
enterprise unlike anything undertaken before. The avalanche of advances in the
current biotech revolution is both exciting and frightening. The promise of new
remedies and cures in many diverse fields of medicine has given new hope to
those who suffer from diseases like diabetes and Parkinson's. Meanwhile science
continues to outrun lawmakers. The biotech revolution has produced a host of
ethical questions that have yet to be answered. These questions strike at the
very heart of what it means to be human. To learn more about this topic, click
on the links below.
Old Related Links:
First British Human-Animal Hybrid Embryos Created - Guardian
Bill to Ban Human-Animal Hybrids Introduced in Congress - Life Site
Genetically Modified Human Embryo Stirs Criticism - AP
Strategic Trends: Biotech - Koinonia House
BioTech: The Sorcerer's New Apprentice? - MP3 Download
BioTech: The Sorcerer's New Apprentice? - DVD
April 30, 2008. May 14,
2008.