Who is the Serpent's Offspring?

There is a powerfully prophetic message in Genesis 3:15 that speaks to the promise of a coming serpent-crusher (spoiler: It's Jesus Christ). This alone is an amazing prophecy we could spend many posts digging into! But for now, I want to focus on a particular component of this verse I have often overlooked pertaining to the offspring of the serpent.

Divided Offspring

Before we jump into the verse, let's briefly establish the context. Before this point, God had created everything good. He created Adam and Eve good. They could eat from every tree of the Garden of Eden except for one, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Well, the serpent (Satan, see Rev. 12:9) deceived Eve into eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and she gave it to Adam who also ate. Thus, they sinned. Then they hid in shame, but God sought them out. God then speaks to them and dispenses out curses and consequences (but also mercy). Genesis 3:15 comes from what he says to the serpent.

This is part of what he says,

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

We can make several observations from this verse:

• The serpent (Satan) does not get to have Eve as his own. God is putting division between the serpent and the woman.
• The offspring (or seed) of the serpent will be opposed to Eve's offspring (we'll come back to this).
• This offspring of Eve, in the singular "he", will crush the serpent's head. In other words, he'll inflict a deadly blow to the serpent.
• The serpent will inflict a less deadly attack on the offspring of Eve, since he is striking the heel, not the head.

We can decidedly say that this singular "he" offspring of Eve is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus. His "heel" was bruised at the cross, but he decisively crushed the serpent's "head," thereby disarming the power that he had over God's people. This disarming will one day become total defeat when Jesus returns (Rev. 20:10).

But we're left with a peculiar question. Who is the offspring of the serpent? We know that there will be division between this offspring and Eve's offspring, but who is it? I believe if we can answer that question, we'll get additional insight into just how powerful this promised victory of Jesus is.

The First Curse

In order to answer this question, we need to first observe what God says to the serpent one verse prior. Genesis 3:14 (ESV) says,

14 The LORD God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.

This is the first curse in the Bible. We do well to pay attention to firsts when it comes to the Bible! Often it sets a pattern for understanding the rest of the Bible.

Here, the serpent itself is cursed. The punishment seems to be that of a literal snake - "on your belly you shall go," and "dust you shall eat." But this isn't an ordinary snake. It's a lying snake, which we've already seen is attributed as being a manifestation of Satan. So, we should understand that this curse should be identified with Satan himself.

If were to read all of Genesis 3:14-19, we would notice a couple other things.

• The man and the woman are never cursed. They're given consequences, extremely painful and deadly ones. But no curse is assigned to them.
• The ground itself is cursed (Gen. 3:17) because of Adam. His job was to work the ground (Gen. 2:15), but now working the ground would be painful (Gen. 3:18). Not only that, but Adam would return to the cursed ground as dust in physical death (Gen. 3:19).

So the curse at this point is identified with the serpent, and also with the ground (pain and death).

Identified with the Serpent

The next place we hear about a curse is very telling. In Genesis 4, we learn that Adam and Eve's firstborn, Cain, killed his younger brother Abel out of jealousy. There are a few observations we can make about the condition of Cain's heart in this story (God of Creation from Jen Wilkin helped me see these).

• When Cain's offering was rejected, he was angry (Gen. 4:5). It would seem he did not give his firstfruits, which led to this rejection. Rather than repenting for half-hearted worship, he grew angry and jealous.
• When asked about his brother after he killed him, Cain responded rhetorically "am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen. 4:9.) Cain was wrong of course, he was supposed to watch out for his brother, and they were to care for one another.
• When confronted by God, Cain still does not repent. He is much more concerned about his own punishment and pain than being appalled at the sin he committed against his brother and the Lord (Gen. 4:13-14).

Clearly, Cain failed to rule over sin (Gen. 4:7) and to love God. Because of this, Cain was given a curse. Genesis 4:11 says,

11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

The curse that fell on the serpent and the ground has now fallen on Cain. The curse that was previously identified with Satan is now identified with Cain also. This identity is characterized by rebellion against God, an embrace of sin, and the consequence of returning to the ground in death.

Godly and Ungodly Offspring

This is exemplified in the genealogies that follow. Cain's genealogy is given in Genesis 4:17-24. In Cain's line, we see more examples of sin and rebellion.

• Cain built a city (Gen. 4:17) instead obeying the command to "fill the earth" (Gen. 1:28).
• Lamech, descended from Cain, was the first polygamist (Gen. 4:19) instead of obeying God's command to "hold fast to his [singular] wife" (Gen. 2:24).
• Lamech was also a murderer and claimed that he would take revenge on anyone who would try to repay him for his evil (Gen. 4:23-24).

Of course, Cain's line also made some great technological advances we take advantage of today (even in worship!), but overall this line is marked by rebellion. This is a significant contrast to Seth's line in Genesis 5. In Seth's line we see the following.

• They called upon the name of the Lord (Gen. 4:26).
• They are identified with God (Gen. 5:1-2).
• Enoch, a descendent of Seth, walked with God (Gen. 5:22).
• Lamech, a descendent of Seth, expressed hope in God's Gen. 3:15 promise (Gen. 5:29).
• Noah was righteous and found favor with God (Gen. 5:29, 6:9).

Here we see two representative peoples. One is marked by rebellion and sin, the other is marked by faith and submission to the Lord.

So, going back to our original question, who is the offspring of the serpent? We're beginning to see an answer take shape. It seems to me that the offspring of the serpent are those who are cursed because of their rebellion and sin against the Lord, just as the serpent himself is. Satan's "offspring" is in opposition to the offspring of the woman, Jesus Christ (Gen. 3:15).

The Curse Continues

There are a few more curses worth mentioning.

• Noah prophetically curses his grandson, Canaan (Gen. 9:25). The Canaanites, who receive judgement for their sins when Israel enters the promised land under Joshua's leadership, descended from Canaan. The wickedness of the Canaanites identifies them with the serpent.
• God makes a covenant with Abraham and in so doing identifies Abraham with himself. He promises to bless Abraham, and to bless all the families of the earth through him. He also promises to curse those that dishonor him (Gen. 12:3). Anyone who dishonors the man God chose identifies himself with the serpent.
• Israel is given a choice between blessing and curse in Deuteronomy 28. If they choose to obey the Lord in faith, they will be identified with him. But if they choose the way disobedience and faithlessness, they are identified with the serpent in receiving the same judgement as him.

In other words, those who reject the Lord have Satan as their spiritual father. They are the offspring of the serpent. This fits with what Jesus said about those who oppose him in John 8:44 (ESV),

44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

A New Identity

It is not enough to understand who the offspring of the serpent is. We also have to understand that we all were once his offspring because of our sinful desires.

Apart from Christ, Paul also identifies us with the ancient serpent in Ephesians 2:1–2,

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air [Satan], the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

Indeed, we fell under the same curse as our spiritual ancestor Cain. But God sent the promised offspring of the woman. Galatians 3:13 (ESV) states,

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

He became a curse for us in order that we may no longer identify with the serpent and his rebellious ways and so incur judgement as he did. Rather, he died on the cross, bearing the curse on our behalf, in order that we may identify with God as new creations (2 Cor. 5:17). We get to become God's "offspring." All this is received by faith, not by works.

The great victory by the snake-crusher promised in Genesis 3:15 is all the more amazing knowing that he has transferred our spiritual heritage from being of the evil one to being of the Holy One!

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

– Colossians 1:13–14 (ESV)

Praise God for this redemption! Praise God that in Christ we have become sons and daughters of God! Grace and peace to you.