Eve

The Last Recorded words of I Eve are in Genesis 4:25: “And Adam knew his wife again, and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.”

Here is a wonderful declaration of the hope God had given to Eve when He promised a seed that would bruise the head of the serpent (see Gen. 3:15). This “seed of the woman” was to put right everything that had gone wrong because of Adam and Eve’s transgression.

Eve had first thought Cain was the promised seed. When Cain was born, she said, “I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Gen. 4:1). How disappointed she must have been with his attitude and behavior. How sad it was when, instead, Cain proved to be the “seed of the serpent” – a prototype of all those who would follow sin’s ways – creating his own system of worship, ignoring God’s counsel and guidance, persecuting true believers, and departing from God’s presence.

Eve now saw in Seth a continuation of that promised line — the “seed of the woman.” It is significant that Seth’s descendants “began to call upon the name of the LORD” (4:26), or as the margin has it, “began to call themselves by the name of the LORD.” Here was the establishment of a community of believers, dedicated to the principles of the truth, even when confronted by a hostile and worldly environment. (See Gen. 4:17-24 to read about the wicked descendants of Cain.)

Although Seth’s line soon became mixed with “the daughters of men” and fell from God’s favour, Eve’s confidence that God would keep His promise of a faithful seed is verified throughout the Bible. Abraham was promised a seed: “And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land” (Gen. 12:7), as was David, “I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son” (II Sam. 7:12-14).

Eve’s hope of “another seed instead of Abel” was ultimately realized in the person of Jesus Christ. He was the one who would sit on the throne of his father David, and inherit the land promised to Abraham. It was Jesus who, feeling the “enmity” toward the seed of the serpent (both in the Scribes and Pharisees, Matt. 23:33, and in his own nature, Heb. 4:15) destroyed the serpent power (bruised its head) through perfect obedience to his Father, even his death on the cross, which led to his glorious resurrection.

Surely Eve’s “last words” are vindicated in that one seed who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Eve could not know how long it would be:

But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father (Gal. 4:5-6).

Hope and belief in a Saviour is the lesson from Eve’s “famous last words.”