*_The crushing of the Serpent's head...._*
We must learn to understand every single day.
_KJV Genesis 3:15_
_[15]And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; *it shall bruise thy head,* and thou shalt bruise his heel._
In all human history, the most effective and decisive way of dealing a deadly blow on a serpent/ snake is to crush its head.
This is because the serpent's/snake's head is the center of its vital functions, housing its brain and venom glands. Simply put, the snake's head is its CONTROL CENTER.
An attack on the head can quickly neutralise the serpent/snake by damaging these vital systems situated in its head..
Imagery and figurative language was a common communication component in the Hebrew language.....it was a communication style using known terms to speak of underlying truths/facts.
So it should not surprise us that there is much of the same in this text.
The seed was to bruise (meaning crush) the serpent by crushing its head. For an effective and decisive blow to the serpent, the seed would have to target or go for its head, and not just any part of its body.
Jesus, John the Baptist and Paul let us in on something in their speakings concerning serpents.
_KJV Matthew 3:1,7_
_[1]In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,_
_[7]But *when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees* come to his baptism *, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?*_
_KJV Matthew 23:29,33_
_[29] *Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!* because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,_
_[33] *Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?*_
_KJV 2 Corinthians 11:3,13,22_
_[3]But I fear, lest by any means, *as the serpent beguiled Eve* through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ._
_[13]For *such are false apostles, deceitful workers,* transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ._
_[22] *Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites?* so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I._
Notice that in all these texts, Jesus, John the Baptist and Paul called ACTUAL human beings (the Sadducees and the Pharisees) serpents!
They were progenies/brood of deceivers who could only produce their kind.... serpents!
_KJV Matthew 23:15_
_[15]Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves._
The serpents were therefore not in reference to actual reptiles, but were figurative for humans beings with deceptive, assiduously calculating characters; a covenantally disobedient lot.
Now, if the Pharisees and Sadducees, as led by the chief priest were the serpents/snakes, children disobedient priesthood, WHAT then would be their Head?
The word Head( _'Rosh'_ in the Hebrew) is severally used in the Hebrew canon and it gathers a spectrum of meanings that orbit around A SINGLE CORE IDEA; it speaks of that which is THE FIRST, THE HIGHEST or MOST PROMINENT, whether it is in reference to persons, places or objects.
So the Head can be a person, a place or even an object.
(Keep in mind that the head is the CONTROL CENTER of the serpent)
So WHAT was the center of the serpents' vital functions that housed and influenced their way of thinking and venomous operation, both to the people (as deceivers) and later to the church (as persecutors)?
_KJV Matthew 23:1-2_
_[1]Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,_
_[2]Saying, *The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:*_
This lot sat on Moses seat as authorities.
They derived their authority FROM the seat of Moses.
The seat of Moses was founded on the Old Covenant Law; the Old Covenant Law was INSTITUTIONALIZED in the Temple.
The Temple was the functional mainstay of the Mosaic Old Covenant Law.
The text in Matthew 23:1-2, was an opener of the woes Jesus would pronounce upon the serpents (Sadducees and Pharisees) for their corrupt use of their position of authority in the seat of Moses.
These serpents (the Sadducees and the Pharisees as led by the chief priests), held onto the Temple system for their selfish ends.
They had turned what was a holy shadow to be used as a teaching tool, to be used for prophetic purposes into an idol......they were worshipping/valuing the creation (the Temple) rather than the Creator (Christ) who the Temple pointed to.
They held on to the Temple like their lives depended on it, not for the love of God, but for the love of self.
The Temple gave them validity; they used it as the basis for their corrupt deceitful teachings, and for a conjured legal basis for persecuting the church. (Remember Saul receiving consent letter from this Temple to arrest and imprison believers? Acts 9:1-2)
Jesus was accused and condemned because of this Temple (Matt26:59-62), so was Stephen (Acts7:48-60). Paul also had his fair share of persecution with regards to that Temple (Acts21:26-32)
The Temple WAS the Head; it was the Head(quarters) of the serpent (s), meaning therefore that it was the chiefest, most prominent place for the serpent's operation.
Now, while the death of the Old Covenant High priest occasioned their replacement (Exo29:29-30,Heb7:23), thereby not in any way affecting the functioning of the Temple, the crushing of the Temple on the other hand, would mean the dissolution of the all its functions and functionaries.......this is why the Head of the serpent was more precisely the PLACE of Temple rather than the PERSON of the High Priest.
The Temple was the reference to the figurative word "Head".
Without it, the serpents (the Pharisees and Sadducees as led by the chief priests) had no function. They would be incapacitated without it.
Through this head, the serpent used to pour venom of persecutions to the church. (Mis)using the power/authority of its head(the Temple) the serpent (the Pharisees, Sadducees and the chief priests) bruised the seed(Christ), and persecuted His seeds/offspring ( the prophets, apostles, and saints)
NEVERTHELESS, the seed, according to the prophecy, was to CRUSH its head, dealing it a final and deadly blow, incapacitating it COMPLETELY.
_KJV Daniel 12:6-7_
[ _6]And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, *How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?*_
_[7]And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever *that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished* ._
_KJV Daniel 9:26_
_[26]And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: *and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.*_
_KJV Isaiah 27:9-10_
_[9]By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; *when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up.*_
_[10]Yet *the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken* , and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof._
_KJV Matthew 24:1-2,34_
_[1]And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to *shew him the buildings of the temple.*_
_[2]And Jesus said unto them, *See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down*
_[34]Verily I say unto you, *This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled* ._
The crushing of the serpent's head, (the Temple)was very imminent to the people living during the transition period effected by the coming of the seed,( Jesus Christ), in the human flesh through Mary's womb.
Paul, the apostles and their contemporaries were living in this period and this is precisely why Paul told his contemporaries that;
_KJV Romans 16:17-18,20_
_[17]Now I beseech you, brethren, *mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine* which ye have learned; *and avoid them* ._
_[18]For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple._
_[20]And *the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.* The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen._
God was about to bruise/ crush Satan (the serpent) shortly. They were people speaking and teaching deception, advocating things contrary to the doctrine of Christ, thus opposing it.
Who in scripture opposed the apostles' doctrine?
Well, it was the serpents, who were the unbelieving Sadducees and Pharisees as led by the apostate Old Covenant priesthood.( Matt12:14,Jhn11:47-53, Acts 4,5,17,19,24-26)
Their crushing was about to come with the crushing of their Head, (the Old Covenant Temple) that housed the Old Covenant system.
The destruction (the crushing )of the Old Covenant Temple took place when Jesus returned in AD 70, dealing a mortal blow on the serpent....
No head, no body; therefore no temple, no serpent.
Without the Temple, the priesthood CANNOT function.
Jesus the seed, went for the Head of the serpent; He went for the Temple thereby crushing the serpent's vital functions, crushing its venomous operating paradigm.
The serpent is no more because its head is no more.
The victory of the seed over the serpent was realised; it is a reality NOW.
_KJV Revelation 18:20-21_
_[20]Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her._
_[21]And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall *that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.*_
_KJV Revelation 21:1-2,22_
_[1]And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea._
_[2]And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband._
_[22]And I saw no temple therein: *for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.*_
Without the Temple the Old Covenant priesthood could not function.....their operation ceased by the crushing of the Old Covenant Temple.
Christ is the Temple of the New Covenant church; He is therefore the Head of the church......THIS is the Head, the Temple which WILL NEVER be crushed.....and He (Christ/God the Temple) therefore hosts the priesthood of the New Covenant church that will never cease.
Grace upon grace......
-Gaitho Ben
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