2 Samuel 20:20-26 – Crushing the Serpent’s Head
We’ve seen rebellion, but ultimately peace. God is still holding the kingdom together. And that’s a good thing.
It’s very interesting to notice that this is the third of three stories in fairly quick succession in the Bible about women inflicting head wounds. The first is in Judges 4. There you have a woman called Jael, who welcomes an enemy, Sisera, into her tent – and drives a tent peg through his head. Then in Judges 9 you have Abimelech besieging a tower. A woman inside the tower throws a millstone onto his head and crushes his skull. And here, we have Sheba’s head cut off, because of the actions of a woman. Surely we can’t help but hear the echo of the first gospel promise in the Bible. God speaking to the serpent and saying: “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.” It’s a prophecy of what Jesus would do on the cross. His heel would be bruised – as he tread down on the serpent – the seed of the woman inflicting a fatal wound on the serpent. And each time in the Bible a woman inflicts a head wound on an oppressor, it’s a little foretaste of the fact that one day, the head of our great enemy is going to be crushed. All rebellion against the true king will be at an end, and we will know perfect peace with him forever.
Question
- What is the first promise of the Gospel?
- How does Jesus fulfil this promise?
Prayer Points
- Pray for the preaching and hearing of God’s Word tomorrow.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.