Bible passage: Genesis 3:15b
Prophet: Moses*
Written: As early as 1400 BC
Many Christians, when they are listing the prophecies about a Messiah, will point to Gen. 3:15 and claim that it also is a prophecy that the Messiah would be a human, born of a woman:
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." (Gen. 3:15, NIV)
This might seem trivial. But Genesis speaks of many things that God created. It speaks of humans with souls, angels, and animals of every kind. It mentions physical beings and spiritual beings.
One might assume that the Messiah could take on any of these forms, just as Satan himself takes on the form of a serpent in Genesis, chapter 3.
But, Gen. 3:15, in introducing the role and function of the Messiah, that he would crush evil, also tells us that he would be a descendant of Eve, which means that he would be a human born of a woman.
Later verses within the book of Genesis, which is the first book of the Old Testament, inform us that the Messiah would be a descendant of Abraham. And, later, Genesis tells us that the Messiah would be a descendant of Abraham through his son Isaac, and then later through Isaac's son, Jacob.
But, just as Gen. 3:15 tells us in a most basic way what the Messiah will accomplish, it also tells in a most basic way that he will be a human, born of a woman.
* Note: Moses is not the giver of this prophecy but rather the one who recorded the prophecy when he wrote the book of Genesis. The prophecy was delivered by God to Adam and Eve.