Eve To Mary

Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. – Luke 24:27

In Hebrews 12:24, God’s Word looks back to Abel’s martyrdom and says, “and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” By looking back at Abel’s murder, we can see that the blood Abel shed pointed to the blood Jesus would shed. As we approach our celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, it’s good to look back across time to see how God’s plan for our redemption was perfectly executed.

Blood Of The Martyrs

An early Christian author, Tertullian, in his book Apologeticus, coined the phrase: “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” (Apologeticus, Chapter 50). This is a bit of an overstatement, for the seed of the Church is from the blood of Jesus. Jesus is the Lamb slain from the creation of the world. But it does help frame the foundational events that took place in the fourth chapter of Genesis. In Genesis, we find the headwaters of the martyrs’ blood that first flowed from the sin of Cain to the crucifixion of Jesus and down to the persecution of the Church.

From Eve to Mary

Seth, a son of Adam and Eve, was born. Genesis 4:25-26 ESV: And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.

The words of Eve have endured through the ages, so the Spirit of God must be behind them. Hitchcock’s Bible Names Dictionary states that the name “Seth” means “put”; “who puts”; “fixed.” Seth was the replacement for Cain. He was “the fix.”

Cain lost his inheritance, so Seth, the next son of Eve, received the first-born inheritance. It is from Seth that the lineage of Christ Jesus is traced. Once again, as always, the Word of God is about God’s beloved Son (Matthew 3:17).

From the beginning of humanity, God intended for the Word of God to become flesh through a woman’s conception by the Holy Spirit. We read in Matthew 1:18, “This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.”

The LORD’s promise was:
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.”

Genesis 3:15 – BibleHub

From Eve to Mary, there is something special about God’s promise that echoed down through the generations of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, King David, and finally, by an angel, to this young virgin, Mary. “So the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. (Luke 1:30)” and Mary’s response, in faith, was, “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her (Luke 1:38). We do a disservice to God when we relegate women to a lower spiritual place than men.

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27 ESV – Bible Gateway

A Foreshadowing Of The Church

God is always tidy. He doesn’t leave loose ends or scraps. We saw this in Mark 6:43: “And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.” We saw this same trait of God with His message to Mary—the promise given to Eve and fulfilled in Mary. 

We should note that the final statement in Genesis, chapter four, says, “At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.” Since there are examples of individuals communicating with God before Genesis 4:26,  the implication here is that believers began gathering together to call upon the name of the LORD. This foreshadows the Church, the Bride of Christ (Revelation 19:7).

There is so much packed into Genesis, chapter four. In it, we find a foreshadowing of Jesus, a martyr, faith, and the foreshadowing of the Church, all hidden in plain sight. Praise God! “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” –  2 Corinthians 1:20

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** No part of this article was produced by artificial intelligence (AI). **

Photo by Walter Chávez on Unsplash

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