The ‘Seed’ – God’s Kingdom

The Start of the ‘Mystery of God’

If a person doesn’t accept and trust in the whole message of the Bible – from the Paradise in Edem (Eden) through the Revelation – he or she can never understand its promises, because these promises are all closely connected and interrelated. Take for example the first prophecy in the Bible, which is found at Genesis 3:15, for this is where God’s promise of a Kingdom begins. It’s where God foretold the results of the first sin – Adam and Eue’s (Eve’s) eating the forbidden fruit. And there He addressed the snake that was being manipulated by the Opposer (Satan), within earshot of Adam, Eve, and all of God’s messengers (angels) who were listening. He said, ‘I will create hatred between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will watch for your head and you will watch for his heel.’

So, notice that God told the snake (the Opposer) that he would produce ‘a seed,’ and that ‘the woman’ would produce ‘a seed.’ Also, the two seeds would hate each other, and the woman’s seed would be ‘watching’ to step on the snake’s head. So, the first Divine Mystery (gr. mysterion) is: Who would the woman and the two seeds prove to be?

Many have assumed that the woman was Eve, since she appeared to be the only woman present at the time. And for a fact, she would eventually bring forth the seed through her human descendants. However, there appears to be something greater implied here than just Eve.

Clues to the Kingdom and the Seed

We find the first clue as to who the woman’s seed would be in God’s promise to Abraham, as found at Genesis 22:17, 18, where we read, ‘I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand on the sea shore. Your seed will inherit the cities of their enemies and all the nations of the earth will be blest by your seed, because you’ve listened to My voice.’

So, here was a ‘seed’ that was to change the world.

And thereafter, the same promise of a seed was given to Abraham’s son Isaac, and then to Jacob. Then, centuries later, we see that the promise of a seed is tied to the Kingdom. This is indicated through God’s words to Moses regarding the opportunity that was held out to the children of Israel. Notice what we are told regarding this at Exodus 19:5, 6, where we read, ‘Now, if you will listen to what I tell you and keep My Sacred Agreement, you’ll be a special people to Me that will be higher than all other nations, because the whole earth is Mine. You will become a holy nation and My royal priesthood’ (gr. basaleion hierateuma, or, Kingdom Priests).

So, since the children of Israel were literally the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they had the first opportunity to be ‘the seed of the woman.’ However, time and again Israel proved unfaithful by breaking their Sacred Agreement with God and by rejecting and even killing those whom He had sent to them, so they lost that privilege as a group. But, because the promise was made to their forefathers, the primary seed was still to come through them.

There are numerous other places throughout the Bible where this seed is further identified and clarified, for any promises to Israel (and later to the Christian Congregation), or regarding the Kingdom, have to do with the fulfillment of the first prophecy in the Paradise of Delights (Eden).

One of the most important prophecies having to do with the identification of the woman’s seed, is the promise that was given to faithful King David. For at 2 Samuel 7:12-16, we read, ‘[It will be] after your days are finished and you’ve gone to sleep with your ancestors, that I will raise up your seed after you – someone who has come from within you – and I will prepare his kingdom. Then He will build Me a House to My Name, and I will make his throne stand through the ages… I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. Then if he acts unrighteously, I will discipline him with the type of switch that men use, and spank him the same way that the sons of men do. But I will never remove My mercy from him in the same way that I’ve removed My mercy from others. Rather, his house and his kingdom will stand before Me through the ages, and his throne will last through the ages.’

So, here we learn that the ‘seed’ and the Kingdom would come through the family line of David.

The ‘Seed’ the ‘Anointed One’

Whom did this ‘seed of David’ prove to be? Although Solomon appears to be the specific seed mentioned at 2 Samuel 7, the ultimate seed proved to be Jesus. And he was a descendant (or seed) of David, as is shown in the genealogies found in Matthew Chapter One and Luke Chapter Three. And notice that Paul wrote (at Romans 1:3, 4) that he (Jesus) ‘came in the flesh from the seed of David, and proved to be God’s Son in a powerful way, when he (by the Holy Breath [of God]) was resurrected from the dead.’

But we might ask: Was he also the primary seed of Abraham? Yes, for we are told at Galatians 3:16, ‘Now, the promises were given to Abraham and his seed. It doesn’t say, to his seeds, as though there were many of them, but just one, to your seed, who is the Anointed One.’

Then, was he also to be the king of God’s Kingdom? Yes, for notice what Jesus testified to in front of Pontius Pilate, as recorded at John 18:36, ‘So Jesus replied, My Kingdom isn’t from this world. Why, if my Kingdom were from this world, my followers would likely have fought so I wouldn’t be handed over to the Judeans. But my Kingdom isn’t from here.’

Therefore, it isn’t surprising that the main topic of Jesus’ preaching while he was on the earth was this Kingdom. In fact, it was the only thing Jesus told his Apostles to preach about, for notice what he said at Matthew 10:7, ‘[You may each] go your own way, but as you go, preach The Kingdom of the Heavens is near.’

But, wasn’t Jesus’ Kingdom already there and ‘within them,’ as some Bibles quote him as saying (at Luke 17:21)? Well, yes and no, for his rulership hadn’t begun yet. In fact, it wasn’t to begin until ‘the Lord’s Day,’ as we will discuss later. However, he (the king of that Kingdom) was there among them, and what he was telling them was that they also had the opportunity to become kings in that Kingdom… to become ‘a royal Priesthood.’

Others of the ‘Seed’ Who Are Kings

That there were to be others who are the seed of Genesis 3:16, the seed of Abraham, and the seed of David, is clearly pointed out by what Paul wrote at Galatians 3:28, 29: ‘So, there aren’t any Jews or Greeks, slaves or freemen, males or females; because you’re all one in the Anointed Jesus. And if you’re [part] of the Anointed One, you’re really the seed of Abraham and heirs of the promise!’

So, all of Jesus’ faithful disciples are that seed. All? Yes, that’s what Paul wrote… for the hope of being part of the seed wasn’t just offered to a special few among his followers. Rather, in order for the promise to Abraham to be fulfilled in them (‘I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand on the sea shore’), they literally have to become a large crowd, as did the earthly inhabitants of Israel.

But, doesn’t the rest of the prophecy to Abraham, that ‘all the nations of the earth will be blest’ by this seed, mean that they are a limited number? Not necessarily, for ‘the nations’ or ‘the ethnics’ in prophesy seem to picture all who aren’t included among the Israel of God. For more information, see the linked document, Jerusalem and ‘the Israel of God’.

Then, in what sense will spiritual Israel become kings in the Kingdom? In a very literal sense, which is in line with the promise that God gave to Moses… that this seed would become a ‘holy nation’ and a ‘royal priesthood.’ However, it appears as though some will receive their reward as kings in heaven, and some will do so as kings on earth. For more information, see the linked document, God’s Promise of an Inheritance.

When Does the Kingdom Begin?

It is at Revelation 12:1-12 that we find the answer to when God’s Kingdom would begin. For, in verses 1 and 2 we read: ‘Then a great sign appeared in heaven. There was a woman who had the sun wrapped around her, the moon was under her feet, on her head was a crown of twelve stars, and she was pregnant. She was screaming in her labor and agony to give birth.’

Notice that this seems to be a description of the ‘woman’ described in the prophecy at Genesis 3:15, for she is about to give birth and produce a seed. Also, notice that this woman is in heaven, so she is someone other than the first woman Eve. Nor is she Mary (the mother of Jesus), for Mary could not have been resurrected yet, since the resurrection is described as happening much later in the prophecies of Revelation.

So, our conclusion is that this woman is ‘the Jerusalem above,’ which Paul described to other Christians at Galatians 4:26 as being ‘our mother.’ And she appears to represent the entire body of God’s faithful messengers in heaven who were watching and listening to that first prophecy which God spoke to Adam, Eve, and the Opposer in Eden.

Continuing at Revelation 12:3, 4, we read: ‘Then another sign appeared in heaven. {Look!} There was a huge fire-red dragon with seven heads and ten horns. On its heads were seven royal turbans. It was dragging a third of the stars of heaven with its tail, and it threw them down to the earth. This dragon was standing in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she had her baby, he could eat it.’

Now, a dragon in mythology is usually described as snake with legs (which may have been very much like the snake in Eden), and throughout the Bible that term is used to describe the Opposer, Slanderer, or BeelZebub (see the Note Dragon). And notice that he has also produced a seed, ‘a third of the stars (or messengers) of heaven,’ which he dragss down to the earth.

Thereafter, in verses 5 and 6, we read: ‘Then she gave birth to a son, a male, who is going to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was snatched away to God and to His throne. Then the woman escaped into the desert to a place that God had prepared for her, where she would be fed for a thousand two hundred and sixty days.’

Who was this son? The easy conclusion is that the son that was born to the woman was Jesus. However, Jesus wasn’t born in heaven, rather, his Kingdom was (as we will find out later). So, the seed of the woman of Genesis apparently wasn’t a person, but God’s Kingdom through Jesus (the primary seed and king of that Kingdom).

Then verses 7 through 9 tell us: ‘Next, war broke out in heaven. Michael and his messengers went to war against the dragon. The dragon and his messengers fought back, but he lost and could no longer stay in heaven. So, the huge dragon was thrown out. He is the first snake, the one who is called the Slanderer and Opposer, who is leading the whole earth astray. He was thrown down to the earth along with his messengers.’

The easy conclusion here is that this description is speaking of something that happened ages ago, for most people believe that the Slanderer and his demons have been living in and stoking the fires of hell, not living in heaven. However, this is a myth that was started in the ancient religion of Greece (for more information, see the linked document, Is there a Burning Hell?).’ For, if you read the Bible book of Job, you’ll see that the Opposer has always had access to God in the heavens.

Notice that verses 10 and 11 of Revelation 12 go on to tell us: ‘Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, This is the moment when the salvation, the power, the Kingdom of our God, and the authorization of his Anointed One begins, because the one who has been accusing our brothers has been thrown down… the one who has been complaining about them day and night in front of our God!’

So, the Kingdom of God begins after the battle in heaven is won. And when is that? Verse 12 tells us, ‘This is why the heavens and those who live there should be joyful! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the Slanderer has come down to you in a rage, [because he] knows that he only has a short time left.’

So, when the Kingdom begins it will be signaled by a terrible time of ‘woe’ on the earth… woes such as we would expect to see in the ‘last days,’ in ‘the Lord’s Day,’ and in the time when the four horsemen begin their ride!

Are We Living in the Last Days?

Notice that when the Kingdom begins in heaven, it doesn’t mark a good time for the people on the earth, but bad times. For when the Slanderer and his messengers lose the battle there, the time of ‘woe to the earth’ begins. Did that Kingdom begin in heaven around the time of World War One, as some have concluded? It could have, but it would be wrong to be dogmatic on this. Others feel that this casting of the Slanderer and his messengers out of heaven is something yet to come, and when it happens that will start the great time of difficulty (tribulation).

Of course, people have been saying their generation was the one that would see the fulfillment of these prophecies for centuries. Why, many First-Century Christians believed that the Kingdom was coming in their time. And in Europe, Christians thought they were surely living in the last days during such things as the invasion of the Huns, the times of plague, the Napoleonic wars, and many other such difficult times. However, several other prophecies have come together in our time to indicate that we could now be living in the period of ‘woe’ for the earth. For information on why this could be so, see the linked document, Armageddon – When?

Then, when will that for which Jesus taught his Apostles to pray (at Matthew 6:9, 10) – for God’s Will to be done on earth as it is in heaven – be fulfilled? We suspect that it will be soon.

The Kingdom No Longer a Mystery

So as you can see, the mystery of who ‘the woman’ of Genesis 3:16 would prove to be, and who her ‘seed’ and the seed of the snake would prove to be, has (after almost 6,000 years) been unraveled by the last writings of the Bible and by world events. Although Eve was for a fact a woman through whom God’s seed came to be (as was true of many other women, both faithful and unfaithful), the woman of the prophecy appears to be ‘Jerusalem above,’ which consists of all God’s faithful messengers who are helping to bring about about God’s Kingdom.

As you can see, the woman’s seed appears not to be a person, but the Kingdom. However, the primary seed is Jesus, because it’s his Kingdom! And as all governments require administrators and local governors, it appears as though the Kingdom of Jesus will have many who are appointed to positions of rulership both in heaven and on the earth… people that will already have proven themselves righteous and trustworthy.

Then who are the snake’s seed? Well, we’ve already read of how he will draw ‘a third of the stars of heaven’ with him, possibly indicating that many of God’s former messengers have joined the Slanderer in his rebellion against God. And there are humans who also qualify as his seed, for notice what Jesus told a certain crowd of Judeans at John 8:44: ‘You are from your father the Slanderer and you want to do whatever your father wishes. He was a murderer from the start. He didn’t stick with the truth, because truth isn’t in him.’

So, it is our hope that the Battle of Armageddon will soon bring an end to all those kingdoms and their supporters, who will choose to stand in opposition to the rulership of Jesus, his true Disciples, and his Kingdom (for more information, see the linked document, The Mark of the Beast). Then only that Kingdom will rule the earth by means of Jesus and his chosen righteous judges, kings, and Priests.

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