«　WEEK 6　DAY 4　»

　　Gen. 2:22 And Jehovah God built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman and brought her to the man.

　　3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed; he will bruise you on the head, but you will bruise him on the heel.

　　God increased Adam with a wife….Eve was not a separate creation, having nothing to do with Adam. Rather, Eve was made from a part of Adam's being, from his rib [Gen. 2:22]. At first Adam was alone. Then God used Adam's rib to bring forth the increase of Adam. The result was a couple to produce a people for the fulfillment of God's purpose. Eve, therefore, is vital and crucial in fulfilling God's purpose. (CWWL, 1982, vol. 2,”The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” p. 136)

　　In Genesis 3 the serpent visited the bride and succeeded in capturing her. Then through the woman he also gained the man. But God is greater, higher, and wiser than the serpent. In His judgment upon the serpent, God indicated that the woman would bring forth a seed to bruise the serpent's head…(v. 15). Furthermore, there is an indication in verse 21 that the seed of the woman would not only bruise the head of the serpent but also become righteousness to the very ones who were poisoned by him:”Jehovah God made coats of skin for Adam and for his wife and clothed them.” These coats of skin typify Christ as righteousness for fallen man.

　　In Adam, the old serpent gained us for himself by biting us. Do you know what it means for the serpent to bite us? It means that he imparts the poison of his nature into us to make us his increase. Through the fall, the entire human race has become the increase of Satan. Do you know what you were before you were saved? You were a part of Satan's increase. No matter what kind of person we were before we were saved, we were all part of the increase of that evil one. When the serpent bit Adam in the garden of Eden, he gained the entire human race, and all mankind became his increase. No doubt, after he had bitten man in Genesis 3, Satan, the old serpent, was happy. He may have laughed and said to himself,”I have gained man for myself. The man created by God has now become my increase.”

　　But the Lord Jesus came to be the bronze serpent. This means that He became sin for us. Second Corinthians 5:21 says,”Him who did not know sin He made sin on our behalf.” Sin came from Satan, entered into man (Rom. 5:12), and made man not only a sinner but sin itself under God's judgment. Hence, when Christ became a man in flesh (John 1:14), He was made sin (not sinful) on our behalf to be judged by God (Rom. 8:3).

　　Christ's death on the cross opened the way for us sinners to believe into Him and receive Him. Now we can receive His life. It was through His redemption that He imparted Himself into us to make us His increase. In this way we who were once the increase of Satan have become the increase of Christ. In the past we were part of Satan's increase, but we praise the Lord that we have become part of the increase of Christ.

　　This story continues until we come to the end of the Bible. In the book of Revelation we have the final word concerning the serpent and the bride. In chapter 19 we see that the bride is ready for the marriage of the Lamb (v. 7). Immediately after the marriage dinner, this universal couple will fight against Satan and his followers, the beast and the false prophet. Then Satan will be bound and cast into the abyss, where he will be imprisoned for a thousand years. Following that, Satan will rebel once more and ultimately will be cast into the lake of fire. Then the universe will be thoroughly cleared up, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth. For eternity there will be a universal couple: Christ as the Husband and the church as His bride. (CWWL, 1982, vol. 2,”The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” pp. 136-139)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1982, vol. 2,”The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” ch. 10