14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Having obtained Adam and Eve’s confession, God now addresses each of his children. And yes, that includes his child Satan. God will address each in the order of their offense: Satan first for tempting Eve, Eve second for falling to that temptation, and Adam last for taking the fruit from his wife.

The King James Version of the bible translates the fate of the serpent as having his head “bruised,” but other translations have noted that the Hebrew word used (shuph) is commonly used to say “break” or “crush.” Thus the serpent may snap on man’s heel, but man will outright kill the serpent.

Which is a wonderfully encouraging prophecy from God! Here are Adam and Eve, having been compromised by the devil and are about to be cast out into the fallen world. Their heels have definitely been punctured, but they are being told that in the end they can have the victory over this foe. This prophecy was generally made true when from the ranks of mankind was found a Savior who defeated Satan and offer reclamation to every fallen man and woman.

But this prophecy can also be true of us on an individual level. We may succumb to temptation once, twice, or many times, constantly nipped at the heels by our foe, but each of us retains the hope to overcome. Many the addict has found a power that they didn’t know was in them, crushed their personal viper underfoot, and moved on with a life restored.