\ The venerable Dr. Harry Eainy — in his old age, a picturesque and familiar figure in the streets of Glasgow with his Highland
1 James Yaughan.
GENESIS III. 8, 9 87
plaid, his snow-white hair and his furrowed face — died loved and honoured. In his last years he had a beautiful gentleness of spirit, and, regarding this, his son, Principal Rainy, in one of his delightful hours of reminiscence, told me an incident which, though it has a sacred privacy about it, I shall venture to repeat. Old Professor Rainy had one night a strange dream. He dreamt that he was holding converse with some August Personage, and gradually it became clear that This was none other than the Holy Spirit of God. The Divine Spirit seemed to be speaking of the means which would make His human auditor a holy man. God had used mercy and also discipline and yet it all had been insufficient. " The only thing," so the Tran- scendent Speaker seemed to say, " is that you should be brought to realize more clearly how miich God loves you." And from that time — "you may make of it what you will," said the Principal — his father had a peace and joy he never had before.^
' P. 0. Simpson, The Lift of Principal Jtainy, i. 306.
The Conflict of the Ages.
Literature.
Arnold (T.), Sermons, vi. 9.
Amot (W.), The Anchor of the Soul, 68.
Banks (L. A.), The King's Stewards, 274.
„ The World's Childhood, 337, 350.
Barron (D.), Rays of Messiah's Glory, 265, Brooks (P.), Seeking Life, 277.
„ Twenty Sermons, 93.
Campbell (R. J.), Thursday Mornings at the City Temple, 30. Gibson (J. M.), The Ages before Moses, 98. Glover (R.), By the Waters of Babylon, 218. Hall (C. R.), Advent to Whitsun-Day, 90. How (W. W.), Plain Words, ii. 64. Kuegele (F.), Country Sermons, i. 9. Leathes (S.), Truth and Life, 14. Macgregor (W. M.), Some of God's Ministries, 11. Maclaren (A.), Expositioru : Genesis. Milligan (Q.), in Great Texts of the Old Testament, 267. Nicoll ("V* , R.), The Garden of Nuts, 221. Parker (J.), Studies in Texts, vi. 166. Pressens^ (E. de), The Redeemer, 1. Robinson (S.), Discowse* of Redemption, 57. Spurgeon (C. H.), Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, ixii. No. 1326ii Steere (E.), Notes of Sermons, No. 24. Vaughan (C. J.), Christ the Light of the World, 112.
„ Family Prayer and Sermon Book, i. 148.
„ (J.), Sffrmons (Brighton Pulpit), xi. No. 873. Winterbotham (R.), Sermons and Expositions, 8. Young (D. T.), The Enthusiasm of God, 79. Christian World Pulpit, xxix. 154 (Leathes). Clergyman's Magazine, 3rd Ser,, i. 110 (Leathes).
The Conflict of the Ages.
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.— Gen. iii. 15.
1. This passage is known as the Protevangelium or earliest QospeL It has obtained this name because of the promise contained in the words, " It shall bruise thy head." The meaning of the words in the original is a little uncertain, but if we take the translation of the Authorized and Eevised Versions we have the metaphor of a man crushing a serpent with his foot and a serpent fastening its teeth in a man's heel. The crushing of the head is more than the biting of the heel ; and thus is found in the passage the good news of God that Christ will trample Satan under foot and gain a complete victory over him, although He Himself may be wounded in the struggle.
2. The merely literal explanation of the verse clearly does not exhaust its meaning. There is something more in the words \ than a declaration that the human race will always view with '■■ feelings of instinctive aversion the serpent race. There is something more than a prediction that mankind will be able to assert superiority over this reptile foe among the beasts of the field. We need not doubt that, whichever of the alternative renderings of the verb be preferred, the underlying thought is that of a spiritual conflict between the race of man and the influences of temptation, between humanity with its gift of choice and the Principle of Evil which ever suggests the satisfaction of the lower desires. But, in addition to this main thought, a twofold encouragement is given to nerve man for the fray. He is en- dowed with capacities enabling him, if he will use them, to inflict a deadly blow upon the adversary. He stands erect, he is made in the image of God. Furthermore, the promise of ultimate victory is assured to him. How it is to be effected is not explained
92 THE CONFLICT OF THE AGES
in the context. Both Jewish and Christian interpretation have given to the promise the significance of a Messianic prediction. From the time of Irenseus (170 a.d.) " the seed of the woman " has been understood in the Christian Church as an allusion to a personal Messiah. Calvin, followed by the majority of the Eeformers, explained the words in a more general sense, regarding " the seed of the woman " as the descendants of the first woman, but yet as those from among whom, according to the flesh, the Messiah should come.
3. The most prominent note in the passage is not that of final victory but of the long-continued struggle. Christ will gain the victory and the victory will be ours in Him ; but before that, there is the conflict with the serpent which every man is expected to take his part in. It is a conflict that is to be carried on throughout all the ages until Christ comes, and even after Christ has come and won the victory the conflict continues. Every man upon this earth must face temptation, and win his battle. The difi'erence is that, whereas before Christ came all that man had to sustain him in the conflict was the promise of victory through a coming conqueror, in Christ the promise has been turned into a fact, and in order to gain the victory a man has now only to identify himself with Christ by faith.