Light on the Dark Passages of Scripture. Mark Giszczak

put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gn 3:15, NRSV). This might seem like a mere allusion to the fact that human feet can stomp on ground-bound serpent heads, but many Christian interpreters have seen something far deeper: a promise of a savior. Theologians refer to this passage as the protoevangelium, the first gospel. Yet even after this initial announcement and the punishments that accompanied it, humanity fell back into sin and rebellion against God. He then brings upon the world a fearsome punishment: the Great Flood. However, even in the midst of such a terrifying judgment, his rescue mission moves forward in the hands of his faithful shipwright, Noah. God demonstrates his justice toward humanity through punishment, and he demonstrates his saving love for humanity through Noah.

      As we saw above, justice itself has a salvific component: rescuing those who have suffered under injustice. But God’s justice and his mercy are about bringing salvation. Through his interventions in human history, the Lord demonstrates that he is not merely a judge, but simultaneously a judge and a savior. He promises a savior to Adam and Eve; then he rescues Noah’s family from the Flood. Generations later, after memory of Noah’s covenant with God has faded, the Lord launches his special rescue mission by calling Abraham out of Ur into the Promised Land of Canaan. The Lord asks Abraham to move not because Ur is a bad place, but because God wants to start a new people, make a radical change in the story of humanity, and that all begins with Abraham trusting the Lord by moving from the familiar to the unfamiliar.