In just the first few pages, Scripture reveals itself to be an epic, cosmic tale about the rulership of the heavens and the earth, with the promise of marital drama (Gen 3:16), blessing and curse, political subversion, war, and the battle for cosmic kingship (Gen. 3:15), all held under the watchful eye of Yahweh Almighty.
In the Scriptural metanarrative, both the setting and the characters are key to plot development. And, as might be expected, the first three chapters of Genesis provide the seed form of all the clues that we need in order to grasp the main plot in Scripture.
Setting
As we covered previously, the primary setting of Scripture is the earth because this is where the primary plot conflict will take place. Grasping the setting in Genesis 1-3 is key to understanding the arc of Scripture’s metanarrative. As we progress into the first three chapters of Genesis, the focus of the setting narrows to the Garden of Eden. The Garden was heaven on earth.
And in the Biblical narrative, the humans scarcely seem to have settled in the Garden before they are kicked out of it. Knowing the setting is key to understanding the subsequent plot predicament that runs through the background of the entire Biblical metanarrative. The bond between heaven and earth has been ruptured by sin. Humans are now expelled from heaven (and access to eternal life) as death came through sin (Rom. 5:12). Humans and earth are now separated from the eternal Life-giving space of God’s heaven.
The setting then leads us to the plot:
- How will humans regain access to heaven and eternal life?
- How will the rift between heaven and earth be mended?
Characters
God’s curse to the serpent in Genesis 3:15 is key not only to understanding the characters (as we looked at in Parts 1, 2, and 3) but also to understanding how to read the Bible.
“And I will put hostility between you and between the woman, and between your offspring and between her offspring; he will strike you on the head, and you will strike him on the heel.”
Genesis 3:15 LEB
The primary plot conflict in Scripture will be hostility between the serpent (and his offspring) and the woman’s offspring. Even at the beginning, we already know the outcome. But Genesis 3:15 is not a spoiler. No one goes to a movie expecting the good guys to win and is then disappointed when the good guys do in fact win. The mystery and fun of the movie is in the plot conflict and in discovering exactly how the good guys will overcome the bad guys.
Genesis 3:15 is no different. Since the Scriptural metanarrative is the reality we live in, it’s certainly encouraging to know that the story ends with the serpent’s ultimate defeat. But how the story gets there is cryptic, underhanded, and unsuspecting.
But before we get there, notice that the struggle we are looking for is between humans and the serpent. This is part of the narrative that was formative to the Apostle Paul’s worldview when he wrote that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood” (Eph. 6:12). The true struggle from the beginning was between humans and non-humans. Humans are hostile to each other because they choose to be the serpent’s offspring.
When hostility shows up in the Scriptural narrative (or our own lives for that matter), you can be certain that it is hostility between the serpent and his offspring on one hand and the woman and her offspring on the other. Hostility also shows up when people who are the woman’s offspring (and are supposed to be acting like the woman’s offspring) act like the serpent’s offspring. (This is close to the definition of sin.)
Central to the hostility between humanity (for those who choose to war against the serpent) and the serpent is the battle for the kingship of earth. God created humans to rule the earth (Gen. 1:26-28), including the beasts of the field. Adam and Eve’s first mistake was not eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. It was that they failed to rule over the serpent, who was called a “beast of the field” (Gen. 3:1).
Evidently, the serpent wanted the kingship of earth for himself, so through influence and persuasion, he ruled the rulers through his deception of Eve. (For more on this, see chapter 17 of The Epic Gospel We’ve Forgotten.) By the time of Jesus, Satan (identified by John as the “ancient serpent”—Rev. 12:9) is the ruler of all the kingdoms of the world (Matt. 4:8-9).
And into this world ruled by the serpent enters Jesus–God become human, the offspring of the woman–to confront the serpent’s power and kingship and do for humanity what we could not do for ourselves. It is in the person of Jesus that the ultimate plot twist is unveiled—a twist that was alluded to in bits and pieces in the Old Testament but only finally revealed in Christ.
Up Next: Reading Scripture Like a Novel: Plot, Part 2
Epic Gospel 