Again:—
Draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer. Are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood? (lvii. 3, 4).
And again, speaking of the "serpent" or "dragon," who is there called Lucifer:—
Thou art cast out of thy sepulchre like an abominable shoot, because thou hast corrupted thy land, thou hast slain thy people; the seed of evil doers shall not be called to eternity (xiv. 19, 20).
255. That the "seed of the woman" signifies faith in the Lord, is evident from the signification of "woman" as being the church, whose "seed" is nothing but faith, for it is from faith in the Lord that the church is called the church. In Malachi, faith is called the "seed of God:"—
Jehovah hath witnessed between thee and the wife of thy youth (adolescentiarum); and not one hath done so who had a residue of the spirit; and wherefore one, seeking the seed of God? but observe ye in your spirit, lest he deal treacherously against the wife of thy youth (ii. 14, 15).
In this passage the "wife of youth" is the Ancient and Most Ancient Churches, of whose "seed" (or faith) the prophet speaks. In Isaiah also, in reference to the church:—
I will pour waters upon the thirsty, and floods upon the dry; I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring (xliv. 3).
In the Revelation:—
The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, who were keeping the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (xii. 17).
And in David:—
I have made a covenant with Mine elect, I have sworn unto David My servant, even to eternity will I establish thy seed, and his seed will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of the heavens; his seed shall endure to eternity, and his throne as the sun before me (Ps. lxxxix. 3, 4, 29, 36),
where by "David" is meant the Lord; by "throne," His kingdom; by the "sun," love; and by "seed," faith.
256. Not only is faith, but also the Lord Himself is called the "seed of the woman," both because He alone gives faith, and thus is faith, and because He was pleased to be born, and
