This prophecy confirms that a maiden from the tribe of Judah, and from the family of David will give birth to the promised Messiah. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.» He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. But he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide. The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, A spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD. Isaiah 11, 1-5 - «But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. Isaiah reveals more about this son of the virgin. God reiterates that He will bring a Messiah revealing for the first time that he will be the son of a young maiden: “the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.” The word used here for virgin is almah (a maiden or young woman). Isaiah 7, 10-14 - «Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.» The enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed or progeny of the original serpent continues until the time of the end as it is shown in Saint John’s vision of the Apocalypse, in Revelation 11, 19 to 12, 6. It does not say, ‘And to descendants,’ as referring to many, but as referring to one, ‘And to your descendant,’ who is Christ.” This is explained by Saint Paul in Galatians 3, 16: “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his descendant. That seed is Christ, who comes to the world through Mary. The seed of the woman is also the seed of Abraham, the father of all the faithful. In this small verse we find the first sign of the Gospel’s promise.
She is the one who is going to bring the divine punishment upon the father of the “brood of vipers” (Matthew 12, 34) those whom Jesus refers to as “sons of your father, the Devil” (John 8, 44). When the Hebrew scholars of ancient times translated this verse into the Greek language, they used the word gunai (woman, lady). She is the one who will inflict a mortal wound on the head of the original serpent. In Genesis 3, 15 we find the first prophecy about Mary.
Genesis 3, 15 - «I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.» In the Old Testament we read about Our Blessed Mother in the prophecies and prophetic models used by God to teach us about her qualities. The Bible relates the story of the Virgin Mary in both the Old and the New Testament.
The young maiden announced in the prophecy of Isaiah delivered the Blessed Son, Emmanuel, God with us. That mystery was finally unveiled the first Christmas in Bethlehem. Both the Messiah and his Mother were a mystery for many, many centuries. This meditation shows how the Old Testament gradually reveals the many qualities of the woman mentioned in Genesis 3:15. This is a good time for a simple meditation on the many women of God who prefigured the perfection of the Mother of the Redeemer.