by Jerry Ousley
The Great Conflict
Part 2 – The First Three Battles
Genesis 4, 6, 11
We are addressing the Great Conflict, which is the greatest of all conflicts this world has ever witnessed. We have had conflicts between man (which are ultimately parts of the great conflict as well) that have been considered to be great and terrible wars. But the conflict, or war, between God and Satan is much greater in magnitude than any conflict man could ever have because it just doesn’t end physical life, but our spiritual life (although even unregenerated man will continue on after death, instead of experiencing never-ending life, he will experience never-ending death – much worse than physical death).
After the fall of Adam and Eve, the conflict only got worse. The first three battles we want to address are the conflict between Cain and Abel, the attempt to mongrelize mankind and the attempt to defy God after the flood (the flood itself is also part of the Great Conflict but we will save that for a more complete study later).
In Genesis 4 we read of the conflict between Cain and Abel. It was in essence an attempt to destroy the seed of the woman (Who is ultimately Jesus Christ) in the very beginning. If you remember God had said that “The serpent would bruise the heel of the seed of the woman but then he would crush the head of the serpent.” (Genesis 3:15). The Bible doesn’t say this, but I believe that the devil completely understood the plan of God. If he could destroy the seed of the woman at the start then perhaps Christ could never crush his head.
And so, he attacked the very sacrifices the sons of Adam and Eve brought to God. Abel tended flocks and so when the time came to offer a sacrifice to God, he brought the best of his livestock and offered it as a burnt offering. Cain, on the other hand, was a gardener. This was no less important than the job of Abel. Fruit and vegetables were just as important as the wool of the sheep and the meat it also provided. And so, Abel brought a sacrifice of the best of his crops. However, God honored the sacrifice of Abel and did not honor the sacrifice of Cain. Many have tried to say that it was because Abel offered a blood sacrifice. The lamb had to give up its life in order to appease God. But the truth of why God honored Abel and not Cain is found in God’s response to Cain in Genesis 4:7. God told Cain, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” It was not the lack of blood in Cain’s offering that didn’t please God; rather it was the sin (most likely of pride and jealousy) in Cain’s life that was not accepted.
Instead of following God’s advice, we are told that Cain gave in to his sin and later found Abel alone and murdered him. Because of his action Cain was given a mark and cast out of the family of Adam. But the devil’s attempt was thwarted when God gave Adam and Eve another son to replace Abel, namely Seth.
This attack from Satan did not work. The next attack against God through man took place when the devil attempted to mongrelize mankind. We are told in Genesis 6 1-7 where the “sons of God” came down to the daughters of men. Okay, so we are going to go into a short Hebrew language lesson here; the original Hebrew says e-aleim bni which is interpreted “the sons of God.” We know from the teaching of scripture that Christ is the only begotten offspring of God. The meaning is those offspringing, or coming from God. When the devil rebelled against God and was cast out of Heaven, we are told that one third of the angels followed him and became demons. They are fallen angels (see Revelation 12:1-6 which gives the account of the war in Heaven followed by the Dragon (the devil) being cast out and drawing with him one third of the stars or angels).
These demonic beings were ordered by the devil to inter-marry with the daughters of men which resulted in the race of giants – deformed men from these unholy unions. As a result, the world grew more and more wicked until God repented of ever making man and decided to destroy them all. Only Noah and his family, along with enough animals to repopulate the Earth were saved.
The final attempt we want to discuss today took place after the flood and the world was repopulated. Men united in the land of Shinar and decided to ensure that God could not destroy them again by a flood (note that God had already told them that He would not do this – But they didn’t trust God. Instead, they defied God). So, they began to build a tower with the intention of building it so high that they could escape another flood. They all had one language and God came down (that is significant by the way. Regardless how high man may go God will always come down. Man can never reach God on his own) and caused them to begin speaking other languages. They couldn’t understand one another and so they had to stop building and the tower was aptly called “The Tower of Babel” because their communication was turned to babel.
The lesson from all these is that the devil will never overcome God. Our Heavenly Father will always win in the end. These were just the beginning of attempts to defeat God by using His very crown creation – us. But if we will obey our Lord instead of trying to work around Him, we will win in the end along with Him.
. . . To be continued . . .
Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ïSoul Challengeï, ïSoul Journeyï, ïOrdealï, ïThe Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ïThe Shoe Tree.ï Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.
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