The Seed Wars

July 20

Read: Genesis 3

The Seed Wars

“The LORD God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

cursed are you above all livestock

and above all beasts of the field;

on your belly you shall go,

and dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.” (Gen. 3:14,15)

We don’t often think of it, but Satan has “offspring” in this world… literally called “seed” here in the text. From the very beginning of time, God has shown us the relationship that will exist between his creation that is made in his image (humankind) and those “offspring” who come from Satan (the serpent). That relationship is one of “enmity”… two “offsprings” or “seeds” which are at war with one another. The Lord shows us the ultimate outcome: “ (the offspring of Eve) shall bruise your head, and you (Satan) shall bruise his heel.” This is the war that is being waged around us today… this is the “seed war” as some have put it.

My friend Josh Warren was the first person to mention this idea to me. I had looked over this passage so many times, and it had escaped me just how poignant this “curse” truly was in regards to the spiritual battle that is being waged around us today. The “seed wars” have not stopped, but in fact have continued on from the garden of Eden until right now today. I have a feeling that we won’t truly grasp the “scheme’s of the enemy” nor will we avoid them until we embrace just how far Satan will go to “bruise the heel” of the “offspring of Eve”.

How is it that we know this is Satan and not simply a serpent? Is this just a matter of humans not liking snakes? Revelation 12:7-9 says this:

“Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

You see, Satan is the “ancient serpent of old” and the one who is called the “deceiver of the entire world”. Where else would the deception of the entire world have taken place if not in the garden? What other deception has touched every human’s life no matter what? That is original sin… the curse from the fall of humanity… the greatest of all deceptions. The devil / Satan is that serpent. He has been AT WAR with God and God’s creation from before our human timeline began. His initial battles were against Michael, and now his war has expanded to campaigns against humanity… those creatures made in God’s image… humans (cf. Gen. 1:26)

The prophet’s of old affirm this truth, that it was Satan in the garden. Read Ezekiel 28:11-19 and you will find a stunning description of the “fallen angel” that God sent out after his rebellion. Ezekiel 28:13 says: “You were in Eden, the garden of God”. This places Satan (the fallen angel formerly known as Lucifer) in the garden. Satan was present in the body of the serpent that deceived Eve.

And so the “seed wars” began. Satan fired that opening shot in the garden and his “offspring” or “seed” have been at war with image-bearing humans ever since. Satan is actively seeking to “bruise the heel” of humanity. Just how he does this will be our topic for the next few days, but for now I want to leave us with this reality.

There are forces at work in this world that represent the “seed of Satan”. Satan has “offspring” in this world. There is a concerted effort to attack and dismantle the “seed of Eve”. Some of the most destructive forces unleashed against humanity are advocated for and carried out by Satan’s offspring. In the same way that the serpent was co-opted and utilized to deceive Eve, so are humans being co-opted and manipulated to destroy other humans. At the moment these people become complicit, they become the “seed of Satan”. We cannot fathom how truly corrupt, evil, and dark these offspring are… and they are among us. People laugh at / dismiss the notion that there are Satanic forces at work all around us. They think it is “conspiratorial” to claim that anyone would want to destroy humanity… I guess the idea of the “seed wars” is just a biblical conspiracy then! Jesus came to smash the “serpent”. He has come to “crush the head” of the evil one. He is doing this in us and through us. We are talking about the literal redemption of humanity! This is why Jesus Christ came in the flesh - God incarnate / fully human and fully God - to destroy the enemy and establish the Kingdom of God. He had to be the “seed of Eve” (a human) to fulfill the prophecy of God from Genesis 3. These are the seed wars. More to come.