The Cosmic Conspiracy, Part 3
The deception of humanity was successful and the lethal injection of rebellion now coursed through the heart of mankind. Nachash had successfully lured the rightful rulers of the earth into the trap, and now Adam and Eve were hiding in shame and terror of what would happen next. Almighty God, The Judge of the universe, knowing all things, is about to address the trio and render His decision about the ramifications of what just happened.
I will not take the time here to go through all the details of the sentencing except to focus on God’s plan to rectify this seemingly eternal rift between Himself and His beloved humans, and nachash’s present usurped authoritative position on the earth obtained as a result of his extreme cunning. Ultimately, and eternally without a rival, God is still the Creator and the only true authority in the universe. However, in the realm of the earth, the ones created to rule on God’s behalf were now in a death spiral that would eventually lead to the total destruction of humanity, and leave the earth to the corruption of nachash. If left unchecked, planet Earth would serve as a launching pad for rebellion to mount another assault on the Throne.
The closing portion of Genesis 13 sets in motion not only the present sentence on Adam, Eve, and nachash, but also the declaration of the future eternal salvation of humanity and of the destruction of rebellion. God first addresses nachash. This is the portion of scripture that many see as the moment where God turned nachash, the serpent, into nachash the snake. But there is so much more going on here. The language is prophetically symbolic, and is further clarified throughout the scriptures.
To nachash, God said (I am paraphrasing, but being true to the imagery of the Hebrew), Because you have accomplished this, you who said, “I will ascend to the throne of the Most High” (Isa 14) will become the most low. And you, who I created to be the most most beautiful, will now be the most loathed (Ezk. 28). You will eat the dust of the earth, (which is a metaphor for being extremely humbled), even to the point of being lower than the cattle and beasts that crawl on the ground. In essence, nachash is being totally stripped of his position of splendor and majesty and is now humiliated to await final judgement of eternal torment.
The next phase of God's judgment on this heinous crime must have shocked nachash. This angelic being knew enough about the nature of God to know that divine justice must be served. Rebellion in God’s domain meant the death penalty. God did tell Adam and Eve that if they ate of the restricted tree that they would die. Nachash waited to hear the booming crack of the gavel of justice slamming down on the Judge’s bench and the Divine pronouncement of, “Guilty, as charged. Away with you.”
Instead, what God said set in motion was not the damnation of humanity, but the redemption of humanity in the form of a holy war that would ensue the moment all three were cast out of the Garden. Nachash thought it could eliminate humanity and take over the earth, and eventually the universe. Now comes the revelation that billions of humans would be born into the world, and one of them would eventually and ultimately save humanity from the poison of rebellion (sin). This must have sent nachash into a rage of cosmic proportions. God said that this would be the cause of enmity, or pure hostility, and hatred between nachash and all humanity. The war would end one day, however, with one of these human offspring finally and fully crushing the head of nachash for all eternity.
If nachash is ever to have a chance of derailing this Divine plan of Salvation, it would have to find THE human who was to be this prophesied Messiah, or Savior. This would be infinitely more difficult than finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. Nachash must have a plan, and must have help. The moment the gate of the Garden was closed, the ground that they stood upon would be ground zero for a war.
Outside of the Garden, Adam and Eve were under God’s sentence for their rebellion but they were also still under God’s mandate. They were still charged with filling and subduing the earth, except now the task would be much more difficult. Not only would toil, sweat, and human exertion be an ever-present burden, but the constant awareness that this sinister spiritual being, nachash, was always out there in the darkness looking for ways to destroy humanity before the promised seed would be born, kept them in apprehensive fear of this evil.
From this point, scripture unfolds the nature of this war, and the narrative of the ebbs and flows of the brutal and bloody battles that would envelop the earth for millennia. We know from other portions of scripture that Lucifer was able to gather a force of rebellion composed of spiritual beings who were all cast out of Heaven, and were roaming the realms of Earth. So, nachash, who I will now refer to as Satan (meaning the adversary), had a spiritual army to fight this war. He also obtained from Adam and Eve a pseudo-authority on the earth, as he was allowed to move freely, destroying and deceiving as he went. However, if the battle was to be fought on the earth, Satan must also have a human army to manifest his malevolence through, as the earth was the realm of man. Satan’s wicked plan of human annihilation could only be fully prosecuted through creating an army of wicked people who would join the rebellion to dethrone God.
Although Satan was brought low and stripped of his splendor, we are not told that he was stripped of his subtlety and cunning. These would be the tactical weapons used in his war. If Satan could successfully entrap the parents of all humanity, surely it would work on all of their offspring as well. A full frontal assault would be too obvious. Satan would have to train his demonic hordes in the deceptive craft of his war: bait and switch, how to smile to conceal your fangs, how to use the amazing capabilities of the human mind and intellect to develop logic, science and reason to reason away any notion of a loving creator, how to entice and entrap humans through their own lusts and appetites, and the most powerful deception of all, how to convince humans that they are actually gods. Eventually, we would come to call this humanism, which is really a pseudonym for Satanism. What a plan!
In a forthcoming post, we will investigate and expose Satan’s demonic terrorist training campaign. This is the essence of spiritual warfare. For now, we will zero in on the beginning stages of the war by looking at the first battle after the expulsion from the Garden.
Adam and Eve have established life post-paradise, and have at least two children that we know of: Cain and Abel. The narrative exposes the essence of evil that is at work in the 2nd generation of humans in a secret conversation God is having with Cain, the latest target of Satan’s covert war. Cain is becoming obsessed with eliminating his brother, Able, who appears to be pure-hearted and humble before God. Cain appears to be in a violent internal struggle to come to terms with his perception of favoritism. Something evil has gotten into the heart of Cain, and jealousy and frothing envy are at a boiling point.
God pulls Cain aside and gives him a stern warning and an ultimatum regarding a looming, lurking darkness that is closing in on his soul. Here is what is stated: "If you do well, will not [your countenance] be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it." [Gen 4:7 NASB]
Here is the image of the language that God uses: Cain, there is a dark evil lying right outside your door (your heart). It is just lying there desiring you to come and lie down with it. At first read, this could look like a crouching lion waiting to pounce on its prey. However, the language can also portray a scene of lustful temptation, where sin wants to cohabit with Cain, and in so doing, will implant the seed of further sin in the womb of Cain’s heart, that would then be transferred to succeeding generations.
The first depiction points to an obvious, full frontal attack. The second scene portrays a more subtle and insidious temptation scene. I propose to you that Satan’s first go-to plan of attack is always to be subtle, and play the temptress, stirring up the lust that is already in humanity since the Fall. The Apostle James confirms this when he states that all humanity is drawn into sin by the enticement of the lust (strong desires) that are already present in us (James 1:14). In other words, no one is forced to sin- we are enticed, seduced, entangled, and then entrapped. The Apostle John also confirms this when he states that lust is at the root of all sin (1 John 2:16) and Satan knows exactly what lingerie and perfume to use to get us into the bedroom.
If you follow the progression of sin that had been implanted in Cain as it spread through the human population, a horrific and tragic scene unfolds where it seems that a sin pandemic has reached a sepsis point, and it looked like Satan’s plan to destroy humanity before the promised Messiah would be born into the world had succeeded.
Genesis 6 reveals one of the most bizarre and diabolical plans of Satan to totally corrupt humanity. We are told that some of the demonic angelic beings that rebelled along with Satan were actually (able to) cohabit with human women and impregnate them. They gave birth to what history records as “men of renown” or a race of giants, and demi-gods. Are you kidding me? This is too weird to believe! This portion of scripture has been hotly debated and rigorously studied. In the end, all of the language evidence in scripture, and in Ancient Near East historical writings, concur that something rings true of this made-for-science fiction tale.
The result of actually impregnating the DNA of demonic rebellion into humanity was a human race that was at war with itself. History records a society ravaged with STDs of every kind, and murder, and extreme acts of violence through human sacrifice was rampant. If the plague was not halted, mankind would be destroyed. The genetic seed of man, created in the image of God, was now marred beyond repair. God issued this report from the courts of Heaven: “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen. 6:5)
In God’s sovereign wisdom and mercy, He had to put an end to the disease by purging the earth through the flood. An honest reading of the account displays a broken-hearted God having no recourse but to cut out all of humanity that had been infected beyond healing. In the end, there was only one man and his family that somehow had not fallen victim to the toxic rebellion: Noah.
If there was ever a dark day in the history of humanity, this was it. It looked as if God had all but lost to Satan and his demon armies. Surely, God would concede if only one seed of righteousness remained to work with. Satan could now set his sights on the Throne, having now conquered the earth. If that was the end of the story, we would not be here right now. So, no matter the odds, God’s plan remains the same. He will save humanity and bring the earth back under His Lordship. And to be sure, as long as God’s plan of salvation is progressing forward, Satan will be in hot pursuit of the human seed that would come into the world to render Satan powerless and cast him and his hordes into eternal torment.
In the next post we will survey the landscape of biblical history and uncover the cosmic conspiracy as it is working behind the scenes through human agents that had sold out to the rebellion. The names and faces change, but the campaign of human annihilation remains the same. So, stay tuned, and tune in...
by Pastor Jim Anan
Elevate Church