The First Human War

The First Human War

3/15/16

Has anyone ever thought about this concept before and where it originated in human society?  And has anyone ever understood its potential and how it affects the rest of humanity once it has been established?  The Bible talks about wars many times and describes some pretty gruesome settings, but according to one verse, this is not the type of war that we are supposed to be fighting.  So, what exactly type of human war are we supposed to fight?  Scriptures are clear about the origins of war and how they are to be fought but when we ignore these origins the inevitable occurs, bloodshed.  God does not intend for His children to shed their own blood and once we realize the truth behind this concept hopefully we will turn our focus on the real warmonger and not ourselves.  Until we realize that the first human war was lost before humanity realized what was going on, our senseless bloodshed shall only serve one kingdom.

Being in the military, I had the opportunity to sit in on a few war preparation and strategy sessions during my tenure and at that time, I was mesmerized at how fluently those men and women were at tactical groundwork that would prove battlefield logic to be a failure or genius level.  I also found that when disagreements were present the junior strategists were generally put into their place and even though their ideas might have changed the outcome of the battle, the debriefing patterns clearly showed that the higher ups “won the day”.  I have to admit that some of those study sessions got my blood going and even anxious to be a part of the fight even though the sessions were all cast into a "pretend setting" and only designed to challenge military logic and response.

The origins of war do not reside within the physical side of our existence, but the spiritual side.  It is the spiritual war that originated before our creation that dictates many of our physical wars of today and our yesterdays.  It is imperative that we completely, thoroughly understand and grasp Ephesians 6:12 when it talks about the origins of the origins of our fight.  And until we reach this accomplishment, we shall continue to waste not only precious human lives but fight for an unending quest that will result in useless conquests that will one day ride away.

Throughout history mankind has sought to dominate each other with armies and navies that had the potential of destroying any foreign invader, these forces also have provided states, countries and nations to be the aggressors as well.  When we read about these fights and wars it is difficult to seek out exactly what has occurred because the majority of the readers have not been involved in combat experiences so the tones become deaf to many of the accuracies that were encountered during that time. What mankind can do to each other has the potential to be horrendous at times and what would one expect to transpire when we are the only beings that have the capability and the ability to kill from a distance; this potential really places us in a unique position.

The ideal concept of humanity would state that no bitterness or fighting should ever arise amongst neighbors but when you place reality into the mix of things this state cannot exist.  The cost of wars and divisions that lead to these situations are deadly and insurrection not only national governments but individual ones as well, no one goes unaffected by a war or fighting, for all are involved indirectly or directly.  This type of situation leads us to ask how did these situations arise and when did they become so important that it leads to devastating bloodshed?  The answer is clear but many have missed it as time has rolled along, myself included in this manner.

As God has explained to us before the origins of war presented itself when Lucifer made the choice to leave heaven and try to act as God.  So in this sense, it is reasonable that he should carry his divisional tactics to those who he deems necessary targets and while it took a while for God to create the perfect beings in a perfect setting, they proved to be the ideal targets for such an unholy commission.  Yes, Adam and Eve are the first set of humans that give us the concepts of war amongst each other and they also provide an excellent example of what we can expect to occur down the road within our families as a result of this turmoil.

In Genesis Chapter 3 we see that the serpent is already in conversation with Eve and it is one that has history with it because they are conversing about a law of God that is in place and it would not seem right for an initial conversation to be drawn on such a topic, unless a relationship has already been established.  The next question that one should ask is this: where is Adam? He is not mentioned in this portion of Scripture and one has to question why Eve did not inform him of what was transpiring?  I am sure that Adam was doing something else within the Garden confines but it is easy for one to conclude that he was busy enough not to have noticed exactly what was going on at that moment.

What led to this type of setting being played out?  It is recorded that Eve knew about God’s law about the fruit of the tree and that she should not eat of it.  But when we figure into the equation Eve's lie concerning the tree and its fruit, it brings into play a certain foundation that must have been present within her argument to the serpent.  What would a spouse do if he hears her / his husband or wife speak a falsity against the owner of a property?  Would not the spouse contend that what was being spoken was incorrect and try their best to correct the misstatement?  One would assume this to be so unless there was already some type of division among the ones involved.

Scriptures record that Eve took the fruit from the tree after she saw that it was good to eat and then ate of the fruit.  Then gave it to Adam to eat and he did eat.  Adam must have saw that nothing immediate occurred to Eve when she ate of the fruit so instead of stating that God had commanded not to eat of it, he freely took the fruit and ate it as well.  It was at this point when both of them ate of the fruit that their eyes were opened and they knew that they had done wrong.  This may not seem like an important statement but in fact, it has a huge implication in their lives and our lives today, for the pattern of division remains intact as that day in the Garden of Eden.

It is a known fact that Adam and Eve were created as one and operated solely on this truth.  It makes sense that Eve would turn to her husband and wish for him to eat after she did because Adam was her other half.  If this is the case then it also means that some type of division had already been initiated between these two people concerning the legality and severity of what God had commanded them to do.  It is a logical thing to act upon and it fits right into line with how a human would think about, question and then act upon according to their curiosity and progressive nature.  I find it very interesting that Adam and Eve both worked in the Garden of Eden together yet only one at a time ate from the tree.  This action alone represents the individual will power of choice and it is clear that Eve took her choice to the next level, first.  This is representative of a division and if a division has occurred then that means some type of disagreement (war) had to have occurred between the two.  It is clear that at this point in their existence both had failed to keep in mind that their battle was first spiritual and not physical.

It is clear that God and the two individuals had regular conversations, for it states so in the Bible.  I can only imagine of what they discussed but I do know that it was not about fun and games all the time because God had a responsibility to teach Adam and Eve exactly what was going on around them.  While their living quarters and bodies enjoyed perfect matrimony God understood that His enemy was lurking about and trying his best to further the war between him and God.  The perfect targets had been created and were ripe for harvest and it was not too much longer that the seeds were sown and the fruit itself was being presented for the taking.  The war had been initiated and had been accomplishing its task in Adam and Eve and the fall was not too far ahead.

There is no way possible that God did not include in their conversations topics such as Lucifer and what his initiatives were; God is a complete God and He would have included this subject in order to be whole.  The entire point of human warfare and division originates in the spirit not in the flesh and while God knew that things were already rolling in this manner in the Garden Adam and Eve refused to address it or at least, take it seriously enough to install godly measures against the serpent’s presence. It was the presence of the serpent that brought on the curiosity of Adam and Eve and instead of taking care of the intruder as they should have they allowed it into the Garden of Eden where he was then allowed to have free reign of the place; the first spiritual warfare example.

I am sure at first the serpent must have stayed out of sight and then slowly interjected himself into their eyes, and it was at this point that Adam and Eve should have taken care of their business, yet they did not and the war was on.  One must wonder that after the serpent made his presence known how much discussion went on between Adam and Eve concerning the serpent, but whatever conversations they had it is clear that he was allowed to stay and to have direct access to both people; again, spiritual warfare that was not identified and thus left to grow into the physical.  It is possible to see what actually tried to transpire in heaven when Lucifer tried his best to outduel God, testing Him and daring Him to react with his plan.  The plan that Lucifer had in heaven did not pan out so well, but this setting even though the stakes were the same had a different playing field and different "contestants". 

We must take into consideration that this setting between Adam and Eve is the defining moment of where their eyesight and vision presents enough evidence of division that one can formulate that a broken existence was indeed known.  We must also understand that while this is the first time that we can take heed to a division amongst God’s prized creations, it is not the origin of this situation for that to Adam and Eve should have known about because I am 100% positive that God did not leave this detail out through His numerous conversations with Adam and Eve.  What is so amazing to me is that I see the exact same pattern in this passage that I see and or read about every day as well; nothing has changed self-rules the day instead of God.

It is the legacy of this first human war that we continue to witness unfold and it does not matter if we look at the Middle East or our individual lives, it all stems from the same initiative, self.  The next perfect lineage root that we have comes from Adam and Eve’s two sons, and their story is well versed within our minds for it displays a certain definitive human action that has eternal implications for everyone.  The story of Cain and Abel is famous for its content but many times the true lineage and generational complications are ignored or not even understood and with this misunderstanding the world is allowed to gain a foothold that will eventually follow through with its pattern unless we change the course that is legally binding.

Adam and Eve were the only people to know what it meant to live on perfect terms through the spirit first – more about this in a while.  It was through their own choices that brought forth a new lifestyle and living condition for everyone who followed.  It was their war that began the patterns of secession from God according to personal choices and the follow through of this pattern is displayed through two of their sons.  It is clear that both Cain and Abel were taught about the covenant sacrifice procedures and the meanings as to why this act was completed, for the Bible states that both of them performed this act when it was time.

We all know that the sacrificial ceremony was supposed to originate from the heart and that the pattern of such ceremony was to be taken seriously and completed in a certain manner.  A hap-hazard style or gift honoring God was not acceptable to God and since Abel had given a blood sacrifice according to what God had demonstrated to Adam and Eve right before they were told to leave the Garden of Eden had been acknowledged to the boys at some point in their previous lives.  There is no doubt that both of the boys were hard workers and that they understood that their work had to be completed in order for them to complete their day, but it is the servitude of their hearts and the obedience to God’s laws that God was watching and wanting from those who performed this sacred act of covering.  God authorized the works of man for a specific purpose but in NO way did He authorize these works as the covering symbol for the atonement of sin.

It is through these works that we see the direct lineage of the first human war, for not only was it through the bloodline of Adam and Eve but it literally spilled over into the spiritual hearts when the sacrificial offerings were presented; tragically, for both the animal that Abel sacrificed and for the blood of Abel that was shed as well.  The division that Adam and Eve had when sin entered into our lives was demonstrated at the point of the sacrificial offering of Cain and Abel, this was not the origin of this war but the fruits thereof and it had boiled over enough to ignite a murder of the one who wished to do what was right in the eyes of God; do you see the reality of the world versus God in this picture?

My wife and I are currently watching a few series on television that deal with different wars.  One series deals with the American Civil War, another series deals with World War I, a further one deals with World War II and a fourth one deals with another view of World War I.  All four of these series are intense and have special meaning for each story told within the contents of each series. I have always found war intriguing and one can justify my longings of this magnitude with my enlistment into the USAF back in the 1980s.  From all of these series that we are watching, my mind runs wild with all of the different angles that can be explored, but in every conclusion that I draw there is one common theme that stands far above the rest and that is the total and complete destruction of mankind before, during and after the time of war.  Even though defensive tactics are a must at times this type of warfare is included and has to be reached and agreed upon before a truce can be reached.

We can spend centuries studying each minor and major conflict that has ever afflicted mankind, but until we grasp the concept that war begins on the spiritual side of our existence all of our attempts to eradicate this type of human activity shall be futile.  It is the spiritual side of mankind that begins wars and that origin strictly comes from our eternal enemy whose sole goal is to rid us of existence at all costs, and what better way to accomplish this goal by extenuating killing of the physical.  There is no room for God in our lives, we have made this very clear over the recent historical patterns but until we return His ways to our spiritual lives we might as well get used to the bloodshed from the first human war.

DLB