Seed Wars - Lesson 03
by Steve Wittmann
The Stratagems of Satan
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The Stratagems of Satan
The dictionary defines “stratagems” as:
- A military maneuver designed to deceive or surprise an enemy.
- A clever, often underhanded scheme for achieving an objective.
The Angelic Incursion & the Birth of the Nephilim – Gen 3:15 (4000 BC)
Gen 6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
Gen 6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
Gen 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
The angelic incursion is one of three main points of contention among Bible scholars. The other two points are the Nephilim or giants and the purpose of the flood in Genesis chapter six.
All those details fit inside two packages, one package is called the Angelic View and the other package is called the Sethite View. The Angelic View interprets Genesis 6:2 as fallen angles who took daughters of men as wives. The Sethite View believes that the wives were taken by the sons of Seth and not angels. For the purpose of considering how Gen 6:1-4 fits into the Seed Wars, we will follow the viewpoint of the Angelic View during this lesson.
The Incursion (4000 BC)
The word “incursion” means “an aggressive entrance into foreign territory; a raid or invasion.” Was the arrival of angels as some understand “the sons of God” to mean an actual invasion? In considering this, let’s focus on four points:
- If it was an invasion, who ordered it?
- Who carried out the order?
- What was the objective of the invasion?
- What was the effect of the invasion?
Extra Biblical Texts
In our lesson on hermeneutics, we learned the value of considering knowledge known to the writer and/or considered common or understood. In keeping with that, we will consider the viewpoint of several historical and non-biblical texts. Those texts are:
- Septuagint – LXX
- Flavious Josephus – The Book of Antiquities (The History of the Jewish People)
- The book of Jasher
- The book of Enoch
- The book of Jubilees
Sam’s Shirt (Illustration)
Bible students need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit when considering historical or non-canonized text. Your final decision to accept or reject historical or non-biblical text must come from the Spirit of Truth who leads you into all Truth.
Canon Referenced Texts
In canonized scripture there are no less than eight verses that either reference or directly quote extra-biblical text. They are:
- Jude 1:14-15 quotes the book of Enoch.
- 2 Peter 1:20-21 quotes the book of Enoch.
- Joshua 10:13 quotes the book of Jasher
- 2 Sa 1:18 quotes the book of Jasher
- Romans 2:29, 4:13, 4:23, and 9:24 all quote the book of Jubilees
When considering non-biblical texts, proceed with caution. Be aware that the enemy desires you to misunderstand God’s word and without due diligence, will seize such an opportunity to lead you astray.
The Angelic Incursion
In researching this topic, I found that nearly all references were biblical commentary. A biblical commentary is a teaching as seen through the eyes and understanding of the teacher. Many very biblically solid teachings are commentaries; however one must consider the credibility of the source.
After considering several interpretations by leading and respected bible scholars as well as considering the events as depicted in non-biblical texts through my own reading and research, here is my consolidated summary of all those sources.
A group of fallen angels called “watchers”, a class of angel found in canonized scripture, left their heavenly realm and took a fleshly form upon the earth (detailed by canonized scripture). There were 200 watcher angles in all, divided into 20 groups of 10, each having their own leader called a “chief-of-ten”.
The leader of all 200 was an angel called Azazel who is referenced in canonized scripture. The watchers made a pact to carry out their sinful plan knowing it would bring the fullness of God’s wrath. This part reminds me of a Kamakazi mission.
They Took Wives
These watchers then took human women and procreated with them producing offspring later known as Nephilim. The Nephilim had an insatiable appetite to sin and consume the resources of the earth. The watchers also taught men forbidden knowledge such as charms, enchantments, metallurgy for the making of weapons, astrology, fortunetelling by the position of the sun, moon, and constellations, and even how to kill embryos while it was still in the womb which we know today as abortion.
There are several references calling these fallen angels “the lawless ones.”
The “great sin” these lawless ones committed, that nearly “devoured mankind” by corrupting all flesh, is in line with what God declares in Genesis 6:12…
Gen 6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
In view of the Seed Wars, the sins that corrupted “all flesh” was a major offensive against the bloodline of Christ, but why would the flesh be corrupted and how does that effect the bloodline?
Remember from lesson one that God declared all species would reproduce after their own kind, but the offspring of a fallen angel and a human woman is not a species reproducing its own kind. This is a mixing of seed – the seed of the fallen angel is mixed with the seed of man rendering a contaminated bloodline – a genetic line that is no longer pure. If this contaminated bloodline should seep into the bloodline of the Messiah, Christ could not be born.
Satan was trying to contaminate the bloodline of the Messiah with his own seed, and obviously Christ could never be born of Satan’s seed or of a contaminated bloodline that was an abomination of God’s design.
Remember, this is Satan’s first response to the Seed Wars – the enmity God put between Satan and the woman, who is Israel or God’s people. This is Satan’s first response to the curse God put on him in Genesis 3:14-15.
Four Questions
- Question #1 – Who Ordered the Invasion?
- Question #2 – Who Carried Out the Order?
- Question #3 – What Was the Objective of the Invasion?
- Question #4 – What Was the Effect of the Invasion?
Gen 6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die.
Cain Kills Able (3000 BC)
As we saw in Lesson 1, the Seed Wars began with Genesis 3:15 when God put enmity between Satan’s seed and the woman’s seed. Now, in the very next chapter, we find a battle between the seeds when Cain kills Abel.
Gen 4:6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7 “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 4:8 Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
Gen 4:9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
Gen 4:10 He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground.
Notice when God confronts Cain, God asks the exact question He asked Eve at the fall, “What have you done?” and just like Eve, Cain denies responsibility.
God tells Cain “sin is crouching at your door,” in verse seven knowing that Satan desired to destroy the woman’s seed and as we all know, Abel became the first fatality of the Seed Wars.
The Replacement Seed
Gen 4:25 And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore a son, and called his name Seth, saying, For God has raised up to me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
All Flesh is Corrupted (2500 BC)
The flood happened around 2500 BC. As we’ve already seen, the flood was God’s response to Satan’s invasion that corrupted all flesh and nearly destroyed man.
Gen 6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
Tower of Babel (2100 BC)
The Tower of Babel is found in Genesis 11:1-9.
Gen 11:1 Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words.
Gen 11:2 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
Gen 11:3 They said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
Gen 11:4 They said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."
Gen 11:5 The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
Gen 11:6 The LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.
Gen 11:7 “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another's speech."
Gen 11:8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.
Gen 11:9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.
Why a Tower?
Look at verse 11:4 and notice the preposition. The tower wasn’t meant to simply reach heaven, but rather its purpose was to reach into heaven.
Gen 11:4 They said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."
The Populating of Canaan – Gen 12:6 (2090 BC)
Around 2090 BC, though it appears as a quiet period in history, Satan used this time to repopulate and build the seven nations of Canaan, which God later sent His people to destroy as stated in Acts 13:19.
Act 13:19 "When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance"--all of which took about four hundred and fifty years.
Who were the seven nations of Canaan? We find that in Gen 10:15-20.
Gen 10:15 Canaan became the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth
Gen 10:16 and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite
Gen 10:17 and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite
Gen 10:18 and the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite; and afterward the families of the Canaanite were spread abroad.
Gen 10:19 The territory of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
Gen 10:20 These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, by their nations.
It's interesting to note, that not all of the Land Of Canann tribes were destroyed. The few that survived can be traced to the land now called Gaza, where the inhabitants are now known as Palistinians.
Abraham’s Seed – Gen 12, 20 (2090 BC)
In Genesis 12:11-14 We see Abram fear for his life and instruct his wife Sarai to lie and claim she is Abram’s sister so Abram may escape death. Abram was a link in the bloodline from Adam to Christ. In view of the Seed Wars, breaking the bloodline would have prevented Christ from redeeming man and the dominion.
Destruction of Male Line – Exo 1:22 (1539 BC)
In Exodus chapter one we see yet another attempt to end the bloodline.
Around 1539 BC, a new king came to power in Egypt. Seeing the sons of Israel continue to grow in numbers worried the new king as he feared the Israelites joining forces with his enemies for they were great in number.
The king ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill all the male births.
Exo 1:15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah;
Exo 1:16 and he said, "When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."
The midwives refused to obey the king and received God’s favor for their faithfulness.
Then the king decreed that all male births were to be thrown into the Nile river.
Exo 1:22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive."
Pharaoh’s Pursuit – Exo 14 (1446 BC)
Moses parts the Red Sea and the Israelites escape from Egypt under the pursuit of the Pharaoh’s army.
Had God not worked His miracle through Moses and parted the sea, the Israelites could have been wiped out having been cornered between the Pharaoh’s army and the sea severing the bloodline between Adam and Jesus, chalking up a victory for Satan in the Seed Wars.
Against the Line of David – 2 Sam 7 (852-474 BC)
- Jehoram kills his brother – 2 Chr 21 (852 BC)
- Arabians slew all but Ahazariah
- Athaliah kills all but Joash – 2 Chr 22 (841 BC)
- Hezekiah assaulted, etc – Isa 36,38 (712 BC)
- Haman’s Attempts to wipe out the Jews – Est 3 (474 BC)
Daniel’s Interpretation – Dan 2 (604 BC)
In the book of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that only Daniel is able to interpret. The dream is prophetic and speaks of kingdoms and ages yet to come.
In the dream, King Nebuchadnezzar saw an image of a man with a head of gold, a breast of silver, thighs of brass, legs of iron, and feet of a mix of iron and clay.
It is accepted interpretation to understand the head of gold to represent the Babylonian Empire, the breast of silver to represent the Persian Empire, the thighs of brass to represent the Greek Empire, the legs of iron to represent the Roman Empire, and feet of iron and clay to represent a divided empire of many nations.
The verse describing the feet of iron and clay tells us something profound concerning the Seed Wars.
Dan 2:43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
While many scholars will interpret Dan 2:43 as “divided nations” of a second Roman Empire, a careful examination of this verse reveals another meaning. Notice the phrase, “they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men.” The verb mingle is very specific and means that the pronoun they must be something other than men in order to mingle their seed with the seed of man. This verse is telling us that something non-human will mix its seed with Humanity.
Herod attempts to Kill the Messiah – (4 BC)
In Matthew chapter two we see another attack in the Seed Wars. This time, King Herod tries to kill the newborn Christ child.
Mat 2:13 Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him."
Enraged Crowd Tries to Kill Jesus – Luke 4:29 (27 AD)
In the fourth chapter of Luke we find another battle in the Seed Wars. This time an enraged crowd tries to throw Jesus off a cliff, however, if we back up and take the full chapter into perspective, we find an interesting detail.
Luke chapter four opens with Jesus being led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by Satan. Between verses 4:3 and 4:12, Satan tempts Jesus three times. It’s not until verse 4:13 do we learn something about Satan’s battle strategy.
Luk 4:13 When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.
Notice the phrase “until an opportune time.” I suggest that “opportune time” arrived just 15 verses later where Satan is able to play off the “rage” of the people in an effort to kill Jesus by throwing Him off a cliff.
Two Supernatural Storms at Sea – (28 AD)
Luk 8:22 Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side of the lake." So they launched out.
Luk 8:23 But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger.
Luk 8:24 They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm.
Luk 8:25 And He said to them, "Where is your faith?" They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, "Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?"
Remember the First Rule of Interpretation? Discover the author’s point-of-view.
Peter, Andrew, James, and John were fishermen by trade. They knew the seas and they knew how to handle a boat. You take four experienced fisherman and throw a gust of wind at them, even a sudden storm and they’re not going to panic and fear death. No, there was something unusual about the sudden storm in these verses - something supernatural.
Notice in verse 8:24, Jesus rebukes the wind instead of commanding it. Here is the Creator who spoke the wind into existence, so why not simply command the wind? Why is there a need to rebuke it?
By following the rules of hermeneutics we learned in lesson two, we can gain an understanding of the word rebuke by looking at other occurrences of the word.
The 8 Rebukes of Jesus:
- Mark 1:29-30 Jesus rebukes a high fever
- Luke 4:40-41 – Jesus rebukes demons
- Mat 8:26 – Jesus rebukes the elements (wind & waves)
- Mark 4.39; Luke 8.24 – Again Jesus rebukes the elements
- Matthew 16.23; Mark 8.33 – Rebukes Satan
- Matthew 17.18; Mark 9.25-27; Luke 9.42b – Jesus rebukes a deaf & mute spirit
- Luke 9.54-55 – Jesus rebukes James & John
- Mark 16.14 – Rebukes His disciples for lack of faith
At least half or more of the times Jesus rebukes something or someone, He is rebuking a spiritual condition such as demons, illness, Satan, and spirits.
Considering the point-of-view of the writer and the nature of rebuking spiritual sources, the sudden storm at sea may have been an attack in the Seed Wars to kill Jesus and the “opportune time” the devil was waiting on in Luk 4:13.
The Cross (30 AD)
Jesus’ victory on the cross was Satan’s defeat.
When Jesus declared His work on the cross perfect and complete, He ended the Seed Wars. Through Christ, man can be reborn of incorruptible seed.
Though defeated, Satan took off to continue his war against the seed of the woman.
Revelation Chapter 12
In Revelation chapter 12 we see the big conclusion to the Seed Wars. Paraphrased, the woman clothed with the sun is the nation of Israel who births the Messiah. A war ensues and the dragon of old is defeated and goes off to make war with her offspring, her seed, those reborn through Christ.
Rev 12:17 So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
