In the very beginning was a kingdom, the kingdom of God. His kingdom had a Queen, the mother of the King of kings, for without a Queen mother, the kingdom of God won’t be complete. She is clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and she had a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was created to be the mother of all, the mother of those who believe in her Son the King of kings (JESUS CHRIST). Her name is Mary the mother of Jesus Christ. See Revelation 12: 1-6.
In God’s kingdom were all kinds of Angels and creatures created by Him. He created the angels to exercise free will, in other words, they were created to make decisions without the influence of anybody except theirs. Of all the Angels and creatures created, God made satan the ruling prince of the celestial order. He ruled over the seraphim, cherubim, powers and archangels. In some senses, he was like the second in command after GOD.
Like the saying goes, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. As time passes by, satan grew more in greed for power, pride and envy. Like the meaning of his name “the accuser”, he accuses his fellow Angels in God’s presence in order to gain more favour from God which he never had because he had been completely favoured according to God’s wisdom. He accuses falsely but God who is all knowing, knew his intent. Even those whom he was right about their fault or mistake if at all there was any, was shown mercy by God. Satan thought this character of God (being merciful) to be God’s weakness and that after all God is not all knowing because if He was all knowing, He would have known about the faults and mistakes of other Angels and as such punish them. But God being highly merciful over looked their faults or mistakes and from thence on, he plotted to overthrow God.
Satan’s anger, greed for power, pride and jealousy grew even more when he discovered in the Divine plan that a kingdom will be created on earth starting from the garden of Eden and will be ruled by the son of god as king, with Angels at his service. His anger, greed, pride and jealousy consumed him after this discovery to the point that he thought himself a better ruler or king than God his creator and as such convinced himself that he could overthrow God.
Satan began his plot against God by campaigning for support, deceiving other Angels and creatures, telling them that God intends to make them serve man, whom was made of clay. He filled them with pride instead of humility. They failed to understand that the greatest is the one who serves as it was written in God’s word. See Mark 9: 35. Also they failed to enquire from God for a better understanding; instead they acted according to their freewill.
However, satan managed to win over to his side a third of all the Angels and creatures created by god. While he was on campaign drive deceiving his fellow angels, he made other plans to prevent the manifestation of God’s will, in other words, he worked against God’s will, doing his instead. He chose to reject God as his creator.
God who was fully aware of all that was going on still went ahead with His Divine plan. He created the heavens and the earth. While God’s creation was going on, satan was busy working against it.
On the third day of God’s creation on earth, He planted trees that bear fruits with seeds in them, according to their various kinds. God looked and saw that they were all good. See Genesis 1: 11-13.
At night fall, satan paid visit to the site where God was preparing a garden for man and planted his own seed also at the center of the garden where God had planted the seed of the tree of life. After planting his, he left to carry out other evil plans of his.
At this point, let me ask you a question: who do you think planted the seed of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? GOD/Satan?
To be able to answer the above question properly, we need to read what Jesus taught about the kingdom of heaven thus:
The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. The servants asked him, ‘do you want us to go and pull them up?’
‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters first collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned, then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” (Matthew 13: 24-30 NIV)
From the above parable, we could deduce that satan was responsible for planting the seed of the knowledge of good and evil. To explain this further, let us read Genesis 1: 11-13, 29 and 2: 9.
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food…”
And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
God who is loving and merciful created all kinds of trees, trees bearing fruits with seeds in them. He checked after creating and found out that what He created was good. Also a tree bearing fruit with seed in it symbolizes reproduction, that is, God created all kinds of trees bearing fruits with seeds in them so that they will continue to produce more trees of their kind, bearing fruits with seed in them throughout the generations. However, a tree whose fruits are seedless is a temporary tree, with time it will cease to exist.
If it was God who planted the seed of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, why will He contradict Himself after saying that all the trees he planted was good for food and later commanding and telling Adam that he was free to eat from any tree in the garden but he shouldn’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when he eats of it, he will surely die? If this is the case, then God would no longer be a perfect God because He had made a mistake in creating what wasn’t good for food, after saying in Genesis 1: 29, that: every seed bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it would be as food for us. But since God is perfect, this boils down to the fact that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil wasn’t planted by God because its fruit was seedless and therefore not good for food. Please read Genesis 1: 29 and 2: 9 carefully.
Obviously, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was only pleasing to the eyes but wasn’t good for food because its fruit was seedless and can’t reproduce which symbolizes “death”. If it was good, God wouldn’t have singled it out as bad. God categorically stated the difference between the trees He planted and the tree that was planted by the enemy, when He told Adam and Eve that they are free to eat of every seed-bearing plant and of every tree that has fruit, with seed in it. Since Adam and Eve can’t eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, it therefore means that its fruit is not with seed in it and its seedless fruit means death.
Now, who do you think planted the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? I believe you are finally convinced that it was planted by satan and not God. Read Matthew 13: 35-43.
THE BATTLE IN HEAVEN
After he had planted the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he left to continue his campaign for support and conspired to overthrow God.
Satan was able to deceive a third of all the angels and creatures created by God. In numbers, they were estimated to be 133,306,668 angels according to the Bishop of Tusculum (C. 1273), and this was reaffirmed by Alphonso de Spina (C. 1460) during the 15th century.
Having deceived a large number of angels, he felt that over throwing God would be possible. With large support of angels on his side, he engaged the armies of God, led by Archangel Michael.
The battle in heaven was so severe and bloody that even satan and his angels were defeated and he was captured.
Satan had the last opportunity to obtain divine mercy from god who is rich in love and mercy, when he was brought before god for judgment, but he blew it away, out of pride.
When judgment commenced, all the angels who witnessed the misdeeds of satan, including those he approached but refused to join his army of rebels were summoned to testify. They testified and satan was found guilty of every accusations. He was asked to prove his innocence of the charges against him. Knowing fully well that he was guilty of all the charges and that if he accepts his fault and pleads for mercy, it will be shown to him but he would lose his position as part of the punishments to serve. See
Matthew 5: 19. Instead of humbling himself, accepting defeat and plead for forgiveness, he proudly chose to deny all the accusations and claimed to be innocent.
His denial and claim to be innocent, prompted series of questions which he couldn’t defend like: “if you are innocent, why did you wage war against the heavenly throne?” satan replied, “I expected that I would be attacked and arrested.” Then he was asked another thus: “how can somebody who is innocent be anticipating attack and arrest?” this question made him dumb for some minutes. At this point, he blew every chance of gaining divine mercy because he allowed his pride to overwhelm him and he began to curse, threaten and blaspheme.
When satan was through with his cursing, threatening and blaspheming, then came God’s verdict which states that satan will be banished from His kingdom and towards the end of days, he will be chained and locked up in Abyss for a thousand years, then he will be thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where he will be tormented day and night forever and ever. At this, satan and his angels were hurled to the earth. They lost their place in God’s kingdom forever.
The earth and the sea became satan’s new home. Filled with fury because he had only a short period of time to accomplish his evil intentions, he wasted no time at all. He immediately paid visit to the Garden at Eden, to see if his plan had worked. He knew that if man should eat from his tree, he would gain control over man and the earth.
When he got to the Garden at Eden, he discovered to his greatest disappointment that Adam and Eve had not eaten from his tree. He knew because God’s covering was still on them. He paused for a while pondering within: “why haven’t Adam and Eve eaten from my tree yet? May be God told them not to eat from it.” With these thoughts, he planned on how to make Adam and Eve eat his fruit.
Satan was a clever being; he made use of his knowledge of the account of creation. He knew that Eve was created weaker than Adam, and then he reasoned that it would be easier to deceive the woman than the man. He began to monitor her movement till the time Eve was suddenly walking towards the center of the Garden. Immediately he noticed that she was approaching the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he entered the serpent. Before this, he had thought it to be wise that it would be easier to believe someone whom had been known than a total stranger, for he was a stranger and that was why he used the serpent.
After he had entered the serpent which is large enough in size to cover a tree, he stood between the tree of life and the tree of death. He covered the tree of life with the size of the serpent to prevent Eve from seeing the fruits of the tree of life, and then he asked Eve, in order to clear any doubt, if God actually told them not to eat from his tree.
After exchanging greetings, he asked: “Did God truly say, ‘you must not eat from any tree in the Garden’?” see Genesis 3: 1. Unsuspecting Eve thought that she was discussing with a member of the fold and wanting to put God’s instruction right, promptly answered the serpent thus: “we may eat fruit from any tree in the Garden but actually, God told us not to eat the fruit of this tree or even touch it; that when we do, we will surely die.” Read Genesis 3: 2-3.
Indeed, satan suspected that God was behind their refusal to eat from his tree, though he wanted to know exactly what God told them which deterred them for quite a while, that was why he started by asking if God actually told them not to eat from any tree in the Garden. Remember, God told them that surely they would die if they should eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
So, at the answer of Eve, he smiled disarmingly, then in a more re-assuring tone, he seriously told Eve: “surely you will not die, for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like Him, knowing good and evil.” This implies that God is a liar, God is not sincere and God is scared of having rival, in other words, that God is never who they think He is and that the only way to find out if these facts are true is by eating from the tree which God forbids.
Considering the statements of the serpent, Eve for the first time, began to admire the tree. She noticed that the fruit was pleasing to the eyes and felt that it could be good for food; also she desired to gain wisdom. She began to ponder within herself “how can a tree as beautiful as this cause death? After all, death could be something bad. But God Himself acknowledged that everything He created was good!” Eve never knew that there was an enemy (satan) seeking their downfall, even if she knew, satan pretended to be a friend.
Her pondering became so obvious that she was in a dilemma. Immediately satan noticed it, he plucked a fruit from the tree and ate in order to clear her of any doubt. At this point, Eve decided to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Eve didn’t eat one but more than one fruit because the taste was sweet. During this time, the consequence of Eve’s action had not dawned on her. She beckoned on Adam her husband to come so she could tell him her latest discovery.
When Adam approached her, he noticed that his wife was holding the fruit of the forbidden tree, suddenly his voice screamed out in fear as he asked his wife: “Are those not the fruits of the forbidden tree which you are holding?” “Truly they are the fruits of the forbidden tree!” replied Eve. She said further: “take these, they are yours, I have eaten mine, and I found out truly that it was good for food.”
Adam was not concerned much about whether the fruit of the forbidden tree was good for food or not, what occupied his thoughts more was what God told them about the tree. At the moment, what God told them about the tree re-echoed in his ears. But looking at his wife, he noticed that she changed in facial appearance, voice and behaviour. Then he thought within himself: “but she did not experience anything bad, how come? It seems the fruit is really good after all!” finally, he gave in and ate all that was given to him by Eve.
Immediately Adam finished eating, their eyes opened. For the first time, they realized that they were naked. Their nakedness was an ugly sight to behold, so they made covering for themselves using fig leaves. Read Genesis 3: 7.
There are three Eras as regards the battle between good and evil on earth, they include:
1. The era of God the Father: this era was characterized mainly of physical battles between flesh and flesh, with the use of physical weapons but having spiritual implication.
2. The era of God the Son: this era was characterized mainly of spiritual battles between man and the devil, using spiritual weapons.
3. The era of God the Holy Spirit: this era is characterized of both physical and spiritual battles between the offspring of Jesus Christ and the offspring of satan.
The fall of man marked the beginning of the battle between good and evil on earth.
God knowing fully well that Adam and Eve had eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, came down to them. When they heard the sound of His footsteps, they ran away and hid from the LORD God. The LORD God called Adam, but Adam replied in the negative that he cannot heed God’s call because he was naked and afraid. God asked him: “who told you that you are naked? Did you eat the fruit of the tree I forbid you not to eat from?” see Genesis 3: 11. Adam replied putting the blame on Eve: “it was the woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruits from the tree, and I ate it.” Genesis 3: 12.
Then the LORD God said to the woman: “why did you give to Adam the fruit of the forbidden tree to eat?” Eve replied, shifting the blame to the serpent: “the serpent tricked me, and I ate the fruit.” Genesis 3: 13.
The LORD God turned to the serpent and said: “you will be punished for this; you alone of all the animals must bear this curse: from today on you will crawl on your belly, and you will have to eat dust as long as you live. I will put enmity between you and the woman, her offspring and your offspring will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring’s heel”
The above pronouncement of God on the serpent (satan) marked the beginning of the battle between good and evil on earth. Also in the same pronouncement, God fore told His helping hand in the incarnation and redemption of His Son Jesus Christ, who will always defeat satan and the victory of those who will believe in His Son Jesus Christ.
The woman and the man weren’t left without their own punishment. To the woman, God said: “I will greatly increase your pains in child bearing, with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” And to the man, God said: “because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, you must not eat of it; cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken, for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3: 16-19.
Whenever we sin against or disobey God, there is always a consequence. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree and the following was the result:
We have seen the consequences of disobeying God’s will which many of us still suffers today especially the unbelievers. Directly or indirectly, every sin has its consequence and the consequences are painful, ugly and sorrowful. Therefore, it is wise to trust and obey God for there is no other way to happiness except to trust and obey God. Read Deuteronomy 28.
Now let us look at the three Eras in the Bible.
There are three major eras in the bible which includes:
1. The era of God the Father
2. The era of God the Son and
3. The era of God the Holy Spirit.
Let us take them one at a time:
The era of God the Father is characterized mainly of physicality, that is the battle between good and evil is fought between man and his fellow man. It involves the use of physical war weapons and armours but having its spiritual implications. We will take a look at some bible passages to further explain this:
The valley was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah tried to run away from the battle, they fell into the pits, but the other three kings escaped to the mountains. The four kings took everything in Sodom and Gomorrah, including the food, and went away. Lot, Abram’s nephew, was living in Sodom, so they took him and all his possessions.
When Abram heard that his nephew had been captured, he called together all the fighting men in his camp, 318 in all, and pursued the four kings all the way to Dan. There he divided his men into groups, attacked the enemy by night, and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus, and recovered the loot that had been taken. He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other prisoners. (Genesis 14: 10-12, 14-16 TEV)
Now, lets explain it from a spiritual perspective: we all know that Abraham was right before God, he obeyed God in all things. If we like Abraham should obey God and do His will at all times, we will be able to do battle with little effort at the enemy’s camp and victory will always be ours because we obeyed and did the will of the Alpha and the Omega (God who is the beginning and the end).
Just like Abraham gathered 318 trained men born in his household to attack four kings and their armies, we will gather the spiritual armours and weapons provided to us by God and do battle at the enemy’s camp.
After Abraham had defeated the four kings, he recovered and restored all the stolen goods to those who own them and brought back his relative Lot and his possession, together with the women and the other people. Same thing applies in our spiritual lives when we are right in God’s sight, we will defeat our enemies, free our fellow brothers and sisters from captivity and restore all their spiritual and material blessings stolen from them by the enemy.
Remember, to be victorious at all times means to always trust, obey and do God’s will. Let us see a situation where by we disobey God:
But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and drain away your life. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies, those who hate you will rule over you and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you. (Leviticus 26: 14-17 NIV)
Whenever the Israelites sinned or disobeyed God, He abandoned them and as such, they were left exposed to their enemies (other neighbouring nations) who took advantage of their fall. Their enemies would battle them and defeat them, taking them into captivity to become slaves, also their properties or possessions are lost to their enemies.
It is only by God’s love and mercy that they are saved, especially when they cried to the LORD for help. Same happens to us when we sinned against God. Know it today that we are God’s temples and that He dwells in us. When we sin, He would abandon us because we are unclean and as such, we would be left exposed to the enemies who come in to torment us by bringing untold hardship upon us. They steal our blessing, possessions or properties and then we fall under their control and rule as slaves. Read 1 Samuel 15: 10-11 and 16: 14, 1 Corinthians 3: 16-17 and 2 Corinthians 6: 16-17. But if we stick to God, obeying all His commands, no harm will befall us (Psalm 91: 9-10).
It is wise that we ask for forgiveness immediately we fall so that our
Sorrows won’t be multiplied, see Leviticus 26: 18-39. If we humble ourselves before Him and confess our sins, God who is rich in love and mercy will listen and set us free. See Leviticus 26: 40-43 and Ezekiel 18: 21-23.
The following bible references are more examples of physical battles during the era of God the Father:
One common thing among the three biblical eras is that they promise something very special, something of great benefit to all. The era of God the Father promised us a Saviour, a mighty warrior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit (the Helper and Comforter). Read Isaiah 7: 14,