The Outbreak Of War In The Human Realm

“THE OUTBREAK OF WAR IN THE HUMAN REALM”

(with commentary from “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu”

Genesis 3.1-5

We are living through the collapse of a civilization. As the ancient world knew a Pax Romana[1] in the Mediterranean region during, and for centuries after, the time of Christ, that enabled the spread of the Gospel, so has the world experienced a 19th century Pax Britannia.[2] Since World War Two, the world has experienced a Pax Americana[3] that made worldwide missionary activity in the 19th century and the latter half of the 20th century possible. I greatly fear we are about to witness its ending. Crucial to the end of Pax Americana (the relative worldwide peace made possible by the overwhelming cultural, economical, and military dominance of the United States of America) has been the gradual destruction of American institutions and western values from within.

Though some are involved in a valiant effort to stem the tide and roll back the damage caused by the termites who are boring through our culture’s foundations, they ultimately misread spiritual issues as solvable by political means. They are mistaken. Nothing less than a heaven-sent revival will do. And until, if God sends a revival of such a nature as the Protestant Reformation and the First Great Awakening, not only is our culture doomed but our way of life will be destroyed. This is a spiritual matter.

Would anyone here challenge my assertion that the Word of God teaches that there is a state of war existing between God and Satan and that Christians are involved in this warfare? Notice, I did not ask if you believe a state of war in the spiritual realm exists. I asked if you believe the Bible teaches a state of war in the spiritual realm exists. I framed the question in that way because I’m not sure very many Christians think they’re caught up in a spiritual war. They know the Bible teaches it, but I am not sure they believe it regardless of what the Bible teaches. What makes me say that? Look at how they live.

To help drive home the point, allow me to remind you of things you have no doubt seen in the Bible. In Second Timothy 2.3-4, the Apostle Paul wrote,

3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

“Warreth.”

“Chosen to be a soldier” of Jesus Christ.

What do soldiers do? They fight wars.

In Second Corinthians 10.3-5, Paul wrote,

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

“War.”

“Weapons.”

“Warfare.”

“Strong holds.”

“Captivity.”

Those are certainly words associated with war.

Then there is the passage most familiar to Bible readers regarding spiritual warfare, Ephesians 6.10-17:

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

This passage deals with a Christian’s spiritual combat and equipment used in the pursuit of war.

Lest you think the Apostle Paul had a unique fixation on the spiritual struggle as war, listen to what the Apostle Peter wrote in First Peter 5.8-9:

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

“Sober.”

“Vigilant.”

“Adversary.”

“Roaring lion.”

“Devour.”

“Resist.”

“Afflictions.”

Again, words associated with conflict and fierce struggle.

Having established for you using New Testament passages that a state of war exists and that human beings are caught up in this conflict, with Christians on one side and the Devil on the other side, what say we take a look at how the conflict began, how it started? In Genesis 3.1–5 we find God’s record of the outbreak of this spiritual war in the human theater of operations:

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Before we examine what we have just read, there are some quotes I would like to read to you from the most important book on waging war that has ever been written outside the Bible, Sun Tzu’s The Art Of War. Sun Tzu was a brilliant Chinese general and military strategist who lived approximately five centuries before the birth of Christ.[4] The statements I will read were written twenty-five centuries ago and were written down on sticks because he wrote before the invention of paper.

You might wonder why I take the time to quote Sun Tzu. I do so because war is war in any realm. And with few exceptions, the spiritual war is waged in a surprisingly similar fashion to wars on land or sea. Note carefully, and you will immediately recognize the wisdom that applies to the Christian’s spiritual conflict.

“All warfare is based on deception.”[5]

“Therefore, when capable feign incapacity; when active, inactivity.”[6]

“When near, make it appear that you are far away; when far away, that you are near.”[7]

“Offer the enemy a bait to lure him; feign disorder and strike him.”[8]

“When he concentrates, prepare against him; where he is strong, avoid him.”[9]

“Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.”[10]

“When he is united, divide him.”[11]

“Attack where he is unprepared; sally out when he does not expect you.”[12]

“To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”[13]

“Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy.”[14]

“Next best is to disrupt his alliances.”[15]

“Now war is based on deception.”[16]

“Do not attack his elite troops.”[17]

“There are five qualities which are dangerous in the character of a general. If reckless, he can be killed. If cowardly, captured. If quick-tempered you can make a fool of him. If he has too delicate a sense of honour you can calumniate (or slander) him. If he is of a compassionate nature you can harass him.”[18]

I have just read insights penned by a Chinese military genius five centuries before the birth of Christ. He lived roughly during the lifetimes of Esther and Mordecai, roughly contemporary with the Greek philosopher Socrates, and more than a century before Alexander the Great.[19]

Again, why do I resort to Sun Tzu? I do so only for illustration. He may very well have been the most outstanding military theoretician of all time. But could he hold a candle to Satan? Was he nearly as brilliant as Lucifer? Was he as clever as the Devil? No, no, no. Therefore, whatever cunning strategy Sun Tzu might advise, be sure that our adversary is even more cunning. After all, Sun Tzu was merely mortal. At the same time, Ezekiel’s prophecy describes our opponent as “full of wisdom,” “perfect in beauty,” “perfect in thy ways,” “till iniquity was found in thee,” and “thou hast corrupted thy wisdom.”[20] I will devote substantial time to our foe’s origin and rebellion against God on another occasion. But for now, we would do well to understand that he is a formidable adversary.

I will consider each verse of our text, in turn, making observations and asking reasonable and rational questions along the way. I hope your worldview can deal with challenging issues and difficult questions.

Verse 1:

“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

We consider this verse in three parts, taking note of what God’s Word brings to bear, as well as the experience of our ancient Chinese general regarding the pursuit of victory in war. After all, this is the record of the beginning of Satan’s war in the human realm.

“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.”

Three critical facts are crucial to the first sentence, the beginning of God’s account of how this war that affects us all, and finds its most immediate expression in the destruction of our culture, began:

First, the attack against the human race was launched using a serpent. Setting aside any speculation about the serpent’s appearance prior to the introduction of sin into the human realm, what do we know about a serpent, a snake? Human beings walk upright while snakes slither on the ground. Human beings tower over even the largest snake. They are inches high, while human beings are five to six feet tall. We tower over them and look down on them. Is there intelligence in Satan’s choice of a snake? Let me remind you that Sun Tzu said, “All warfare is based on deception,” “Therefore, when capable feign incapacity; when active, inactivity,” “Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance,” “Attack where he is unprepared; sally out when he does not expect you,” “To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill,” “Now war is based on deception.” Let us ask, was Satan as weak as the serpent likely appeared to be to Eve? Was he not pretending inferiority by using the serpent? From what we know elsewhere in the Bible, can we not conclude there is deception here?

Next, the Word of God explicitly declares that the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field. Is this not a heads up to the reader? Was it a heads up to you? If we cannot discern from Satan’s use of the snake, we are also explicitly warned that this tool of the Devil will involve “subtlety.” The Hebrew word refers to crafty and shrewd, usually in a bad sense.[21] Again, Sun Tzu’s words about waging war:

“All warfare is based on deception.”

Do you have any idea how many divisions of German troops were far to the North of Normandy on D-Day because of how convincingly we deceived them about our likely invasion site?

“Therefore, when capable feign incapacity; when active, inactivity.”

“Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.”

“Now war is based on deception.”

We already have enough information to recognize the potential for great danger. This is a sneak attack in the making. There will be no formal declaration of this war. There is no honor with our foe or integrity.

Third, “which the LORD God had made.” Make no mistake. This is a conflict between the Creator and a creature. Although invisible and immaterial, Satan is making use of a serpent. The point to be captured and retained is that the LORD God created the serpent. And, by the way, He also created Lucifer. I will address that certainty on another occasion.

“And he said unto the woman.”

Is it significant that Satan employed the serpent against the woman instead of the man? Is there any significance to that? This is an important consideration to Christians, to men and women. Why is this an important consideration? Is Satan smart, or is he stupid? Is he clever, or is he clumsy? Is he ruthless, or is he sentimental?

Can I remind you what Sun Tzu wrote?

“When he concentrates, prepare against him; where he is strong, avoid him.”

“Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.”

“When he is united, divide him.”

“Attack where he is unprepared; sally out when he does not expect you.”

“To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”

“Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy.”

“Next best is to disrupt his alliances.”

“Now war is based on deception.”

“Do not attack his elite troops.”

There are precisely two human beings who comprise the entire race at this point. One is Adam, the first formed. Then, there is Eve. Who is the target of this attack on the human race, Adam or Eve? Does not the serpent’s attack against Eve reflect a decision to “where he is strong, avoid him?” As well, to attack mankind’s strategy of the husband providing protection? “Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy.” Finally, by confronting Eve, the serpent reflects Sun Tzu’s wisdom, “Do not attack his elite troops.”

Is the serpent’s approach to Eve significant? Does it reflect her inherent weakness compared to Adam as the object of a spiritual attack? I am not persuaded most Christian women who are married to Christian husbands have a high level of confidence their husbands can and will protect them against spiritual assault. I am not persuaded. Am I wrong?

If you are not persuaded the serpent’s attack against the human race was a well-thought out decision to attack at the weak point, then you have a job ahead of you explaining why the serpent approached Eve instead of Adam. Can your worldview cope with such a problem? Can you deal with that?

Feminists and their pansy ministry accomplices who display egalitarian tendencies cannot deal with this. Therefore, they discard the passage as not being literally true. They cannot handle the truth.

“Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

Allow me to suggest that when angels communicate to each other, even when fallen angels communicate with each other, they do not do so by aspirating through vocal cords and producing sound waves like we human beings do. Since angels are incorporeal beings, having no physical bodies except as they make use of such, as in this case, this is likely the first occasion in all of history for Satan to communicate audibly through a snake.

Therefore, on the first occasion of Satan speaking through the serpent, he was manipulating, he used the power of speech to challenge the truthfulness and integrity of God. God had previously instructed Adam regarding the forbidden fruit.[22] The serpent arrives on the scene of the opening assault on the human race and says to Eve, “Yea, hath God said?” That portion of what was said is enough, is it not? Isn’t that enough? God’s character has just been called into question. That’s all you need to know.

Would you suppose that throughout human history, whenever there is a Satanic or demonic attack leveled against someone, leveled against anyone, the challenge would be to deny the credibility, the truthfulness, the reliability, and the accuracy of what God has said? If you suppose that, you would suppose correctly.

Verses 2-3:

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden.

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

Two comments here:

First, does it not appear that Satan’s choice of Eve as the target for the serpent was a well-chosen target? Why do I suggest Eve was a well-chosen target? There are two reasons:

First, “And the woman said unto the serpent.” I submit to you that Eve should not have interacted with the serpent at all. As soon as she heard the comment, “Yea, hath God said,” she should have cut off the conversation as being fatally dangerous. “You need to speak to my husband.” That’s a line every wife needs to learn. That’s a line every husband needs to train his wife to use. “You need to speak to my husband. He’s not here now.”

Second, Eve is unprepared for some reason. When responding to the serpent’s challenge, she added to the Word of God. God never said to Adam, “neither shall ye touch it.” Why she would add to the Word of God, we do not know, but it was an indication to a very crafty adversary that he was dealing with someone possessing uncertainty or was woefully under matched to deal with him.

What would one experienced in the art of war say of such a situation? I resort to Sun Tzu yet again, not because he was infallible. Not at all. But because, as cunning and crafty as he was, Satan is so much more clever than he ever was:

“All warfare is based on deception.”

The serpent is still deceiving Eve. She thinks they are merely discussing something.

“Therefore, when capable feign incapacity; when active, inactivity.” She imagines he is not dangerous, but he is arranging for her death.

“When near, make it appear that you are far away; when far away, that you are near.”

She thinks she is at a spiritually safe distance, while he is very close to striking the fatal blow.

“Offer the enemy a bait to lure him; feign disorder and strike him.”

What is the bait he dangles in front of her? At first, it was her curiosity. Then it was the offer of deity.

“When he concentrates, prepare against him; where he is strong, avoid him.”

Adam is nowhere in the picture, is he? The serpent is avoiding mankind’s strength to prey upon mankind’s vulnerability.

“Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.”

Do you imagine that Eve feels safe at this point? I think she felt safe. If she did, she was so very wrong.

“When he is united, divide him.”

The strike against Eve is to divide the human race, split apart the partners in marriage, and separate the home, both from each other and from God.

“Attack where he is unprepared; sally out when he does not expect you.”

Do you imagine Eve was suspicious of being under attack? She has no expectations.

“To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”

The serpent will simply talk her out of her virtue.

“Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy.”

God’s strategy for the home is for the wife to hide behind her husband’s spiritual protection. I am not sure many women believe that is a thing, or if they believe that’s a thing, they don’t think their husband is up to the task.

“Next best is to disrupt his alliances.”

The serpent, by attacking Eve, sought to disrupt her alliance with God and with her husband.

“Now war is based on deception.”

With the Devil, it is all about lies. It is all about lies with him.

“Do not attack his elite troops.”

The serpent did not attack the elite troop. Instead, he attacked Eve.

“There are five capacities which are dangerous in the character of a general. If reckless, he can be killed. If cowardly, captured. If quick-tempered you can make a fool of him. If he has too delicate a sense of honour you can calumniate (or slander) him. If he is of a compassionate nature you can harass him.”

We will see that Eve, attempting to function as a spiritual general, a position she was not equipped to occupy, showed herself to be reckless, and the serpent killed her.

Spiritual warfare is an activity of tactics and strategy as much as any hot war, with even higher stakes. Had Eve been strategically alert, she might have been on the lookout for an adversary since it seems highly unlikely God would have withheld from them the danger posed by Satan. Had Eve been tactically alert, she would have quickly ducked behind her husband. “Adam. Adam. Get over here!”

By the way, if you don’t think your guy is the guy who is better prepared to deal with such spiritual attacks than you are, don’t marry him. If you are already married, and you realize that your guy is not up to the task of providing spiritual protection for you, it might be good for you to come and talk to me. This is a very big deal. This is a very, very big deal.

Verses 4-5:

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

The serpent approached Eve in the Garden of Eden, and he approached her with great subtlety. Have you ever wondered how the serpent came to ask the question found in verse one? It’s almost as if he knew what God had told Adam, and he was baiting her.

It would be naïve in the extreme to imagine the serpent’s question was an innocent one. It was not innocent. It was a question designed to probe Eve to evaluate her strength, determination, and wisdom.

Her response to the serpent showed she had no strength of conviction regarding her husband. Is that true of you? Her response to the serpent showed she had no determination to yield to God’s position and place perfectly designed for her to occupy. Does that describe you? Her response to the serpent showed she had no wisdom but acted on her ill-conceived initiative. Does that sound like you?

Because she reacted to the serpent’s probing inquiry the way she did because she allowed him to get away with challenging the integrity and veracity of God, and because she went wobbly when rehearsing to the serpent what God had said, the snake knew he had her. He knew it.

The snake struck swiftly: “Ye shall not surely die.” There, he had done it. Having previously insinuated that God could not be trusted, the snake knew, from Eve’s willingness to respond as well as the weakness of her response, he knew that he could get away with an open assault on God’s character. “Ye shall not surely die.”

After that came the final thrust, verse 5:

“For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

Of course, that was a lie. But Satan always lies. The Lord Jesus Christ identified him as the father of lies, who has been a liar from the beginning, John 8.44. And from that day to this, the Devil has been a liar. And his demons are just like him, liars who lie, always lying, with promises that never turn out. They are seducing spirits, don’t you see, who teach wicked men and silly women the doctrines of demons, First Timothy 4.1.

Perhaps you have heard the line that goes something like this. “A person who won’t stand for the truth will fall for anything.” Is that not what happened to Eve? Because she wouldn’t stand up for God, who is true, and was wobbly on God’s Word, which is also true, she showed her vulnerability in two ways.

The first way Eve showed her vulnerability was when she chose to interact with the serpent. She should never have done that. Included in God’s plan for a husband to provide for his wife and family is the husband’s role to protect his wife and family. Eve faltered at that point, not deferring to her husband, which allowed the enemy to attack the human race at the weaker of the two individuals.

“When he concentrates, prepare against him; where he is strong, avoid him.” Remember that? By choosing to interact with the snake rather than decline and instead defer to Adam, she gave the Devil what he wanted. And what he wanted was the weaker of the two targets. “I want the target easiest to hit. I want the target mostly likely to go down.”

After allowing the serpent’s assault on her to continue (remember, she did not have to talk to him), she displayed vulnerability to deception. “All warfare is based on deception.” And this agrees with the Apostle Paul’s insight in First Timothy 2.14, where we read,

“And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”

Satan decided to spread a war that had already begun to another front. He planned to wage war against the plan, purpose, and person of God by attacking those created in God’s image and likeness, Adam and Eve.

Like the fiend that he is, he formulated a plan to attack an innocent person. He had his choice of two targets, the man and the woman. The head of the human race and his helpmeet. Avoiding the stronger of the two, Satan decided to attack Eve by using the most subtle of creatures, a serpent, a snake. His goal was to attack with cunning and deception. He wanted to subdue the enemy without fighting, and he succeeded. That is history. Eve ate the forbidden fruit, Adam ate the forbidden fruit. They both sinned. They both died spiritually in a moment. They were then expelled from the Garden of Eden and later experienced the heartache of Cain’s murder of Abel, long lives of sin, and physical death.

From that day to this, the story of the human race has been “the wages of sin is death.” God has sent His Son. Jesus did die on the cross and rise from the dead in victory. Salvation is provided for some, those who turn from their sins and trust Christ. But along the way, there is ongoing spiritual conflict because although the victory has been won by the Savior, there are still spiritual battles to be fought until Jesus comes again.

That brings us to the war that is raging, and the fighting of these spiritual battles. Sun Tzu wrote,

“Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy,”

“Next best is to disrupt his alliances,”

“Now war is based on deception.”

Satan’s strategy was to attack Eve. That should provide insight into God’s plan. That was not a fight Eve should have been willing to engage in. Her willingness to interact with the snake and allow an attack against her while she was out of position (which is to say, not ducking behind Adam) made possible the enemy’s tactic.

“Next best is to disrupt his alliances.”

“Now war is based on deception.”

This is where modern-day feminism finds expression in the unwillingness of women to occupy the position God has created and equipped them to occupy, (being deceived by an errant worldview and feminist propaganda into thinking they are as capable of thwarting an enemy’s spiritual assault as the man God has given her to provide such protection). If you don’t think he can do it, don’t marry him!

I submit to you that one of the most serious problems Churches face in the modern world is young women thinking, like Eve, that they are capable of interacting with the snake without fear of failure. That, my friends, is one of the doctrines of demons.

If Sun Tzu had any insight for us to learn in war, consider again a few of his remarks. This is how your enemy, the demons, will defeat you because war is war:

“Therefore, when capable feign incapacity; when active, inactivity.”

“When near, make it appear that you are far away; when far away, that you are near.”

“Offer the enemy a bait to lure him; feign disorder and strike him.”

“When he concentrates, prepare against him; where he is strong, avoid him.”

“Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.”

“When he is united, divide him.”

“Attack where he is unprepared; sally out when he does not expect you.”

“To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”

“Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy.”

“Next best is to disrupt his alliances.”

“Now war is based on deception.”

“Do not attack his elite troops.”

My advice is to learn God’s role for you and occupy your position in the confidence that God is wise, that His motives are pure, and that you and I are better off when we live our lives God’s way, as shown in Scripture.

__________

[1] Will Durant, The Story Of Civilization: Caesar And Christ, (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1944), pages 194, 217, 218, 232, 325, 414, 473, 631, 670.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_Britannica

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_Americana

[4] Sun Tzu, The Art Of War, translated by Samuel B. Griffith, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963), page 4.

[5] Ibid., page 66.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid., page 67.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid., page 69.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Ibid., page 77.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Ibid., page 78.

[16] Ibid., page 106.

[17] Ibid., page 109.

[18] Ibid., pages 114-115.

[19] World History Chart In Accordance With Bible Chronology, (Bible Charts and Maps, LLC., 2012) AmazingBibletimeline.com

[20] Ezekiel 28.12-17

[21] Francis Brown, S. R. Driver & Charles A. Briggs, The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew And English Lexicon, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1979), page 791.

[22] Genesis 2.1617

Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.

Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church

Calvary Road Baptist Church