The Seed of Covetousness and Hate
As we progress through the story of Israel and its enemies, the Bible has revealed the origin of covetousness and hate—the key elements for the creation of enemies and war. The seed was planted in the heart of an angel (in heaven) who desired to be like God and to take His throne (Isaiah 14: 12-14). He fought in such a way that he and his entourage (One-third of his angels) were cast to the Earth (Revelation 12: 4, 9). Then the seed began to sprout in the Garden of Eden with the first couple; it began to take off as it moved to their offspring, Cain and Abel (Genesis 3: 4-6).
In Lucifer’s encounter in the garden with an apparent victory over Adam and Eve, God gave the prince of darkness a dire and deadly prophecy-the deadly crushing of his head. But the Creator also foretold a Deliverer who would receive a strike from the snake on His heel. The final victory would be given to the woman’s offspring through the power of Christ. In a few words, we see the battle between good and evil—a war between the Deliverer (Christ) and Satan. This war would travel through the seed of Abraham.
And I will put enmity (strife/hatred).
Between you (Satan) and the woman (God’s followers),
And between your seed (the offspring of Satan) and her Seed (the offspring of God’s People);
He (Jesus) shall bruise your (Satan’s) head,
And you (Satan) all bruise His (Jesus) heel.” Genesis 3:15
This first recorded prophecy is a picture of the ongoing battle between Satan and His followers with Christ and His followers. The end of Satan is guaranteed along with the cross (a temporary victory, a sacrificial death, followed by the resurrection of the woman’s seed, Jesus). The following article is about how the heritage from the garden progressed to the nations of Islam and the nation of Israel in the modern world. Part 4 will wrap up with the connection between Israel and the followers of Christ.
The Eden Covenant
This Edenic Covenant was the first unconditional promise to a world soon to be emersed in sin.
Adam and Eve witnessed the beginnings of the war between good and evil with the first death. An innocent animal was slain and its skin taken so that they might not be naked and shameful any longer. It provided warmth as they moved from their Eden to the cold world of sin—a descriptive metaphor for the life and death of Jesus.
Indeed, as Satan had said, their eyes were open, and they began to know good and evil. But, the first lie to humanity was a direct contradiction of God’s word, “You will not surely die.” This lie would later open the door to spiritualism and the false possibility of communication with the dead. Today, these spiritualistic stories raise their heads with popular books about dying and coming back to life, complete with the stories of what they saw—contradicting the truths of the Bible about death. Those most vulnerable are members of Christ’s church. God knew such a lie could lead to even further deception. God would caution His people about spirit mediums, etc. Instead of listening to demonic spirits using this type of deception, they could find truth in seeking God in His word.
And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? Isaiah 1:18
A Second Death
But another death would follow, closer to the heart of the first parents. The horrific murder of Abel by his brother Cain-the first death (murder) of a human. The motivation? Jealousy turned to hate. It started when God respected Abel and his offering but did not do the same for Cain. Cain became angry and ignored the council of the Lord to rule over his anger. God both encouraged and warned Cain to do well and that he, too, would be accepted. If not, sin would grow, which it did Genesis 4: 1-7).
As the population grew, so did sin and violence. Both reign to this day.
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: Romans 5:12
Two Ancestors
Cain had gone out from the presence of the Lord. We might say he left God. He then had a son named Enoch. From there, the ancestral tree took root from the seed of murder and violence (Genesis 4: 16-17), a direct result of Cain’s decision to leave God and maintain his stubbornness regarding repentance.
But Adam and Eve had another son, Seith, when Adam was 120 years old (Genesis 5:3). From Seth’s seed (beginning with Enos), the descendants would begin to call upon the name of the Lord (Genesis 4:26). Seth’s offspring would lead up to Noah (Genesis 5: 6, 32).
The two ancestors (Cain and Seth) went their separate ways. They created nations that carried different experiences with God. Cain left God and stayed away. His descendants would fall into more sin, resulting in violence that would cover the Earth. Seth’s seed would take the opposite route and stay with God.
Before the destruction of the Earth by the flood, the seed of Godlessness made planet Earth a violent place to live.
The Earth also was corrupt before God, and the Earth was filled with violence. Genesis 6:11
This is the first time in the Bible where the word “violence” appears. The Hebrew word for violence is Hamas: two different ancestors, two different experiences with God. The Edenic covenant would soon transition into the Abrahamic Covenant.
From Cain’s ancestors, sin and violence would cover the Earth. From Enos and Seth would come Shem (the son of Noah). Shem would become the father of Abraham, the father of Israel, to carry on the promised seed.
“Blessed be the Lord,
The God of Shem,
And may Canaan be his servant.
May God enlarge Japheth,
And may he dwell in the tents of Shem;
And may Canaan be his servant.” Genesis 9: 26-27
The Abrahamic Covenant
God would again make an unconditional covenant. This time, with Abraham. His heirship and the creation of a nation of God’s people would come through the son Issac. The son of Promise, even while Abraham and Sarah were in their old age. Conversely, the son of their own works are marked by attempting to help God out in the birth of a son through Abraham’s bondswoman at the encouragement of Sarah to produce Esau through Hagar (Genesis 16: 1-4). The women began to despise each other.
Soon, Sarah would encourage Abraham again, but this time it was to cast away Hagar and Esau. Abraham didn’t like the idea, but it was God’s will. This was the beginning of two nations that would fight to this day:
Therefore, she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son.
But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice, for in Isaac, your seed shall be called. Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman because he is your seed.” Genesis 19: 10-13
Two different seeds with two different destinies and nations. Through one, Issac, the promised seed as spoken by God in the Edenic covenant, would bring the Deliverer, Jesus Christ.
Today, both Islamic and Jewish religions claim roots in Abraham. Therefore, they are called Abrahamic religions. Islam has approximately 1. 7 billion followers based on the teachings of one man, Mohammed. The Jewish religion worships Jehovah or Yahweh and is much smaller at approximately 15.2 million people. The Jews have been the most hated and persecuted ethnicity in the world. The Christians joined them in this persecution via events in the 1st century and the Middle Ages. Such persecution to the end of time is prophesized in God’s word.
The Jewish religion is based on the writings of some 35 authors in the book called the Tanakh. This is the same as the Old Testament used by the Christians. Christianity is the largest of these three religions (2.3 billion), but they have an affinity for the Jewish nation due to the same books of the Bible and the same God (Jehovah or Yahweh). “God” in the Old Testament has many names that describe His many facets of character, but He is the only true God. There is no other. (See Appendix, Names of God)
The major difference between Jews and Christians is Jesus. He is the promised Edenic seed that would crush the head of Satan. Jesus fits all the hundreds of prophecies about the Messiah of the Jewish Tanakh. (See Will the Real God Please Stand Up-Part 4-Who Do You Think He is?)
The Two Seeds of Abraham-Conflict
Moses records in the 17th chapter of Genesis that God told 99-year-old Abraham that his equally-aged wife (90 years old), Sarah, would bear a child. They didn’t believe it! They laughed. But God continued to tell the elderly couple that God’s covenant of a coming Deliverer and His people would be through the line of Isaac (Genesis 17: 15-22)
Consequently, two nations would arise, one through Issac and one through Ishmael. The conflict between Islam and their nations and Israel can be traced back specifically to Abraham’s two sons and Grandsons.
Issac lineage:
The son of the promise, Issac, begat Jacob, whose name would later become (Israel, meaning God prevails). The name given to Israel is prophetic in the battle of good and evil. God will prevail, and a deadly wound by the Seed of the woman delivered to the head of Satan would come through Israel’s seed.
And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Genesis 32:28
Ishmael’s lineage:
Ishmael’s firstborn son would be Nebajoth (Hebrews for “heights”). The capital of Nebajoth’s descendants’ country would become Petra.
The descendants of Ishmael became known as Arabs (“nomads”). The descendants of Ishmael were a warlike people, as “they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them” (Genesis 25: 18). This fulfilled God’s earlier word that Ishmael would be “a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers” (Genesis 16:12).
The Seeds of Abraham’s Son Issac (Jacob and Essau)
Issac’s wife (Rebekka) would produce “battling twins.” Conflict and hatred would continue their journey through time to today.
And the Lord said to her:
“Two nations are in your womb,
Two peoples shall be separated from your body;
One people shall be stronger than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.” Genesis 25: 23
So today, from the seed of Abraham, we have ongoing conflict between the two sons who produced two different religions and states.
- Ishmael produced Islam; the major nations for the Muslim faith are Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Mauritania, and Yemen.
- Issac produced the religion of the only true God, Jehovah, through Jacob and his lineage. The only state of Issac through Jacob is Israel. However, approximately 50% of Jews live in the United States of America.
Although small, Israel has indeed blessed the Earth and has the God of the universe to protect them. But they still struggle with the Messiahship of Jesus.
What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles (scripture) of God. For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar.” Romans 3: 1-4
The bond of Christians with the Jewish people is due to the common ground of worshipping the only true God (Jehovah or Yahweh) and the same Bible (Tanakh, aka the Old Testament by Christians). Although Christians believe Jesus to be the promised seed that crushed the head of the snake at the cross and follow the teachings of His disciples as recorded in the New Testament, there is sympathy for their struggles.
Next time, we will trace the struggles and failures of Israel and, hopefully, learn from their stories.
Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our [admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 1 Corinthians 10:11
Then, we will conclude this series with the promise of the Lord to “break down the walls that separate” Jews and Gentiles and how we become one in Christ Jesus. What does it mean that all Israel will be saved? Romans 11: 25-29.
For a deeper dive in the comparison of the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob with Allah and Muhammed, go to this 6-part series on “Will the True God Please Stand Up?”
APPENDIX-The Names of God
