Throughout the Old Testament, we will observe where spiritual warfare originated and how it expanded from the heavens to the earth. After reading a synopsis of major events, we will note some very important factors about God, Satan and Man to help give us some insight to understanding the catalyst, what fuels the fire, and how to combat the Enemy by trusting in God.

The very first verse in the Bible states, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. However, we are also told in John 8:44 that Satan “was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

After creating the heavens and the earth, God then created all living creatures. On the sixth day, He created Man (male and female) to name all the creatures and rule over the earth. Adam and Eve dwelt in the Garden of Eden and had a wonderful relationship with their Creator.

We don't know exactly WHEN the revolt happened in heaven, but Revelation 12:7-9 state, “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

Knowing that Satan and his angels were "thrown down to the earth", the earth had to have been in existance. In Genesis 3 Satan then uses one of God’s creations, the serpent, to deceive Man. Man gave in to Satan’s temptation to become as knowledgeable as God and thus Man gave Satan rulership over the earth. The warfare between God and Satan now included Man. Man was caught in Satan's trap and now lived in rebellion against God.

As Adam and Eve began to have children, we see warfare happen between Cain and Abel. Cain killed his brother over jealousy. Do you see Satan at work, the “murderer”? God loved Abel and accepted his blood sacrifice, while God rejected Cain’s sacrifice of harvest from the ground. A competitive spirit turns to jealousy, which turns to hate, breeding retaliation by, in this case, murder.

Since we know that a third of the angels were cast out of heaven with the dragon at the time of the heavenly war, some of those fallen angels sinned against God by defiling the “daughters of men” and begat giants, called the Nephilim. The world became a very wicked place of spiritual warfare. The fallen angels taught Man about all kinds of sin and their offspring (the giants) also sinned against God’s creation: Man, animals and plants. In Genesis 6:3 the LORD said, “‘My Spirit shall not strive (contend or struggle) with man forever…” For more on the Nephilim, I invite you to read my hub The Origin of the Nephilim.

Noah and his family remained faithful to God throughout all of this wickedness on the earth. God instructed Noah to build the ark to save himself and his family, and to save each species of animal. As soon as Noah, his family (total of eight people) and the animals were on board, God poured out His wrath upon the earth and destroyed everything with a global flood, including the giants. Because Satan and his angels are not mortal, they were not destroyed. While the fallen angels who sinned were cast into hell, incarcerated until the Day of Judgment, the rest remained active on the earth.

To continue on with this study, please click on the link below:

SPIRITUAL WARFARE: OLD TESTAMENT 2 of 4