The Seven Enemies of the Flesh—Part 1—An Explanation of the Flesh
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| Joshua leading God's people in conquest by James Tissot Brooklyn Museum |
Conquering the Land of Our Lives
... if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell.— Numbers 33:55
What we choose to tolerate in our self-indulgent flesh will become these very things in our Christian walk and lives. This reality teaches us to show no mercy to ugly, fleshy strongholds of attitude and behavior.
Laying the Foundation: The Relevancy of the Old Testament
... whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.— Romans 15:4
Many dismiss the Old Testament as irrelevant and inapplicable, but Paul again tells us in his first letter to the Corinthians that it was written as an example for us.
Now all these things (Old Testament events) 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
The Old Testament gives us tangible illustrations of timeless spiritual truths.
Our enemies are not people. In chapter six of Ephesians, Paul explains that the New Testament battle is not primarily with people, but with what has dominion over us and others in the unseen realm.
He also reveals that the territory of this battle is heavenly/spiritual rather than physical, and teaches us that the way to give God dominion over us is through submission to Him in all areas of relationship and life.
... we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
— Ephesians 6:12
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| Our greatest enemy is ourselves by Dr. Lidia Kozenitzky |
The Three Main Venues of Flesh
... the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.— I John 2:16
According to Genesis chapter three, Eve succumbed to the serpent's temptation through three main avenues. Although the serpent issued the temptations, her appetite, unbelief, and pride led her astray. James confirms this thought.
... each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
— James 1:14
The fall in Genesis began with the lust of the flesh and the desire to satisfy it apart from God.
... the woman saw that the tree was good for food (Lust of the flesh— Appetite) ...
Only God can truly satisfy us.
You (God) open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing
— Psalm 145:16
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| Jesus conquers the three main venues of temptation in His wilderness experience with the age-old serpent, the devil. Christ in the Wilderness by Ivan Kramskoi |
Truth or Consequences
... command that these stones become bread.
— Matthew 4:3
Jesus undid what Eve had done wrong in His reply to the evil one.
It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’
— Matthew 4:4
He conquered the flesh that always conjures up fantasies and illusions of satisfaction that require nothing of us and do not depend on God. Eve stood amid all provision and chose something else. Christ stood in the midst of nothing and remained loyal to God, grounded in a fundamental understanding of life and satisfaction. After consulting only her appetite, Eve entered the second venue: the lust of the eyes.
... when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes (Lust of the eyes —unbelief in that she saw what God had offered).
— Genesis 3
In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul counsels us to do the opposite of what Eve did.
... we walk by faith, not by sight.
— 2 Corinthians 5: 7
God honors us when we trust what He has said over what we see that looks good.
... faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
— Hebrews 11:1
God's provisions are substantial and more real than the tangible things we see. Nothing has real substance apart from God. It is also interesting to note that the order of God's provision changed in Eve's surmising. God's original order of operation was first "sight," an image of faith, then provision.
... the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food
— Genesis 2:9
In God's account, appetite came second to faith and vision. When desire comes first, it skews our perception and belief. When cravings come first, they can blind us to God's provision.
... whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe.
— 2 Corinthians 4:4
Jesus' second temptation in Matthew was the following.
... throw Yourself down
For it is written,
'He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and
'In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'
— Matthew 4:6
Jesus replies as Adam and Eve should have.
“... It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’
— Matthew 4:7
The quote Jesus used here comes from an Old Testament incident at the waters of Massah, where the children of Israel needed water. Rather than seek God for their water and believe He would provide, they uttered the following faithless words.
Is the Lord among us or not?
— Exodus 17:7
This scene helps us understand that the temptation to throw himself down would be an attempt to ask God to prove Himself.
The third and final category defined in this last temptation by Eve was as follows.
... a tree desirable to make one wise.
— Genesis 4
The Hebrew word for wise, shakal, used in this passage, means more than just knowledge of hidden or perhaps forbidden insight. It also includes the idea of success, prosperity, and power. The truth is as follows.
... you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth.
— Deuteronomy 8:18
The God of heaven will prosper us.
— Nehemiah 2:20
... the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful and prosperous man.
— Genesis 39:2
The temptation Jesus faced in this area of the flesh, categorized as pride and self-exaltation through fame, fortune, and power, was as follows.
... the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
— Matthew 4:8-9
Jesus' reply was the following.
‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.
— Matthew 4:10
This final category reveals that whoever sits on the throne of our hearts and whom we obey is whom we worship. It also shows who rules the land of our hearts.
Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
— Romans 6:16
Compare as well the devil's opening statement in each temptation of Christ: "If you are the Son of God ..." and his statement to Eve: "You will be like God." Eve stumbles because of her desire for self-exaltation, leading to significant humiliation. Jesus is exalted in humility. Eve was already like God, created in His image and living in a glorious place. Jesus is God and left the beauty of His magnificent dwelling place to become one of us. Psalm chapter one gives us an image of these three main areas, showing how they work progressively.
Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful.
— Psalm 1:1
In this, we see Eve take counsel from the serpent, putting her appetite first, then standing in the path of sinners, with her focus now shifted to what she determined was best for her. She then sat in the seat of scorn, rooted in pride and disillusioned by achievement apart from God. The following chart brings all of these together, showing us God's ever-consistent patterns of revelation.
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Territory and Dominion
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”— Genesis 1:26
God placed Adam in the Garden and commanded him to serve and protect it. I like Young's literal translation of God's command to Adam to work at protecting what God had given him.
And Jehovah God taketh the man, and causeth him to rest in the garden of Eden, to serve it, and to keep it.
— Genesis 2:15
In obeying and serving God, Adam and Eve dwelt freely in a territory where tranquility and rest were the atmosphere of the kingdom. The opposite happens when we submit to anything but God alone.
They chose new gods; then was war in the gates.
— Judges 5:8
In the beginning, God established a specific place where Adam and Eve could exercise the dominion God gave them. It was a sort of microcosm of the kingdom. In their adulterous rebellion, defecting to another lord through their lusts and desires and the devil's temptation, the tranquility and rest they once enjoyed disappeared. They were forced to leave that domain or remain separate from God in perpetual guilt for eternity.
This story has an excellent lesson: we should not fool ourselves into thinking we can remain in fellowship and presence with God while habitually living a lifestyle of sin, believing that God doesn't mind.
No one who abides in Him [who lives and remains in communion with and in obedience to Him— deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin
— 1 John 3:6 (Amplified)
We all sin daily, but knowingly ignoring habitual sin, outright accepting it, and settling into it put us on a dangerously thin line of presumption.
For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins.
— Hebrews 10:26
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.
— 1 Corinthians 10:21
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| Surveying the land for territorial opportunities |
To and Fro: It's About Seeking Dominion
And they heard the sound of Jehovah God walking up and down in the garden.— Genesis 3:8
The phrases "walking up and down," "walking to and fro," and "back and forth" in the Bible all relate to surveying land for potential possession. The broader goal was to exercise dominion over it. This is expressed in a conversation between God and Abraham.
“Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants.
— Genesis 13:14-15
God tells the children of Israel.
Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours.
— Deuteronomy 11:24
He tells Joshua the same thing about conquering the land.
Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you ...
— Joshua 1:3
Take this verse into account. Consider what God was doing as He walked up and down in the garden after the fateful betrayal.
... the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.
— 2 Chronicles 16:9
God is seeking to seize the opportunity to exercise His dominion and show Himself strong to His people. Their disloyalty disqualified them, and the battle began.
King Asa offers us another example. He took the temple treasures, gold and silver, paying another nation to protect him. Like the Eden narrative, this was an issue of disloyalty and faithlessness that disqualified him from God's provision and protection.
Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.
— 2 Chronicles 16:7
Gold in the Bible symbolizes godliness, and silver symbolizes redemption. Asa illustrates how we might sell out to our selfish flesh by forfeiting the godliness he has given us. It trades an indescribable gift of redemption for much lesser things.
Let's look at another verse in Job that contains this similar phrase, as it concerns what Satan was doing when God questioned him about what he was doing and where he was going.
Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth and from walking back and forth on it.”
— Job 1:7
He was also described similarly in the book of Ezekiel.
You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of the fiery stones of God's holy mountain.
— Ezekiel 28:4
Based on this revelation of territory and the prior uses of the phrase to and fro, what was Satan doing? He was seeking an opportunity and a legal right to possess and exercise his dominion over the land of Job's life. He technically had no right to Job for the following reason.
... (He) was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.
— Job 1:1
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| Balaam attempted to curse already blessed Israel under the direction of King Balak, king of Midian |
Balaam's Example
“He (God) has not observed iniquity in Jacob,Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. The Lord his God is with him ...— Numbers 23:21
After three failed attempts to curse them, they could find no way to penetrate the protection of the Lord God almighty as long as Israel remained obedient and faithful to Him. Shortly after this incident, Balaam had another suggestion for breaking through.
... the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab ... And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand.
— Numbers 25:2,9
Later in the book, Moses clarifies that Balaam was the culprit in this incident.
Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through Balaam's counsel, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and a plague fell upon the congregation of the Lord.
— Numbers 31:16
When we step outside God's covenant love and protection through blatant disobedience to Him in favor of our fleshly desires, we make ourselves targets and opportunities for evil and chaos.
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
— James 4:7-8
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| Edmund Ollier—Cassell's Illustrated Universal History |
The Seven Enemies of the Flesh—Part 1—An Explanation of the Flesh
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