Sibling Rivalry~ The Battle Between Brethren

Since the beginning of mankind upon the earth, there has been a battle going on between brethren, among the seed of mankind. The battle has to do with this one thing that happened in the very beginning, I’m talking Genesis beginning. It’s Enmity H342 ‘êybâh in Hebrew.

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

*The way this verse actually reads in its original Hebrew is:

I will put enmity in the midst of woman, between SEED and SEED. Themselves persecuting the head, and you (the serpent) will persecute the heel. 

This word Enmity ‘êybâh H342 is used exactly 5 times in the Old Testament.

At this point there was no “seed” to put enmity between, because Adam and Eve did not bear children until after they left the Garden. Check out these verses in Genesis Chapter 4; these are the first occurrences of the word “brother” that appear in Scripture.

Gen 4:1-2  And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper/shepherd of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground/land

Gen 4:8-11  And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood cries unto Me from the ground/land. And now art thou cursed from the ground/land, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; 

*And YES, as the older brother, it WAS Cain’s responsibility to be his brother’s keeper. That word “keeper” is shâmar H8104 and it means: to keep, guard, keep watch of and ward, protect, or save the life of.

The ENMITY between seed that is occurring, in accordance to the Word of the Lord, is between the “tillers of the ground/land” and the “keepers/shepherds of the flock”. Those that work the land, make themselves slaves to it, and only will bring forth what they have produced from the land. These “tillers of the ground/land” are not looked upon with the same respect from God as those that love, keep and feed His Sheep.

The word for Shepherd in Hebrew is the same as Keeper, or Keeper of the Flock.

Keep meaning to protect, direct and care for the needs of.

The Keepers of the Sheep offer to God the TRUE sacrifice of love, by “Feeding and Caring for His Sheep”.

Remember one is a TILLER and the other is a KEEPER. It’s important that you understand the distinction between the two.

Tiller: ‛âbad H5647= Servant/Slave

Keeper: râ‛âh H7462= A Shepherd, or to shepherd.

Cain the eldest son of Adam, held the birthright of His father. The firstborn sons of men are the most favored among men. A man’s firstborn son represents the strength of his right hand, according to the Bible. Abel the younger son, the favored of his mother, was a keeper, a good shepherd, that loved God enough to offer the firstborn of his flock to Him, and the Lord respected it.

The first time the word birthright appears in the bible is in Gen 4:4 when Abel offered to the Lord the firstling among his flock. That word “firstling” is bekôrâh H1062 and it means: birthright, primogeniture, right of the first-born.

At this moment in history, Abel showed God that he understood the greatest responsibility and privilege given to mankind was to choose to do BOTH, dress and keep. The word “dress” used here is the same word for “tiller or till”, which means to serve or be in servitude to. That word “keep” again means to shepherd and protect. Abel chose to care for the animals, and shelter them, and feed them, knowing that they were created even before mankind, and that the sacrifice of their life and skins are what the Lord used to cover his parents nakedness in the Garden after they fell.

Abel in order to care for/tend to the animals of his flock, would have to lead them to foliage, open pastures of food where they could freely graze among the wild vegetation that was created by God and grows naturally on the earth. He didn’t have to work the ground in order to produce food for his flock, because everything they needed grew naturally or wild, and the animals provided meat, milk and eggs for everyone. Animals helped humans sustain life. That is why they were the only blood pure enough to hold the space for mankind until Jesus the Son of God came and shed His precious blood. No longer requiring the shedding of blood for the remission of sins. Christ’s blood paid it in FULL for all time.

Cain chose to till/serve the ground/land and be a seed sower and harvester of the field. This is why the Lord chose to curse him among all upon the ground/land, and that the ground/land would not yield to him any longer without thorns and thistles, like the curse spoken over his father Adam. You see, tillers of the ground/land in the spirit are those that work for the world for what the world can yield for them. It’s all about what they need, and get out of their service or tillage. It’s not about sacrifice at all. A man doesn’t mourn or feel loss when he harvests his field or gathers from his vineyards. He knows another crop will come and he doesn’t think twice about the grape or the kernels of wheat. A keeper/shepherd of the flock does however mourn and feels loss when he must offer the firstborn of his flock to the Lord, or take his injured, aged or no longer producing animals and kill them to feed his family. They love and get to know the personality of every one of their flock, like good shepherds and feel great loss when one has to die. This is a true and acceptable sacrifice before God. Keepers honor the sacrifice animals make for mankind by protecting them and caring for them.

The Seed of Cain are the first hunters among mankind, and this is due to them NOT wanting to care for, protect or shelter them, and the land NOT yielding to them, so they where the first of course to make “weapons”. They used these “weapons” in order to hunt and kill animals in the wild, by stalking them and leaving baby animals orphans, unprotected and uncared for in the wild. There is no true sacrifice in the blood of an animal that is shed in this manner. Cain’s seed literally make celebrity status out of any person that is the best at preying upon animals that they haven’t cared for nor protected, only to benefit from them; just look at Nimrod the great hunter, renowned for it among his brethren.

So the ones that are of seed of Cain went from being “tillers of the land” to being “killers of the land” after Cain killed and shed the innocent blood of his brother Abel. Cain slew his brother like prey in the field, just like the hunters his seed would become and it’s by this method that he would gain his popularity back and be lifted up among his brethren again, regaining the honor of his birthright as firstborn among mankind.

I’ve said this in other articles but it was the “violence” between the seed of Cain rising up against the seed of Seth (the appointed seed) due to their jealousy and enmity, that caused the the Lord to flood the entire land and start anew. The battle between brethren doesn’t stop there, it sets the stage for how mankind will behave among their own brothers, their own households, their own people, due to enmity that is caused by their jealousy, for the entire story of mankind until the Return of Christ our redeemer.

Hunters are like wolves among the Sheep. They have feet swift to shed innocent blood Proverbs 1:16 and Isaiah 59:7.

Prov 1:16 For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.

Isa 59:7 Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake.

Shepherds think about everyone, and how to protect them and care for them. David was a shepherd before God ever made him a king. These shepherd qualities are shown later on in his life when we hear of him guarding and protecting other people’s servants while they worked in their master’s fields, and their animals as well, all the while guarding and caring for his own soldiers. Just read about the land owner named Nabal and Abigail his wife saving all the men of their land in 2 Sam chapter 25.

There are three types of seed, or rather personalities and THIS I received straight from the Lord.

There are Wolves, Sheep or Shepherds.

A WOLF is a person that is a spiritual hunter. Someone that is always looking for what “they” get out of the deal. Someone that will sustain themselves from the sacrifices of others. They are the ones always in search of “the great white buffalo” among their achievements among their brethren, for glory.

A SHEEP is a person that is a follower, a person that must be led to safe places to feed themselves. A person seeking Truth but not yet confident enough to lead others to safe pastures to nourish and strengthen themselves.

A SHEPHERD is a person that is always thinking of the welfare of others; is there enough? will they get the same? is this fair? and they are the ones that are always willing to take the lowest position in order to elevate others. Shepherds lead by example and protecting those put in their care means more to them than any glory or honor they could yield from the world.

The Wolves are always trying to benefit from the Sheep in one way or another, and the Shepherds are always trying to push them back to a proper distance. Did you get that? Yes, Shepherds will “keep” the Sheep safe by pushing the Wolves back to a safe distance, away from those that are vulnerable.

This enmity, its a powerful thing. Jesus Himself said:

“Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.” Mat 10:34-36

There is a serious conflict of interest between the Tillers/Killers and the Keepers, and the rest is well…..history. lol!

I will finish off this article with this final thought: Jesus, the Son of God came and humbled Himself and washed the feet of His followers and suffered the death we all deserve; the most horrific death that only the most wicked of men deserve and HE was completely innocent! He considered US greater than Himself and laid His Life down for his friends. He truly IS the Good Shepherd and example for us all. He came seeking no honor, no gifts, no provision, but rather offered Himself through His obedience to the Father by suffering death on a cross to protect, provide for and atone for ALL those that would follow HIM and obey His directives as the Good Shepherd sent on behalf of the Father to speak His message.

I pray this article has enlightened you a bit to the conflict of all the ages concerning the battle between brethren, and has you prayerfully considering which one of the three characters you may possibly be? Wolf, Sheep or Shepherd?

God Bless you! May you be free and set free in Jesus Name!



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