Spiritual Hierarchy & Authority, Part 5

 

 

November 17, 2017

 

Are you seeing how this manipulation and witchcraft work?  Are you seeing the parallels to that which has happened in this nation over the past many years?  Are you seeing the parallels to that which has contaminated the body of Christ?  Good!  Then we are making progress.

 

The next characteristic of those who have been compromised by the Fear of Man is

(5) Bribery.

 

For an individual under the dominance of the Fear of Man, there are several means of bribing that can be employed.  A primary tenet of the Fear of Man is the need to be seen as the equal – or the superior of – the individual(s) feared.

 

The love of money is used in this instance because people suffering from the this fear believe that “money provides power.”  There is an old cliché you’ve all heard at one time or another, and that cliché comes from this place of fear.  They often call it “The Golden Rule.”  “Them that’s got the gold makes the rules.”

 

Thus, if you fear someone because of their status in society, their position, or their wealth, you believe that money will get you everything they’ve got.  Hand in hand with the love of money comes the love of power and position.  If you fear someone or certain people, then having an honored position and public esteem (e.g., Man of the Year, President So and So, The Right Reverend Doctor (insert your name), being listed in prominent publications as “Who’s Who,” etc., etc., etc.)

 

6. Spiritual Deafness is a byproduct of the foregoing spiritual characteristics and demonic realms.  Balaam wasn’t willing to simply accept God’s Word to him concerning Balak’s request.  Although his initial response was the proper response to Balak’s “honorable men,” when Balak (who was spiritually deaf himself) sent “more honorable” princes to entice Balaam, he succumbs to the pressure of enticement and bribery.

 

Numbers 22:15-19: And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they. And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me:  For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.

 

And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.  Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more.

 

Brotherrr!!  Balaam gives the “religiously correct” answer, and then turns around and says, “Wait a minute.  Let’s see if God might say something different to me.  Perhaps He might change His mind on this matter and actually let me go with you!”

 

Giving religiously correct answers is one of the natural byproducts of the spiritual deafness that comes from succumbing to the Fear of Man.  And, of course, religion is a direct result of succumbing to the Fear of Evil.  We haven't really exhausted all the pictures that we could look at in the examples with Balaam and Balak, but this series of Coffee Breaks was not intended to be a treatise on their story.  I want to move on to another series of pictures.

 

We’ve not talked much about the Fear of Evil in these examples, but this is a master spirit.  The Fear of Man and the Fear of Death work hand in hand with the Fear of Evil, but the Fear of Evil is pretty much the granddaddy of all evil spirits.  The Fear of Evil holds authority over regional evil spirits.

 

As already noted, Daniel speaks of the Prince of Persia and the Prince of Greece.  These are ruling regional spirits that oversee the demonic activity in those nations.  But these spirits are “Kosmokrator,” — rulers, overseers, manipulators  of the darkness that pervades those nations.  And each of them answer to the “arché,” who happens to be the Fear of Evil.

 

Before we move on to our next group of “kings” or “princes,” let me pause to remind you that the Fear of Evil was the very first wicked spirit that manifested when Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  The knowledge of evil always brings the spirit we know as the Fear of Evil.  That fear is rooted in an unholy fear of God — a fear not based in love — and it is a fear predicated on the fact that Satan knows without doubt that he has been judged by God and that his time is limited.

 

As a being who was created as an eternal being initially, for there to now be a sentence against him that limits his existence to time itself (and we know that time has an end to it!), it has created a fear and terror in him that knows no bounds.  It also has generated a hatred of God that works hand in hand with that same fear.

 

Hence, the Fear of Evil is the arché working behind and above every other regional or national spirit.  Naturally, when you have that fear at work in a nation, the Fear of Man and the Fear of Death work in concert with it.  This is why we see such insanity as exists in ISIS, or the BLM movement, or the ANTIFA movement — and every other terrorist agenda.  Islam is founded upon the worship of a god — Allah — who is the very antithesis of the Lord God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Allah’s agenda is rooted in a hatred of, and a fear of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  I don’t want to get into all of that today, but it is important for us to see and understand the hierarchy of the demonic activity that takes place in this world — and that which has sought to invade the United States of America.

 

The so-called mantra of “inclusion” is rooted in Satan’s effort to undermine the underpinnings of this nation in its covenant with God and with the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is also a trap that has been laid within the body of Christ -- and specifically within various denominational churches (and even within some of the so-called "independent churches."

 

I should probably point out that Israel — for millennia — was the only nation on the planet that had a covenant-relationship with God.  Some three centuries ago, our forefathers set foot on this land we now call America and vowed that this land would have a covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ, that they would ultimately establish a nation whose existence would be rooted in the propagation of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  When the American Covenant was formed, our founding fathers enshrined our nation’s establishing with that purpose at the core of our existence. 

 

America was established as a Christian nation, and in 1898, the United States Supreme Court ruled that America was, indeed, a Christian nation — not a multi-religious nation with the worship of other gods.

 

I’ve somewhat sidestepped our original discussion, but I wanted you to see how the Enemy’s hierarchy has worked to subvert our foundations so as to destroy the effectiveness of God’s people  and our testimony globally.

 

We could go on and on with more examples out of the pictures of Balaam and Balak, but you should have a fairly clear understanding by now of what has been taking place.  Let’s move on to the next rather graphic set of examples in a prophetic Psalm penned by Asaph.

 

Rather than begin as we have before with the specific mention of this “king” and his activities as laid out in I Samuel, let’s first go to Asaph’s prophecy.

 

Psalm 83:1-8 (NIV):  O God, do not keep silent; be not quiet, O God, be not still. See how your enemies are astir, how your foes rear their heads. With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish. 

 

“Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.”  With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you- The tents of Edom (descendants of Esau) and the Ishmaelites, of Moab (remember our study of Balak) and the Hagrites (other descendants of Hagar – *see note below),

 

Gebal (Phoenicians – modern-day Lebanese), Ammon (modern-day Amman, Jordan – Palestinians) and Amalek (descendants of Esau’s grandson, most noted in Scripture for their guerilla-type warfare), Philistia (the Philistines – modern-day Palestinians residing in the Gaza strip), with the people of Tyre (ancient Phoenician capitol occupied by the Amorites – modern Syria).

Even Assyria (an empire whose only remaining evidence is the country of Syria) has joined them to lend strength to the descendants of Lot.

 

What makes this prophetic passage so remarkable is that it is an event unfolding even today as we speak.  There has never been an assemblage of nations or tribes such as this one in all of history.  Certain partial groupings of these nations have assembled against Israel in the past, but never this specific group.

 

Arrayed in this group are virtually every major “king” with the exception of Babylon – and yet we see Babylon’s influence in the Baal-worship represented in most – if not all – of these nations.

 

*Note on the Hagrites (Hagarites or Hagarenes KJV)  Following Hagar and Ishmael’s being cast out of Abraham’s household at the commandment of the Lord, history tells us that Hagar had an alliance or a kind of marriage relationship with another man (possibly of Egyptian heritage).  She had several children of this union who joined forces together to form a tribal group that occupied the northern Negev, part of the Saudi Arabian Peninsula and a portion of what used to be known as Aram in Mesopotamia.  Scripture refers only to these descendants under the generic term: Hagarites or Hagrites or Hagarenes.

 

In the same way that Ishmael’s descendants were almost continually at war for their whole existence against Israel, the Hagarites likewise were continually part of Israel’s harassment throughout history.  The Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula today are partly descended from the Hagarites.

 

The picture that is drawn in Asaph’s prophecy is distinctive because it is typical of how demons – all of whom are driven by fear – conspire together against the people of God.  Demonic spirits rarely, if ever, operate on their own.

 

The spirit of man exists due to its origin in the very breath of God Himself; Satan and his former angels form the basis for all demonic power; and evil spirits are all under the very foot of Jesus.

 

For that reason they all use deception, trickery, lust or enticement of some kind (usually based in fear), and gang up on people thinking to intimidate and force Satan’s agenda.  Demons operate with a “gang mentality.”

 

Hence, we see the picture in Asaph’s prophecy of the dominant spirits that drive Edom, Ishmael, Moab, the Hagarites, Gebal, Ammon, Amalek, the Philistines, Tyre, and Assyria – ten altogether – confederating themselves in a conspiracy to eradicate Israel from the face of the earth and eliminating all trace of God’s heritage and promise of blessing.

 

We talked last week (and the week before) about Moab’s joining forces with Midian, Amalek and Edom, calling on Balaam (who says that Balak brought him from Aram) to call down curses on Israel so that they would be destroyed.

 

We have another picture of this fear and “gang mentality” displayed in Amalek.

Take a quick look at some of their history.

 

Exodus 17:8-16:  Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.  So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

 

And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.  But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

 

And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.  And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi:  For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

 

Other than our first reference to Amalek in Genesis 36:12 as descending from Esau, this is the first time we see Amalek’s behavior towards the people of God, and their intention is to block Israel from receiving the promised and covenanted land.

 

We'll stop here for today and pick up next week with the characteristics of this ruling spirit next week. 

 

 For those of you who’ve been participating in our Monday night Healing Prayer Conference Call, we just want to let you know that beginning with the month of July and continuing until the first Monday night in October, we will be taking a break for the summer.  We’ve found during the past three years of doing this call that participation during the summer months drops significantly because of folks taking their vacations, and being involved in other activities.  That said, we will resume our prayer calls on Monday night, October 2^nd.

 

At the same time, in case you are missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia, our Sunday worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:45AM Pacific.  That conference number is (712) 770-4160, and the access code is 308640#.  We are now making these gatherings available by Skype.  If you wish to participate by video on Skype, my Skype ID is regner.capener.  If you miss the live voice call, you can dial (712) 770-4169, enter the same access code and listen in later.  The video call, of course, is not recorded – not yet, anyway.

 

Blessings on you!