Removing and Destroying the Demonic Inhabitants of your Land

Joshua 6: 21 KJV

“And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox, and sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword.”

A very important aspect of spiritual warfare is the removal of all obstacles to our advancement and complete possession of our land. When we have been prompted by the Lord that we have entered a new territory in the spirit or in the natural, it is imperative that we war against the things that may hinder us and try to snare us in this place that is contaminated with the influence of the Antichrist spirit. 

After the prompting of the Lord, we are then directed to eliminate all the giants in our territory —that is, the demonic that has been influencing the region, place of assignment, or land we were promised by God that we are now taking possession of. This also means that the removal of the demonic will also cause the removal of obstacles in the natural, including the people used of the enemy so those of us appointed by God can replace them in the positions and offices they occupied. The demonic we are called to remove in these places include: 

Men—those demons that are stronger than us and would want to become the strongman that would try to stop us from being effective or from advancing and would even attempt to plunder us. 

Women—everything that has a demonic womb that would want to give birth to demonic assignments against us, and also give birth to things for the Antichrist spirit to influence that place and the people again. 

Children—every demonic spirit and assignment of the enemy aimed at taking us out in the future,

The Old—old ways and demonic entities that were hard to remove. These are ancient demonic structures, devices, or demonic gatekeepers that kept doors and gates closed to the truth and the advancement of the gospel and were also shut against us and our generations so we can occupy those places and positions and see room made for us and our gifts.

Ox, sheep, and donkeys—these are all devices, stumbling blocks, weapons, as well as assignments against us that need to be removed from the hands of the enemy and from his camp to make him vulnerable, disarmed, utterly destroyed and removed from our territories. For this reason Exodus 34:11-16 says, 

¹¹“‘Observe what I command you this day: Behold, I am driving from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.

¹² “Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst.

¹³ “But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars and cut down their wooden images

¹⁴ “(for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God).

¹⁵ “lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods, and make sacrifices to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice,

¹⁶”and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods. “

We can see in this passage a list of reasons why it is crucial for us to remove and not partake of the worldly things that the people in the place of our assignment and new territory do which can cause the jealousy of God to be ignited against us. For this, we need to continue steadfastly in our communion with the Lord and spend times of consecration so we can hear His instructions for what He wants us to do in the new place. 

Someone that was given this same admonition and failed to obey carefully, and his presumption caused him the kingdom (place of assignment and position of authority), was King Saul. In 1 Samuel 15, we see that he was given the assignment from the Lord through the prophet Samuel to remove everything that was in the land whether it seemed of value in the sight of him and his army or not. But they failed to obey the command and instead decided to keep for themselves what looked good and of value, and killed what looked worthless. Saul even spared the life of Agag, the king of the Amalekites—the enemy of God`s people. The prophet Samuel had to come and kill him, but not without first informing the king of the consequences of his bad decisions.

The aforementioned was the worse of the line of bad choices King Saul made and it is supposed to be the first thing we ought to do. That is—we must remove the demonic king with the sword (Word) God gives to us, and then go after the lower ranks because when they see their head (leader) cut off, the rest of the demonic army will flee (See 1 Samuel 17). We can also see as we read in the accounts of the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, that Saul`s disobedience and presumption caused more damage than he anticipated. 

One evidence of his failure to obey carefully was that he was ensnared and took on the same character of the spirit of the demonic king he did not remove. This is seen in how he persecuted David, his successor. After he perceived that David was anointed and had more abilities than him to bring victories for the Kingdom, Saul started plotting ways to eliminate David. Every plot became worse than the previous one until God Himself removed him in the battlefield. 

Another evidence of his failure is that not only did King Saul lose the kingdom, but his descendants lost ground and even died in the same battle where he lost his life. All this can be avoided when there is steadfast obedience and a heart sold out to God that is willing to serve Him with reverent fear, whether we have understanding of what He`s doing or not. In addition, other descendants and generations that survived from King Saul`s family went astray from the ways of the Lord and many committed worse acts of rebellion and defiance against God than he did. 

In essence, let`s be people that receive the grace of God to advance His Kingdom one obedience at a time because in our obedience there is protection, power, and authority to do the work we have been assigned to do. Philippians 2:13 says that it is God who works in us to both will and do for His good pleasure. This will also guarantee that we remain in the land and grow in it until perhaps God instruct us to move and take on another assignment because He knows He can entrust us with more. And always giving the glory to Him alone.▪

The Test of Correction before Promotion

Psalm 75: 4-7 AMPC

⁴ I said to the arrogant and boastful, Deal not arrogantly [do not boast]; and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn [of personal aggrandizement].

⁵ Lift not up your [aggressive] horn on high, speak not with a stiff neck and insolent arrogance.

⁶ For not from the east nor from the west nor from the south come promotion and lifting up.

⁷ But God is the Judge! He puts down one and lifts up another.

This Scripture describes how God disguises the possibility of promotion for His children with a test of correction. This means that He will send someone that many times we would not want to receive correction from, be it a boss, spiritual leader, a father, mother or parental figure, siblings, friends, or even people that are younger than us. He will even send complete strangers to make observations that will bring correction to us. But if we show the wrong attitude to that correction whether outwardly or in our hearts, we could forfeit our next promotion. That is because God will test our willingness to submit to one another in love and our spiritual maturity before we can be entrusted with more from Him. 

In the next passage, we see an example of the magnitude and great lengths God goes to help us turn from the wrong way and return to Him and His ways. But He also tests to see if we are seeking promotion in our own way and timing and apart from His leading and guidance by His Spirit. So when He brings correction, it may be that He is also preventing us from a detrimental outcome which could also save our lives. The account in Numbers 22:16-17, 20-33 shows us this principle.

¹⁶ They came to Balaam, and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, ‘I beg you, let nothing hinder you from coming to me. ¹⁷ For I will give you a very great honor and I will do whatever you tell me; so please come, curse these people [of Israel] for me.’” 

²⁰ God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them, but you shall still do only what I tell you.”

²¹ So Balaam got up in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab.

²² But God’s anger was kindled because he was going, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³ When the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way and His drawn sword in His hand, the donkey turned off the path and went into the field; but Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back toward the path. ²⁴ But the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path of the vineyards, with a [stone] wall on this side and a [stone] wall on that side. ²⁵ When the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she pressed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against it, and he struck her again. ²⁶ The Angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. ²⁷ When the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam, so Balaam was angry and he struck the donkey [a third time] with his staff. ²⁸ And the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have struck me these three times?”  

²⁹ Then Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a mockery of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now!” ³⁰ The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life until this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you?” And he said, “No.”

³¹ Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and lay himself face down. ³² The Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your behavior was obstinate and contrary to Me. ³³ The donkey saw Me and turned away from Me these three times. If she had not turned away from Me, I would have certainly killed you now, and let her live.” AMP

We see in verses 16-17 that Balaam had received an invitation to do something that is contrary to the ways of God and that He mandates us to do: that is to walk in love with one another and bless and not curse. Balaam was asked to curse God`s people whom He had blessed because an enemy that was jealous of the Israelites wanted to use Balaam; someone who did not know his identity in God and was being tempted to seek self-promotion by becoming a stumbling block to God`s people which would have granted him ill-gotten gain and promotion away from the ways of God and His timing during a season of his process. We also see in verse 20 that God used this opportunity to test Balaam and see if he would take the bait of the enemy to promote himself and use what God had put in Him to damage others for his own gain. Balaam did get up to go the way of the enemy of His people, but God sent His Angel to stop him. 

Now the donkey Balaam was riding is a representation of the prophetic gift which includes the office of the Prophet in the Church which God sends to not only give words of encouragement and exultation but also to give words of correction and reveal the wrong ways in which people are going so they can return to the right path. But when the response is of rebellion and wrong attitudes, the correction that could save their lives and preserve them in the path to their destiny, then causes them to forfeit their next promotion. The end-result is that the people will have to go around their mountain again because what God is seeking is a humble attitude that recognizes with repentance when they have gone the wrong way. There is another example of this found in Isaiah 9:8-16, 

 

⁸
The Lord sends a word (message) against Jacob,
And it falls on Israel [the ten northern tribes, the kingdom of Ephraim].
⁹ 
And all the people know it,
That is, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria [its capital],
Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:
¹⁰ 
“The bricks have fallen down,
But we will rebuild [all the better] with ashlar (hewed stones);
The sycamores have been cut down,
But we will replace them with [expensive] cedars.”
¹¹ 
Therefore the Lord raises against Ephraim adversaries from Rezin [king of Aram]
And spurs their enemies on,
¹² 
The Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west;
And they devour Israel with gaping jaws.
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

¹³ 
Yet the people do not turn back [in repentance] to Him who struck them,
Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts [as their most essential need].
¹⁴ 
Therefore the Lord cuts off head and tail [the highest and the lowest] from Israel,
Both [the high] palm branch and [the low] bulrush in one day.
¹⁵ 
The elderly and honorable man, he is the head;
And the prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.
¹⁶ 
For those who lead this people are causing them to go astray;
And those who are led [astray] by them are swallowed up. AMP

In this passage we see that God allowed some circumstances to test the response of His people but all He found was pride and arrogance as well as their willingness to seek to rise up from the ashes while continuing in their defiant ways, never acknowledging the fact that God was seeking humbleness in their hearts and a contrite spirit so they could be restored from their fallen state and back to Him. That is why Proverbs 16:18 says, 

¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall. NKJV

God is seeking true worshipers in this hour (John 4:24) identified as those of us who will allow Him to search our hearts and repent of what He finds in us. It is never God`s intention for His people to perish (John 3:16), but that we find and turn from our wicked ways and be healed and restored back to His original intent for us. It is up to us to choose life and blessing or death and cursing (Deuteronomy 30:19) as demonstrated in the admonishment He gives us in 2 Chronicles 7:14, which says,

¹⁴ If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. AMPC

We can see in this verse the two contingency clauses "if" and "then" which warn that we make a choice to whether or not humble ourselves and take the steps necessary to be restored back to God, then He will hear our pleas to be healed and restored. This is also seen in Galatians 6:7 which highlights, 

⁷ Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. AMPC

In addition, in this post I want to insert the link of a video to give you, reader, a visual in hopes to help you understand what God sees at times when He expects more from us, but instead sees the same wrong attitudes. He will go back over and over to check our level of maturity and see if He will find a humble and contrite heart instead of pride and arrogance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g9xn784vu0 Cheesy Commercial

To Him alone be all the glory. ■

Images by Google Images

Video provided by YouTube.com