Skip to main content

An Enemy Occupying the Place of Covenant

Judges 4:1-3 – “When Ehud was dead, the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth Hagoyim. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord; for Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel."

            The children of Israel had a real problem.  Their evil and sin resulted in servitude and bondage to a Canaanite King, Jabin.  His commander was Sisera.  He commanded a powerful army that possessed nine hundred chariots of iron.  His fortress was in Harosheth Hagoyim, which was located at the base of Mount Carmel outside of modern day Haifa. 

Mount Carmel overlooks the Valley of Jezreel, where the Battle of Armageddon will take place in the future.  This is the land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  This promise is reaffirmed in Joshua 1:3-4, “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory.”

It is in the very place of promise that Israel is being oppressed by Sisera.  Sisera was well armed and struck fear into the hearts of his enemies. He looked invincible. For two decades the covenant people of God had been oppressed by this strong man.  A strong enemy was occupying their place of promise.
 
Some of you have a strong enemy that is occupying your place of covenant promise.  Revelation 12:11 defines this enemy as the “accuser of the brethren.”  In John 10:10 Jesus defines Him as “a thief, who steals, kills, and destroys.”  Like Israel of old we have an oppressor.  He is occupying our place of promise.  How do we deal with an enemy that trespasses in our place of promise?


We must evict the enemy that has been occupying the place of promise.  James 4:7 instructs, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  In Revelation 12:11 there are instructions on how to overcome the enemy that occupies your place of promise.  “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rebuilding the Broken Altar of Prayer

In Matthew 21: 12-13 , “ Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” Jesus made this declaration, “My house shall be called a house of prayer!”  I believe that God is calling us back to the altar of prayer.  For several weeks the Lord has dealt with me about rebuilding the broken altar of prayer in our personal and corporate lives.  If we are going to see spiritual breakthrough in our churches and communities then we must rebuild and return to the altar of prayer. Wayman Rogers writes, “The ministry of prayer is the most important of all ministries in the church.  Prayer creates the atmosphere and binds the powers of darkness so the gospel of Jesus can go forward and the church can prosper....
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shout of a King is Among Them

Numbers 23:21 - “He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. The Lord his God  is  with him, And the shout of a King  is  among them.” In this passage of Scripture, the king of Moab had hired the prophet Balaam to speak a curse over the children of Israel.   He saw Israel as a threat to his kingdom.   Numbers 22:2-3 – “Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was exceedingly afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was sick with dread because of the children of Israel.” When the enemy sees the people of God rising up in faith, he becomes very concerned and moves to keep us from fulfilling our assignment.   We learn in Numbers, Balaam could only speak what the Lord gave him to speak.   Instead of a curse he speaks a blessing. The enemy seeks our destruction, but God!   Listen to the conversation between God and Satan in ...
Post a Comment
Read more

They Turned Back in the Day of Battle

Psalms 78:9 – “ “The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.”             Ephraim was the younger of two sons of Joseph.   His first born was Manasseh.   It was Ephraim that received the blessing of Jacob.   The tribe of Ephraim became the largest of the ten northern tribes of Israel.   Many times the Bible used the name Ephraim to represent the whole nation of Israel.             In verse 9 they are armed and carrying bows.   They are dressed, equipped, and ready to battle.   Yet we learn that they turned back in the day of battle.   The Bible identifies this as sin.   To turn back in the day of battle was displeasing to God.               To be armed meant that they were equipped with armor, a sword, and a shield. ...
Post a Comment
Read more