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

A Declaration of Ownership

Psalm 24:1-2 – “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the waters.”               Psalm 24 is the third part of a trilogy with Psalm 22 and 23. David opens Psalm 22 prophetically with the words Jesus would say on the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?” Psalm 23 reveals our Lord as the Great Shepherd who cares for His sheep. Psalm 24 reveals the Lord as the King of Glory.  Psalm 24 begins with a declaration of ownership. The Psalmist identifies the Lord as the Creator. Psalm 24:2 says, “He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters. Psalm 89:11 says, “The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all its fullness, You have founded them.”  The beginning of cr...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Tent Peg of Jael

Judges 4:21-22 – “Then Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. And then, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, I will show you the man whom you seek.” And when he went into her  tent,  there lay Sisera, dead with the peg in his temple.”             The book of Judges covered a chaotic time in Israel’s history.   A key Scripture for Judges in found in Judges 21:25, “Every man did was right in his own eyes.” There were seven cycles of apostasy, where the covenant children of God would turn away from the principles of the Word of God.             When they had godly leadership they would serve the Lord.   When that leader would die they would turn f...
1 comment
Read more

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