Identifying and Breaking an Oppressive Spirit Oppression – prolonged pressure, distress, cruel or unjust treatment or control. Don’t mistake your affliction with oppression. Just because you are fighting something does not mean that you are oppressed by that thing. Oppression is prolonged, ongoing struggle, distress. Something that you seem to be always fighting its control over you, or its presence that unjustly affects you. An oppressive spirit can control an individual, a family, a city, or a nation. Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. God has promised to deliver you from your many afflictions. Afflictions come on you because of your position. Your position geographically, Your position socially –in community, family, or corporately, Your position Spiritually. Judges 6 1-6 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD. Judges 6:7-10 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites, That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land; And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice. Judges 6:11-14 ¶ And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? Judges 6:15-24 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me. Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it. And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face. And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. Judges 6:25-27 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down. Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. Judges 6:28 -32 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built. And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing. Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it. And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar. Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar. Oppression comes because you allowed and or tolerated something in your life until it became a strong force to oppress you. (Gideon’s problem was not the Midianites or the Amalekites. It was the idolatry of Baal and Asherah. These other nations were simply the means in which Satan used to bring about the end. Deuteronomy chapter 7 explains God’s directive to destroy completely the altars of Baal and Asherah. However Israel did not utterly destroy them. Instead what they were commanded to hate in one generation they tolerated in the next and normalized by the third generation. Israel elected their own oppressor. Freedom is never granted voluntarily by the oppressor it is always demanded by the oppressed. The oppression was broken when the altar was thrown down and the groves were burnt. (when the original command of the Lord was obeyed.) You can not rest in the fact that everything is going to work out as God plans when you are not living according to his plan. You have to get back in line with Him. It wasn’t God that caused this to come upon Israel, it was their own evil deeds that caused this to take place. They stepped outside of God’s protection when they decided to go against God’s commands. Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. EX. Like a clogged aerator on your kitchen faucet, Something was blocking the spout where the glory comes out. There is a penalty for Sin. Death, In the case of Gideon… the road to that Death was poverty. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. God is determined to get what belongs to Him – he will work on the heart until you realize that the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change. Your God has not forsaken you, but have you forsaken your God? The door was open for satanic oppression by the forsaking of God and serving other gods Ex 20:3-7 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. You Mighty Man of Valor - Go in Might – the Spirit of Might gives you the power to accomplish anything and become the champion of all. I’m calling you out of timidity into the boldness of The Spirit of Might 1st he had to take back the High Place Gideon took 10 of his servants and threw down the alters of Baal and cut down the groves of Asherah. We could change our city if we only had 10 willing to obey the directive of the Lord. Gideon wasn’t even alive at the original directive of the Word of God. He grew up in the common time of idolatry. The Lord will reveal his word again to you. Seek, Hear, and obey.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 02:45:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015