Warfare Portals

Dear beloved: Today we are going to look at the portals of demonic entry into a person's life, starting with the sins that are given to us that we don't choose, the generational sins. In Exodus 20:4, the Lord in giving the ten commmandments, says "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. v5 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate me." So we can see from this that the iniquity of the fathers has a direct impact on the lives of the generations to follow; so a life of sin can be handed down, not through the blood (although in some cases such as AIDS or drug addiction the consequences may also be handed down through the blood), but through the demonic realm of familiar spirits. The Hebrew word for visiting, Heb.paqad, means to pay attention to, to be counted, to be listed, to muster. So we have spirits that have been assigned to our families and to ourselves that are paying particular attention to us and are familiar with the characteristics and weaknesses of our family. In Leviticus 19:31 we have this instruction, 'Regard them not that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them; I am the Lord your God.' These spirits are demon spirits who possess mediums- those who give their will to them- to imitate dead human beings, make predictions, promote doctrines of demons (I Timothy 4:1-7). Iniquity, as it is spoken of in the passage above from Exodus 20, refers to the continual, repetitive choosing of sin by an individual, a family, or a nation. King David, in his Psalm 51 of repentance, says in verse 5, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me....He was acknowledging the sin that he was born with, that which had been established in his family. It wasn't necessarily a judgment against his mother, but against the iniquity of his family. I can certainly relate to this, as in my own life I had a rebel spirit that was with me from early age; it wasn't something I chose, it was there even before I was aware of choice and of the nature of sin. Jesus addresses the nature of family spirits in Matthew 12:43 "Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and does not find it. v44 Then it says, 'I will return to my house (physical edifice, holy temple, and by extension family) from which I came'; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. v45 Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of the man becomes worse that the first. That is the way it will also be in this evil generation." So the spirits hang around, they are given entry by sin and turning away from the Lord, and then they are passed down to the third and fourth generation when the third and fourth generation also sin and choose to turn away from the Lord. And so the sin builds and becomes strongholds of iniquity that are difficult to cast out and overcome, and in this way many individuals, and families, are under bondage that affects their health, their finances, their addictions, and even their salvation. The great news for us as believers is that we can through the blood of Jesus cancel out the sin and iniquity and familiar spirits that have been assigned to us. Deuteronomy 7:9 "Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousanth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;v10 but repays those that hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with those that hate Him, He will repay him to his face." As you pray and meditate on your life today, think about the sins and iniquity of your family tree, the traits that you know have been prevalent and have caused you or family members to reject or drift away from the Lord, or just to be hindered in your walk. Tomorrow we will look at some strategies to counter generational curses and iniquity of our fathers. God bless you as you walk in His shadow this day, in Christ, Jim