Why do some hate more than others? (F)
Terry Dashner…..Faith Fellowship Church in Broken Arrow, OK 74013
In the early 1990s Dr. C. Peter Wagner wrote a book entitled, Breaking Strongholds in Your City with the subtitle, How to use spiritual mapping to make your prayers more strategic, effective and targeted (Regal Books). To finish out my series on why some hate more than others, I’m going to highlight some of Dr. Wagner’s insights, which at the time of the book’s publication were prophetic but, nevertheless, unproven; however, today these insights are being employed worldwide with great results. I believe you will benefit from this brief study.
In the book’s introduction Dr. Wagner answers this question: What good is spiritual mapping? Says Wagner, “As many of our contributors stress, we do not regard spiritual mapping as an end in itself. However, we do believe it is God’s desire for us to pray, ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matt. 6:10). We also see a cause-and-effect relationship between the faithfulness of God’s people in prayer and the coming of His Kingdom. When God’s will is done on earth we see lost people saved; sick people healed; poor people with sufficient essentials; and end to wars, fighting and bloodshed; oppressed people liberated; just governments; fair and equitable business practices; harmony among races, just to mention some of the benefits.”
Then Dr. Wagner tackles the big question: Is spiritual mapping Biblical? Again Dr. Wagner writes, “An example of spiritual mapping is seen in Ezekiel 4: 1-3 where God instructs Ezekiel to make a map of the city of Jerusalem on a clay tablet, then ‘lay siege against it.’ Obviously, this refers to spiritual, not conventional, warfare.
“I mention this because some research has turned up what is regarded by archaeologists as the first known map of a city, the city of Nippur, the ancient cultural center of Sumer. It is on a well-preserved clay tablet, undoubtedly similar to the one Ezekiel used. The features on the map, drawn around 1500 B.C., constitute what we today would call spiritual mapping. In the center of the city is written ‘the place of Enlil.’ It is said that in the city ‘dwelt the air god, Enlil, the leading deity of the Sumerian pantheon.’ We would identify it as the territorial spirit over Sumer.”
With any activity that targets one phase of ministry over another, one must be cautious and aware that Satan is very deceptive. He can take believers to the extremes and bury them there if they do not “watch and pray.” When a believer maps out a spiritual territory over which to intercede and bind up the “strong man,” the believer must stand firm in prayer and the Word of God. The believer’s authority over the devil is the name Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. When this is understood, spiritual warfare becomes the work of God through us and not because of us.
How does one know if spiritual warfare over an area is working? For one, the entire spiritual climate will give way to changes. Again Dr. Wagner writes, “When the children of Israel were preparing to take the Promised Land, God gave them the law of warfare. This is important for us today when we realize that God was preparing them for spiritual warfare, not conventional warfare. What conventional army ever defeated a city by marching around it X number of times and blowing horns? I believe these laws of warfare as recorded in Deuteronomy 20 are valid today.
“Several whole categories of vigorous grown men who might otherwise have been considered as warriors in Joshua’s army were specifically to be excluded from the frontlines. Those who had just built a new house were to go back. Also those who had planted a new vineyard and those who were engaged to a woman but not yet married. Some reasoning is given on to say that those who are ‘fearful and fainthearted’ should also return (see Deut. 20:8).
“Significantly, in my opinion, no indication of rebuke or disappointment is recorded. Apparently their rightful place was at home, not at war.
“This same law of warfare was applied later to Gideon. Gideon started with 32,000 potential warriors. Of these, 22,000 were fearful or fainthearted and they were encouraged to go home. Then God called only 300 out of the 10,000 who would otherwise have been eligible. They were not the biggest, the strongest, the youngest, the fastest runners, the most experienced, the best sword fighters or even the bravest. In His own way, God sovereignty called 300 to go and He called 9,700 not to go.
“This is the way the Body of Christ is intended to operate. God gifts and calls only a few to be public evangelists and to preach the gospel to crowds from platforms. God calls only a few to leave their homes and families and to move in as missionaries to a foreign country and a foreign culture. They need the rest of us who do not go on the platforms or to other countries to back them up in every way. And we need them. The eye cannot say to the hand ‘I have no need of you’” (see I Corinthians 12:21).
To end this topic let me say this. Hate is not of God, ever. Even in Old Testament times when the Israelites went to battle against her enemies, Israel was to offer terms of peace first before invading by military might. Israel was never allowed by God to ambush or sneak attack her enemies. God was showing mercy to the wicked even in giving Israel rules of engagement. Hate is from the devil. Hate, small or large, is evil. Hate never wins out. Hate is not a tool for a Christian to use against any person. The Bible tells us to treat others as we want others to treat us.
While the paragraph above speaks to conventional warfare, this closing paragraph highlights a spiritual technique to be used against hate. Some men hate more than others because their hearts are not right before God. Hate plays into the hands of devils and multiplies and intensifies as evil. This kind of hate must be addressed by spiritual warfare, especially spiritual mapping (mapping a locality to discover which demons control the area). Once the demon of racism, arrogance or any other demon of hell is identified, all warfare in prayer and Word authority should be directed specifically against that demon hierarchy which has been named. When the demons of hell are bound by the power of the Holy Spirit, change comes. Hates decreases and love increases. Church bells begin to ring out once again. The Kingdom of God is being brought near.
So, where do we go from here? This is where we go from hereto the prayer closets to pray.
Keep the faith. Stay the course in pray and speaking the Word of God. Jesus is coming real soon.
Pastor Tdash—blessed!
About the Author
Pastors a church in Broken Arrow, OK. Writes daily devotions for his congregation.