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 here—to
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 Tdashblessed!
