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The Canaanites

 

This is the fifth article in a series of 7 articles on the 7 "categories" of evil spirits that the Scriptures describe. This article will focus on the "Canaanites". It is very important to understand how each of these evil spirits operates in order to recognize if our hearts are currently "infected" with any of them, and to recognize them in the hearts of others. These spirits are real, and their effects in people's lives are devastatingly real, so it is important to recognize their modus operandi.

 

Since entire books could be written on each type of evil spirit, we could not possibly cover each type completely in a single article. Each article in this series, therefore, will serve as a brief overview of each type of spirit. God willing, we will post future articles that will expand on each of these types of spirits.

 

Throughout this series, whenever we refer to a "Canaanite", for example, we may be referring to a Canaanite spirit or to a person "infected" with that type of spirit.

 

Index

What's in a name?

Canaanites are "dancers"

Mad cow disease

Dancers are pleasers

Dancing means to "get down"

Don't dance for pigs and dogs

Pleasing that pleases God

Sometimes, allow others to dance for you

Curse the Canaanites

So much more to say




What's in a name?

A great deal can be inferred directly from the meaning of the word "Canaanite". As we mentioned in the first article of this series (under the section "The 7 types of evil spirits"), "Canaanite" means, "lowlands people". Since the word "land" is related to the concept of "earth" or "ground", the "lowlands" refer to low earthly passions. Canaanite spirits are the spirits behind addictions and sexual perversions. This is why Sodom and Gomorrah are portrayed in Scriptures as Canaanite cities:

 

"19And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha." (Genesis 10:19)

 

"12Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. 13But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly" (Genesis 13:12-13)

 

The spirits of homosexuality and lesbianism, along with all other sexual perversions, are Canaanite spirits. These spirits operate through people's emotions and make a concerted effort to shut off the person's mind, since the mind is the part of the soul most related to making judgments; the conscience resides in the mind, and the mind is the one designed to store God's laws and apply them with wisdom to make judgments:

 

"13Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." (1 Corinthians 2:13-16)

 

"15Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)16In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." (Romans 2:15-16)

 

People who fall into alcoholism (which is a Canaanite spirit) generally start drinking through someone or something convincing them that heavy drinking is "normal" and being done by everyone else. Once the person's judgment against heavy drinking has been "shut off", the person starts to drink, and, soon, the alcohol shuts off all sober judgment and inhibition, and the person goes into a strong and public display of emotions. Canaanite spirits are spirits of carnal excess and dissolution:

 

"15See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit"  (Ephesians 5:15-18)

 

As we saw in a previous article, the mind is right-handed and truth-oriented, while the emotions are left-handed and grace-oriented. Canaanite spirits, therefore, are left-handed spirits that emphasize freedom and grace, downplaying truth and judgment, just as Hittite spirits do. In our previous article on the Hittites, we saw that Hittites are distorters of prophetic emotions; they drive people to suicide and despair by portraying a prophetic vision that is not truth-based; Hittites are the spirits that drive terrorists to commit suicide attacks and to shed their lives for false causes; wherever Hittites invade, a sense of chaos, purposelessness, and emptiness soon sets in. If the Hittites are distorters of prophetic emotions, what type of emotions do the Canaanites distort? It is important to know the answer to this question in order to prevent these types of spirits from entering our lives, and to drive them out if they already entered. We will address this question in the next few sections.

 

Canaanites are "dancers"

In Genesis 13, the Lord records the separation of Abraham from Lot and Lot's decision to live in the Canaanite city of Sodom:

 

"10And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. 11Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. 12Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. 13But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly." (Genesis 13:10-13)

 

The word "plain" that appears in this passage is translated from the Hebrew word kikkar, which comes from the Hebrew word karar, which, oddly enough, means, "to whirl, to dance". Therefore, the phrase "cities of the plain" in verse 12 could, in a way, be paraphrased as "cities of dancing". The reason why the Lord decided to connect the word "plain" with the seemingly unrelated word "dancing" in the Hebrew language is to illustrate the connection between Canaanite spirits and "dancing". Please, don't misunderstand me. Dancing is not wrong in and of itself. In fact, it sometimes is the right thing to do. However, "dancing" that is not led by the Spirit of God is directly associated with Canaanite spirits. When the Bible refers to "dancing", it refers to more than the act of "shaking your bad self", as we will see later in this article.

 

As you all know from the movie (or from reading the Bible), the people of Israel rebelled against God while Moses was up on Mount Sinai receiving God's commandments for His people. They built a golden calf, called it "God", and decided to throw a party and celebrate:

 

"5And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. 6And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play." (Exodus 32:5-6)

 

When Moses came down from the mount, this is what the Word declares:

 

"19And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. 20And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it." (Exodus 32:19-20)

 

Notice how this passage relates "dancing" in the flesh with carnal excess and dissolution, emphasizing the relationship between "dancing" and Canaanite spirits.

 

Mad cow disease

The passage quoted above (Exodus 32:19-20) also establishes a connection between "calves" and "dancing". The word translated as "calf" in this passage is the Hebrew word egel, which comes from another Hebrew word meaning, "to revolve". In a sense, we can say that the children of Israel were revolving around the calf, i.e.- dancing around the calf, in the same way that a woman would sensually dance around a man she likes. Since the word egel for "calf" in Hebrew has a "masculine" connotation, we can say that the calf was a "young bull", meaning that the children of Israel were like "female cattle", or "cows", dancing around the young bull. As we will see in future articles, the connection between "cows" and Canaanite spirits is very strong throughout the Bible.

 

This is the spiritual reason behind the recent outbreaks of "mad cow disease". As you might have seen on TV, cows with this disease can't walk straight and look very much like "drunk cows". From what I have heard on educational channels, the organisms that cause this disease take residence in the cow's brain, making any meat that has been in contact with cow brains very dangerous. As we saw above, Canaanite spirits make a concerted effort to shut down the person's mind and to get him or her into a drunken stupor where emotions are no longer inhibited by a sober mind. This is the spiritual reason why the "mad cow" organisms attack the brain, of all places. God has allowed the manifestation of this disease in these latter days to portray the current condition of His Church, which has allowed itself to be under a pastoral matriarchy that emphasizes a gospel of "grace" and blessing and downplays God's justice and judgments. We are like the children of Israel in Exodus 32 who have fashioned a calf, a "God" according to our own likings and soulish interests, and we dance around this "God" as if we were holding a sacred feast for the One True God (Exodus 32:5). We even bring our "burnt offerings" and "peace offerings" (Exodus 32:6) before this "God", pretending to be right with God and pretending that we are doing all that God requires of us. God, however, sees His Church as a herd of mad cows, drunk on the spiritual gifts that He Himself gave to them, in the same way that the people of Israel feasted using the very provisions that God had given to them through the Egyptians when they left Egypt:

 

"35And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: 36And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians." (Exodus 12:35-36)

 

This is the end-time and God's prophetic Word shall be fulfilled. He will lift up a mighty prophetic Church in the latter days that will shake the spiritual foundations of this Earth and manifest God's latter-rain glory. As this spiritual Church is raised up, God's judgments will become more and more evident throughout the Earth. In the last chapter of the Old Testament, the Lord's manifestation is equated with the rising of the "sun of righteousness" (or the "sun of justice", as I prefer to translate it):

 

"1For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. 4Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. 5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Malachi 4:1-6)

 

Notice that God's latter-day manifestation is not equated with rainbows, smiley faces, and a field of beautiful roses with delicate butterflies dancing all around. Our God is a holy God, and when He manifests Himself, the weight of His Glory and Righteousness is strong!!!

 

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17)

 

"17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." (Romans 8:17-19)

 

As Malachi 4:6 declares, the spirit of Elijah is to return, and as it does, God's judgments will be made increasingly manifested on Earth, and it will be through God's prophetic remnant people that these judgments will be released on Earth. Mad cow disease is a physical manifestation of a judgment that God is beginning to carry out in the spirit world against the Canaanite spirits. You and I, my brother and sister, are agents of God's spiritual judgments on Earth. While Canaanite pastors, the modern-day Aarons, are fashioning the "gospel" to the liking of the world and the flesh, God's remnant Church is living a life of submission to God, abiding under God's constant judgments, being molded by God instead of them trying to mold God to their own liking.

 

Dancers are pleasers

Now that we have found a spiritual connection between dancing and Canaanites, we must understand the spiritual meaning of dancing. In Mark chapter 6, the Holy Spirit records the following "dancing incident":

 

"17For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife: for he had married her. 18For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife. 19Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not: 20For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. 21And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee; 22And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. 23And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. 24And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. 25And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.26And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath’s sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her. 27And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, 28And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother." (Mark 6:17-28)

 

Notice that verse 22 above says that Herodias' daughter danced and pleased Herod. Dancing is, in essence, an act of pleasing others. This is why they have dancers in strip clubs; these dancers, who are women trapped by Canaanite spirits, dance around the client, doing all the moves that the client may find to be "pleasant". Women who are good tango dancers are those who are very good at following the lead of their male partner, which is, in essence, the ability to be molded by the moves of the partner.

 

If you look carefully, you will notice that an overriding desire to "please others" runs through the whole passage quoted above. First, Herodias' daughter danced to please Herod; in other words, she made herself available as a "servant" ready to please Herod with her dance moves. Then, Herod felt a desire to please her back, telling her to request anything from him; in other words, Herod made himself available as a "servant" ready to please her back by giving her the gift she desired. Then, instead of thinking about what she wanted from the king, Herodias' daughter quickly ran to her mother to see what Herodias wanted; in other words, the daughter saw the king's words as an opportunity to please her mother. When her mother said that she wanted the head of John the Baptist, Herodias' daughter did not pause to consider if such a request was morally correct or if it was pleasing to God; she was so concerned about "pleasing mom" that she returned to the king and asked for John the Baptist's head on a platter. Herod did not want to kill John, but he was so concerned about pleasing Herodias' daughter and by what "people might think" that he simply acquiesced to her petition and told his executioner to bring him the head of John the Baptist. Notice how everyone was trying to please everyone in this passage, and notice how the Canaanite desire to please people can be so strong that you end up doing things your convictions wouldn't normally allow you to do. Canaanites create a type of "peer-pressure" atmosphere that make convictions subservient to the desires of men. People under Canaanite influence are constantly worried about what people might think.

 

Why did Herodias request John the Baptist's head on a platter? The word translated as "charger" by the King James translators in Mark 6:25 and Mark 6:28 is the Greek word pinax, which means, "a board, a dish, a platter", and apparently is derived from the Greek word plax, meaning, "a flat thing, a level surface". The word plax itself comes from the Greek word plasso, which means, "to form, to mold". From this, we can see several connections with things previously said in this article:

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As we said above, Genesis 13 relates the Hebrew word for "plain" with one of the Hebrew words for "dancing", and the Greek word plax means "a flat thing, a level surface", which is very much related to the concept of a "plain".

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As we said above, Aaron molded a golden calf to the liking of the children of Israel in order to please them and to give them the "God" they wanted. This relates to the word plasso, which means "to form, to mold". When we fall under a Canaanite influence, we start dancing to the desires of others and become like spiritual "plains", lowlands that have been "molded" into spiritual flatness by the desires of men instead of allowing God to mold us and shape us.

 

Platters are used by waiters, implying that John's head was brought in the same way that a waiter would bring food as a service to satisfy the desires of a customer. An important quality in a good servant is the desire to please the person being served. This is why people who are born with the Spirit of Service are very prone to fall under the influence of Canaanite spirits; in an effort to serve others, these people sometimes throw personal convictions out the window when these convictions get in the way of the other person's service request. Having a Spirit of Service is not wrong in and of itself. In fact, the Spirit of Service is one of the 7 Spirits of God (Revelation 3:1, 4:5). The 7 Spirits of God correspond to the 7 churches mentioned at the beginning of the book of Revelation; the 7 spirits of evil that we are studying in this series are, in fact, the spiritual counterparts of each of the seven spirits of God. We will be posting future articles on this, but, for now, we give a brief list of the 7 spirits of God and their spiritual "opposites" or "counterparts" in the world of iniquity:

 

Brief List of the 7 Spirits of God
Spirit of God Church in Rev 2 & 3 Related ministry Jehovah Name Attributes the Spirit of God imbues us with Evil counterparts
Spirit of Judgment Ephesus Apostles Tsidkenu (Jer 33:16) Wisdom to judge Jebusites
Spirit of Self-sacrifice Smyrna Prophets Shamah (Eze 48:35) Willingness to die for others Hittites
Spirit of Head authority Pergamos Evangelists Rophe (Exo 15:26) Ability to conquer in the spirit world Amorites
Spirit of Service Thyatira Pastors Jireh (Gen 22:14) Desire to serve and to please Canaanites
Spirit of Perfection Sardis Teachers Makkadesh (Lev 22:32) Desire to complete what is missing Girgashites
Spirit of Dreams & Visions Philadelphia --- Nissi (Exo 17:15) Visions of great things while still being small Perizzites
Spirit of Prosperity Laodicea --- Shalom (Jdg 6:24) Abundance and judgment-based shalom peace Hivites

 

When studying the seven Spirits of God, it becomes evident that the Spirit of Service is very strong on people with pastoral callings on their lives; this is also backed by simple observation of people in whom the pastoral calling is very evident. Those of you who have a strong desire to serve and to please others were definitely born to be pastors, and are very probably already working as pastors in the spirit world, even if you don't currently work full-time at some congregation. The Church is so literal in its understanding of God's Word that it has not grasped the fact that pastoring is a spiritual activity, not a physical one. I am fully convinced (and I write this knowing that God is reading what I am writing) that all believers are born with at least one of the fivefold ministries. The Bible very clearly declares that all of us who have given our hearts to the Anointed One (Christ) are priests and ministers of God (Revelation 1:6, Isaiah 61:6), and, as such, we all have gifts and ministries that are to be manifested on Earth. Many of you who are pastors in the eyes of God are carrying out your pastoral ministry at the place where you work, at home, or at the place where you study. Your mere presence wherever God sends you exerts a pastoral influence on the spiritual atmosphere around you, and you are affecting people's spiritual lives through your pastoral anointing, even if you are not audibly preaching a sermon from a pulpit. This not only applies to pastors but to all ministries. Those of you who have a prophetic calling on your life are probably already engaging in spiritual battle against Hittite, Jebusite, and Amorite spirits; your presence wherever God has you at this moment is exerting a prophetic influence on the believers and unbelievers that surround you. You don't have to be "ordained" by a pastor in front of a congregation to be recognized by God as a prophet. My friend, you already are a prophet. You were a prophet when you were in your mother's womb, before you were even born!!! (Jeremiah 1:5)

 

Those of you who were born with the Spirit of Service must be very careful not to be controlled by Canaanite spirits. You have a natural, God-given predisposition to please others, and, it is very likely that you have a hard time saying "no" to people's requests. Be careful not to get so caught up in dancing for others that you end up serving up a prophet's head on a platter.

 

To answer a question we posed near the beginning of this article, Canaanite spirits distort the emotions in us that wish to please others. Hittites spirits deceive us about whom or what we are to die for, while Canaanite spirits deceive us about who or what we are to live for and serve.

 

Dancing means to "get down"

The word "Canaan" means, "lowland" in Hebrew, and is derived from another Hebrew word, kana, which means, "to be humble, to be brought down". This makes spiritual sense, since you must be willing to humiliate yourself if you want to serve them. Remember how the Lord Jesus washed the disciple's feet (John 13). Service and humiliation go hand in hand:

 

"4Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2:4-8)

 

Those of you who have been asked to dance on stage in front of an audience probably know how embarrassing it is to dance for others (especially if "ants in his pants" is the phrase that comes to people's minds when they see you dance). Dancing, literal and spiritual, is a public exposition of weakness in order to please others. It's no wonder that people use the phrase "getting down" when referring to dancing.

 

Those of you with the Spirit of Service don't mind dancing and humiliating yourselves in front of others. You don't mind girding yourself with a towel to wash other people's feet (John 13:4), as long as that humiliation blesses them. By nature, you are prone to derive pleasure from pleasing other people. If you are not careful, however, your dancing may turn from a "sacrifice pleasant unto God" into a Canaanite dance that is an abomination to Him.

 

Don't dance for pigs and dogs

Don't dance to please the desires of pigs and dogs. They don't appreciate your service and sacrifice, and you are only "validating" and solidifying their iniquity when you continue to fulfill their doggish and piggish desires. Canaanite believers, in their zeal to please others, are prone to give people more than they need or deserve.

 

"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." (Matthew 7:6)

 

Even though the Gospel calls us to a life of suffering in service and self-sacrifice, not all suffering is necessarily of God:

 

"14If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 15But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. 16Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 17For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:14-17)

 

The phrase "busybody in other men's matters" in verse 15 above is the translation for the Greek word allotriepiskopos, which literally means, "one who supervises a stranger's affairs". In other words, it refers to investing your service in things that serve the interests of another master besides your own. You and I are, before all things, God's servants, not man's servants, and we are called to serve man in whatsoever serves the purpose of our Master, Jesus. When our service promotes the kingdom of another "master", the word "allotri-episkopos" applies to us. If our service does not work as seed to produce fruits of righteousness in others, working instead to strengthen or condone their iniquity, it becomes useless service in the eyes of God:

 

"9As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. 10Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness" (2 Corinthians 9:9-10)

 

"9(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord." (Ephesians 5:9-10)

 

The word translated as "goodness" in Ephesians 5:9 above is the Greek word agathosune, which refers to "uprightness" and "integrity", and not to "kindness and mercy", as the word "goodness" is sometimes used in English and other languages. The word translated as "acceptable" in Ephesians 5:10 above is the Greek word euarestos, which literally means, "well-pleasing". This implies that what pleases God are those things that are full of integrity, justice (i.e.- "righteousness"), and truth. As we mentioned in the article on the Hittites, God writes from right to left, meaning that His giving and His grace (which is left-handed) flows out of a foundation of truth and justice (which are right-handed). If a service or gift is not truth-based, it becomes purposeless and vain in the eyes of God, and His eyes are the Ones that count at the end.

 

Pleasing that pleases God

The Lord sets very clear parameters to determine if our pleasing of others is pleasing to Him:

 

"31Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 32Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:33Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved." (1 Corinthians 10:31-33)

 

In verse 31, Paul declares that we must do all things to the glory of God. If it does not bring God glory, it must not be done, and the only things that bring Him Glory are those that are in His will, righteousness, and purpose. Everything else is vain and pointless (Matthew 12:30, Psalms 127:1-5).

 

In verse 33 of the passage quoted above, Paul adds that his desire to please all men is constrained by two parameters:

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Selflessness ("not seeking my own profit")

This means that there must be no selfish interests or hidden agendas in my pleasing of others. I must give of myself selflessly.

 

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Salvation in others ("that they may be saved")

The word translated as "saved" in verse 33 is the Greek word sozo, which has the connotation of "restoration" or "redemption from destruction". All salvation or redemption in Scripture is judgment-based. When we are saved from going to hell, we have to repent and accept God's judgment against us. We must accept the label of "sinner" and "condemned" in order to be saved (John 16:8, Acts 2:32-41). Otherwise, there will be no repentance, and, hence, no salvation from hell. Since salvation in Scripture is described as a process that starts when you and I are born again (Philippians 2:12-13), we must understand that total salvation is the restoration of all which man lost when he sinned against God, which implies a growth process, and, therefore, it also implies growing pains (Hebrews 12:4-13). The word in Hebrew for "process", mishpat, is the same word for "judgment". This confirms the fact that salvation in the lives of others comes through the application of spiritual judgments (not carnal judgments) that work to produce righteousness in the other person. If my pleasing of others does not work towards producing righteousness in them, it is not working towards their salvation. If my pleasing of another person is done to prevent that person from pain and suffering that he or she needs to go through in order to have fruits of righteousness produced in him or her, I am working towards the destruction of that person, not the person's salvation (Proverbs 23:14, 13:24, 29:15; Matthew 18:15; James 5:19-20, 2 Corinthians 7:8-11).

 

Sometimes, allow others to dance for you

Those with a Spirit of Service find it easy to serve or "get down" for others, but find it difficult or uncomfortable to have others "get down" or dance for them. This is why Simon Peter, who had a pastoral calling on his life besides his apostolic and evangelistic calling (John 21:15-18), did not want Jesus to wash his feet:

 

"6Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? 7Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. 8Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me." (John 13:6-8)

 

Sometimes those with a true pastoral calling on their lives feel uncomfortable about others "dancing" to please them, even if God was the One who appointed that "dancing", as was the case with the Lord Jesus in John chapter 13. Jesus, who had the Spirit of Service (along with all the seven Spirits of God), allowed a woman at one time to "get down" in front of Him to wash and anoint His feet with her hair (Luke 7:36-49; notice the reference to "dancing" in Luke 7:32-34). From time to time, allow others to dance for you, and be grateful to them for it, but never allow anyone to dance for you when they have not been sent by God to do so. You will be opening a door for pride in your life and allowing the other person to perform self-deprecation that will curse that person's life, instead of blessing him or her:

 

"And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Revelation 19:10)

 

"25And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. 26But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man." (Acts 10:25-26)

 

Curse the Canaanites

When Israel was about to enter into the Promised Land to conquer it, they first had to fight against Arad, a Canaanite king, and against Sihon and Og, two Amorite kings (Numbers chapter 21). Before fighting against the Canaanites, Israel did an interesting thing:

 

"1And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners. 2And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. 3And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah" (Numbers 21:1-3)

 

This illustrates a "simple" but important principle that is essential to overcome Canaanite spirits in your own life and in the collective lives of others: condemn them to destruction with the words of your mouth. The name "Hormah" mentioned at the end of the passage above means, "devoted unto destruction" or "set apart to be destroyed". If you are struggling with a Canaanite addiction in your life, you must be willing to commit yourself to its total destruction, without compromises. One gets entangled in Canaanite addictions because of compromise, i.e.- because of having cast aside your convictions in order to please other people. This means that you must be willing to cut off all relationship with anything or anyone that promotes or harbors the Canaanite spirit. This is why Israel made a vow to destroy the Canaanites' cities. Human reasoning would have said that it made more sense to simply overcome the Canaanites and take advantage of their houses and their animals. However, it is impossible to truly defeat them in the Spirit if you are not willing to commit yourself to their total destruction, in your life and in the lives of others. Once you make the commitment in your heart and curse the Canaanites and all their "safe havens" unto destruction, God Himself will come and fight through you and give you total victory over them.

 

The world is currently infested with Canaanite spirits of pornography, sexual immorality, drug and alcohol addictions, and other deviant practices. You and I, as believers, must pray in the Spirit, sending out judgment word into the air from our prayer closets to condemn and destroy these Canaanite spirits. Most believers seem to think that the key to victory is to write to their Congressmen or Parliaments, pressuring them to pass laws that legislate morality. This is the human approach, and it will never, never work. This is a spiritual battle, and the battle must be fought with spiritual weapons. The consequences in the natural realm will then take care of themselves.

 

Pray for judgment against all those who do pornographic movies. Pray for the vial of destructive and grievous sores to be poured over their lives (each of the 7 vials of wrath in Revelation 16 corresponds to each of the 7 types of evil spirits; the first vial corresponds to the Canaanites). Pray for disease, sadness and grief to bear over the lives of pornographic actors when they sleep at night. Pray for them to find no peace whatsoever until they recognize their sins and expose their lives to the cleansing effect of Jesus' blood. Pray for drug dealers to be grieved with disease and heartache, to be without any rest or peace in their lives until they either repent or are killed. Some of these people are so hardened in their hearts that they will never repent; they only stay around on Earth to contaminate and destroy the lives of more and more people, so, in those cases, it is better for them to die. Obviously, it is not about you killing them literally! It is through spiritual warfare, through prayer, that these things will happen. The prophetic remnant of the latter days will be a "no holds barred" type of Church, a Church that will unleash punishing and unrelenting spiritual warfare against iniquity, paving the way for the greatest revival mankind has ever seen.

 

People who have a strong manifestation of God's Spirit of Service are very sociable people and are very prone to value social relationships and human contact. This is why most pastors (who by definition have the Spirit of Service) tend to be friendly people who like to have contact with people. Sometimes, this "contact" is so literal that they always like to go around hugging people, patting people on the shoulder, shaking hands, etc. This desire for human contact, however, can lead people to value their soulish relationships more than they value the laws and the justice of God. For example, a young lady might be so in love with a young man who is touching her improperly that she prefers to expose her body to his fornicating hands than to lose her relationship with him. In a sense, she prefers to "dance" for him and please him than to please God, because pleasing God would imply losing soul-contact with that young man. By not condemning the Canaanite spirit inside of her to destruction, and by not confronting the young man over his filthy behavior, she is doing him more harm than good. He will not understand that he is sinning against God until he is confronted.

 

Another example of how people with the Spirit of Service might value relationships over God's justice would be when a pastor likes a brother so much that he (or she) is not willing to confront that person, even if the brother is deliberately committing great sin against God. Remember how Peter, who was a pastor, confronted Ananias and Sapphira, pronouncing word of judgment against them that killed them, even though the "only" thing they did was to lie to God (Acts 5:1-11). Peter was more interested in executing God's judgments on Earth than on preserving his soul-relationship with them.

 

Another painfully common example of how people with the Spirit of Service might value relationships over God's justice would be when a mother "loves" a son so much that she bends over backwards to help him out of problems caused by his willful desire to live a life of sin and unrighteousness. Many mothers make great personal sacrifices to support their adult sons out of financial difficulties, for example, even when those financial problems are caused by irresponsible and sinful behavior such as alcohol and drug addiction. These mothers are motivated by left-handed, emotional love that is not based on a right-hand mind of judgment and truth. They refuse to confront their sons out of fear of losing "soul contact" with them.

 

"The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame." (Proverbs 29:15)

 

"13Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. 14Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell." (Proverbs 23:13-14)

 

The word translated as "hell" in the passage above is the Hebrew word "Sheol", which refers to hell in a literal sense and to "purposelessness" in a spiritual sense. Hell is like a big dumpster where things that are no longer useful are thrown away to be burned. When someone loses his or her prophetic calling in life due to deliberate hard-heartedness, his or her prophetic purpose is lost; he or she becomes useless, in a spiritual sense, and, once that happens, it is equivalent to having your calling cast into the fire of Sheol (by the way, if you fear that you have lost your prophetic calling and if that causes pain in your heart, your calling is not yet lost; those who lose their calling become so callous that they simply don't care). Therefore, when the Bible refers to Sheol or "hell", it is referring, in a spiritual sense, to a life that has strayed from its prophetic purpose and is no longer useful. When a mother refuses to apply judgment and justice out of fear of losing her soulish relationship with her son, she is allowing the prophetic calling of that son to be cast into the fire of hell. If the son did not receive Jesus as his Savior, he will end up in hell along with his prophetic calling. If he did receive Jesus as his Savior, he will escape hell literally, but his prophetic calling will be lost, and, the day he faces God, he will understand all the eternal things that he gave up for the sake of temporary things, and he will be vomited out by God (Revelation 3:14-22), cast away from God's presence forever, even if he himself does not end up "physically" in hell. He will exist eternally, but will not be allowed to eat from the tree of life. Canaanite mother, are you willing to let all of this happen because this short life would be "too painful" without your son near you? You must be willing to curse the Canaanite spirit in you,  confront your son in his iniquity, and curse the iniquity in him unto destruction. Your hands will then be free from the responsibility of his blood, because you will have warned him in time and acted in God's righteousness (Ezekiel 33:1-11).

 

Without cursing the Canaanites, there can be no true victory against them. 

 

So much more to say

There is so much more left to say about the Canaanite spirits!! God willing, we will post a future article that talks more about the relationship between the Canaanite spirits and "cows" in Scripture, as well as their relationship with "dogs", "mockery" and "carnal judgment".

 

[We discuss the Perizzite spirit in the next article of this series...]