The Hivites

This is the final article in a series of 7 articles on the 7 "categories" of evil spirits that the Scriptures describe. This article will focus on the "Hivites". 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 "Hivite", for example, we may be referring to a Hivite spirit or to a person "infected" with that type of spirit.

What's in a name?

A great deal can be inferred directly from the meaning of the word "Hivite". As we mentioned in the first article of this series (under the section "The 7 types of evil spirits"), "Hivite" means, "villagers". If you already read the previous article in this series on the Perizzites, you will remember that "Perizzite" means "belonging to a village", which is very similar to the meaning of "Hivite". This implies that many of the things we said about the Perizzites also apply to Hivites. As we said with the Perizzites, villages have a connotation of "limited vision", implying that Hivites also have a limited vision of life. What makes them different from the Perizzites, however, is the way in which people under the influence of Hivite spirits limit their life.

The word "Hivite" is derived in Hebrew from the word chavvah, which means "life" or "living". In fact, chavvah is the original version of the name "Eve". This is why the Lord declares the following in Genesis:

"And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living." (Genesis 3:20)

Since the word "Hivite" is related to the concept of "life" in Hebrew, we can infer that the Hivites' vision of life is not one of limitation, poverty, and self-deprecation, as is the case with the Perizzites. On the contrary, Hivites love to "live it up". Another interesting aspect can be derived from the only other appearance of the name "Eve" in the Old Testament:

"And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD." (Genesis 4:1)

The name "Cain" means, "possession"; this is why Eve said, "I have gotten a man from the Lord". The name "Cain", therefore, refers to possessing an inheritance handed down by someone else. From this, we can infer in the Spirit that Hivites are people who have acquired some type of inheritance that allows them the "freedom" to live "la vida loca". This is why the Hivite spirit is so prevalent in the sons and daughters of wealthy millionaires. Obviously, this does not mean that all descendants of millionaires are Hivites, but, it does mean that, if they are not careful, they can easily fall under the influence of Hivite spirits.

We must now ask ourselves the following: what does all of the above have to do with being a "villager"? The answer is simple if you observe Hivites carefully. Because of all the abundance and grace that surrounds them, they limit the vision of their lives to merely enjoying the wealth and fame built up by their parents (or even themselves). Hivites turn into people with few ambitions in life; all they want to do is to travel around the world and have a "good time". Some of you might be noticing that the Hivite spirit is, therefore, very common in people who have retired. Such people are prone to believe that they have nothing else to do in life but relax and enjoy the wealth they have accumulated during their lives:

"¹³And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. ¹⁴And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? ¹⁵And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. ¹⁶And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: ¹⁷And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? ¹⁸And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. ²⁰But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? ²¹So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:13-21)

Notice how verses 13 and 14 above speak of "inheritance" and "possessing", which are related to what we said above about Cain and Eve, and is therefore related to the Hivite spirit. Notice also that the rich man in the parable was not a lazy man:

"³⁰I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; ³¹And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. ³²Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. ³³Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: ³⁴So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man." (Proverbs 24:30-34)

The rich man of Luke 12:16-21 was a hard-working man who took advantage of the fertile ground that he owned. He was a Girgashite workaholic motivated by "covetousness" or "greed", who longed to accumulate enough wealth so as to go into Hivite retirement where he could "eat, drink, and be merry" (Luke 12:19). Notice how the Lord Jesus ends the parable by declaring, in verse 21, that whosoever stores up treasure for himself is not rich in the eyes of God. This reveals another trait that is common to Hivites: they are self-centered people who only think about themselves. Hivites deceive themselves into thinking that the abundant grace that surrounds them is proof that the universe exists to serve them, instead of the other way around. If you read our previous article on wide-gate believers, you will notice that king Hezekiah died a Hivite.

Three levels of grace

Hivite believers like to get drunk on the grace and blessings they are surrounded by, slowly forgetting that they are called to live a life of selfless sacrifice. Hivite believers turn God into their private waiter, a God who is there to satisfy every desire in their spoiled and bratty hearts:

"¹From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? ²Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. ³Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. ⁴Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. ⁵ Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? ⁶But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. ⁷Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. ⁹Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. ¹⁰Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." (James 4:1-10)

The word translated as "more" in verse 6 above is the Greek word meizon, which literally means, "greater". Verse 6 should then say, "But He gives greater grace", which means that those who seek after earthly things are given a grace that imparts natural blessings, but nothing more. A greater grace --- a grace of a higher level --- however, is given to those who humble themselves (v7), who submit to God's perfect will (v7), and who are willing to draw near to God (v8), even at the price of having to die to self in order to see His face (1 Timothy 6:16, Exodus 33:20, Genesis 32:26-31). Those who do these things receive a grace and an authority to tear down spiritual strongholds and to manifest God's Glory and power on Earth to a level that Hivite and Girgashite believers never will. In these last days, God will raise up a mighty Church full of consecrated believers who will take the spiritual atmosphere of the Earth by storm, and who will fill the Earth with God's presence and judgments like never before in human history.

Hivites live biological lives of aimless wandering, as the Israelites did in the desert. The Israelites that provoked God's wrath and perished in the desert never lacked any material provision (Deuteronomy 29:4), but that did not mean that they were accepted by God:

"¹Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; ²And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; ³And did all eat the same spiritual meat; ⁴And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. ⁵But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. ⁶Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. ⁷Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." (1 Corinthians 10:1-7)

"⁵Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: ⁶For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience" (Colossians 3:5-6)

[Notice how verse 5 of this passage links up with verse 7 of the previous passage through the word "idolatry"; notice also how the words "earth" and "covetousness" relate the passage above to Girgashite and Hivite spirits, as was seen when we looked at Luke 12:13-21 above.]

The Israelites who perished in the desert received the grace that imparts natural blessings. On the contrary, the Israelites who crossed the Jordan with Joshua and conquered the Promised Land received a higher level of grace, a grace and authority to tear down spiritual strongholds and to manifest God's Glory and power on Earth. Which type of spiritual Israelite do you want to be? Which grace are you after?

Some might be wondering why this section is titled "Three levels of grace", considering that we have only mentioned two levels so far. The answer is that there is a level of grace that all human beings have access to, whether they believe in God or not (Matthew 5:45). Every human being is endowed with natural grace and abilities that the person has access to during his or her lifetime, even if he or she is never born again. To summarize, these are the three levels of grace:

Level of grace	Applies to...	Type	Provides...
Egyptian	All human beings, believers or unbelievers	Natural	Natural blessings and gifts
Desert	All believers, even those who are self-centered and who see God's grace as a means for self-satisfaction	Supernatural	Natural blessings and gifts that manifests God's mercy
Promised Land	Only believers who live selfless lives, and who are willing to go through suffering and death so that God's will may be fulfilled on Earth	Supranatural	Supernatural blessings and gifts that tear down spiritual kingdoms and manifest God's glory and righteousness

The soul trend of effeminate delight

"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 4:4-6)

"⁷And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? ⁸But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. ⁹But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. ¹¹Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹²And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. ¹³For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ¹⁴And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. ¹⁵He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." (Matthew 11:7-15)

Just as the spirit of Elijah was sent to prepare the way for the manifestation of Christ in His first coming, the spirit of Elijah is here again to prepare the way for the manifestation of Christ in His second coming through His remnant Church. As Malachi 4:4 declares, this spirit will come with a "right-handed" message of truth, justice, and judgment. Elijah will be heard by those who are willing to go out to the discomforts of the wilderness (i.e.- the desert) to hear him (Matthew 11:7), which is a figure of those who are willing to be exposed to God's judgments (Deuteronomy 8:2).

Matthew 11:7 also declares that Elijah will not come as a "reed shaken by the wind". The word "reed" used here comes from the Greek word kalamos, which can also be translated as "staff" or "pen", referring, therefore, to the writing of God's laws. The word "wind" is translated from the Greek word anemos, from which the English word "animal" is derived. Since animals are souls without spirits, the word "wind" in Matthew 11:7 refers to trends and currents of thought and action driven by the soul, not the spirit. A "reed shaken by the wind", therefore, refers to people who "rewrite" God's laws to fit the "soul trends" and "fashions" of their day. In other words, they are people who adapt the "gospel" in order to make it pleasant to the hearer and not to God; they are the modern-day Aarons. The spirit of Elijah, however, will come to defy these Aarons, who are driven by Canaanite spirits.

Matthew 11:8 also declares that Elijah will not come as a man "clothed in soft raiment". The word "soft" used here comes from the Greek word malakos, which can also mean "effeminate" (and is translated as such in 1 Corinthians 6:9). As we have seen in other articles, the spirit is usually represented in Scripture as a male figure, while the soul has a female connotation. Men clothed in "effeminate" raiment, therefore, refers to today's ministers who claim to be speaking in the spirit but who are really speaking from their souls, motivated by what other souls like to hear. As people who have used "soft" clothes will know, clothes made out of soft and delicate fabrics produce a sensation of pleasure and delight. This means that the phrase "clothed in soft raiment" also refers to people who are bent on seeking pleasure and comfort, whose main purpose is to enjoy the pleasures of this life. As we saw at the beginning of this article, this hedonistic approach to life is imparted by Hivite spirits.

Because of this desire for pleasure and satisfaction, Hivite believers become people who only go after the things that are soft, comfortable, and soothing. This "effeminate" tendency makes them useless in the spiritual battlefield. To be a good soldier, you must be willing to suffer, to endure hardship, to go through prolonged periods of material limitation and loneliness. God wants to raise a mighty army of soldiers filled with the Spirit of Elijah, believers who, like John the Baptist, are unafraid to live in the discomfort of the desert, eating locusts and wild honey instead of caviar and fillet mignon, and dressed in clothes made with camel hair (Matthew 3:1-6). If you allow Hivite spirits to contaminate your soul, the Spirit of Elijah will not be on you, and you will not be part of the army that God wants to raise up in these last days; instead of fighting with that army, you will be judged by the army you shunned (Joel 2:1-11). Don't be a "softie"; fight the good fight:

"³Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ⁴No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. ⁵And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. ⁶The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits. ⁷Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." (2 Timothy 2:3-7)

The fact that we are called to be soldiers does not mean that all pleasure or blessings are wrong. As the passage above declares, those who labor in Him have the rights to be the "first partakers of the fruits". There is nothing more wonderful than living a life in Christ. It's a life full of purpose and meaning, but that meaning and purpose is derived from being willing to suffer and pay a price so that God's will and purposes may be established on Earth. Athletes who achieve greatness are those who are willing to make sacrifices. As the old saying goes, "No pain, no gain". Be willing to live for God and to obey Him, even if there will never be a temporal reward. Let your reward be God Himself, and I can assure you that God will also bless you with temporal rewards that will not only bless you in this life but will produce eternal blessings that will never pass away (these blessings are the "fruits" referred to in verse 6 above).

My friend, don't let yourself get run over by the soul trend of effeminate delight.

Today's Laodiceas

From Luke 12:21 above, where the Lord says that Hivites are deceiving themselves into thinking that they are rich in the eyes of God, we can infer that the church of Laodicea in the book of Revelation was a church infested by Hivite spirits:

"¹⁴And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; ¹⁵I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. ¹⁶So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. ¹⁷Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: ¹⁸I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. ¹⁹As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." (Revelation 3:14-19)

As we will study in future articles on the seven Spirits of God, the Spirit of God that is related to the church of Laodicea is the Spirit of Prosperity, as can be inferred from verse 18 above, where God's Spirit of Prosperity is telling Laodicea to buy gold tried in fire so that they may be rich. If one is spiritually sincere, one must admit that the word "rich" in verse 18 is referring to spiritual riches, since God first condemns Laodicea for thinking that they were rich, when they were really poor. Please don't misunderstand me. I do not believe that material riches are wrong in and of themselves, and I do believe that God has called many people in the Body of Christ to be men and women with great material prosperity. To believe, however, that the level of your faith can be measured by how many digits your bank account balance has is a direct contradiction of Scripture, and, believe you me, if I have to choose between believing what a preacher says and what the Bible says, the Bible will win every time, no matter how famous, renowned, well-respected, or prosperous that preacher might be. Many preachers, including those who preach a great deal on prosperity, emphasize the first few passages of Hebrews chapter 11, the famous chapter on faith. They fail, however, to preach on the latter part of this chapter, since it goes against the grain of their preaching:

"³²And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: ³³Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. ³⁵Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: ³⁶And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: ³⁷They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; ³⁸(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. ³⁹And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: ⁴⁰God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." (Hebrews 11:32-40)

Notice how this passage speaks of faithful believers who suffered, were slain, and wandered about in destitution and affliction (verse 37). Doesn't this prove that God did not command us "to walk by faith" in order to have earthly contentment and wealth? Doesn't this prove that you can be in God's perfect will and still suffer? Some hard-hearted (but smart) prosperity preachers might be saying to themselves, "the poor writer of this article hasn't noticed verse 40, where God says that He has something better for us than what those poor men suffered", insinuating, therefore, that faith and suffering were intertwined in the Old Testament only.

I would encourage such preachers to read chapter 12 of Hebrews (which follows directly after the passage quoted above), where God calls us to run the race with patience and to be encouraged by the sufferings of the Anointed One (Christ) so that we may not faint when we suffer ourselves. Chapter 12 of Hebrews then proceeds to speak of a God who causes suffering in order to discipline us and to make us grow in Him. It then speaks of not allowing ourselves to become bitter because of God's disciplines (i.e.- His judgments), lest we become like Edom, who forsook his spiritual inheritance for a temporary satisfaction:

¹⁵Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; ¹⁶Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. ¹⁷For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears." (Hebrews 12:15-17)

Despite all of the evidence above, someone out there might still be saying, "Look, the birthright and the 'blessing' in the passage above refers to material prosperity", to which I would soundly reply, "No way, Jose". Why? Because, Jacob never felt like he had the "blessing" until that fateful night when he struggled with the angel of God until the break of dawn:

"²⁴And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. ²⁵And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. ²⁶And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. ²⁷And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. ²⁸And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. ²⁹And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. ³⁰And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. ³¹And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. ³²Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank." (Genesis 32:24-32)

If you read the beginning of Genesis chapter 32, you will notice that, at the time of this struggle with the angel of God, Jacob already was a very wealthy man, but he knew that the "blessing" he was after was still not his. Otherwise, why would he ask God to "bless" him in verse 26? Notice also that the "blessing" came together with an impairment. Even though Jacob was spiritually blessed that dawn, he came out of the blessing limping, as a sign of the spiritual judgment that God had executed on him for being a man so resourceful and self-reliant all of his life (this is why, when speaking of God's judgments of chastisement, Hebrews 12 mentions "lame" or "limping" feet in verse 13).

For those who might still be convinced that there is something wrong with a person's faith if he or she is not rich, consider the following verses:

"⁹I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of satan." (Revelation 2:9)

"¹² I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. ¹³I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. ¹⁴Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction." (Philippians 4:12-14)

"⁹For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. ¹⁰We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. ¹¹Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; ¹²And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: ¹³Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day." (1 Corinthians 4:9-13)

Does all of the above sound like faith and suffering are only intertwined in the Old Testament? Does it sound as if God is calling us to live a pleasant life of spiritual Hivite retirement, where all we have to do is to receive His material blessings and wait until we are taken in the rapture? If it were so, those of us who long to live a life of obedience and faith (and who have been willing to pay a high price so that God's will may be fulfilled in our lives and in the lives of others) are big-time fools:

"³⁰And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? ³¹I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. ³²If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die. ³³Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. ³⁴Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame." (1 Corinthians 15:30-34)

Today's Laodiceas, therefore, are the congregations where grace and prosperity are emphasized so much that the word of truth, righteousness, and judgment is ignored. As we said in a previous article, a "gospel" of grace without truth, a left-handed "gospel", draws in Hittite spirits that drive people to live biological lives without a sense of prophetic purpose, without a willingness to pay a spiritual price so that God's Glory may be manifested in others. I believe that it brings tears to God's eyes, as it does mine, to see so many brothers and sisters, with such great and mighty callings and gifts, throwing their spiritual inheritance away for the sake of a life of natural contentment, aimlessly wandering as the Israelites did in the desert.

As a "gospel" that emphasizes material prosperity is preached in a congregation, Hittite and Hivite spirits are drawn in, eventually turning the congregation into a spiritual Laodicea "deserving" of the harsh words that God pronounces against that church in Revelation 3:14-19. There are modern-day Laodiceas all over the world. However, there is a region of the world that has become the most deserving of the title "Modern-day Laodicea", and that region is Latin America...

A word on Latin America

God has blessed Latin America greatly in the spiritual, political, and economic realm, and the percentage of Christian believers has increased dramatically in the last few decades. Unfortunately, Latin America is now infested with pastors who preach a Hivite and Hittite message that emphasizes grace and blessings alone. The Latin American revival is a sad example of how believers can forget the Righteous Giver and focus on the pleasant gifts. In Latin America, pastors preach a message that says,

"If you become a Christian, you will be prosperous, your family will be happy, and you will not suffer nor be sick, and if you are sick, we, the mighty and glorious ministers, have been sent by God to relieve you of your suffering"

This is done in order to draw as many people to the "gospel" as possible. Latin American pastors are consumed with the goal of building larger temples and having larger congregations, instead of being consumed by the desire to see the manifestation of God's Glory through His people. They want to see miracles (and they are seeing them); they want to "feel" a spiritual presence (and they are feeling it), but they want all of this while staying in control, without allowing the "little" believers to manifest all the potential that is inside of them. They are trying to bring the Ark of the Covenant on a new cart (2 Samuel 6:3), using all the new evangelism tools and techniques that are in vogue, refusing to bring the Ark on the shoulders of priests (1 Chronicles 15:1, 15:15; Joel 2:12-17), because that would mean that man (i.e.- the pastors) would no longer be in control of what can happen. They want God's glory to come, as long as they can shine along with that glory. They have shut up the prophets, and refuse to hear the voice of God, Whose desire is to raise up a mighty people instead of just mighty pastors:

"⁹Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. ¹⁰So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. ¹¹Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. ¹²Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, ¹⁴And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD." (Ezekiel 37:9-14)

"²⁵But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. ²⁶But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; ²⁷And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: ²⁸Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:25-28)

Not only have the pastors strayed from God's purpose in Latin America; believers there, in general, are comfortable with the Hivite-oriented "gospel" they are hearing. They rejoice over the idea of delegating the responsibility of "spiritual growth" to their ministers, because it frees them up to follow their Girgashite and Hivite pursuits. In churches all over Latin America, Jebusites are slapping the few true prophets in the face, coercing them into a submission to man that denies what God has spoken to their hearts:

"⁴¹Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? ⁴²And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? ⁴³Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. ⁴⁴Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. ⁴⁵But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; ⁴⁶The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. ⁴⁸But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. ⁴⁹I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?" (Luke 12:41-49)

God gave a spiritual mantle to Latin America, a calling to be the ground base from which God would launch a latter-day revival that would shake the world. On June 29, 2003, however, this spiritual mantle was stripped from Latin America, in the same way that the kingdom of Israel was stripped from Saul (1 Samuel 15:27-28). This mantle has now been given back to the United States and Europe, despite all of their faults (Matthew 21:43, 22:1-10). Over the next 10 years, you will see how the evangelical movement in Latin America will enter a state of spiritual stagnation and decadence, until it will become evident to all the world that something had been inherently wrong for many years with the "revival" in Latin America. The modern-day Laodicea has been vomited out of God's mouth (Revelation 3:16), because it preferred to get drunk on Hivite grace and rejected God's prophetic purpose, which called for a price that they were unwilling to pay in their hearts. They preferred the "gospel" that preaches about the "balm of Gilead" that soothes and comforts, and decided to forget about the "sword of justice and judgment" that brings true healing and restoration (Isaiah 1:27, Isaiah 33:22-24). The Lord has therefore sent Hittite spirits of deceit to ensure that Latin America and all other modern-day Laodiceas get drunk on left-handed grace and to make them feel convinced that God is "with them", but they will suddenly realize that things were not as "hunky dory" as they thought:

"²⁷Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. ²⁸And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink. ²⁹For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts." (Jeremiah 25:27-29)

"¹⁰For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. ¹¹Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured." (Jeremiah 46:10-11)

As many of you may know, Ezekiel chapter 47 speaks of the River of God, which is a figure of the Church's latter-day revival. In the middle of this worldwide revival, however, there will be "miry places", places of spiritual stagnation; Latin America will be one of them. At the time of this writing (July 10, 2004), only 3 nations in that region still have an opportunity of manifesting God's Glory in the latter days: Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. But, if they are not careful, they will also be part of that spiritual place called the "Latin American swamp":

"¹⁰And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. ¹¹But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt." (Ezekiel 47:10-11)

Latin America will be left like Lot's wife (Genesis 19:26), as a pillar of salt that will serve as a spiritual example (2 Peter 2:5-6) of God's judgment over a region that received so much from God but which perverted and misused all the wonderful blessings that God had given it:

"⁴For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, ⁵And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, ⁶If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. ⁷For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: ⁸But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned." (Hebrews 6:4-8)

All of the above is not only God's Word against Latin America but also God's Word against all places and peoples where Hivite spirits are allowed to pervert His Gospel.

So much more to say

There is so much more left to say about the Hivite spirits!! God willing, we will post future articles on Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite (Genesis chapter 34), and on the Gibeonite covenant (the Gibeonites were Hivites, according to Joshua 9:7). These passages show how the Hivites love to make covenants birthed out of convenience of the soul, as opposed to conviction of the spirit. These passages also reinforce many of the spiritual principles already stated in this article.