Jebusite

Deuteronomy 7:1-2

"When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you are entering to possess, and has cleared away many nations before you, the Hittite and the Girgashite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the  Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than you, (2) and when the Lord your God gives them over to you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall not make a covenant (treaty) with them     or show mercy and compassion to them."

This is our final week discussing the enemies in the promised land; today we'll talk about the Jebusite.  
Jebusite means: down treading, subjugation, ruin, trample, destructiveness, or downfall.  

After all the other enemies; those who break down courage and cause depression or disillusionment, enemies who caused contention and had us by the throat, and we had to do spiritual warfare; those that cause bitterness and rebellion; Canaanites who bring with them the humiliation of pride, or the Perizzites who tear down the safety of our walls; after battling the lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life brought on us by the Hivites, now we must fight the Jebusite who is sworn to bring our downfall.  

Your complete destruction is the ultimate goal of the enemy; that's why the Jebusites strike last; they wait in ambush until you're battle weary.  No matter how tired you get, you can't give up. "Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give in."  Galations 6:9. 

Making sure you don't get subjugated to a Jebusite is critical.  The key is remaining subject-ed to the Lord.  "So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you."  James 4:7. 

Psalm 147:6-7 gives us another key to winning victory over Jebusites; it reads, "The Lord lifts up the downtrodden; he casts the wicked to the ground. Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre." 

We've seen a common thread running through our battle strategy against all the enemies; praise and worship.  We can't underestimate the place wor-shiping the Lord has in warfare; there's power in praise.  

I hope this study has helped you identify what enemies have been squatting in your promised land, and that you'll employ a plan to utterly destroy them. Remember, the Lord has already removed their defense; go in and take your land!





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Hivite

"When the Lord your God brings you in-to the land...and has cleared away...the Hivites...you shall not make a covenant with them..." (Deuteronomy 7:1-2).

This week we're looking at the Hivite, which means, serpent. Although the serpent represents satan, it also repre-sents the three areas he attacks us in:  the lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, and the pride of life.   

"Now the serpent was more crafty (subt-le, skilled in deceit) than any living crea-ture of the field which the Lord God had made.  And the serpent (satan) said to the woman, 'Can it really be that God has said, 'You shall not eat fruit from any tree of the garden'?"  And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden.  God said, 'You shall not eat from it nor touch it, otherwise you will die.'" (Genesis 3:1-3)

vs 6(a), "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise and insightful, she took some of its fruit and ate it..."

We're all very familiar with this account of the fall of man, and too often blame Adam and Eve for our [sinful] world and spiritual condition. Jokes are made about it, too; 'the devil made me do it'.  But I submit, it's no joking matter. We're all attacked (at one time or another) by the serpent's temptations; even Jesus was.

"And the tempter came and said to Him, 'If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.'" (Matthew 3:10).  This is the lust of the flesh.  But unlike Adam and Eve, Jesus didn't give-in to the temptation, but overcame it by the Word:  "But Jesus replied, 'It is written and forever remains written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 3:4). 

Then there was the lust of the eye. "Then the devil took Him into the holy city and placed Him on the pinnacle of the temple.  And he said [mockingly] to Him, 'If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,
     'He will command His angels concern-
     ing You [to serve, care for, protect and
     watch over You]'; and they will lift
     You up on their hands, so that You
     will not strike Your foot against a
     stone.'
Jesus said to him, 'On the other hand, it is written and forever remains written, 'You shall not test the Lord your God.'" (Matthew 4:5-7).

Then there was the temptation of the pride of life.  "Again, the devil took Him up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; and he said to Him, 'All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Go away, Satan! For it is written and forever written, 'You shall worship the Lord God and serve Him only." (Matthew 4:8-10).

There's only one way to defeat the serpent and the temptation(s) he uses against us, and that's with the Word of God; if it worked for Jesus, it will work for us.  This is the Sword of the Spirit we talked about when we [previously] discussed doing warfare against the Girgashites.  But like Jesus, we must know the Word before the serpent comes to tempt us.  You'll notice, satan even tried using the Word to entice Jesus to sin; you'll have to be able to spot the Word being twisted by a Hivite.  

The Bible tells us in James 1:14, "But each one is tempted when he is dragged away, enticed and baited [to commit sin] by his own [worldly] desire (lust, passion)."  We have to know what our weaknesses are; the enemy does.  He knows where the breaches are in our wall; remember the Perizzites we studied last week?  

To defeat the Hivite, we must return to our warfare strategy used against the Girgashites, and put on the whole armor of God; especially taking up the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.




Join me next Friday for another Devotional In His Word

Perizzites

"When the Lord your God brings you in-to the land...and has cleared away...the Perizzites...you shall not make a coven-ant with them..." (Deuteronomy 7:1-2).

Perizzite means: unwalled town or village (city).

You may be wondering what an unwalled city has to do with you, but think of the wall in terms of a fortress that protects you from enemies that try to invade your life.  Enemies like the ones we've already discussed in this series: depression, spir-itual attack, bitterness, rebellion, gossip, lack of unity; what about sickness or dis-ease?  

Without that hedge of protection provid-ed by the wall, we're a sitting duck for the enemy.  If we become complacent, and don't stay on guard, the enemy will look for a breach in the wall, and break it down. "And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels."            (2 Chronicles 36:19). 

If we're not obedient to the Word of God, as was the case with Israel at the time of this prophesy, it gives the enemy power against us.  Prophesying about Babylon, Ezekiel says,"and you will say, 'I will go up against an open country (Israel), I will come against those who are at rest and peaceful, who live securely, all of them living without walls and having neither bars nor gates." (Ezekiel 38:11). 

Once the wall's destroyed, rebuilding isn't easy; you'll have to do warfare, "Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens loaded themselves so that everyone worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other." (Nehemiah 4:17). 

It may feel impossible at times, but don't get discouraged; God promises, "It shall be a day for building your walls, On that day the boundary [of Israel] shall be [greatly] extended." (Micah 7:11).  Not only will God help you restore your wall, but He says He'll give you more territory.   
We don't live with walls of brick and mor-tar; the Lord is our protection. No one knew that better than King David. "But the Lord has become my high tower and defense, And my God the rock of my re-fuge." (Psalm 94:22).  "The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."  (Proverbs 18:10).

If you're being attacked by any of the 'ites' we've discussed before, then you've pro-bably been attacked by Perizzites first. Walk your walls; check for breaches, and rebuild with the Word. "For You have been a shelter and a refuge for me, A strong tower against the enemy.  (Psalm 61:3).









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Canaanites

"When the Lord your God brings you in-to the land...and has cleared away...the Canaanites...you shall not make a coven-ant (treaty) with them..." (Deuteronomy 7:1-2).

Canaanite means humiliated. We're not going to focus on the kind of humiliation that comes from being embarrassed. To-day we're going to talk about humiliation that comes from a trap the enemy uses to ensnare us; pride. "Pride ends in humilia-tion..." (Proverbs 29:23).

Humiliation is a Canaanite caused by pride, and we have to destroy it before it destroys us. "Pride goes before destruc-tion, and a haughty spirit before a fall."  (Proverbs 16:18) 

It can be easy to get into pride when we compare ourselves to others.  Paul warns us,"For by the grace given to me I say to everyone of you not to think more highly of himself [and of his importance and ability] than he ought to think..." (Romans 12:3).  

You overcome pride by humbling your-self. That full verse in Proverbs 29:23 says, "Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor." 

Being humble will prevent us from being humiliated; it keeps us from pride.  Hum-ble does not mean thinking you're worth-less.  It means being modest; submitting to God's authority. "God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it)".  (James 4:6).    

Paul gives us specific tools to avoid pride, "...live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called [that is, to live a life that exhibits Godly character, moral courage, personal integrity, and mature behavior - a life that expresses gratitude to God for your salvation], with all humility, and gentleness [main-taining self-control], with patience, bearing with one another in [unselfish] love." (Ephesians 4:1-2).

Another thing that brings humiliation on us is when substitute our own word for God's Word in our hearts and minds; that's pride.  If we want to overcome the Canaanites, we have to make a decision whose word we're going to take as the final authority in our life; God's or our own. (Jeremiah 23:36-40).  

(Romans 3:3-4), "What then?  If some did not believe or were unfaithful [to God], their lack of belief will not nullify and make invalid the faithfulness of God and His Word, will it?  Certainly not!  Let God be found true [as He will be], though eve-ry person be found a liar..."  What Paul's saying is, whether we're faithful or not; whether we agree or not, God's Word is true.  If we disagree, we're just simply wrong.  

If you've seen Canaanites in your life, defeat them by the Word and a humble heart. "Humble yourselves [with an attitude of repentance and insignifi-cance] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up, He will give you purpose]." (James 4:10).




Join me next Friday for another Devotional In His Word