As we discussed in the previous post, it seems that man is unable to live for His God without being under some kind of pressure or threat. Adam and Eve lived in a sinless garden, yet they were able to be deceived into believing the lies of Satan. Out of all the people living until the flood, only Abel, Enoch and Noah were considered righteous, while the rest of the population was carrying out their evil imaginations. It is not until Abraham, that we find another man who is strong enough in his faith in the one true God, that God is able to produce a whole nation of Hebrews as a people for God.
The land is full of idolatry involving child sacrifice. Occult practices are among all the nations surrounding Israel, yet Abraham has refused to partake of any of it, setting his will to only build altars to his Yahweh. Isaac and Jacob and his twelve sons try to follow Abraham’s life pattern of serving Yahweh. Sometimes they do so, sometimes they do not. The history of Israel is one of ups and downs throughout the Old Testament.
God made a Covenant with Abraham and He will always honor His Word. So even when Israel failed to serve Him from time to time, He never failed to be faithful to her, even when He had to judge her for her spiritual adultery of serving other gods. Israel spent seventy years serving the nations of Persia and Babylon for her idolatry and disobedient ways. Yet during this time, there was always the few who were faithful in obeying the Law of Moses, and refraining from bowing down to false gods in the form of wood, stone and metal. They kept themselves from seeking after mediums and witches, as well as other false gods.
All through the Old Testament, we see the example of Eve yielding to temptation for disobedience, being passed from generation to generation. We see the example of Cain’s resentment, jealousy, anger and the destruction of others, being passed from generation to generation. We even see angels, who were appointed to watch over and help instruct mankind, fall from their appointed realm of authority, and partake of the carnal desires of man. Jesus shows us upon His arrival that these same demons follow generation after generation. Life patterns.
Yahweh had created all of creation with a free moral will, even His angels. Yahweh doesn’t want puppets to serve Him just because He said so. He wants each created being to freely choose to serve Him in love. We are created in His image and likeness and we are the same way. We don’t like to ask our wife or our children if they love us, we like to hear them tell us without asking.
Satan became prideful, and exalted himself above God, lied to other angels, and deceived them into following him in his evil plan. God cast Satan and his fallen angels out of His holy mountain. Satan set a life pattern that would soon be duplicated by the ‘Watchers’.
The Watchers chose to disobey God by intermarrying with the daughters of men. Their offspring were called giants, and they began to violate the earth and its inhabitants to the point of destruction. Yahweh then floods the earth to remove the contaminated genetics of His pure creation.
The Old Testament is full of disobedience to Yahweh, and obedience to false gods. These false gods now have become more than wood, stone and metal. They have become symbols of the demons who are behind them. The demons are now encouraging mankind to worship them, self, and anything but Yahweh. Things have gotten out of hand, and there is a literal war going on in the cosmos around earth.
When Christ arrives in the form of a fleshly body, He begins to immediately do two things;
1-preach that the Kingdom of God is near.
2-attack the kingdom of Satan, by healing the sick, casting out demons, and controlling nature. These two things tell us that he sees the world in a spiritual war for the souls of mankind and for the preservation of the planet.
He constantly speaks of the two kingdoms and the need to bind the Strongman, to be able to set the captives free from the devil’s kingdom of darkness. In other words, Jesus is telling us that many of these evils happening to people on planet earth are caused by evil spirits from Satan’s kingdom. Satan came to steal, kill and destroy; and Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, giving us abundant life. Satan is the ruler of darkness – a kingdom of lies, deception and bondage; and Jesus is the ruler of the Kingdom of God – a kingdom of light, truth, and freedom in His Holy Spirit. All created beings have to choose which kingdom they will be servants under. When we refuse to serve Christ, we automatically choose Satan by default. We are made from dust, and Satan rules this dusty planet. Jesus said we cannot serve two masters, and Paul said whoever we are overcome by, to them we become slaves. No man is totally free of one or the other.
The life patterns of the Old Testament Hebrews were not only a result of their disobedience and serving false gods, but they were also being influenced by Satan’s fallen angels, and a host of demonic spirits encouraging men to turn away from Yahweh to serve their fleshly desires, and thus to serve Satan and his demons. Satan had a kingdom, and was known as the Accuser and the Destroyer in the O.T. Jesus arrives and immediately sets out to expose and destroy this kingdom, while liberating the prisoners held captive for many years. He said one woman whom He had healed had been bound by Satan for eighteen years!
“Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.” The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.” Luke 13:10-17
Eighteen years is a long time to ambulate around while being bent over, especially when this condition was caused by a demon and nothing this woman did wrong. Jesus is telling us that this evil, idolatrous, and demonic world of the Old Testament is still around us, and that Satan and his demons are still encouraging people in their life patterns. Many of these life patterns will go on to future generations. In other words, the Blessings and the Curses of the Law are still as effective today as in Jesus’ days.
Life patterns are seen in our children repeating the sins of their fathers and mothers. Alcoholics are one example. Children of alcoholics are four times more likely to develop alcoholism. Over 1/3 of alcoholics have at least one parent who was or is an alcoholic. Children’s perceptions of parental drinking quantity and circumstances appear to influence their own drinking frequency. Children’s thinking about alcohol reflect their parents’ drinking patterns from a very early age. 75% of adults in America drink alcohol, increasing the odds of a pattern of behavior in the generations to come.
Take a look back into your own life, comparing your weaknesses, faults, shortcomings, sins, and character traits with those of your ancestors. I just recently took a look at my ancestors in the light of the above. I not only can see things in my life carried over from my ancestors, I also can see things in my life being carried over into the lives of my children and grandchildren. It is scary how we leave doors open for the enemy to enter freely into our lives. (See my series on The Portals to the Soul of Man) The following expression takes on new meaning in light of this; “I am turning into my dad!” or “I am turning into my mom!”.
Will Durant said, “So the story of man runs in a dreary circle, because he is not yet master of the earth that holds him.”
The only way we can master the earth, is by understanding our authority in Jesus Christ and His shed Blood. We have to confess that authority with our mouth, empowered by the Holy Spirit, toward the devil and his kingdom, just like Jesus did while He was here on planet earth. Only then will the life pattern in our own lives and the lives of our children be broken. Only then will we begin to experience the beauty of God in every aspect of our lives. Only then will the Kingdom of God and His Will be done on earth. (See my series on The Tongue of Man)
This appears to be what Jesus came to do, to not only set the prisoners free from repeating the sins of their parents, but to teach a new group of people how to take authority over the hostile atmosphere of the earth, just as His Father had originally intended for Adam.
Click here to for Life Patterns-Part Three