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I
have always enjoyed exploring caves with Lurey Caverns being
where Kathy and I went on our Honeymoon. The last two weeks have been an
opportunity for me to explore Elijah's Cave (spiritually speaking). Remember,
Elijah explored this cave after running from Jezebel's death threat
(1Kings 19:2). This threat came after Elijah rebuked King
Ahab to his face (1Kings 18:17,18), called fire down from Heaven
which consumed the sacrifice, alter of stones, wood, dust, and
water (1Kings 18:38), had the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400
prophets of Asherah killed (1Kings 18:40), ended the 3.5 year draught
which he had prayed to start (1Kings 17:1, 1Kings 18:41, James
5:17,18), and outran the horse drawn chariot of Ahab for more than
20 miles (1Kings 18:45). I, like Elijah before me, discovered
that this cave contains discouragement, hopelessness, confusion,
paranoia, and frustration.
NKJ 1 Kings 19:4 But he himself went a day's
journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom
tree. And he
prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough!
Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than
my fathers!"
NKJ 1 Kings 19:9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the
night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to
him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"10
So he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of
hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant,
torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I
alone am left; and they seek to take my life."11 Then
He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And
behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into
the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the
LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the
LORD was not in the earthquake;12 and after the earthquake
a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and
after the fire a still small voice.13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that
he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the
entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and
said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"14 And
he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts;
because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn
down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I
alone am left; and they seek to take my life."
Have you ever felt like the ministry is hopeless
and that you might as well die and go to Heaven? That everyone
is against you? That
perhaps you are ahead of God or behind God or that you should just
quit? That no one wants to hear what you have to say? These
are the voices to be found in the cave of Elijah! When Elijah
came out of the cave (wrapped in the prophets mantle) then he was
given direction by the Holy Spirit. Elijah was intimidated
by the death threat of Jezebel. An intimidated person honors what
he fears more than God and thereby submits to what intimidates
them. When we are intimidated we transfer our spiritual position
of authority to the one intimidating us. The gift of God (the anointing
of the Holy Spirit) then lies dormant. We end up furthering the
cause of the one intimidating us because we no longer have the
power of the Holy Spirit to destroy the yoke of bondage (Isaiah
10:27).
What caused the Queen to scare Elijah but not the people, false
priests, and the King? Jezebel had a spirit of intimidation operating
in and through her. Have you every seen a person that comes into
a room and every one starts to get out of their way and no one
wants to stand up to them? This person is yielding to and is channeling
a spirit of intimidation. I am not talking about a demon but rather
a fallen angel. You can cast out demons (Mark 16:17) but you must
pull down the strongholds of fallen angels (2 Corinthians 10:4-6).
Jesus never cast out a religious spirit (fallen angels) but did
cast out many demons of sicknesses, etc. Knowing the difference
between these two (demons or fallen angels Ephesians 6:12) can
help those in spiritual warfare. Remember, Paul who had cast out
many demons asked God to get rid of the angel of satan sent to
buffet him. If it had been a demon Paul would have already taken
care of it in the name of Jesus!
NKJ 2 Corinthians 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure
by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given
to me, a messenger [angel in the Greek] of Satan to buffet me,
lest I be exalted above measure.
This form of the word for messenger is translated angel 46
of the 47 times that it appears in the New Testament and should
have been consistently done so here.
Paul wrote the following to Timothy who was a man of godly character
(Philippians 2:19-22) but the power of the Holy Spirit was dormant
in his life because of intimidation. You can have Christlike character
and still have the Gifts (power) of the Holy Spirit dormant in
your life. (Read that sentence again)
NAS 2 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will
of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus, 2 to
Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy and peace from God
the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve
with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly
remember you in my prayers night and day, 4 longing to see you,
even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy.
5 For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which
first dwelt in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and
I am sure that it is in you as well. 6 And for this reason
I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in
you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given
us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,
or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for
the gospel according to the power of God,
There is a spirit of timidity (fallen angel) that intimidates
us into responding in fear with the result that the Gifts of God
by the Holy Spirit become inoperative (dormant) in our lives. Preaching
and teaching become hard as if up against a brick wall. This spirit
brings with it feelings of discouragement, hopelessness, confusion,
paranoia, and frustration. The result - you do not resist and let
the spirit kill your ministry and take your life if not stopped.
This spirit will get to you through others - the closer the
relationship the greater the effectiveness. Furthermore, this
spirit is more effective on men when coming through a woman. Women
can be used by this spirit to intimidate us with their sexuality
and charm (2 Kings 9:20). Men are also more effective at intimidating
women than other women.
Remember Job's wife yielded to a spirit of intimidation and attacked
Job:
NKJ Job 2:9 Then his wife said to him, "Do
you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!"
Furthermore, this spirit was involved in deceiving Eve into sinning
and later Adam into rebellion.
The solution:
1) Repent to God for yielding to the spirit of intimidation rather
than the Holy Spirit (the one of love, power, and a sound mind).
2) Speak out loud that God has not given me
a spirit of intimidation but the Holy Spirit of love, power,
and a sound mind. (2
Timothy 1:7)
3) Confront those that have yielded to this
spirit with the Word of God and with the motive of restoration
not destruction. Until
confronted they are using your spiritual authority. What we do
not confront does not change! If evil is ignored it just
becomes stronger.
For lifelong freedom from intimidation:
4) Die to self in order to have God's love perfected in
your life which will eliminate all fear (1 John 4:8).
5) Cultivate intimacy with the Holy Spirit through obedience in
order to have His power in your life (Acts 1:8, Acts 5:32).
6) Develop a sound mind by renewing it to the Word of God
in order to know His perfect will in all circumstances (Romans
12:2)
Remember, it was when Elijah stepped out of
the cave that he was restored. Then God through Elijah appointed
Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha to destroy Jezebel - the one that had
stolen his authority through intimidation. I have stepped
out of the cave!
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