Spiritual Enemies
August 29th, 2009By Roger Caylor
II Chronicles 8: 7, 8
As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel,
But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day.
1. Hittites:
These people were the descendents of Heth who is first mentioned in Genesis 10:15. Heth’s name means terror or to be crushed by terror. His name is associated with words that are translated such ways as dismayed, dread, discouraged and beat down. Most people live with fears and worries, they are afraid certain things may or may not happen to them. Job 3: 25 is an example: “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me,” When this ‘spirit of the Hittites’ gets the upper hand in a person’s life, it will drive them into the ground. They will be pushed to extreme measures by fear and worry. Someone who is afraid of financial failure may work themselves into an early grave. A husband or wife who is afraid of losing their spouse may become so possessive they destroy their own marriage. These Hittites will drive people to become extremists. Job was so afraid his children would sin that he offered sacrifices continually in an effort to erase their guilt, whether real or imagined. On the other hand, people can become so beaten down and discouraged by heavy concerns that they simply quit caring about anything at all. They begin to feel like Rebecca in Genesis 27: 16- And Rebecca said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth.” This is a very poor testimony for a child of God. We must recognize these Hivites as our enemies and refuse to be motivated by fear or worry.
2. Amorites:
The Amorites were one of the tribes descended from Canaan (Genesis 10; 16). They were one of the more prominent tribes in Canaan, so prominent that their name is sometimes used to mean all the Canaanite tribes. (see Joshua 24:8) The very name ‘Amorite’, actually means to be prominent or known in public. The root word of their name means to speak out in public. This root word is translated ‘boast themselves’ in Psalms 94:4…and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves. When this Amorite spirit grows strong in an individual they will begin to desire publicity. They will want everyone to know who they are and what they are doing. They will become willing to do anything to garner attention. This spirit is strong in our society today. Go to any public place and you will see a large percentage of the people sporting tattoos. Men and women alike are pushing the limits of public decency in an effort to show off their latest markings. They wear their tattoos like a visual loudspeaker crying,” Look at me, look at me.” These Amorites are the spirit that drives Hollywood and most politicians. These Amoritish people crave public attention, they love to tell the world about themselves. They are not content to live quiet, peaceable and godly lives in obscurity. This spirit is especially ugly when it exposes itself in the life of a Christian because it is in direct opposition to true faith. John the Baptist , in referring to Jesus said, ”He must increase and I must decrease” (John 3:30).
If we fail to utterly destroy this ‘spirit of the Amorites’ from our lives, they will drive us to make fools of ourselves in much the same way the movie stars often do.
3. Perizzites:
The origin of the Perizzites are unknown, they are first mentioned in Genesis 13:7. Their name indicates that these people lived in open villages, they had no protective wall around them as was the custom in early times. In Deuteronomy 3:5, there is mention of unwalled towns. The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament), translates this passage as a reference to the Perizzites. It was a hazardous lifestyle in those days to live in a city that wasn’t protected by walls. The land was filled with vicious beasts as well as enemy tribes. The book of Job teaches us about the importance of having a spiritual wall of protection around our lives. Job 1: 9,10- Then Satan answered the Lord…” Hast thou not made a hedge about him and about his house…and all that he hath”. The archenemy of all mankind was unable to attack and destroy Job because of this wall of protection. How did Job build up this wall around him? Job 1:8 says; And the Lord said unto Satan,” Hast thou considered my servant Job…a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth (revolts against) evil.” It was through careful obedience to God that Job was able to build this hedge of protection, so it is with us. Imagine each commandment as a stone for building this wall. We can lay up these stones(commandments) to secure our lives or we can cast them aside, thereby weakening an
area of our hedge. When a believer embraces this ‘spirit of the Perizzites’, they will begin to feel it isn’t really necessary to be so strict on ourselves. We don’t really need such a strong wall around us, the threat is not as bad as some old-fashioned preachers would have us believe. These people don’t realize that by compromising the Scriptures they are sending an invitation to Satan. There is a real enemy of our souls that constantly seeks to destroy us. He often succeeds. Sadly, people don’t realize that when they take one step down the road of disobedience, it’s all downhill from there. You can be certain that not too far down the road of disobedience, Satan has a trap dug in the trail. He will have it camoflauged as something that looks fun. But when you take that step, BAM! Down you go. No drug-addict ever started smoking a little pot with the intention of ending up looking like a walking corpse with a brain that can’t hold a thought. They only wanted to have a little fun with their friends. No alcoholic really planned to lose his job, abuse his children , and destroy his marriage. He just wanted to unwind and relax a little. No one ever planned for sin to get out of control but it always does. How many times have you heard someone say,” I never thought it would go this far.” People forget there is a supernatural element to sin, a force behind it that no man or woman alone can conquer. We must recognize the influence of these Perizzites and eliminate them from our lives.
4. Hivites:
The Hivites were another tribe descended from Canaan and are first mentioned in Genesis 10:17. The word Hivite simply means a villager. It is interesting that the word Hivite is taken from the Hebrew word that is translated Eve in the Old Testament. So these Hivites have a strong connection with Eve. Spiritually speaking, they lived in the same place or the same state of mind as Eve, as I’ll show in a moment. We all know that Eve was the first person to be deceived by Satan in Genesis 3:1-6. First Timothy 2:14 says…Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived… Adam fully understood that he was breaking God’s commandment, but Eve was tricked into believing a lie. Eve was like a child, trustful and naïve and it cost her dearly. So this ‘spirit of the Hivites’ is one of being gullible and easily deceived, living in a state of false security. An example is in Genesis 34. In this story Jacob’s sons were angry at a tribe of Hivites and devised a plan to punish them. Simeon and Levi persuaded the Hivites to have all the men in their village circumcised together. Three days later when all the men were too sore to walk, Simeon and Levi came with their swords and slew them all. While this child-like trust may appear desirable in a Christian, it cost these Hivites their lives. This world is filled with people who have a friendly smile on their face yet their main goal is to take something from you. Remember the old proverb, A fool and his money are soon parted. In Matthew 10:16 Jesus said, “Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Young people, because of their lack of experience are especially vulnerable to this ‘spirit of the Hivites’. From the stories we hear, many elderly people are also vulnerable, often being tricked out of their life savings. Don’t allow these Hivites to remain in your life, don’t be naïve and gullible. Remember, there’s a sucker born every minute. Don’t let that be you.
5. Jebusites
The Jebusites were another of the Canaanite tribes that Israel had been ordered to completely abolish from their midst. Their capitol city was Jebus which remained intact until the time of King David. He captured the city, renamed it Jerusalem and made it his capitol. The name Jebusite means to trample down and is taken from the word that is most often translated tread in the Old Testament. This same word appears as loatheth in Proverbs 27:7- The full soul loatheth the honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. An example of this is in Numbers 21. The Lord had been feeding the Israelites with the manna from heaven which was a shadow of Christ and his new testament (see John chapter 6). The people then ran into some hardship and discouragement and their true nature began to emerge. A person’s true character will always reveal itself in times of suffering. In Numbers 21: 5, the people complained against Moses and the Lord saying… “Our soul loatheth this light bread.” This spirit of the Jebusites may be the most dangerous of the Canaanite tribes. It compels people to despise the holy and sacred things of God. They begin to find the teaching and preaching of God’s Word offensive. The commandments and restrictions of Christianity no longer feel comfortable. These people will accuse the church of trying to shove religion down everyone’s throat. Their souls will begin to loath the church which is the body of Christ. Have you ever seen a spoiled child throw a temper tantrum and his mother try to pacify him with a toy? The child will throw it on the floor and stomp it while screaming even louder. This is what the Israelites were doing with the manna. They were sick and tired of all this religious mess and their hearts longed for the fleshpots of Egypt. No man or woman will ever be happy in the church as long as their hearts are longing for the pleasures this world has to offer. These Jebusites must be totally destroyed from our hearts or we will have no peace. Some of these tribes can cause us some serious problems, but these Jebusites may very well send us to hell.
Hebrews 10: 26-29 says: For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite to the Spirit of Grace. These Canaanite tribes represent spirits, attitudes and feelings that occasionally rise up in the best of us. The question is, what will we do with them?