4. The Name of the Lord is a Strong Tower

In the Kingdom of God, Christ is King.

To live in the Kingdom of God is to live in Christ Jesus.

While we remain in Christ Jesus we stay safe and live in the good of His victory.

In Judges 9:50-53, the people of the town of Thebez had a strong tower, into which they ran to escape from Abimelech. Abimelech tried to burn the tower down, but a woman dropped a mill-stone on his head and killed him.

Following this, Elijah goes on to call upon God and see God respond with fire from heaven being poured out upon the altar, and Elijah himself finally despatches the 450 prophets of Baal with the sword. What a mighty victory for the man of God, alone in the face of overwhelming opposition.

But, look at what happens the very next day:

How can it be that on day one Elijah is able to face down and defeat the 450 prophets of Baal, while on day two he is terrified by threatening words from one woman, queen Jezebel?

The answer is not immediately obvious, unless you understand the principle of staying safe in your Strong Tower.

On day 1, Elijah stepped out of the strong tower by engaging in mockery.

Mockery is not Godly. It is not righteous. It comes from Satan. So, by engaging in mockery, Elijah was operating in Satan’s territory, not God’s, and he did so just long enough for Satan to “insert a microchip” into him. When Jezebel’s message came to his ears, the microchip was activated, and Elijah lost his faith and his courage and his vision, and ran for his life.

Thankfully, the microchip was removed and Elijah came back on form (1 Kings 21:17-29), but only after a long season wherein he was totally incapable of functioning in his prophetic anointing.

If he had not slipped into the flesh on Mount Carmel but had maintained his spiritual posture throughout, Jezebel’s threat would have been to him like water off a duck’s back.

Another example of this phenomenon is Balaam’s attempt to curse Israel in Numbers 22-25.

Because God had blessed Israel, they were safe in their strong tower and Balaam was unable to curse them (Numbers 23:8, 20, 23). However, by sending the Midianite women to entice the Israelite men into engaging in the worship of their gods and the accompanying sexual misconduct (Numbers 31:16), he drew Israel out of their strong tower and out from under the blessing of God, so that God Himself dealt severely with them (Numbers 25:9).

Paul warns us not to give Satan a foothold:

In other words, do not yield to the devil, do not give him an inch, for if you do he will take a mile. The NIV says “do not give the devil a foothold”. Once Satan gains a foothold, he will endeavour to establish a stronghold.

In his book, “The Great Adventure”, Ken Symington provides an illustration of the four stages of the development of a stronghold:

“When something is stronger than our will to resist it, then we have a stronghold within. Knowing we are in a war, our safeguard is to train ourselves to take every thought captive, because every ungodly action begins with an ungodly thought. Every lust begins with an ungodly imagining which is given room to grow.” (The Great Adventure, pages 55-56)

The apostle James confirms this principle:

Strongholds in the Mind

Satan is very adept at injecting an evil thought into your mind, and then accusing you of harbouring that evil thought, so whenever the thought arises:

• Recognise that it is not your thought
• Reject the thought at once – do not take ownership of it – do not entertain it
• Make a declaration along the lines of: “I take every thought captive for obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. I cast from me every unholy, ungodly, unrighteous thought. I declare that I have the mind of Christ, and I set my mind on the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”
• Persist until the evil thought is defeated and no longer comes to your mind.

NOTE. If it is your own thought, or you have entertained or adopted the devil’s thought, then before making the declaration you need to repent by praying along the lines of:

“Father, I confess that I have sinned against you by allowing ungodly, unrighteous, or evil thoughts to find a place in my mind, and I have entertained them and taken ownership of them. In the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son, I renounce and reject these evil thoughts, I cast them from me, and I claim your promise in 1 John 1:9 that, having confessed my sin, the blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son has cleansed me from all unrighteousness associated with that sin.”

Satanic “microchips”

We referred earlier to the Satanic “microchip” that the evil one injected into Elijah when he stepped on to the devil’s home ground by indulging in mockery. Here are a few examples of other Satanic “microchips”, or footholds that can become strongholds:

• Unbelief or wrong belief
• Unforgiveness or resentment
• Pride or arrogance
• Self-sufficiency
• Lust or greed
• Religiosity or legalism
• Cheap grace or self-indulgence
• Fear of man
• Selfish ambition
• Addiction
• Occult involvement (including reading horoscopes, membership of a lodge, etc.)
• Sexual perversion or promiscuity
• Gambling
• Cheating or lying
• Hardness of heart

Self-Control

God has equipped us with self-control and He expects us to make use of it. Loss of self-control, for whatever reason, gives an opportunity for the demonic to break in and attempt to take over.

During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, some politicians used to say that terrorism flourished because there was a ‘political vacuum’. Assuming for the moment that this is correct, we can say:

• Where there is a political vacuum, terrorism can flourish.
• Where there is a moral vacuum, the demonic can flourish.

There are probably many types of moral vacuum. Let us consider three of them:

1. The Harvest of Sin – Self-control reduced through personal choice

   Giving way to temptations, cravings, or passions, or in any way failing to exercise self-control for whatever reason, for example:

   • Drug abuse, excess alcohol, or overeating
   • Sexual promiscuity or perversion, including pornography
   • Indulging in gossip, blue humour, fits of anger, or similar ungodly communication
   
   
2. Surrender to Satan – Self-control surrendered willingly

   Deliberately engaging in activities which involve submitting to or opening yourself up to the influence of someone who or something which is demonically inspired, even if you are not aware that this is what is happening, for example:

   • Entertainment infiltrated by the demonic (e.g. horror stories; some types of music)
   • Occult involvement (e.g. reading horoscopes; having your palm read)
   • Submitting to hypnotism, yoga, or anything else that requires surrender of the will
   • Submission to authority figure(s) who are under demonic control (which may be in any area of your life, e.g. family, society, culture, tradition, religion)
   • Wilful disobedience to God-appointed authorities (e.g. parents, the law, church leaders)
   
   
3. Collateral Damage – Self-control compromised through traumatic experience

   When strong negative emotions are stirred up, self-control is weakened, and the demonic can take advantage of that vulnerability. This is why the evil one promotes everything that produces such negative emotions as:

   • Fear / Terror
   • Shock
   • Horror
   • Helplessness
   • Panic
   • Revulsion
   
   

There are degrees of demonic interference or access. A demon cannot just walk into a person’s life and take over. It has to work its way in over time, and it will use the three examples of moral vacuum described above, and any others that it can think of, to gradually break down the person’s self-control. As self-control decreases, the demon’s control can increase.

The five main stages of this progressive demonic takeover are as follows:

1. INFLUENCE
   – the demon is able to influence thoughts, feelings, or decisions, but cannot impose its will
   e.g. Matthew 16:22-23 – Jesus says to Peter, “get behind me, Satan!”
   
   
2. ATTACHMENT
   – the demon is able to lay permanent or semi-permanent hold on a particular area of body or soul
   e.g. Luke 13:10-16 – woman for 18 years bent over by a disabling spirit
   
   
3. INFILTRATION
   – the demon is able to go in and come out apparently at will
   e.g. Mark 9:17-29 – demonically inspired epileptic seizures
   
   
4. HABITATION
   – the demon has taken up permanent or semi-permanent residence
   e.g. Luke 11:24-26 – “I will return to my house … they enter and dwell there”
   
   
5. POSSESSION
   – the demon takes control of all of the person’s faculties and may be able to manifest superhuman power
   e.g. Mark 5:2-13 – He wrenched the chains apart and broke the shackles in pieces. It is the demon who speaks through the man’s mouth. (Compare Acts 19:13-16 – the sons of Sceva overpowered by the demon in the man.)

As Christians, dwelling in Christ Jesus, the Lord of the entire universe, we should have no fear of demons, or even of Satan himself. But we do need to be on our guard and not allow ourselves ever to wander out of our strong tower and on to Satan’s home territory.

God is our refuge and our strength (Psalm 46:1). Let us continue to abide in Him and give no place to the devil.

Any Footholds?

Take a few moments to review the last few days.

• Did you lose your self-control at any time for any reason?
• Did you entertain thoughts that God would not have been pleased with?
• Did you do anything that would have taken you out of God’s blessing?
• Did you try to tackle evil without first hiding yourself in the Strong Tower of Christ?
• Did you make any big decisions without first asking God for His guidance?

Make a list of the things that you thought, felt, said, or did that may have taken you out of God’s blessing and on to Satan’s territory, and commit yourself to getting right with God before you go to sleep tonight.