“For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” (Rom. 8:36, NKJV)
In the previous teaching we came to the understanding that part of the persecution and battle believers experience is a process in which they develop a godly nature. A beautiful Old Testament typology of this which teaches us a lot about the battle of an unfolding salvation, is the story of the giants in the promised land, that is the land of fundamental truth about Jesus and revelatory knowledge about Christ, which we enter into in the third dimension.
The third dimension builds upon the fundamental truth of the milk young believers receive (1 Pet. 2:2), but one cannot get stuck at “the first principles of the oracles of God” (Heb. 5:12b). Isa. 28:9 spells it out in the following prophetic terms: “Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts?”
Many faith communities do however give heed to “deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1), and they state that their members should not partake of (solid, spiritual) food (“meats” – verse 3, KJV). These people reject the spiritual interpretation of the Scriptures, and consistently demand a literal interpretation. They would for instance reject Paul’s teaching in Gal. 4:25, where the physical city of Jerusalem is likened to Hagar, who “is in bondage with her children”; they would thus still believe that the promises of the promised land are only applicable to ethnic Jews, in other words that it does not refer to a spiritual heritage.
[We know that the natural preempts the spiritual (1 Cor. 15;46), therefore it is important that we look at honey, as the food of adults, from a different perspective. Interestingly enough we find that in the natural realm honey is very good for adults, but not so for children. In medical terms this is because their immunity has not yet developed sufficiently in order to deal with the Clostridium Botulinum. “Honey may contain spores of Clostridium Botulinum, a form of botulism. In older children and adults, the amounts are so microscopic and are generally harmless. For babies though, infant botulism caused by eating honey may cause lasting damage. Botulism is an illness caused by the botulin toxin. The toxin blocks nerve function, eventually leading to skeletal and respiratory paralysis. Botulin is also incredibly powerful; as little as one microgram can kill a human.” (http://www.brighthub.com/health/dienutrition/articles/ 31446.aspx).]
Once we understand that milk and honey refer to fundamental and revelatory knowledge, or as Hab. 2:14 states, “the knowledge of the glory of the Lord”, that brings the promised land into being, we need to also understand that this heritage, and inheritance, is very large (especially compared to the size of the fruit – “Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs” – Num. 13:23).
Typologically speaking it is significant that the place is named Eshcol, which in Hebrew means “a cluster of grapes”. In Scripture the Bride is presented as a vineyard (John 15), and in Isa. 65:8 (KJV) it is prophesied that “the new wine is found in the cluster”. The “cluster of grapes” is the unit of anointing, the wineskin of the third dimension wine (Mark 2:22).
The book of Joshua in the Old Testament is akin to the book of Ephesians in the New Testament. The characteristic refrain in the book of Ephesians is a number of similar phrases:
- “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ …” (1:3)
- “which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places …” (1:20)
- “and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (2:6)
- “that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places” (3:10); and:“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (6:12).
By now we know that Canaan is not heaven. From Ephesians we also know that Canaan clearly signifies spiritual unity with Him, which brings about the baptism in Christ, as Gal. 3:27 makes clear: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Jesus explained it as follows in John 17:21a: “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us”. That unity with Him, which is ALREADY happening, will be “the reason that the world may believe that You sent Me” (21b). We are thus already established in heavenly places WITHIN HIM, whilst we are on earth, and “have our being” (Acts 17:28, ASV).
Whilst we are thus living in this land of promise, there is not only much fruit, but also much opposition. We read that God warns them of what to expect, in Joshua 3:10: “And Joshua said, ‘By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites …’”
Note that the way in which the giants are dealt with, and triumphed over, will be the mechanism through the Bride will know that there is a living God tabernacling between them. They are placed there for that specific purpose!
The root meaning of the word Canaan is “lowland” (BDB), which Strong reads in the metaphorical sense, as “humiliated”. Within this we find a great key to the third dimension – despite the second dimension’s amazing working of the Spirit, and the harsh attack of Babylon on all facets of your life, we are however nothing more than “conquerors” (Rom. 8:37). The verse that precedes this one, makes the situation in which the believer finds himself, quite clear: “As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’” (verse 36). The “tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword” (verse 35) causes the “humiliation”.
Thus we enter Canaan. To handle the wounding of the soul dimension, everyone must become a “merchant, a trader” (WordStudy-definition of the word Canaan). What this entails is presented beautifully in Isa. 61:1-2, where the focus clearly falls on the Anointed who presents his Bride, as the anointed, with a particular mandate of restoration: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn …”
In verse three it is also explained how the humiliation is recast, through a process of exchange: To “console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” We are promised that God’s reign WITHIN us will extend (Isa. 9:7) until “there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 14:21)!
Not only is Canaan important as a delineated territory, but the Canaanites as giants also need to be triumphed over. This is the spirit that, through humiliation, causes you to suffer low self-esteem, despondency and depression. I also refer to this spirit as “the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyo” (Rev. 9:11).
In Hebrew, Hittites means “terror”, which describes the root word in rather graphic detail: “A primitive root; properly to prostrate; hence to break down, either (literally) by violence, or (figuratively) by confusion and fear: – abolish, affright, be (make) afraid, amaze, beat down, discourage, (cause to) dismay, go down, scare, terrify.” (Strong). This means that the person often does not walk in their purpose and calling, as their bow is broken, in symbolic terms (Jer. 51:56). To think about the giant in a different light: it signifies the concept of being overtaken by fear. In his book Lectures on the Book of Judges, Samuel Ridout provides the following extensive description of the Hittites: “The Hittites … will close your mouths, so you will be afraid to speak … The Hittite empire is indeed a wide one – it reaches everywhere and their dwelling amongst us is a witness how we have failed to cast them out.”
In Hebrew the name of the Hivites means “a villager”, telling of the spiritual small-town mentality. This is founded on either a love of comfort, or deep-seated inferiority. The Hivites bring about not recognizing one’s own worth.
There are family ties between the Hivites and the Perizzites (“belonging to a village”). This is a spirit that will stunt your growth at all cost. They are seduced to spend all their time on trifles, or hobbies and other forms of time wasted, thus stealing precious opportunities of spiritual growth. This is a spirit that leads to spiritual stagnation, as well as poverty, in physical as well as spiritual terms. The spirit is characterised by shame. Mephibosheth is a good Old Testament prototype of someone ruled by this giant. His name means “exterminating the shame; and to be disappointed”
The Girgashites are symbols of carnality. Their name means “clay dwellers”. These giants influence believers to veer toward carnality. Rom. 8:7 is quite strict in this regard: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God”. This spirit seduces you with sensuality. They also want to see before they can believe, and often struggle with faith.
The Amorites (“mountain people; renowned”) are linked to the religious spirit. (In Scripture a mountain is always a symbol of the religious system – Isa. 2:2). It is a spirit known by its adherence to the law, elevating itself, and false humility.
The name of the Jebusites points to the notion of the “thresher”, and is beautifully characterised by Matt. 23:24 – “Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” These are spirits who want to establish structure and dogma at all cost, regulating church organisation, constantly evaluating whether everything fits into the vision and mission they themselves thought out. Their “backbone is like that of a man”, the root meaning of Jebusite. This manifests in believers guilty of “having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Tim. 3:5). It is a spirit that opposes the idea of dying to self.
Let us repeat: dealing with, and overcoming the giants will be the mechanism through which the Bride will receive testimony that a living God is tabernacling among them. They are placed there for exactly that purpose!
- Selah: With which giants have you dealt in your life?
- Read: John 7-8, 9:1-10:22-42; Luke 10-11.
- Memorise: John 7:6.
