“we know that an idol is nothing in the world” (1 Cor. 8:4, NKJV)
In the previous teaching (and also earlier, in the teaching of Day 487), we wrote about what is called gnostic musings of so-called esoteric knowledge, or what could be called spiritual “figments of imagination” (2 Kings 18:24, MSG). These believers start walking “according to their own thoughts” (Isa. 65:2), and are thus no longer led by “the Spirit of truth” (John 16:13), even though they obsessively call on the Holy Spirit in their actions.
Take note – the believers who pray these prayers and perform these prophetic actions with great seriousness and in great faith are mostly very devoted to God, very serious about their faith and walk in deep conviction of them fulfilling a mandate of God. They see their behaviour as being in obedience to God, to fight Evil, make known God’s agenda, taking the kingdom of darkness for the kingdom of God, and by employing all kinds of spiritual weapons waging war against Evil as God’s representatives on earth. “We will ride with You; we will stand up and fight,” they sing, and believe.
Let us firstly state that spiritual warfare does exist. The famous seminal Scripture about this is definitely Eph. 6:12: “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.”
This Scripture – and there are not many others as substantial as this specific verse – has to a great extent led to many of these spiritual activities that we are currently examining from a Biblical perspective. Let us look at a number of these actions:
Firstly: The blowing of the shofar, the horn of the ram was, in Old Testament terms, a very important action that was closely linked to warfare (Num. 10:9). The first time this instrument appears in the Torah is Ex. 19:16, when it was given to Israel during Pentecost. From then on the blowing of the shofar is also closely associated with the various feasts of Israel, like Rosh Hashanah (Lev. 23:24; Num. 29:1), and Yom Kippur (Lev. 25:9). The shofar was also used to call the tribe together for gatherings, or to warn against danger (Num. 10:5-6; Ezek. 33:3), in wars (Isa. 6:4-20), and during military operations (Judg. 7:22; 2 Chr. 3:12; Neh. 4:14; Jer. 4:19; Amos. 2:2; Zeph. 1:6). It was also used as an instrument of worship (1 Sam. 4:5; 2 Sam. 6:15; 2 Chr. 15:14; Ps. 47:6; 89:16; 150:5), was heard during the new moon (Ps. 81:3), as well as during the inauguration of a new king (2 Sam. 15:10; 2 Kings 9:13).
The last couple of years has seen an immense increase in the use of the shofar, and all kinds of spiritual functions are linked to it. None of this is legitimised in the New Covenant. Believers who want to make a case for the use of the shofar in contemporary contexts often use these three Scriptures: Matt. 24:31; 1 Thess. 4:16; and 1 Cor. 15:51-57, but all three are concerned with the blowing of trumpets and not rams’ horns, and not in a single instance are they blown by humans, but rather by Godly beings, in other words they were spiritual actions. All the instances where a reference is made to the instrument in the book of Revelations a trumpet is at issue (see Rev. 8:2), and not a shofar. The New Testament is thus marked by the absolute absence of shofars, and we can only read it in symbolic or typological terms. The shofar itself, or the blowing thereof has absolutely no spiritual function in the New Covenant. Not even in the Old Testament was it used to chase demons away. All the symbolic acts for which the shofar is used today alas have no Biblical basis.
Secondly: The spiritual cleansing of houses is a practice that became popular after the publication of Chuck Pierce’s book Ridding your Home of Spiritual Darkness en Protecting Your Home from Spiritual Darkness: 10 Steps to Help You Clean House, Place Jesus in Authority and Make Your Home a Safe Place. This book propagates the idea that certain objects can draw demons to your house, for instance Oriental figurines (like sculptures of Buddha), African masks and drums, certain children’s toys, certain DVDs or computer games, ornamental frogs, wind chimes, books with fairy tales or texts of a sexual nature, fantasy DVD’s, playing cards, commemorative war objects, etc. The spiritual cleansing of a house is the process through which a spiritually mature person walks through a house and then removes these objects, preferably burns them.
The only Biblical reference to something of this nature is found in 2 Chr. 29:16: “Then the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and brought out all the debris that they found in the temple of the Lord to the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it out and carried it to the Brook Kidron.” But, in the New Covenant the temple is no longer a church building (or a house, for that matter), but rather the person in which the Holy Spirit now lives (1 Cor. 3:16).
The example of Paul in 2 Tim. 2:19-21 regarding “vessels … of dishonour” is not at all concerned with specific objects, but serves as a metaphor for people: “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.’ But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” This verse thus cannot be used as an example of “vessels … of dishonour” in a home.
From 1 Cor. 8:4 “we know that an idol is nothing in the world” and explicitly that “to the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled” (Tit. 1:15). Content yourself with this, if you are pure.
Thirdly: The use of wine and salt to cleanse a house, and the anointing of houses is a practice that widely occurs. Wine is at most a symbol of the covenant between man and God, and symbolises the new covenant (Matt. 26:27-28), but it is for use by believers, not to pour onto the ground. Nowhere in the Old or New Covenant do we find reference to such an action. To cast salt on the ground is, in Old Testament terms, an act to render the soil unfruitful (Judg. 9:45), on sacrifices (for instance Ezek. 43:23) it was required, but not on the soil. The idea originates from heathen traditions and is completely non-Biblical.
To likewise anoint houses, offices, cars and objects also has no Biblical grounds. (Read more on this in Jack Hayford’s Glory on Your House.) Only people are anointed in the New Testament, no buildings or objects. The Holy Spirit, who is apparently represented by the oil, cannot “enter” inanimate objects such as doors!
- Selah: Which of these spiritual actions do you practice?
- Read: 7-10; Matt. 28; Ps. 67 & 105.
- Memorise: 28:18 (of great importance for this teaching).
- For a more in-depth understanding: Listen to Tom Gouws’s teaching Spiritual Warfare in the Third Dimension (available on CD).
