In the middle of the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20, God tells the Israelites to follow him and he will bless them and their offspring to the thousandth generation. If they fail to follow the commands of God, their iniquity will be on their children to the third and fourth generation. I have been reading about the life of King David in my personal study time. The Lord showed me something I had never thought about as I was reading through this time.
David’s Sin
2 Samuel 11 tells the story of David and Bathsheba. Just in case you aren’t familiar with the story, here is a brief summary of what happened.
King David disobeyed God by staying home when he was supposed to be out on the battlefield. One day he went to the roof, and, as he was looking out over the town, he noticed a beautiful woman taking a bath on her roof. David was filled with lust and demanded she be brought over to him. David, the man who is called a man after God’s own heart, slept with the woman, Bathsheba. The result of that encounter was a baby. When David heard she was pregnant, he had her husband Uriah brought back from the battle. David figured that Uriah would sleep with his wife, and then they could say the baby was Uriah’s. In David’s mind this would clear his name and guilt from the sin he committed.
Here’s the thing, when you are a man or woman after God’s own heart, God will not allow you to get away with sin forever. Eventually he will bring your sin into the light so you can repent, and he will forgive you and cleanse you from your unrighteousness. David was no exception.
Uriah: The Man of Honor
Uriah, as it turned out, was an honorable man. He knew he was needed on the battlefield and wasn’t about to go have fun while his fellow soldiers were risking their lives. Uriah was so dedicated to King David and his army he chose to sleep outside his house. David’s plan backfired on him. Now what was he to do? Eventually people would know that Bathsheba was pregnant, and Uriah, along with everyone else, would know he wasn’t the father. So David did the only “logical” thing he could think of. He essentially murdered Uriah. David ordered Uriah to be placed in the area where there was the most fighting and then called for his fellow soldiers to back away so that the enemy would kill Uriah. Then David could marry Bathsheba, and it wouldn’t matter if David was the father since he would now be her husband.
David’s Consequence
Of course, God saw and knew everything David had done. God confronted David with his action through a prophet and a parable found in 2 Samuel 12. The consequence of David’s actions was that the baby he conceived with Bathsheba would die.
When David allowed the spirit of lust to influence him, he set the ball rolling for something he could never have seen coming. Just as fear, anxiety, and depression are evil spirits, so lust is a demonic spirit. David opened the door to the spirit of lust to invade his thoughts and actions. Though he repented for his actions, I wonder if he ever really dealt with the demonic spirit. We know he had numerous wives and concubines. Partly this was their custom, but just because a society has certain customs doesn’t mean that God’s people need to follow them. There are plenty of things the world says are ok and normal that we, as God’s people, should stay far, far away from!
The Actions of the Father are Passed to the Son
Time passed by and David had a son named Amnon with one wife, and he fathered a son named Absalom and a daughter named Tamar with another wife. As Amnon and Tamar grew up, Amnon had a lustful attraction to his half-sister. Again, I will summarize the story. You can read the whole encounter in 2 Samuel 13.
The spirit of lust filled Amnon. The thing about lust is it often disguises itself as love. Amnon thought he was in love with Tamar. Really he was in deep lust for Tamar. Amnon’s friend came up with a plan to get Amnon and Tamar alone in Amnon’s bedroom. Amnon pretended to be sick and asked for Tamar to come take care of him. Like a good sister, Tamar came to care for her brother. When she came, Amnon sent everyone else away so he could be alone with her. After everyone else left, Amnon raped her. Here’s how I know for sure what Amnon felt for Tamar was lust and not love. It says,
“Then Amnon hated her with very great hatred, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, “Get up! Go!”” 2 Samuel 13:15 (ESV)
Amnon’s father David allowed the spirit of lust to invade his home when he failed to resist the temptation of Bathsheba. Years later that same tormenting spirit attacked his son. Of course, like David, Amnon had a choice to shut down that spirit or be bound by the tormentor.
We Have an Enemy
In John 10:10 (NLT) Jesus tells us, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” Satan only knows how to do three things: kill, steal, and destroy. Through the spirit of lust, Satan destroyed a relationship between Bathsheba and Uriah. The end product of all of Satan’s work is death. We saw this with Uriah being murdered to cover up sin. The end of the story for Amnon was also death. After he raped his sister, his brother Absalom murdered him. Again, we see the demonic spirit of lust coming to steal the trust and innocence of a young girl, destroying a family, and finally killing a son of David.
1 Peter 5:8 (NLT) says, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”
Stay Alert
We must be vigilant to look for the subtle ways Satan tries to tempt us. We must stay connected to Jesus, by reading his word daily and spending time in prayer and listening for his voice. The more connected we are to God, the less likely we are to fall into the traps of the enemy. We will learn the difference between the real Lion of Judah’s voice and the voice of the imposter lion. Notice Peter says the enemy “prowls around LIKE a roaring lion?” Satan can only pretend to be like God; he will never be anything more than a lying imposter. We must learn the difference between the pure, true, and trustworthy voice of God and the corrupt, lying, unreliable voice of Satan.
Have you fallen into temptation? Are there times you choose to listen to the lies of the devil instead of the truth of Jesus? If so, there is absolutely no condemnation. Romans 8:1-2 (ESV) says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
Jesus declares his Spirit has set you free from sin and death and gives you life and peace instead. Still, there are times when we fail to live in the truth declared over us. It is in those times we simply need to confess our sins to God and others and allow him to cleanse us. “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” 1 John 1:9 (NLT)
How to Fight
You may also need to pray a prayer to break the chains of demonic oppression. Just like we talked about last week, we have been given authority to break the hold of demons. You will also want to pray a prayer of protection over your children and close any doors your actions have caused to open a door to the demons in their lives. Below you will find a prayer to help you do just that.
“You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.” Exodus 20:5-6 NLT
Prayer for deliverance and protection:
My Father in Heaven, I honor your name as holy. May your Kingdom come in my life, and may your will be done in my life, just like your Kingdom exists and your will is done in Heaven. I need your spiritual food and your spiritual drink, that which is found in the Rock, the Rock of Jesus Christ.
Thank you for forgiving my sins, my trespasses, my iniquity, and my debts. You have forgiven me much; therefore, I love much. I choose to forgive those who have sinned against me, even up to 490 times! Thank you for not leading me into temptation, but you are the one who delivers me! Deliver me, Lord, from the evil spirits who tempt me. Deliver me from the spirit of lust and perversion that tries to get its slimy hands into my life.
I declare today that I am free in Christ! Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom! The chains of lust, of pornography, of sexual sins, of sexual sins against me are broken in the name of Jesus! The chains of poor choices, of guilt, of shame from my past are dissolved under the blood of Jesus. Not only am I declared “not guilty” by your power and your justice, I am declared, “Innocent!” I have innocence restored! My virginity is restored! I am made new and clean and holy because of Jesus’ sacrifice for me!
I come against evil spirits, against demons that have no authority to be in or around my life. They must leave in the name of Jesus! I am a child of God, bought with a price, and I have the promise of abundant life in Jesus’ Name!
For yours, O Lord, is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen!
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