The forcefulness of the authority regarding the ministry of spiritual warfare and deliverance, depends on the degree of Revelation that the minister has attained, and that he/she has understood, above all. In view of the fact that spiritual warfare and deliverance is to enter into battle against the forces of darkness that are in one place, and in one person, it is very important that the minister ‘understands’ what he/she has acquired about deliverance, based on the Scriptures at all times, otherwise his/her authority will be shaken at some point.
Spiritual warfare and deliverance are not formulas, nor costumes, nor rites, nor anything similar, the demons do not obey any of that,
In fact, acting based on such practices strengthen the ‘right’ of the demon to continue operating in the place.[1] Spiritual warfare and deliverance are exercised based on faith, because no one can see what he is fighting against, and this, if one does not have enough faith to operate, constitutes the greatest hindrance when it comes to exercise it, and can stop the liberation. In many cases, the confrontation is against more than one spiritual being at the same time, which demands that the minister knows how to take care of his or her physical condition, and learns to dose his or her strength to avoid falling into physical and mental exhaustion.
Spiritual warfare and deliverance are not formulas, nor costumes, nor rites, nor anything similar, the demons do not obey any of that, Spiritual warfare and deliverance are exercised based on faith,
The Revelation on which one works is decisive to subdue the authority and the right of the demon, and to expel him from the place. Note that we say ‘Revelation’, and not ‘knowledge’, for it is not the same thing; someone may have much knowledge but lack authority, as recorded in Matthew 7:29, we read: “for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”; the scribes were Levites and had much knowledge of the Scriptures, but they had no authority.
The authority arises as a consequence of the Revelation, it is instantaneous,
Note in the following texts, how the demons recognize the Revelation and authority that a person has, it is seen in the recognition that they make about the person; in Mark 1:24, we read: “saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.”. In Acts 19:15 we also have another example: “And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?”. Authority arises from the deposit of Revelation that the person has acquired from God, and not only from the knowledge he or she has, no matter how good it may be.
From the account in Luke 4:36 we can understand that Revelation consists of the Word understood, and not just the Word recited: “And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! forwithauthority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.”. Note that we say, Word understood, and not, Word interpreted; ‘understanding’ the Word is not ‘interpreting’ it, it is not about interpreting the Word, it is understanding it, understanding brings Salvation, as we read in the very Words of Jesus, in the text of Matthew,
12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mathew 13:12-14
See now the parallel text of Mark,
10 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. 11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: 12 that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
Mark 4:10-12
Let us carefully attend to the following doctrinal basis of faith, and strive to understand it. The lack of understanding of the Word causes the instantaneous generation of a satanic operation and intervention of confusion, in the person and in his environment, as we can corroborate in the following text of Matthew 13:19: “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side”. Now, based on the same text, let us put it the other way around and see the value of ‘understanding’ God’s Revelation; if the lack of understanding of the Word causes satanic intervention to be generated, the ‘understanding’ of the Word results in the ‘casting out’ of the demon. Thus it is clear that it is the understanding of Revelation that gives a person authority.
The lack of understanding of the Word causes the instantaneous generation of a satanic operation and intervention of confusion, in the person and in his environment,
A couple of years ago, the Lord made me go through an experience that at the time I did not understand (it was not to be understood at that time), but I acted in faith, believing that God was doing it with a purpose. I was visiting the church I had pastored several years ago, in Guatemala City, and my visit coincided with the 30th anniversary of the church, so they gave me the time to preach that Sunday morning; during the time of worship, the Lord urged me to take off my shoes, based on the text of Exodus 3:5: “..put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground”, Which I did without much hesitation; when they were about to give me the time for the preaching of the Word, I wanted to put on my shoes again to be ready to go to the pulpit, immediately the Lord told me not to put on my shoes, to go barefoot to the pulpit, and to preach that way, I confess that it was a little uncomfortable at the beginning.
A year after that event I understood the reason for the Lord’s demand to preach barefoot. One afternoon of ministry came to me the case of a believer who in her years in the world had practiced Satanism, she came to receive deliverance, because although a woman of faith, she had attacks that she had not been able to overcome; as soon as I began to pray and rebuke, the demon manifested itself, but resisted to leave; the case was extremely strong, to such a degree that there came a time when I felt weakened and did not know what else to do. Under that strong struggle, the Lord spoke to me, and told me, “show him who is in the wrong place”, wrong place? to what did the Lord refer? how to do it? And there the Spirit of Truth took me back to that Sunday that I preached barefoot, and reminded me, “…. put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground“; there the Lord gave me understanding of the Revelation of that act of preaching barefoot, the devil is in the wrong place because the place where we are is “Holy”, he does not belong here, therefore he has to leave; I immediately proceeded to take off my shoes, and with the authority that the Revelation gave me, I said, I rebuke you, demon, leave this place because you do not belong to this place, it is holy ground, and the person was like pushed against the wall and then fell to the floor, and the demon had come out of it.
Authority comes as a result of understanding the Revelation of the Word, it is not only to know the Word, it is to understand the ‘spirit’ of the Word, before it there is no demon that can resist.
I see many people with much knowledge but with little Revelation, in many cases, because the men and women that God has called are bound by religious ties, united to denominational commitments, faithful to a dogma rather than to the Word. The men and women who want to do the Will of God must first validate their commitment to God rather than to men. Peace.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Authorized King James Version, 1909 (AKJV).
[1] Acts 19:13-16: 13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. 14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
Spiritual warfare and deliverance are not very popular topics within the ecclesiastical community, and not because the topics are considered unbiblical, since we have all read in the Gospels that Jesus cast out demons from those suffering from chronic illnesses and diseases; the unattractiveness of spiritual warfare and deliverance is due, in good measure, because most believers flee from anything that represents dealing with demons, or the manifestation of demons.
However, if we carefully review the Scriptures we will see that deliverance was one of the main functions that Jesus delegated to His disciples; in Matthew 10:8, we read: “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.”; delegation of functions that is still valid today for all those who are called to the Kingdom of God, especially those who exercise a ministerial function.
Reviewing the Scriptures about the value of spiritual warfare and deliverance, we discover that spiritual warfare and deliverance is the ministry that establishes the Will of God on earth,[1] it is the only way determined by God to establish the Kingdom of God on earth,[2] and the most forceful way to establish and proclaim the preaching of the cross.[3]
The apostle Paul defines spiritual warfare and deliverance, as the working of his mighty power, operated by the Spirit, but exercised by faith, which means that the only thing the believer has to know is what the Lord’s Will is, and establish it with the authority of faith, knowing that Satan and the demons see in the believer a man and a woman not subject to the law of sin and death;[4] therein lies their authority.
The preparation for spiritual warfare and liberation is not enough to say that Satan is defeated, it is not enough to say that Jesus defeated him on the cross of Calvary; it is necessary that whoever wants to operate in it, lives in faith, knows the work of God, and knows the work of Jesus on the cross; it is the understanding of what all this means as part of the Grace of God, which gives the authority to the believer, as it was established by Jesus, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.[5]
it is necessary that whoever wants to operate in it, lives in faith, knows the work of God, and knows the work of Jesus on the cross;
Jesus taught His disciples in daily practice on the basis of the multitude of deliverance cases they worked on together, so many cases, that in a direct reference by Mark, he claims that at times Jesus and the disciples did not even have time to eat.[6] The gospel writers did not make many direct references to Jesus’ instructions on spiritual warfare and deliverance; the few direct references we have, however, teach us that demons do not leave of their own free will,[7] that demons tend to return to the place from which they were cast out,[8] that demons are cast out by the intervention of the minister of the Holy Spirit,[9] that demons have a ‘right’ to be in a person,[10] that acts of unrighteousness give demons a ‘right’ to oppress people,[11] that lack of understanding and disobedience to the instructions of the Word of God causes a movement of demons in a person’s environment,[12] and that there are genera (families) of demons that do not yield easily to rebuke, that these only come out by fasting and prayer.[13]
Regarding the fact that there are kinds of demons that can only be cast out by prayer and fasting, with this instruction Jesus established the need for the deliverance minister to periodically undergo times of fasting and prayer. In daily experience I have found that the instruction has been interpreted the other way around, that it is the one affected who must submit to fasting, which contradicts the instruction.
Fasting is not in itself a resource, neither material nor spiritual; fasting has no power to transform things, nor is it capable of making things incline in its favor;
No one is stronger spiritually just by fasting; in natural terms, the value of fasting depends on the attitude of the person, and all it achieves is to strengthen the resolution that moved him to fast;[14] as for one who lives by faith, fasting has the meaning of showing by his act, that he lays down his own self-sufficiency, to wait for salvation from the Lord.[15]
However, in order to understand the reason for Jesus’ instruction, we have to take help from the definition that God Himself gave in Isaiah 58 about the meaning of fasting; in it we read about three purposes; the first purpose is that the one who fasts ’empties’ himself of everything that represents his own personality, that is, of his self-sufficiency; let us read verses 3 and 4, and then we explain: Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. (vs. 3-4). The verses clearly state that whoever fasts seeking personal benefits for himself, fasting has no significance, for his voice is not heard on high.
The first purpose of fasting is that the one who fasts ’empties’ himself of everything that represents his own personality, that is, of his self-sufficiency;
Fasting has the purpose of ‘weakening’ the flesh, meaning the self-sufficient personality, for he who does not learn to trust in the Lord, and wait for His intervention, cannot live according to faith. The flesh is a living organism, that is precisely what is meant by the term ‘living soul’, which was how the Lord defined man when He formed him,[16] so, as such, the body has the capacity to ‘accept’ external influences, material and spiritual, many of them causing its contamination and hindrance in faith.[17]
Fasting has the purpose of ‘weakening’ the flesh, meaning the self-sufficient personality, for he who does not learn to trust in the Lord, and wait for His intervention, cannot live according to faith.
The second purpose of fasting is to remove any satanic trait that the person may still have in his inner self, let us read verse 6, and then explain: Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? (vs. 6). That there are satanic traits even in a deliverance minister, let there be no doubt, for the apostle Paul’s teaching to the Ephesians makes this clear:that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.[18] In the first epistle of John we also read: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.[19] So, fasting has the purpose of removing any satanic traits that still remain in the person, and this must be a conscious act, in order for fasting to produce benefit.
The second purpose of fasting is to remove any satanic trait that the person may still have in his inner self,
No deliverance minister can ‘deliver’ another if he is not free first, otherwise there is a risk that the contamination in the infected person will be increased to the maximum by the irresponsibility of the deliverance minister; the biblical basis is found in the teaching of Jesus,
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
Matthew 7:3-5
and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
2nd. Corinthians 10:6
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Matthew 10:8
The third purpose of fasting is to make us aware that God demands that we seek the Kingdom of God, and His Righteousness.[20] Fasting establishes the demand to do righteousness as a merit to establish deliverance; no one can be delivered without first doing acts of righteousness in others. Let us read verse 7, and explain: Is it not (the fast I chose) to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
The third purpose of fasting is to make us aware that God demands that we seek the Kingdom of God, and His Righteousness.
The teaching that it is necessary to do acts of righteousness as a merit to establish liberation in others is a teaching established since the Old Testament, we read in the book of Deuteronomy:
And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers,
Deuteronomy 6:18
God established His statutes, decrees and commandments to give instruction by them to His people as to His character and divine Will,
17 For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:18 he doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 10:17-19
Thus, in conclusion, fasting has the purpose of ’emptying’ ourselves of the self-sufficient personality, and knowing how to wait on God’s provision; it has the purpose of weakening the flesh so that all acquired defilements, material and spiritual, are cast off; it has the purpose of removing all satanic traits that may still exist because of the past way of living; and the purpose of making us conscious to re-evaluate our acts of Righteousness.
Having understood the meaning and value of fasting, we must now understand why Jesus instructed His disciples that this kind of demons do not come out except by prayer and fasting.
The process of deliverance is as follows. Demons do not come out of their own free will, in deliverance every demon will resist to the point of exhaustion to prevent them from being thrown out of the body they have occupied; usually the demons hold on to the manifestations of the ‘flesh’ of the body they have inhabited,[21] it is as if they throw anchors into the flesh of the body to attach themselves to it; but the strength of the faith of the one who ministers deliverance will finally cause them to be cast out.[22]
The kind of demons that come out only by prayer and fasting operate differently from the rest; this kind of demons are subject both to the ‘flesh’ of the body of the infected and to the ‘flesh’ of the body of the one who ministers deliverance; if he who ministers deliverance has not emptied himself of the personality of self-sufficiency, nor has he bent his flesh to the obedience of Christ Jesus, nor has he removed from himself every trace of Satan in him, nor has he works of Righteousness to merit his work of deliverance, he will not be able to cast out any demon for the demon is ‘anchored’ to the flesh of his own body; under these conditions the demon will not come out. The teaching is clear.
Returning to the definition of fasting in Isaiah 58. When a person seeks the Lord in prayer and fasting, under the conditions He established, we will see the following results,
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God… 5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? 6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen?… 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry,… 8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily:and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.9 Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; 10 and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: 11 and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. 13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14 then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Isaiah 58
Let us pray and fast, let us return to the principles of the Word… this was the foundation of the church that Jesus established in Jerusalem over His twelve apostles, the church that the Lord calls ‘the Body of Christ’.
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Acts 2:42
And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.
Acts 10:4
And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,
Acts 10:30
And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
Acts 14:23
Scripture quotations are taken from the Authorized King James Version, 1909 (AKJV).
[1] Mark 3:15: and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:
[2] Luke 11:20: But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. (Mathew 12:28)
[3] Hebrews 2:14-15: 14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
1st. Corinthians 2:1-4: And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God… 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
[4] Romans 8:2: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death..
[7] Mark 5:7-8: 7 and cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
[8] Matthew 12:44: Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
[9] Matthew 12:28: But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. (Luke 11:20)
[10] Luke 11:20-22: 20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. 21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: 22 but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.
[11] Matthew 5:25: Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
[12] Matthew 13:19: When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
[13] Matthew 17:21: Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. (Mark 9:29).
[14] 1 Samuel 14:24: And the men of Israel were distressed that day: for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted any food.
Acts 23:12: And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
[15] Esther 4:16: Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
[16] Genesis 2:7: And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
[17] 2nd. Corinthians 7:1: Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
[20] Matthew 6:33: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
[21] Galatians 5:19: Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Romans 8:13: For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
[22] Luke 11:22: but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.
The Case of the Visitation in the Time of John the Baptist
The theme of ‘visitation’, פָּקְדִי (ppakedi), is a theme as old as man himself, and is associated with the manifestation of God, in principle, to a community, a people or an entire nation. It should not be related to ‘appearence’, accidental וַיֵּרָא (yera), or deliberate הַנִּרְאֶה (han.nir’eh), for it is not the same thing. The nature of ‘visitation’ is of the group type, while the appearance can be both group and individual.
The apparition brings with it an evident presence, while the ‘visitation’ does not necessarily mean an evident presence of God. Rather, ‘visitation’ is an event that marks the difference in time between one season and another, with the purpose of emphasizing that the change is a decision of God over the community visited.
Although a visitation is determined by the Will of God, and it is He who decides when to provoke it, nevertheless, ‘visitations’ have very similar cause-signs among themselves, so that the manifestation of one of them is evident to those who have understanding in the times. On this occasion we want to study the case of the visitation of God that began with the birth of John the Baptist, referred to by the writer of the Gospel of Luke. Let us begin by studying the prophetic words of the priest Zechariah, precisely the father of John the Baptist:
67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, 68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people, 69 and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
Luke 1:67-69
A ‘visitation’ is intended to establish a time of redemption in the region where the visitation is taking place,
for He hath visited and redeemed His people,
verse 68
And as soon as this time of ‘redemption’ is inaugurated, a series of characteristic ‘evidences’ of the manifestation of God arise as a consequence. The writer describes several of them.
The first and most important being the presence of a ‘liberator’
and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
verse 69
God’s work is established through men and women, and even children. This is a fundamental characteristic of the legitimate work of God. In the case where an angel of God has intervened, his participation is only as a messenger to make known about an event, or to give instructions about some action that people should take; but it is men or women who establish the work.
This operational form of God’s action is widely highlighted in the writings of the book of Judges :
18 And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. 19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.
Judges 2:18-19
The second characteristic of a ‘visitation’ is the establishment of liberation throughout the land visited.
that we should be saved from our enemies,
verse 71a
The deliverance is not only about people but about places and regions over which a curse has fallen because of the satanic practices and invocations performed by its inhabitants, which means that the land comes to life, and produces as it did in the beginning, before the curse entered the region. The writer of Luke’s gospel, citing the words of the priest Zechariah, establishes this emphasis,
Deliverance is the strong evidence that the Kingdom of God has been established over a place and its inhabitants; the expulsion of demons from a person and from a place, is not an isolated and independent event, it is the visible evidence that the kingdom of darkness came to an end in that region; Jesus himself established it as the strong sign of the establishment of the Kingdom in an area,
But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
Matthew 12:28 (Luke 11:20)
A time of ‘visitation’ brings with it the exercise of expelling demons from places and liberating the inhabitants of the regions. There cannot be ‘visitation’ without a real manifestation of liberation. It is the very foundation of the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven;
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
1st. John 3:8
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Hebrews 2:14
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Philippians 2:9-10
Another characteristic of a ‘visitation’ from God is the recovery of the worthiness of God’s people in the eyes of the local people.
and from the hand of all that hate us;
verse 71b
As clear examples we have, first, the case of when the people of Israel were delivered from the hand of Pharaoh of Egypt: and the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.(Exodus 12:36); the second example is the case of when the people were delivered from the hand of Haman the son of Amadatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews: And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. (Exodus 12:36); the second example is the case of when the people were delivered from the hand of Haman the son of Amadatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews: And many of the people of the land became Jews, because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them. (Esther 8:17); these two examples suffice to show how a manifestation of God causes those who walk according to the Truth and faith of Jesus to acquire a value of honor and respect in the eyes of their own community.
The cases cited are not isolated cases, it is the operating platform on which it operates every time a ‘visitation’ of God is performed.
The ‘visitation’ of God makes participate among those who live under the Lordship of Christ Jesus, the Revelation of the Eternal Covenants by which Israel was founded as God’s chosen nation;
to perform the mercy promised to our fathers,
verse 72a
during this time of ‘visitation’, the Gospel of the Kingdom discovers mysteries of Revelation that had not been seen in normal times, to establish by this form that the life of the Gospel of the Kingdom consists in living on earth by the principles of life in Heaven, as it is written in the epistle to the Ephesians: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: (Ephesians 1:17).
A ‘visitation’ from God is a time of discovery of the Father’s mysteries. God validates the mercies given to the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David, and activates them in favor of those who live under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
This means that in a time of ‘visitation’, the mercy dispensed to all who avail themselves of it is a mercy magnified, like the mercy David received when he was in extreme distress; let us see how this applies:
O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.
2 Chronicles 6:42
Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
Isaiah 55:3
And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.
Acts 13:34
A time of ‘visitation’ is a time of Revelation of the mysteries of the Almighty.
and to remember His holy covenant;
verse 72b
The holy covenant is the covenant to inherit the land. A time of ‘visitation’ is a time of taking over the places of the earth that God has given in inheritance to his people. It is not about opening churches, it is about establishing the Kingdom of God in the regions, and establishing spiritual government so that the people may walk in the light of the Gospel. Psalm 37 is the psalm that best describes the holy covenant.
Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, (v.3)… For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. (v.9)…For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. (v.10)… But the meek shall inherit the earth; (v.11)… The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be forever. (v.18)… But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away…. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.(v.22)… He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed (v.26)… For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. 29 The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever. (v.28, 29)…Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. (v.34)
Psalm 37
A time of ‘visitation’ activates God’s promise to Abraham
the oath which he sware to our father Abraham,
verse 73
God’s oath to Abraham is found in the book of Genesis,
17 that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;18 and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Genesis 22:17-18
The promise has two emphases. The first is that of possessing the gates of his enemies, a promise that was validated to Peter on the same terms: and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18).
The second emphasis of God’s promise to Abraham is the ordinance to establish and regulate the terms and conditions under which the nations of the earth will live: In your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. It is not just a matter of ‘giving’ an extended benefit, of prosperity and blessing, to the nations of the earth; it is rather a matter of regulating the conditions under which the other nations will receive the blessing that will be dispensed to them in return. The prophet Isaiah presents this same theme but emphasizes that its application consists, above all, in a kind of spiritual covering that Israel imposes on those who walk in her light,
And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.
Isaiah 4:1
If we carefully review other prophetic texts, such as the blessing of Moses to the twelve tribes, for example, we will see that from ancient times it was prophesied about the regulating character that God’s people would have over the inhabitants of the earth:
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
Genesis 49:10
Therefore, understanding and validating this Word, the cause of the moral, social, economic, and political debacle of any nation in the world does not consist in the multiplication of evil within it, only, but rather, and above all, because of the treatment given to the people of Israel, in the first place, and by extension, the treatment given to the people of faith in Jesus.
Ignorance of these principles of faith has caused many communities of faith not to exercise the authority they should have in their regions, and therefore, they do not enjoy the life of faith based on the promises given to Abraham, our father in faith.
And now, let us note again the words of Zechariah as he concludes his prophecy. Since the people possess the gates of their enemies, they can now live in peace,
that he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
verse 74 -75
Many men and women of God have been called as liberators, but because they are immersed in religious environments they do not know it; their ministry is not a pulpit ministry to pastor a local congregation, their ministry is a breaking ministry, to bring ‘visitation’ from God to the regions they inhabit, but they have wandered the path and are looking for pulpits and churches to work in, believing that this is the only way to ‘do’ ministry.
There are men and women already chosen in Venezuela, in Mexico, in Spain, in El Salvador, in China, in Iran, in Bolivia, in Europe, in many different places in the world, places that God has disposed to initiate ‘visitation’ on earth. They are men and women without a pulpit, without a church that recognizes them, without much ministerial prestige, some even unknown, some even children … but they are the deliverers who will bring God’s ‘visitation’ on earth in preparation for His coming.
In the last times God is also raising up men and women who are called to finance the ministry of these deliverers.
All biblical quotations are taken from the King James Version.
and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Exodus 3:8
Although He is present everywhere, and His Glory covers the earth,[1] God descends from the heavens and visits the earth from time to time, and does so to establish judgment and order in the regions where man has allowed a government of darkness to be established.
This activity of God is not new; it was part of His intention to maintain communion with man since he was placed in Eden.[2] From there, His visit to the regions is to destroy the order of darkness that man has built as an ally of the demons. Because of this we find references of when God descended to hinder the construction of the tower of Babel;[3] when He descended because of the sin of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah;[4] when He descended to “expel” Judah and send them in captivity to Babylon because of idolatry;[5] and, the case that occupies our attention on this occasion, the time when He descended to take the children of Israel out of slavery and free them from Egypt.
God’s visitation brings judgment and awakening; judgment for those who operate according to the principles of darkness;[6] awakening for those who operate according to the Righteousness of the Kingdom.[7] The two processes occur at the same time; in the religious media these processes are presented independently of each other; references in both the Old and New Testaments make it clear that they are two processes within the same event.
3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; 4 and the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. 5 And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
Ezekiel 9:3-5
5 which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: 6 seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 7 and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
2nd. Thessalonians 1:5-7
How do we know the times of God’s visitation?
Based on the teaching of the story of the liberation of the children of Israel from slavery at the hands of the Egyptians, the visitation of God has the following characteristics:
GOD CHOOSES A MAN OR A WOMAN TO BRING BY HIS/HER HAND JUDGMENT AND DELIVERANCE
Judgment and deliverance do not come alone; they come through the one God has chosen for that purpose. It is God’s way of operating. In the book of Exodus we read that God chose Moses and commissioned him to be the one who would establish judgment on Egypt and open the way for the deliverance of the people of Israel.
Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
Exodus 3:10
There is always a person in the middle, it is the person chosen by God, it is characteristic of the operation of the Spirit of God. In several texts where they are referred to they are also defined as ‘anointed’. The apostle Peter was sent as the chosen one to establish God’s visitation to the house of Cornelius, in Caesarea;[8] the apostle Paul was sent as the chosen one to establish God’s visitation to the Gentiles, from Jerusalem to Illyricum.[9]
The person chosen by God is invested with a supernatural spiritual capacity to carry out his work, in the gospel of Matthew we read that the person that God uses as a chosen one to establish of the visitation of God is a person that possesses the ‘keys’ of the Kingdom, to open and to close the doors of the spiritual, and to subject by the spiritual warfare to the forces of darkness.[10] Although we are all called to enter into spiritual warfare, the one who is chosen to establish by God judgment and deliverance possesses a special and higher authority than natural believers normally possess, and demons are subject to it.
God’s “visitation” establishes among those who live under the Lordship of Christ a Spirit of Revelation, as the Apostle Paul himself points out: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of Him:
Ephesians 1:17
The person chosen by God is usually a minister of the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not necessarily the rule; God chooses who He thinks is suitable, we have biblical testimonies that in many cases the visitation of God was established through people who had no ministry. The Gadarene who was delivered from the legion of demons that tormented him for many years was chosen to introduce God’s visitation into his land.[11] Cyrus, a Persian king, pagan according to the idolatry of his time, was chosen by God to introduce visitation in Jerusalem, and whom even God called, ‘my servant’.[12]
God’s visitation is introduced into the regions by the hand of a person chosen for that purpose; God chooses whom He wants, in most cases, whether they are ministers of the Gospel or not, they are not the favorites or the most appreciated by the public to whom they are sent.
27 but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 that no flesh should glory in his presence.
1st. Corinthians 1:27-29
Many world rulers have been chosen by God to introduce judgment and liberation, and to inaugurate a time of God’s visitation over regions of the earth, only the wise can transcend the political, and see them as such.
THE VISITATION OF GOD COMES BEFORE A TIME OF ANGUISH IN THE PEOPLE OF FAITH
Unlike what religious philosophy states, in the sense that God’s visitation is synonymous with ‘revival,’ understood as a time of Pentecostal gifts, God’s visitation actually means a time of distress, pain, scarcity, even persecution, in those who are born according to the faith of Jesus and persevere in it; the apostle Peter clearly reveals by the Spirit of Truth that God’s visitation begins ‘first’ in and through the house of God:
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1st. Peter 4:17
The time of anguish is the ‘characteristic’ of God’s visitation to a place, the learned can discover by it the sign that God is preparing his chosen ones to manifest themselves and establish liberation and joy;[13] in the account of the teaching of the liberation of the people of Israel by the hands of the Egyptians we see it in the way that God reveals to Moses the state of His people in Egypt, we read: And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows:[14]
The Revelation that Moses receives from God is that slavery is only the visible part of a greater spiritual power that is hidden; God declares to Moses: I have surely seen the affliction of my people, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows. Affliction, cry and sorrows produced, according to the same Revelation of God reveals to Moses, by the dominion of demons in the area; God declares to Moses that the plagues have the purpose of judging the gods of Egypt.[15]
The apostle Paul also states in his doctrine, according to the Revelation of the Spirit of Truth, that tribulation is the means by which in many cases, the majority, the visitation of the Kingdom of God is established.[16]
Affliction, cry, and sorrow is a time of suffering through which the people of faith must pass in order to make it clear, in principle, that God is no respecter of persons, that at the hour of His visitation all are weighed in the same way,[17] but that each one shall receive according to the works and righteousness of their hands.[18] The multiple stories contained in the book of Judges illustrate this characteristic of God’s visitation to the regions of the earth.[19]
GOD’S VISITATION ESTABLISHES CALL FOR SPIRITUAL WARFARE
Religious philosophy claims to see in God’s visitation a time of awakening gifts in the style of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost; however, this is not what the Bible points to as indicative of it. The visitation of God is accompanied by spiritual warfare.
The argument that Pharaoh used to subject the children of Israel to slavery was the fear of experiencing a demographic explosion on the part of the Hebrews, and that they would join their enemies in coming war on Egypt;[20] what Pharaoh feared was what came over him: war, but spiritual war that desolated Egypt.[21] In the account of when the people of Israel came out of Egypt, we read: And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.[22] How can they be described as an ‘hosts’ having just come out of slavery? The use in the story of a ‘military’ term to refer to the people is not simply to embellish the story, it is the spiritual description of what really happened in Egypt during the time of the plagues: spiritual warfare.
Spiritual warfare is not an auxiliary knowledge of life in Christ Jesus, spiritual warfare is the evidence that the person is living within the Kingdom of Light by faith in Jesus; darkness raises daily and continuous opposition to lead him to desist from his decision to follow the teaching of Jesus.
In the book of the prophet Joel we also read of the emergence of an army that is to manifest itself in future time, this army has the characteristic of emerging to put into effect His Word, precisely in a time of visitation.[23]
In conclusion, I believe that we are living a time prior to the visitation of God, the conditions that meet these times we are living indicate that we are at the gates of a time of visitation of God very great, but lack that we can enjoy it as appropriate, in the Spirit of Truth and not under the approaches of religious philosophy that promotes local church activities. If we are not clear about what the visitation of God means, we can distort it, and instead of knowing how to establish the Kingdom, we could open doors for a time of apostasy. May the Lord open our spirits to understand.
All biblical quotations are taken from the King James Version.
[1] Psalm 104:1-3: 1 Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. 2 Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: 3 who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:
Isaiah 2:19-21: 19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth… 21 to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
[2] Genesis 3:8: 8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
[3] Genesis 11:5: And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
[4] Genesis 18:21: I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
[5] Isaiah 31:4: For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.
[6] Isaiah 10:3: And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?
Hosea 9:7:The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.
Zephaniah 1:9:In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.
[7] Malachi 4:2:But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
[8] Acts 10:5-20: 5 And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: 6 he lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.… 19 While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. 20 Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.
[9] Romans 15:19: through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
[10] Matthew 16:17-19: 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
[11] Luke 8:38-39: 38 Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.
[12] Isaiah 44:28:that saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
[13] Psalm 30:11: Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;
[15] Exodus 12:12: For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.
[16] Acts 14:22: confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
[17] 2 Kings 21:13:And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.
[18] 2 Samuel 22:21:The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
Galatians 6:8: For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
[19] Judges 2:16-18: Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. 17 And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord; but they did not so. 18 And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.
[20] Exodus 1:8-10:Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. 9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: 10 come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
[21] Exodus 10:7: And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
Exodus 12:36:and the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required.And they spoiled the Egyptians.
[23] Joel 2:11:and the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
A pastor recently asked me about 1 Samuel 14:27, if the honey referred to God’s Revelation to man; this is the answer I gave him: The text refers to the deliverance that the man of faith can acquire through the food he eats, the Revelation, however, is established on the basis of the deliverance.
But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in an honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened. I Samuel 14:27
There is deliverance through food, and this is a clear example. Surely the reader will be familiar with issues such as the defilement that certain foods produce when they are eaten, because this is the counterpart issue, a little known issue, which highlights that God establishes deliverance through the food that He points out for that purpose.
God establishes a “diet” and He does it with the purpose of establishing operations of liberation, in and with, the people to whom He reveals them, such as Samson;
but he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. Judges 13:7
God provides a “diet” to establish operations of the Spirit, they are operations of Kingdom establishment through which precedents of faith are established in the regions, examples of which you read in the diet that He designed for Adam and Eve,
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. Genesis 1:11
You see it again in the wisdom that led Daniel and his companions not to contaminate themselves with the ration assigned to them,
12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. 13 Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king’s meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. 14 So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. 15 And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat. 16 Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse. Daniel 1.12-16.
There will be people, however, who will highlight an intrinsic value in food, that is not the biblical teaching, food itself does not have a value independent of the Will of God.
God arranges a “diet” with the purpose of establishing and maintaining liberation in those who serve Him, because for there to be Revelation, it is necessary first to establish liberation, we see it in the diet that God determined to the priests and the Nazarites,
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord: 3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. 4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. Numbers 6:1-4
For that very reason, the recommendation that the church in Jerusalem gave to the church of the Gentiles was given precisely to cut the satanic bonds that are established in the person through food,
but that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. Acts 15.20
Many peoples of the earth have food contaminated with idols, and unfortunately the children of light continue to consume it. Foods based on the blood of animals, such as moronga (blood sausage) are consumed by people who claim to be followers of Jesus by arrogating to themselves a freedom that is not sustained by the Word.
whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. Philippians 3.19
I emphasize, the diet is established by God, not that man/woman should seek one according to the basis of science. There is deliverance through food, and in His grace, God gives revelation of how to use food.
Eating a lot of red meat is constituted in bonding and contamination. Spiritual bonding is established by what the animals carry. Animals perceive and dwell in unclean spirits much more readily than humans, the example being the demons that entered the herd of swine (Luke 8:32).
Not that red meat cannot be eaten, for in God’s commandment, animals are given to Noah to eat (Genesis 9:3-5), but they are not to be the food base of a man of faith. When you minister deliverance to someone, put them on a meat fast for at least a week, and you will see the results.
Remember, it is not just a matter of “stopping” certain foods, it is necessary to discover, and implement, God-revealed diets to fulfill purposes and operations of the Spirit. So, not only should pork be seen as “bad”, bad can be everything that feeds a person’s ego. How about coffee? How about mate? Do you understand? It is to understand that we eat not only to subsist, but also so that the human spirit can be quickened to “see”, like Jonathan’s case, what God is doing, or what God wants us to do.
The biblical quotations are taken from the Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
Treasure in Earthen Vessels 
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