In my last post, I shared about a few different spiritual warfare incidents that have happened when we started to do a new work for the Lord. Another thing that often happens when you go into a new area to share the gospel is that you encounter territorial spirits. A territorial spirit is a demonic principality or perhaps a lower level spirit under the principality that has that has a certain amount of control or influence over at least some of the people who live in the area because they have opened the door for that spirit in some way. Often, it will be hosted by one person, who is the main person giving place to it.
One example of this is found in Acts 8:9-24. Acts 8:9-11 says:
But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria claiming that he was someone great, to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries (magic arts) for a long time. NKJV
Because Simon was practicing sorcery, he was the main one hosting the demonic principality or territorial spirit of witchcraft over this area. But, as others revered him and accepted what he was practicing or participated in it with him, they also opened the door to this spirit, giving it more influence and control over the area.
We recently started a new Bible study/fellowship group in a community building in a nearby neighborhood for the people who live in the apartment complex. The next morning my husband had a dream about a huge white snake in the road that had swallowed a person whole. White can represent purity or salvation, but when it is a snake, it represents something evil, usually something counterfeit, lies, deception, or a spirit of witchcraft. I believe the fact that it had swallowed this person whole meant that they had been totally engulfed or deceived by it.
One of my friends, who is a Christian and lives in this neighborhood (who is also apart of the Bible study group) had previously told me that she thought one of the residents might be a witch. I asked her why and she said, “She said she doesn’t believe in Jesus or the Bible, she believes in something strange.”
On the night of the Bible study, one of the ladies, who is mentally handicapped, got there early and took apart and put away all the puzzles that were on the table, except the one she was working on and placed table cloths on the table in preparation for us to have food and Bible study. The next day, the lady who said she doesn’t believe in Jesus or the Bible came over to my friend and yelled at her in her words, “like a mad dog.” She said “I was surprised, because I thought we had always had a good relationship in the past.” My friend told her that she was not the one who took the puzzles apart, so she then headed over to the woman’s apartment who had taken them apart to get onto her. I told my friend, I felt like this was a demonic backlash because the enemy was unhappy that we were sharing the gospel in her neighborhood. She told me that the woman believed in the 42 laws of Maat. This was new to me, so I looked it up on the internet.
I found out that this belief system stems from the Egyptians and the worship of a goddess and god that are supposed to be responsible for the creation of various elements of the earth. Some say they are more of an allegory and it has to do with science, while others take it to be more literal. This is something that many Africans have evidently adopted as their belief system, believing that they are descended from the Egyptians. The 42 laws are affirmations that say something like: I have not sinned, I have not committed adultery, acted out in misplaced anger, etc. and the belief states that everyone will be weighed by whether they essentially kept these laws or not at the end of their life. Notice this in total contradiction to the Bible, which says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and therefore need to accept Jesus’ sacrifice for their sins in order to go to heaven.
My friend also told me that there is another woman living there who is part of a cult religion. I have also heard about witches in the area and from the bumper stickers I see about witchcraft and paganism, I believe it is true. When people open the door to things like this, those demonic spirits can oppress and try to influence the people who live in an area to try to keep them from accepting the gospel. We will continue to move forward in sharing the gospel, while praying for these strongholds to be broken off the hearts and minds of the people living in the area. The enemy cannot stop us; he can only try to intimidate and discourage, but as we continue to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, we will have victory. God bless you all.
In Christ ~ Kelly Rowe
A Deeper Walk 