There's Power in the Blood! Pt 2

"Discerning the Times in the Light of the Word"

This excerpt is from chapter four of the book
Disarming the Powers of Darkness
by Eric Barger and David Benoit.

There's Power in the Blood! (pt 2)

Early in Eric’s walk with God, he learned the outright horror that demons have for the blood of Jesus Christ. Like many Christians, he had the general understanding of what the blood had accomplished for him in salvation. However, an unforgettable event took place around 1985 that highlighted the power of the blood of the Lamb and the effect it has in the spirit realm.

Eric, his wife, Melanie, and several of their friends had driven from their home (then in Bellingham, Washington) to Vancouver, Canada, to attend a radio rally being held by an American evangelist with whom Eric had become acquainted. After the rally, with the large hall nearly empty, Eric and his party were waiting to greet his friend, the evangelist. As they waited, Eric noticed the evangelist talking with a teenage girl. Though the conversation was indistinguishable and though no one else seemed to notice, it became obvious to Eric that his friend was dealing with a problem of serious nature as he spoke to the girl.

Suddenly and without notice the girl violently attacked the evangelist, pickng him up with one hand by the throat! Eric bolted across the foyer of the building and attempted to restrain the girl but with little success. She continued to hold the evangelist by the throat and though Eric was now attempting to pull her free, she was dragging them both across the foyer where she commenced beating the evangelist against the wall! Finally, help arrived and they quickly went to work binding the multiple demons that were possessing her.

During the deliverance session that lasted over two hours, some very powerful spiritual lessons were learned. The girl had been involved in satanic sacrifices and had willed her soul to Satan. (Over the ensuing weeks more information came out as both Eric and his pastor dealt with her and the many emotional and spiritual problems that arose from her involvement in Satanism.) As the evangelist ministered to her, three others, including Eric, restrained her and prayed for God’s delivering power. During the deliverance session, the evangelist held a Bible in front of the girl’s face. When he did so, the demons reacted violently. When he commanded, "In the name of Jesus" the spirit(s) possessing her reacted again. But when the evangelist said "By the authority of the blood of Jesus Christ . . ." the demon-possessed girl broke free and had to be tackled!

The lesson learned that night is important to us today. Though Satan wants no part of the Bible and though he knows that the name of Jesus spells his doom, the authority of the blood of Jesus Christ—being applied by a knowledgeable ambassador of God—is the most potent weapon in the Christian’s spiritual arsenal—bar none! Demons are powerless against the blood! Satan CANNOT penetrate the blood! Wherever the blood is, Satan’s power is neutralized! Amen! So then, how do we utilize or apply the blood of Christ since there is no actual physical blood? Let’s look at the Old Testament and see what the Israelites did at the time of the Exodus. It will give us insight for our lives today.

Where the Blood Meets the Hyssop

The Old Testament comes alive with rich, fertile teaching when the physical examples and stories within are paralleled in a spiritual sense for us New Testament believers today. The account of the Exodus is rich with insight through the use of "types" (also called typologies) for us to learn from. Here we see God’s plan to spring His people Israel from their burdensome captivity finally take shape. Israel had been captive, slaves to Pharaoh year after year, just as we humans without Jesus are captives of Satan, enslaved to sin.

The story of the Jewish captivity in Egypt certainly parallels both human captivity to evil and also pictures Spiritual Warfare in a powerful way. Time and again, Moses had cried out to the Egyptian king, "Let my people go!" and over and over the answer was "NO!" One miraculous sign after another came and went and still Pharaoh was unrelenting because his heart was hardened. The king had seen Moses throw dust into the air and how it became the plague of the boils over the land. Aaron’s staff had devoured those of the sorcerers of Pharaoh’s court and yet he refused to free Israel. God sent plague after plague upon the land, but the hard-hearted king was unrelenting in his desire to hold God’s people in bondage. Here in Exodus 12, God prepares and warns His people about the imminent destruction Egypt is about to experience and how they can protect themselves from it. How awesome that again the Lord is warning His children about the imminent destruction that is to come, but this time it will be in judgment of a pharaoh-like Antichrist who will someday soon hold humanity hostage.

The centerpiece of Exodus 12 is the spotless lamb. Pictured here we see Jesus, giving His life for the freedom of all who will follow the Lord. God instructs the Israelites to apply the blood of the lamb to the sides and tops of the doorposts of their homes (v. 7), just as in our salvation; the blood is applied to the doorpost of our hearts. They were then instructed to eat the meat of the lamb (v. 8)—symbolized in the New Testament by communion. They were told to eat in haste (v. 11) for Pharaoh, or in our case, Satan, is perched ready to destroy. In verse twelve God declares that His judgment will be swift and awesome as He brings punishment upon both man and beast. Many have questioned why the firstborn of the animals were slain here. It signifies God’s disdain for the idolatry and worship the Egyptians displayed, which centered around creatures. And then verse thirteen powerfully instructs us about the blood of the lamb for our lives today.

And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

—Exodus 12:13

Just as it was in the Exodus, the blood is a sign of salvation, safety, and freedom. It is a sign for Satan, too. It reads "Hands Off"! It says, "Devil, you cannot interfere or operate here—ever," for as verse fourteen tells us, it is a lasting ordinance, one that must be spoken of and commemorated. Oh, how Satan surely does hate any talk of the blood, beloved. Now look down at verse twenty-two.

And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.

—Exodus 12:22

The Israelites were instructed to apply the blood of the lamb with the branch from a hyssop bush. They were told to apply it to the sides and top of the doorposts of their homes. This signifies the protection of their going out and their coming in, their rest, their peace, their families, and their very lives. They were also told not to leave their homes until morning. To us, this symbolizes that to enjoy the blessings of His protection we must stay "in" Jesus—in close, abiding fellowship—until He calls us.

The hyssop bush is significant here. In King David’s famous psalm of repentance, Psalm 51, he cries out, "Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" (v. 7). He’s saying, "Oh God, I am sorry for my sins. Your grace and the mercy accompanying your prescribed blood sacrifice is the only way out of my sinful state. Help me!" The hyssop was the carrier of the blood and its protecting and redeeming power. Though it was pungent with mint fragrance, the hyssop held little healing and certainly no saving powers within itself. However the Israelites recognized that without it (or some other heaven-chosen vehicle) the blood would lay unused in a time of great need and the sacrifice of the lamb would have been for naught.

Just as we do not need to sacrifice another lamb and just as we do not fight with physical weapons in our warfare, the carrier of the power of the blood is not an actual physical thing today. The blood was powerful to save them from the destruction of the "death angel" and played an instrumental part in bringing Israel their ultimate release from captivity in the Exodus. In the same way, Christ’s blood is powerful to save and bring us freedom from Satan’s attacks today. But the blood required a carrier then and it still does now. So what is the "hyssop" so sorely needed by God’s people the church? The answer is found in these passages from Romans chapter ten.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. . . . For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

—Romans 10:9–10, 13

Now keeping in mind that without faith in your heart there is no freedom, the "hyssop" that brought the power of the blood in salvation for you is your tongue! The words "confess," "confession," and "call," all signify speaking to the Lord. Though God certainly makes exception for any individual who has no physical ability to talk, for those of us that can, it is paramount to our salvation and to the activation of Christ’s blood to cleanse our sins. Our obedience to speak in faith is the difference between being saved or lost! The very crux of salvation and of waging Spiritual Warfare is in our tongue!

One more thing concerning the hyssop. As you follow this word through the Scriptures one cannot help be struck by the fact that not only did God prescribe that branches of hyssop be the carrier for the blood of the protecting lamb in the Exodus but a hyssop branch was used to lift up the sponge dipped in vinegar to Jesus lips as He hung dying on the cross! We see this is John 19:29 and it is significant. Hyssop was integral in the freedom brought by the first Passover lamb. Here it plays a part again in the sacrifice of the second. In John 19:30, Jesus uttered, "it is finished", and then He died. We can rest assured that just three days later Satan uttered, "I am finished!" Praise God!

The Israelites were commanded to commemorate—to communicate about—the Exodus to all future generations and to extol the power of God that delivered them from bondage. Today, the church must be reminded that success or failure for God is reliant on what we do with our lips. Is it no wonder then that Satan wants both our account of God’s power to deliver and our witness for Christ to be silent and ineffective? He wants us to remain ignorant, to walk in insecurity or fear of embarrassment. His desire for mankind is simple to understand - to keep us in bondage by any means possible. His goal for the Christian is equally clear. It is to keep us from being the powerful soldiers God has called us to be! The Evil One will accomplish this if he can lessen or negate the importance of depending on the vehicle God prescribed us to use in waging Spiritual Warfare.

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