On the morning of August 19th, I was led to journal “the 3 year reign of Abimelek is coming to an end”. I got the impression this was regarding an “Abimelek spirit” rather than a specific person or thing. God reminded me of the familiar passage in Ephesians 6:10-18:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
Spiritual forces of darkness that have been at work and growing in an authoritative capacity for the past three years are about to be struggled against and overcome.
I fixated on that word “struggle”. I began looking in Strong’s concordance to see the root of various words for struggle until a specific word jumped out at me in the Spirit:
“Sur” (Greek transliteration)- meaning to make princes, have power, reign, vanquish, wrestle, prevail, cause to turn aside, or apostatize. Webster defines “apostatize” as “an act of refusing to continue to follow, obey, or recognize” or “abandonment of a previous loyalty”.
It was like shedding light on more puzzle pieces. Our “struggle” against this spirit looks like a turning aside or a refusing to continue to follow, obey, or recognize this spirit. It’s also an abandonment of previous places in which we have unknowingly or knowingly given loyalty to this “Abimelek” spirit. This word for struggle, “sur”, shows up in two places (though it’s root is found in far more). We find it in Hosea 12:4 and Judges 9:22. Here’s what they have to say:
Hosea 12:4- (speaking of Jacob) “He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there”. In this instance, the word “struggled” is our “sur”. In this verse Jacob is quite literally struggling against something that is not flesh and blood but spiritual. What’s more is Jacob not only overcame, but he was wrestling for a blessing. Said another way, he wasn’t wrestling just for survival. He didn’t want to merely make it out of the struggle. He wanted to be blessed going forward from it. As we put on our armor to war in the Spirit, we should not just have “survival” as the goal, but we should set our expectations on BLESSING.
The second instance is Judges 9:22: “After Abimelek had governed Israel three years”. This verse precedes Abimelek’s fall from power, and the word “sur” in this verse takes the form of “governed”. Reviewing the last couple years both corporately and personally, it’s easy to see the trends of what our struggles have been against- health, finance, even core beliefs. I started to get the impression that this was a spiritual call to suit up and prepare to wrestle for our blessing…because our spiritual “Abimelek’s” three year reign is coming to an end.
So what is an Abimelek spirit? I looked to the Word to find out.
Abimelek comes on the scene in Judges 9 when he convinces his brothers with smooth talking that he should be king. They, in turn, convince the citizens to put him in the office of king. After a three year reign, the citizens sided against Abimelek, and his reign was ended.
If we are struggling and overcoming an “Abimelek” spirit, what does that mean?
On a corporate level:
Abimelek, Biblically, represented manipulation and dishonest motives. The “smooth talk” of deception in the media is going to be seen through and brought down in favor of the truth of the Lord.
Abrim publications cites an interesting point that “Although this Abimelek appears in the era of the judges, he is not actually a judge but someone who rose to power due to the absence of an actual judge”. This presence of apathy that allows illegitimate powers to swoop into places of power in our lives is coming to an end. Spiritually, God is replacing apathy with decisive solidarity.
The actual etymology of the name Abimelek is described by Abrim publications: “The noun אב ('ab) means father, but describes primarily a social relationship rather than a biological one. That social fatherhood was the defining quality of the community's alpha male, the one around whom all economy revolved and from whom emanated all instructions by which the 'sons' (בן, ben) operated.” The spiritual authority forcing hands economically will be overturned. A balance is being restored financially to realign economies away from the massive sway of powers of this world and more closely to the will of the Lord. Look for massive shifts in the world of finance as well as the restoration of balance in sharing political power where there has been more one-sided advances.
On an individual level:
Commitments or compromises that you have made due to the “smooth talk” of deception are going to be illuminated to you. There is a recommitment coming to what God has called you to in this season and a dropping of the things that appear sound but really are not yours to bear.
God is retuning ears that have been overly tuned into other people and powers. God wants to be our one Source, and places in which apathy has caused us to replace His standards and words with someone else’s will gain new clarity. Along with this is a reigniting of passion, particularly for the work the Lord is calling you to in this season.
God is calling us to break off from manipulation and smooth talking and recalibrate as a “servant of God in the world” as opposed to a “slave of the world”.
Changes the Lord has been stirring up for some time now are coming together. Here’s how you can pray and receive directly from the Lord about what this means for you:
Lord,
Thank you for fighting our unseen battles. Help me to put on your armor and to wrestle not just to survive but to walk in blessing. Lord, open my eyes to deception and smooth talk and help me to see your truth instead. Restore to me my God-given callings, and illuminate what it is time to walk away from. Help me to serve you by loving others but to not become a slave to the world. I bind up the “Abimelek” manipulation and deception going on in the world, and I ask for a restoration of your balance to government, media, finance, and to my own life. Dethrone authorities in my life that have not been put there by you. Identify places of apathy and replace them with passion and steadfastness. Lord, may your Spirit continue to speak to me about how to employ this word in my life. In the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.
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