Beware of the Chaldeans

Welcome to Worshiping the Word with Pastor Robert Morris. We're in an excellent series called Free Indeed, where Pastor Robert discusses the different schemes of the enemy, the doors that we leave open to him, and what Jesus meant when he said, we shall be free indeed. Well, in today's message, Pastor Robert shares some of the tricks and schemes the enemy uses to attack us so we can be prepared. This is an incredible message.

So let's join Pastor Robert now. We're in a series called Free Indeed. And if you didn't get to hear last week's message, please listen to it because I laid a foundation that believers can be in bondage. It's nothing to be afraid of. It is something to be aware of. And we need to know how to get out of bondage and we will get to more and more in this series how to get free and stay free indeed.

All right? Satan will do everything he can to stop you from hearing this because truth is what makes us free. So this week's message is entitled Beware of Chaldeans. Beware of Chaldeans.

And I will explain to you what I mean by that. Acts chapter 13, Paul is in Antioch at Pisidia, and he preaches a message about Jesus and he ends the message with a caution. And I want to show you the caution. Acts 13 verse 40 says, Beware, therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets and that's Habakkuk where we're going, come upon you.

Beware lest it come on you. And then he quotes a verse from Habakkuk chapter one. Behold, you despisers marvel and perish for I work a work in your days, a work which you will know by no means believe though one were to declare it to you. Now he is referencing that God became a man in Jesus, died on the cross for our sins and that's salvation and that the Messiah has come. And he's saying, you're not even going to believe this, even though someone would tell you this, but he gives them a reason why they won't believe it. And it's Habakkuk.

And what he's telling them is there's an enemy who's trying to blind you to truth. And he quotes this scripture, but I want to go back and read the context in Habakkuk. So if you'll flip back to Habakkuk chapter one, I've already got my Bible open there.

I went directly to it. So Habakkuk chapter one, this is the verse Paul quoted. Look among the nations and watch, be utterly astounded for I will work a work in your days, which you would not believe though it were told you. Now, before we read verse six, let me just tell you, he's about to talk about Chaldeans. Chaldeans are an Old Testament type of demons, the enemies that come against the people of God. Watch the next verse. Watch what he talks about Chaldeans, but watch how we can relate this to demonic spirits.

Verse six, for indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation, which marches through the breadth of the earth. Watch what they're trying to do to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. There they are. That's what they're trying to do. We talked about this last weekend, that they are, the word possess doesn't always mean ownership. It means to gain the mastery over. They're trying to gain control over dwelling places that aren't theirs.

That don't belong to them. The Chaldeans had been utterly destroyed in 539 BC. So much so Jeremiah 50 and 51 tells us there will be none left. So when you think about this, Paul says beware, lest what was spoken of the prophets come on you, and there aren't any more liberal Chaldeans. So what would he have been talking about? Well, let me say it to you this way. In the same way the skeptics of that day would say, Paul's crazy.

He doesn't know what he's talking about. There aren't any more Chaldeans. We don't need to beware of them. In the same way, the skeptics today would say something like this. Did y'all hear Robert Morse is preaching a series about demons?

He's out of his mind. There aren't any more demons. Yes, there are. You better beware because they're trying to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.

That's what they're trying to do. See, it's right here. Okay, now let me show you again Chaldeans representing demonic spirits. Let me show you some things about Chaldeans, about demons, all right? Three things. Number one, they're thieves. They're thieves. Remember verse six says they're trying to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. We need to understand that Satan is the thief. He comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but many times the Bible talks about Satan, but it's actually referring to the work of Satan, not Satan himself because Satan is not omnipresent.

You need to know that. Omni means all. We say God is, by the way, omnipresent. He's all present. Okay, but Satan is not omnipresent.

He can only be in one location at one time. When he tempted Jesus, by the way, that's a real dude. That's Satan because Jesus did merit his personal attention. Jesus said it this way. There was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity, and he said, shouldn't this woman be loosed from this whom Satan had bound? Okay, Satan did have her bound, but Satan had her bound through one of his demons, through a spirit.

You understand? So it's important to understand that there's an army of demons when the Bible talks about the work of Satan. Psalm 83 verse one says, do not keep silent, O God. Do not hold your peace and do not be still, O God, for behold your enemies, the enemies of God are demonic spirits. Your enemies make a tumult and those who hate you have lifted up their head. They, now watch what demons do. They have taken crafty counsel against your people and consulted against your sheltered ones. They have said, come and let us cut them off from being a nation that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.

And look at verse 12, who said, let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession. I'm telling you, they're coming after you. You need to know if you're going after God, they're coming after you. See, so many times we think they're going after the unbelievers. No, they're not. They already got them. They're coming after the believers to keep the believers defeated so they don't win the unbelievers to Christ. That's what they're trying to do. Now I'm telling you, Chaldeans represents demons.

Let me just show you though. I was reading this past week. This is the exhaustive dictionary of Bible names. This is how the exhaustive dictionary of Bible names describes the definition of Chaldeans.

Look at it here. Chaldeans as it were demons. Demons. The root word means to lay waste or to destroy. And the actual word means wanderers. They were wanderers and I'll tell you some more about them later, but isn't it amazing that it means wanderers and watch what Jesus said about demons. Matthew 12, verse 43, when the unclean spirit has gone out of, it means he was in, out of a person, it wanders. Chaldeans are wanderers. Demonic spirits are wandering and they're trying to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.

It wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none. Then it says, I will return to my house, the houses. I will return to my house from which I came. When it comes, that's very important, these three things it says about the house. When it comes, this is Jesus talking by the way. When it comes, the spirit, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits, more evil than itself, and they enter and live there.

And the last day of that person is worse than the first. Now, notice how the demon can come back in, because when it comes back to the house that it left, it finds it swept in order, swept and put in order, but here's the key word, empty. How many times do people come to Christ, get saved, and they get their act cleaned up and swept, put in order, but they don't fill their house with the word of God. Chaldea would be at that time when, in this, when the Bible writes about them, they were a very small nation. They were never more than 40 miles wide.

They were about the size of New Jersey. And here's the thing that you know, they were actually never conquered until they were destroyed. And when God said, when God said, when my purpose is finished with them, I will destroy them. Think about Satan and the demonic spirits. When God does have a purpose for them, God used the enemy all through the Old Testament to teach his children to call out to him. When his children went into bondage, they would cry out to him and repent. And it's the same way today. Many times we don't think we need God until we're in trouble.

And then we call out to him. I want you to notice that there are some things about the Chaldeans that many people don't realize. The Chaldeans actually took over Babylon. As a matter of fact, when you read about Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar was a Chaldean. And the Assyrians used to appoint the kings of Babylon, but Babylon conquered, I mean, the Chaldeans conquered Babylon and Assyria.

And Nebuchadnezzar takes over. He's the one, he set up the 90 foot gold image and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, which is how we know them. By the way, those were not their names. Those were their Chaldean names. Those are Chaldean names. Their names were actually Hananiah, Michael, and Azariah.

And they gave them Chaldean names. When Nebuchadnezzar came in, he took two things that Satan is trying to take today. In other words, he's a thief. Demons are thieves, all right? Let me show you the two things that he stole.

You can just stay there and we'll come back to that. Daniel chapter one, verse one. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand and some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of his God. And he brought the articles into the treasure house of his God.

Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king's descendants and some of the young nobles. Young men in whom there was no blemish but good looking. I probably would have been taken.

That shouldn't have been that funny. Gifted in all wisdom, see? Possessing knowledge and quick to understand.

Yes, that's me. Exactly. Who had ability to serve in the king's palace.

Let me just sum this up. The young future leaders. And whom they might teach, now watch what they did.

They might teach them the language and the literature of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacy so they would be in bondage to the lusts of the flesh. And of the king and the wine which he drank.

And three years of training for them so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king. Alright, let me tell you the two things that Satan's trying to steal. The tithe and the next generation. That's what Nebuchadnezzar stole when he went into Israel. He took the gold and the silver from the temple. It was dedicated to the Lord. It was the tithe.

And he took the future leaders. This is how the enemy comes against you. This is how he came against the children of Israel when he took them into bondage. What they put in their mind, what they put in their body, and what I belong to God. By the way, 1 John tells you it's the pride of life, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes. The lust of the flesh being what you put in your body and what you do with your body. The lust of the eyes being what you put in your mind, what you see to try to make you smart. And the pride of life you say, well how does that relate to the tithe?

Now listen to me carefully because I'm going to say something very strong. Any person that doesn't tithe is arrogant. Because you believe you can make it your way and not doing it God's way. And you have to be arrogant to steal from God. And I don't say that to make you feel condemned or to argue about tithing.

I'm telling you that's an open door. And no matter how many doors you close in your life, if you're not a tither, you've always got an open door to the enemy. And this is exactly what Nebuchadnezzar did. He stole two things. He stole the tithe and he stole the next generation.

Can we just say this? When we talk about they're trying to possess dwelling places, not theirs. Let me give you another image in your mind. Demons are squatters. They're squatters. And they come and they get on the back part of your property that you don't go back to very much. And then they move in the attic and then they move in a room that you don't use much or you try to keep a door closed so no one else will see that area of your life. And eventually they take over the whole house. Could we just agree in this series that we're going to kick the squatters out?

We're going to take our houses back. So, number one, they're thieves. Number two, they're vicious. They're vicious. You need to know that demons are vicious. Satan never has a good day. He never has a merciful moment. Not one.

Look back in Habakkuk, chapter one, verse seven. They are terrible and dreadful. They're terrible and dreadful. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.

There's another reason. They think they could steal from God. Their horses also are swifter than leopards and more fierce than evening wolves.

Their chargers charge ahead. Their cavalry comes from afar. They fly as the eagle that hastens to eat. They all come for violence. Their faces are set like the east wind. They gather captives like sand.

Now, I wish I could take and do a whole message on just that. Talk about leopards, how eagles, the vultures come in, all this. But let me just show you one thing. It says they're like wolves. They're like wolves. Few other scriptures that describe the enemy as wolves. Ezekiel 22, 27, her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey to shed blood to destroy people and to get dishonest gain. Again, this refers to the pride of life, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes. Zephaniah 33, her princes in her midst are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves that leave not a bone till morning.

Let me tell you what that means. It means they feed at night. Can I just tell you something about when demons will attack you? They'll attack at night. If you haven't noticed that, you wake up in the middle of the night and they will start trying to get your thoughts to go the wrong way.

Am I telling the truth? And the best thing you can do when you can't sleep is read the Bible of praise. Acts 20 verse 29, Paul said, for I know this, I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

Okay. Paul said, when I leave, wolves are going to come in. He said, demonic spirits are going to try to come in and here's where they're going to try to come into the sheepfold. They're going to come in among the sheep.

I know this. I have a friend of mine that did some study on wolves and I was talking to him this week about this and he sent me this text after we talked. The Lord did not teach us about predators to teach animal control or children's fables. Wolves and sheep cannot coexist. This is from the study that he did with actual scientists that study wolves. When wolves appear most casual and innocent, even interesting to watch, they're actually studying you and sizing you up for the attack. They watch and study people and look for the weak times, the isolated. You realize they attack the sheep on the fray.

That's the one the wolf goes over. When there's a whole herd of sheep, they get the sheep that's off to himself. Listen, please, please, please hear me. This is a sheepfold right here. You're a sheep and there's a wolf that's trying to get you. If I were you, I would, if you're on the fringe, here's what I would do. I'd say, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me.

I'd get right in the middle of the sheepfold, right next to the shepherd. I told you a moment ago, I mean, wolves are vicious. They attack in packs.

You understand that. When a wolf attacks alone, it's because it's threatened. But a wolf, when it sees a weak one or an isolated one, it actually, when it's howling, it's calling other wolves to the attack. And they surround you and attack from every side. And Satan never has a merciful moment. He never has the time when he gives you a break or he lets up. He is constantly accusing the brethren day and night, the Bible says. You would think that when a person goes through a tough time or has a tragedy in his life, that Satan would give you a break.

That's actually when he attacks. So, number one, they're thieves. Number two, they're vicious. Here's number three, they're cunning. They're cunning. Notice, remember, it said they've taken crafty counsel against your people.

They're cunning. You know, the first Chaldean that ruled Babylon actually went in, not as a warrior, but went in and became a friend. And they got used to him and comfortable to him. And he ruled for 10 years before Assyria found out about it. Assyria, the king of Assyria appointed the kings of Babylon at that time. And he ruled for 10 years. And then, of course, Assyria went in and ousted him. Few years later, they came back and conquered Babylon and Assyria. So, this is the way the Chaldeans are. They're just crafty.

They just move in and become your friend and then take over. Chaldean, the term is synonymous with astrologer, magician, or sorcerer. Let me show you scripture. Daniel 2 says, then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dream. Of course, they couldn't.

Daniel did. The magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, a magician tries to distract you while he deceives you. An astrologer tries to deceive you with demonic spirits that can tell your future. That's what astrology is. Don't read your horoscope. That's not your future. This is your future right here.

This is what we read. And then, of course, a sorcerer is trying to deceive you. So, I want you to think about this. Here's what the enemy wants to do. Here's what the demon wants to do. They want to distract you. They want to deceive you. And they want to tell you what your future is.

They want to determine what your future is. That's the way the enemy is. Back in Habakkuk, verse 15, it says, they take up all of them. They, meaning the Chaldeans, take up them, meaning men, people, with a hook. Verse 14, the verse before, referred to men as fish. They take them up with a hook. They catch them in their net, and they gather them in the dragnet.

They basically want to figure out what bait you like, and then figure out when to put that bait in front of your face. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 11 says, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. This word wiles in the Greek is methodeia.

Methodeia is where we get our English word method. That you may be able to stand against the methods, the schemes, the plots of the enemy. Do you understand that the world makes fun of Satan and tries to tell us what he looks like so that we will understand how serious it is?

Let me just show you, because I want you to understand that he has a whole army. And let me just show you, there are seven categories of demons in Scripture. Seven categories, and here they are, thrones, lordships, rulers, authorities, principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness, evil and unclean spirits. All of these, at one point or another, refer to demons in the Bible. Daniel 7, 25, talking about Satan himself, and it's very clear it's talking about Satan. It says, he shall wear out the saints of the most high. He shall wear out the saints of the most high.

This is the ESV version. The New King James says, persecute, but the word really means wear out. Can I just tell you this? The word weary comes from the word wear. Satan will attack you when you're weary. That's when he's going to attack. The Chaldeans are the ones that stole from Job. By the way, Satan had permission. We are going to talk in this series how Satan gets permission to come in and steal from you.

And we're going to talk about how to take that permission back, how to take that open door back. One more scripture, 1 Peter 5, verse 8 says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Be sober simply means to be in control. In other words, don't let something else be in control of you. Be sober. A person who's drunk is not in control.

Let me say it another way. It's amazing that the Bible says, don't be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. Don't be out of control, but be under the control of the Holy Spirit.

So be sober. The other thing says is be vigilant. All that simply means is watchful. It does not mean to be afraid of Satan.

You don't need to be afraid of Satan. He's a roaring lion. Can I tell you a little bit about a roaring lion? A roaring lion is an old lion that doesn't have any teeth. You need to understand that the old lion that doesn't have any teeth, that can't catch prey on his own, actually goes around behind the prey and roars and scares them into the mouths of the young lions. Those are the demons. And here's the reason I believe that Satan is the, and the Bible describes him as a roaring lion, because I think Jesus pulled all his teeth.

I think Jesus took care of it. And the reason that you don't need to be afraid of the roaring lion is because Revelation 5, 5 says the lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed. You remember Psalm 23 talks about the shepherd. Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. But here's something that says his rod and his staff comfort me.

Okay. You need to understand that he doesn't hit you with his rod. His rod is not to hit the sheep. Otherwise we couldn't say his rod comforts us. He does not hit the sheep with his rod.

Let me say it in Texan. He uses his rod to beat the snot out of the wolf. That's what the devil, that's what the Lord does. So here, so here's the answer. You say, well, what about, you're saying beware of Chaldeans and I'm telling you, I know Pastor Robert, they're coming after me right now. Okay.

What's the answer? Run to the shepherd. Come to the shepherd. We want you to take a moment to think about what Pastor Robert shared today and listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you. If you want to connect with us or check out some of Pastor Robert's other messages, visit pastorrobert.com. And if you haven't already, go follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter so we can be a part of your community. Thank you so much for listening in today. Next time, Pastor Robert is going to talk about one of the biggest doors we leave open to the enemy's influence in our lives. You won't want to miss it. Well, until then, have a great week.