WEEK THREE
The Fight for Dominion
Group Preparation Options
Book Reading: Supernatural, Chapters 5-6
Heritage Sermon: Sunday, March 27 (watch here)
Heritage Sermon: Sunday, March 27 (watch here)
Group Time (80 min)
30 Min - A World at War
You might be familiar with the biblical account of the Tower of Babel. Let's read it together:
GENESIS 11:1-9
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
__________________________
This is the moment historians trace back to the origin of so many different languages on earth. But in Chapter 5 of Supernatural, Dr. Heiser suggests there is much more happening here than meets the eye. He argues that this is also the moment that God scattered the rebels in the spiritual realm along with their earthly counterparts across the earth.
This sets the stage of the rest of the Old Testament - an ongoing war for territory and worship. God would raise up His own nation, but mankind would be notorious for turning to false teachers and false gods. Read the following passages with this in mind:
DEUTERONOMY 32:8-9
When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided all mankind, He set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. For the Lord’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance.
DEUTERONOMY 29:22-26
Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it. The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger. All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?”
And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant He made with them when He brought them out of Egypt. They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods He had not given them.
DEUTERONOMY 32:15-18
They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior. They made Him jealous with their foreign gods and angered Him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God— gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear. You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.
__________________________
Keep that thought in the background of your mind from now on as you read about some of the epic clashes between the people of God and worshipers of false gods in the Old Testament.
But God also reminds the rebellious elohim that there fate is already sealed, and God has a plan for rescuing the whole world from their hands:
__________________________
PSALM 82:6-8
“I (God) said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’ But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.”
Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance!
GENESIS 11:1-9
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
__________________________
This is the moment historians trace back to the origin of so many different languages on earth. But in Chapter 5 of Supernatural, Dr. Heiser suggests there is much more happening here than meets the eye. He argues that this is also the moment that God scattered the rebels in the spiritual realm along with their earthly counterparts across the earth.
This sets the stage of the rest of the Old Testament - an ongoing war for territory and worship. God would raise up His own nation, but mankind would be notorious for turning to false teachers and false gods. Read the following passages with this in mind:
DEUTERONOMY 32:8-9
When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided all mankind, He set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. For the Lord’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance.
DEUTERONOMY 29:22-26
Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it. The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger. All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?”
And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant He made with them when He brought them out of Egypt. They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods He had not given them.
DEUTERONOMY 32:15-18
They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior. They made Him jealous with their foreign gods and angered Him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God— gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear. You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.
__________________________
Keep that thought in the background of your mind from now on as you read about some of the epic clashes between the people of God and worshipers of false gods in the Old Testament.
But God also reminds the rebellious elohim that there fate is already sealed, and God has a plan for rescuing the whole world from their hands:
__________________________
PSALM 82:6-8
“I (God) said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’ But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.”
Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance!
DISCUSS TOGETHER
Consider the idea that God chose one and only one nation - Israel - as HIS nation. Through this nation He would send Jesus to turn this nation in a Kingdom and a family - now known as the body of Christ - the universal Church.
What thoughts or questions does this bring to mind?
30 min - Holy Ground
Spaces and territories are very important to God. We are involved in a global call to bring Heaven to earth. God uses us to accomplish this mission by making us walking vessels of His presence (1 Corinthians 6:19*). Whenever we enter a new space and dedicate it to the glory of God - His kingdom advances!
Read this very interesting example found in 2 Kings, about a commander healed of leprosy. Convinced that the God of Israel is the one true God, he had one interesting request of the prophet, Elisha:
__________________________
2 Kings 5
Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.
Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents[b] of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”
As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”
When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.
Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”
The prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.
“If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord. "
__________________________
Namaan's one request: DIRT! As a commander, he understood the significance of territorial ownership. The ground he was standing on was holy ground - land under the authority and power of the one true God. Instead of riches, he wanted something money couldn't buy - the very presence of God.
Today we don't have to go to such extreme measures, but the principle still applies. We are now living representatives of Heaven. God uses us to spread His kingdom across the entire world, and anytime we dedicate a space for the glory of God, the domain of Satan is transformed into God's territory.
Read this very interesting example found in 2 Kings, about a commander healed of leprosy. Convinced that the God of Israel is the one true God, he had one interesting request of the prophet, Elisha:
__________________________
2 Kings 5
Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.
Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents[b] of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”
As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”
When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.
Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”
The prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.
“If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord. "
__________________________
Namaan's one request: DIRT! As a commander, he understood the significance of territorial ownership. The ground he was standing on was holy ground - land under the authority and power of the one true God. Instead of riches, he wanted something money couldn't buy - the very presence of God.
Today we don't have to go to such extreme measures, but the principle still applies. We are now living representatives of Heaven. God uses us to spread His kingdom across the entire world, and anytime we dedicate a space for the glory of God, the domain of Satan is transformed into God's territory.
DISCUSS TOGETHER
In Matthew 18:20, Jesus says, "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Discuss the idea that we, as temples of the Holy Spirit, we are now on a mission to expand the Kingdom of God, dedicating ourselves - and our spaces - for His glory.
How should this affect the way we see ourselves as we go about our daily lives?
Have you even been in a situation that was very tense or full of conflict but someone was able to dramatically change the atmosphere by putting the focus back on Christ? What made the difference? Prayer? Worship? An act of sacrificial generosity? A genuine word of love?
What does this say about the importance of gathering together as believers?
20 min - Final Encouragement
Which of the following next steps do you feel led by God to make? Go around the group and give everyone the option to respond:
- Salvation (trust in Jesus as Lord & Savior)
- Baptism (pledging allegiance to Jesus publicly)
- Commitment to your church family (church, small groups, serving, giving, etc.)
- Commitment to establishing my home/school/office as a place where God rules and is glorified
- Other?
* Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? (1 Corinthians 6:19)
TEASER!
Now get ready for Week #4. God does something incredible to call the world back home. You’ll never look at the laws of God the same again!
Optional Homework for Next Week:
- Book Reading: Supernatural, Chapters 7-8
- Heritage Sermon: Sunday, April 3
Note to Group Leaders
Thank you for your willingness to walk with others in discipleship. We are here for you whenever you need us. We are praying for you and cheering for you. One tool we want to offer: ESPN.
Each time you gather together, make a point to:
E: Encourage (offer words of hope to everyone in your group)
S: Scripture (always let God's Word be your guide)
P: Prayer (prayer changes the atmosphere - we encourage you to begin and end your time together in prayer)
N: Next Step (if anyone is facing a particularly difficult circumstance in life, we have many Next Step tools available for you)
Reach out anytime:
Chrissie Forehand (Small Groups Pastor):
Thank you for your willingness to walk with others in discipleship. We are here for you whenever you need us. We are praying for you and cheering for you. One tool we want to offer: ESPN.
Each time you gather together, make a point to:
E: Encourage (offer words of hope to everyone in your group)
S: Scripture (always let God's Word be your guide)
P: Prayer (prayer changes the atmosphere - we encourage you to begin and end your time together in prayer)
N: Next Step (if anyone is facing a particularly difficult circumstance in life, we have many Next Step tools available for you)
Reach out anytime:
Chrissie Forehand (Small Groups Pastor):
Or send a note to:
Brian Lassetter (Discipleship Pastor):
Brian Lassetter (Discipleship Pastor):