Take Your Seat at The Table

Judges 1:1-7 KJV

Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?

2 And the Lord said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.

3 And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So, Simeon went with him.

4 And Judah went up; and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men. 5 And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.

7 And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

Adonibezek did this to the 70 other kings to demonstrate his superiority over them. With no thumbs they could not hold a sword, and without their big toes so they were unstable and could not stand and fight. They lived off the scraps they could gather under his table, so they were weakened by malnutrition. He made sure they were no threat to him.

This is exactly what the devil wants to do to all of us. He wants to oppress you and rob you of the benefits of your salvation. Many of God’s people live like beggars, as if they unaware that they are the rightful heirs to the kingdom of God. Just like the 70 kings, they are royalty (1 Peter 2:9), but they live the life of beggars.

Look at these passages of scripture:

1 Sam 20:14,15 – 14And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not: 15But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever: no, not when the LORD hath cut off the enemies of David everyone from the face of the earth.

2 Sam 9:1 – 1And David said, is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?

2 Sam 9:3, 4 – 3And the king said, is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. 4And the king said unto him, where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lo’debar.

Look at the meaning in these names:

Mephibosheth = dispeller of shame

Ammiel = People of God

Lodebar = Pastureless, dry, empty, barren,

Machir = Slavery

Here was a son of Jonathan living like a beggar, Why? He was unfamiliar with the covenant, between his father and David. The devil is holding many of God’s people in bondage to guilt and shame, they are slaves to a past that has been washed away by the blood of Jesus. Yet they are living like beggars because they haven’t taken the time to read the covenant between themselves and God.

The Syrophenician woman begging for help from Jesus said that she was willing to accept the crumbs that fall from the children’s table, ‘even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ She was an alien; she didn’t know or have part in the covenant between God and Israel.

But it is sad when covenant sons and daughters, because of ignorance, allow the devil to oppress them and brings them into bondage where they live like beggars.

Friends, you are not beggars, that’s the bottom line! The enemy has no authority to hold you in bondage of guilt or shame to your past, you are the covenant children of God. You have received the ‘Spirit of Adoption’ and you entitled to all the promises of God.

Jesus is calling you to His banqueting table, and at His table no one see’s what you were, only what you are, and what you are becoming in Him. Praise God, Jesus breaks every chain!

When you begin to see this, when you take your rightful place at the table, when you recognize the authority you have in the name of Jesus, and the power that lives in you by the infilling of the Holy Ghost, the devil is defeated. When you have the Holy Ghost, you are filled with the power to defeat the devil. You have spiritually cut off the enemy’s thumbs and toes, he is defeated in your life, and he is no longer poses a threat to you.

Repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and then take your seat at the "Table of God."

Acts 2:38