B is for Binding and Loosing

Most commonly in the Christian world, the idea of binding is associated with immobilizing the demonic. Demons are bound and the Spirit of God is loosed. However, in reality the kingdom works in reverse. Let me explain.

There is one definition of the word bind that can mean “a temporary tying up,” but this is not a long-term solution. If you study Yeshua and His treatment of the demonic within the gospels, He doesn’t bind. He is more concerned with permanently destroying the works of the devil rather than entangling them up in knots from which they can later work themselves free. The real definition of the word bind is to tie together, knit, be in bonds; fasten or wind together; to obligate yourself. In other words, to take two things and make them as one.

The root of the word loose does not carry the assumed connotations of setting free in the sense of being released from confinement. Rather it means to cast away like a filthy garment, to destroy it, to dance upon it until it melts away.

If this is true, the last thing we want to do is bind demons to ourselves and send the Holy Spirit packing. So the second part of our daily liturgy is to bind ourselves to Yeshua, to ask Him to weave our spirits into His, to make us one.

Lord, I thank You that my spirit is bound to the Holy Spirit. In the name of Yeshua, I bind my mind to the mind of Christ. I bind my will to the will of God. I bind my emotions to the heart of my Father. I bind my imagination to God’s imagination. I bind my physical body to excellent health and prosperity that I might fulfill the destiny God has for me. In other words we ask that we can think as Yeshua thinks, feel what He feels, envision what He envisions, draw our hearts into alignment with His will.

Then we cast away the things designed to hinder our hearts. Yeshua, I loose all fear, doubt, unbelief, shame, guilt, intimidation, a spirit of religion and performance, stronghold thinking and behaviors, distractions… the list can go on. You fill in the blank. I love to think of throwing them out into a muddy street in the middle of a rainstorm, of dancing on them until they are swallowed up into the earth while the rain pours down on my upturned face to wash away any evidence of the effects they were ever there.

In the context of answering the Pharisees by what power He cast out demons, Yeshua describes, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed. But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.” (Luke 11: 21-23)

The strong man is a spirit of self-protection. He is guarding his own home, or in spiritual terms, his own heart. But we weren’t designed to be our own protectors. It only causes our hearts and minds to shut down, to build protective walls, to shut people out or lash out in fear, something I have experienced before. But in this passage someone stronger attacks and overpowers the strongman. Attack is a faulty translation because in the original language it means simply to arrive. The mere presence of Yeshua, the More Valiant One, overpowers the strongman, no battle needed. He casts the strongman’s armor of self-protection away. He scatters it. He looses. Then to prevent the enemy from coming back into a cleanly swept house and causing more damage than before, we bind ourselves to Yeshua, we fill the home with His presence, with His truth. We rebuild with good things so there is no room for the broken to come back and make its home.