Lately, a number of people have approached me with concerns about scriptural proof of hidden structures, which have been written about in War & Freedom - Living in the Combat Zone. It has been our experience, over the 25+ years, which we have done deliverance that there are indeed structures in which the demonic hides, which render them hidden, able to avoid detection during 'power encounters', and often to avoid the eyes of those with discernment gifts. As I began to ponder a response to this, a number of thoughts began to run through my mind:

First, if individuals are in doubt that there are indeed hidden strongholds of the demonic kingdom, wouldn't they want to err on the side of safety and include prayers to deal with hidden structures in their deliverance prayers - there is everything to gain, and nothing to lose by repeating a few prayer and commands. On the other hand, if the prayers and commands are skipped, and there are such structures, and they are not dealt with, there is a lot to lose in the area of freedom both for oneself and for ones family.

Secondly, scripture is very clear that we are not to hide our sins, and that God will make all things which are hidden to be revealed at his return. If the sins of the ancestors are passed on to the 3rd and 4th generation, the sins which have been hidden will be passed on as well. Often hidden sins revolve around those things which are done in secret - sexual sin, and sins of the occult. It is these sins which often pass on the hidden structures, from generation to generation.

As I began to make this issue of 'proving from scripture' an issue of prayer, the Lord brought to my attention a few Bible passages, starting with the story of Achan (Joshua 7:1-26) You will remember that as the Israelites were moving towards the promised land, that they engaged in a number of battles. Before they conquered Jericho, the people were instructed by the Lord, not to take "anything" from Jericho - "and the city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the Lord....but as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, lest you covet them and take some of the things under the ban, so you would make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it. But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord." (6:17-19) "But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi... took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the Lord burned against the sons of Israel "(7:1) 36 men later died because of this man's sin. Through the casting of lots Achan was singled out from among all the people for his sin. (16-18) Achan confessed to taking banned objects and burying them within his tent, in the ground. "Then Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the mantle, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent all that belonged to him; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor.... And all Israel stoned them with stones, and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. (24-25)

You will notice a couple of interesting things in this story: First is that one mans sin was carried over to others. It says in 7:1 "But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully", when it was only one man who had sinned. The congregation of Israel suffered loss for not quickly discerning such sin, or if some of the people did know about it they also sinned in not disclosing the sin to the rest of the people. Myself, I tend to believe that no one knew, for you would think that after 36 men were killed that someone, in fear, would disclose that information. In the same way today, the congregation of the church suffers when sin is amongst its members. Secondly, you will notice that not only the guilty man, but the entire family was stoned and burned with fire along with all their possessions. The sins of the man were immediately passed on to his wife and children, and all that he owned had come under a curse, for breaking God's command. What was impressed upon me was the symbolism of the passage - those things which had now become accursed were hidden in the ground within Achan's own tent. As such, the curse was hidden in the tent of all his children as well - they had become guilty because of their parent's sin and suffered the consequences even if unaware of the parent hidden sin.

Now, I would be the first to say that the above story does not prove the existence of hidden structures and that they are passed on from generation to generation, but there are some very interesting parallels to what we experience while doing deliverance. I believe that all the stories that are recorded in scripture have meaning and symbolism of deeper things, and this may be a representation of how "hidden sin" affects us and our families. Lets look at some other passages to see if there are any additional insights:

In Psalm 140, David asks the Lord to rescue him from: evil men who devise evil things in their hearts, and have the poison of a viper under their lips (referring to those who think and speak evil - curses); from men who have 'hidden' a trap for him, and who have cords (to bind). He then prays that "the head of those who surround him", that they would be cast into the fire, into deep pits from which they cannot rise. To me it appears that there is a form of double reference here - both to those who are devising curses and setting hidden traps, and to the demons, that are behind those that curse, and are surrounding the person who is being cursed. I think a person would be hard pressed to interpret this only in its literal sense without looking at the deeper meaning. Many of the Psalms speak of spiritual warfare, and their spiritual meanings are obvious to those who have labored in deliverance and intercessory prayer. Our experience has shown that curses can create and generate 'hidden strongholds' when there is enough Satanic power channeled into the curses. These strongholds are then passed on to future generations as well. Notice here how David recognized the battle and dealt with it - he prayed to the Lord for rescue from curses, and having identifying them, prayed that they be cast into the pit.

Lets now look at how curses were used against Jeremiah (18:18-23): "Then they said, "Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah.... Come on and let us strike at him with our tongue (curse him)." Jeremiah then prays to the Lord, "Should good be repaid with evil? For they have dug a pit for me" (vs 20) "... for they have dug a pit to capture me, and hidden snares for my feet. Yet Thou, O Lord , knowest all their deadly designs against me (22-23). Notice here that "the pit", the "hidden snares" and the "deadly designs" were all the result of their "striking at Jeremiah with their tongues" - or in other words curses. Like David, Jeremiah was not trapped by the "hidden" snares, but went to the Lord to have His judgment. But the question needs to be asked - for those unlike David and Jeremiah who discerned the curses - what happens to the one who does not discern the evil machinations of those who curse them, and become ensnared by the hidden things, and fall into bondage?

Note, that it is God, and his revelation, through discernment and wisdom, that brings hidden evil to light. Job 28:11-12, 28 says, "And what is hidden he brings out to the light. But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?...And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.'"

The Lord, speaking to Jeremiah about how he will bring the Jews back to the land of Israel and restore them to the land that he had given to their fathers (Jer 16:14-21), says the following - "For My eyes are on all their ways, they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes. And I will first doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted My land; they have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations" (17-18). It has been our discovery that occultic sins and rituals are some of the main creators of hidden structures within a person's life. Maybe, I am reaching too far, but there does seem to be a connection in this passage between the Lord seeing the hidden things, and the iniquity of polluting His inheritance with demonic things. In the same way that the Land is to be an inheritance to God, we ourselves are His inheritance, and as the land can be polluted with occultic rituals, so too are our own lives are polluted by these secret practices. All that is hidden is open to the eyes of the Lord.

Ezekiel 7:20-24 talks about how the Israelites made "images of their abominations and their detestable things" and how they will profane God's "secret place" (the inner part of the temple) and "then robbers will enter and profane it (the temple). Later the "worst of the nations...will possess their houses... and their holy places will be profaned." Many will have noticed how there are striking similarities between the temple in Jerusalem, and the human temple in man - body, soul and spirit corresponding with the outer court, the inner court, and the holy of holies. It is within the spiritual dimension of man that we find the hidden strongholds, when we are discerning the areas that Satan has put under bondage. You will notice in this passage how the people, through occultic worship and sin, caused the "secret place" of the temple to be profaned, resulting in robbers also then entering the temple to profane it as well. Satan is a thief and a robber, and 'robbers' would fit the symbolism of demons entering into the secret places of a man's spirit and profaning the man in the area that is meant for communion with God. Notice that after the robbers come, their city is full of violence and the worst of the nations take possession of the houses - in this case representative of demons moving out and taking control of the spiritual house which contains the areas of soul and body as well. Verse 24 is quite clear - "I shall make the pride of the strong ones cease, and their holy places will be profaned." What holy places are being talked about here? It is not talking about the temple here any longer - and it cannot be talking about their evil high places where they performed unholy sacrifices. Could it be talking about their inner "holy places"? I think so.

Jesus said to his disciples that they need not fear those that will persecute us and try to kill us (Matt 10:16-26) "for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known." Mark 4:22 - "For nothing is hidden , except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it should come to light." Again in Luke 8:11-17, this same story is repeated, but here it comes directly after the parable of the sower. Some seed falls on good ground, some on rocky, some amongst thorns, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from the heart, so that many will not believe and be saved. Is there some connection here between the condition of ones heart, the access that Satan has to that heart, and "what is hidden"? I think so.

Ultimately we can be thankful that it is the Lord who judges the secret things. Paul writes - "...but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God." (I Cor 4:5) As we have the mind of Christ, should we not, as we are enabled by the Holy Spirit discern these hidden things, so that they can be removed?

I will close quoting Paul from 2 Cor 4: 1-6 - "Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus sake. For God, who said, "light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."

All this being said is it too much to ask people to renounce those things which have become hidden, or those things hidden within their ancestry, to command that Satan release his hold on all the hidden strongholds, and ask the Lord to purify and cleanse all areas that are bound in darkness, both visible and invisible? I do not think it is too much to ask people to agree with a few simple prayers and commands dealing with these structures, even though they do not totally understand the process of how it all works. So much to gain, and nothing to lose - except maybe the last structure, in which are hidden the most powerful family demons are hiding. May God grant us wisdom, discernment and understanding of all that needs to be done to free our brothers and sisters.