There is a naïve assumption on the part of those who have demon problems that once the demons have been cast out all will be well (see Following Up After Deliverance). The actual casting out of demons is not only the first stage in what one might generally call "general deliverance" or "salvation" but is actually an exercise that must be completed by everyone coming to Christ whether they are victims of Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) or have simply been been watching immoral movies on TV or listening to rock music (both of which open the gateway to demons).

The story of the Israelite imprisonment in Egypt and their long and arduous escape to the Holy Land is a picture of the deliverance of each human being from sin through the providence of Yahweh. We realise, as we follow the flight of these ex-slaves from captivity in a pagan land, that leaving bondage is not just a matter of breaking out of physical fetters but of undergoing a full and complete purging of the inner nature. One would have liked, I am sure, to have read a story of a people escaping through the Red Sea and then marching straight into the Promised Land after a journey of a few months. Instead, we read of the hardships of a journey that took over 40 years and which witnessed only two of the original refugees actually cross the River Jordan into Palestine. Why, we ask ourselves, was this journey so much harder than the Israelites had imagined? What is it about human beings that makes them one of the most unteachable and rebellious of species? Indeed, what hope is there for man whose natural tendency is to disobedience and rebellion?

Fortunately, there is hope. And though the Israelite camp as a whole had to endure unspeakable hardship because of their unwillingness to change, we do know that there was a remnant - a mere two souls called Joshua and Caleb - who remained unspotted from all the unbelief that surrounded them. Though their compatriots were constantly simmering on the verge of rebellion because of their resentment of the hardships imposed upon them by Yahweh because of their contrary carnal natures, yet two remained untouched and yielded themselves up in obedience to the Creator. This sorry story is a reminder to us that whilst true believers are in a minority relative to the world (Israel as against all the other nations which were then wallowing in paganism), within the body of those believers are (a) counterfeits and nominal believers (like Korah and his followers), (b) the true believers (rebellious but compliant in the end), and (c) the leaders of this unseemly brigade (like Moses, Joshua and Caleb). The Body of Christ, we learn therefore, consists of the following:

• 1. The False Believers (the nominal, lukewarm, and deceived counterfeits);
• 2. The False Leaders (servants of Satan out to corrupt the Body);
• 3. The True Believers (faithful but complaining, rebellious, stiff-necked, etc.);
• 4. The True Leaders (who remain true to Yahweh's commandments without complaint).

That is not to say that a desert wandering is inevitable. It isn't. We can choose how the deliverance process goes - whether it is easy or difficult, short or long. As we study the story of the Exodus, you will see what I mean.

Let us turn to our diagrams and look at the left-hand side - to the land of Egypt. Human beings becomes slaves first and foremost because, like Eve in the Garden of Eden, they believe a lie. All slavery begins when we belief untruth. Ultimately it is falsehood which imprisons us. Why people choose to believe in lies is very varied. Satan has many ways to get us to believe him, and he principally does so by appealing to our pride and vanity. And once he has trapped you he will lie to you even further by telling you that either it is actually better to be where you are than in Yahweh's world of truth or that it's too late now, Yahweh doesn't want you anymore, so you'd better make the best of it where you are - in other words, surrender to the inevitability of your imprisonment. He tells you to make the best of a bad job.

The first stage in deliverance is facing the truth: that you have believed a lie. That in itself isn't as easy as it looks because if you've been living in a lie all your life it will appear to be the truth, and the truth will appear to be a lie! Satan likes to turn things upside down - in his world good is bad, love is hate, and white is black. To believe so fully such a lie, as many who have been raised on occultism frequently do, is what is called living in a delusion. People who live delusions do not easily make connections with the reality around them - they come to believe things about themselves, and what other people think about them, which are pure fantasy. And because exploding the fantasy can, and usually is, a very painful experience - and because people understandably would rather choose peace than pain - most prefer to maintain the illusion.

Breaking illusions is one of the first jobs of the deliverance minister. It can be a very exasperating and exhausting job because the one living in delusion is in strong denial and will resist the truth with all his strength. Moreover, because he has demons inside him who have everything to lose from having the truth revealed, those demons will exert considerable pressure - first on the subconscious (in such a way as the person believes that the negative thoughts and feelings are his) and then (as their position is increasingly threatened) on the conscious man so that he becomes aware (perhaps for the first time) that his thoughts and feelings aren't his own. And he comes to know that because the demons, in typical fashion, start torturing him. It's at this point that the person begins to realise that maybe something has to be done afterall.

But as you will see, the carnal nature - which is the area of the human soul that demons work on - will only yield what it is forced to yield as a rule. The departure from Egypt does not therefore signify the expulsion of all a soul's demons but only those which are keeping him bound to that spiritual land where the Messiah is not known- spiritual Egypt. As his journey progresses, other demons will be exposed and have to be dealt with. His response will vary - some will insist that there are no more demons left (because they are now believers) and so resist further reformation, and for them there remains deserts of snakes to torment, and desert wanderings in waterless landscapes, for the demons will keep them there and away from Christ whose home is in the Promised Land so long as they continue to resist the truth.

Never underestimate Satan. He is intelligent - clever. The Bible describes him as subtle as a snake. He slithers around the mind and heart of man looking for anything that is ungodly and he makes that his base of operations. And then the more ungodly areas in a life there are, the easier it becomes for him to subvert. When you are dealing with Satan - the enemy of man's soul - you are usually dealing with a war on many fronts.

As the master illusionists, Satan is unrivaled in his ability to make himself look good and Yahweh as evil. He does this by painting God in the darkest possible terms. He creates, therefore, two illusions: first, he makes the Kingdom of Heaven appear to be dull, boring, restrictive, naïve, clumsy, inefficient, repressive and basically anti-man. He reinforces this picture by scouring all the worst examples of so-called 'Christianity' he can find - like the Catholic Inquisitions, witch-burning in the Middle Ages, the bloody Crusades, paedophile Priests, and so on - and says: "This is Christianity - cruel, wicked, corrupt, heartless - this is what becoming a Christian will make you. Indeed, this is what Christ is really like, and this is what 'God' is. He's bad. Have nothing to do with Him." He then paints an alternative world - his world - one which is, he claims, much more 'real', which lacks hypocrisy, which doesn't repress, but allows you to do what you want. He creates several versions of his 'alternative' Kingdom, calling it Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, atheism, New Age, Wicca, and ... for the most depraved - Satanism. It's called the "Good Cop-Bad Cop Illusion".

He creates two alternative worlds - a grotesquely perverted and twisted 'Christian' one which has nothing to do with the real Christ at all - and his own which he paints as being by far the better alternative. The victim is thus presented with two lies - a white lie and a black lie. And of course, presented with only two alternatives, what do people mostly choose? One of the many different satanic packages of religion or non-religion.

Some of you may have seen a film called "The Matrix" which presents such a scenario. The players break out of one sort of illusion into another. It is a very pessimistic and depressing film and is, of course, inspired by dark forces to convince people that everything is ultimately hopeless, so why not follow Satan and at least leave this world partying?

The first stage of deliverance is breaking out of the Matrix altogether. Once a soul does that, the demons stir into action. Previously invisible, they begin to resist as their lie is exposed. It's at this stage that such people either go down again and back into bondage and illusion, or they seek out deliverance ministers like myself and ask for help.

If you look at the diagram you will see a prison with "Ramses" written on it. This was where the Israelites of old were held prisoner. Yahweh send a prophet to them, Moses - their minister of deliverance - who after a series of trials in the form of ten plagues, finally convinced Pharaoh to let them go and the Israelites to want to go. You will recall that they were at first very reluctant to leave because every time Yahweh punished Pharaoh through Moses the people had to suffer even crueller oppression. And this is the first lesson you must learn if you want to be delivered from demons: at first things may get worse as Satan turns on the thumb-screws through his demons to keep you where you are through threats, fear and pain. There is, during this unpleasant process, a "breaking point" where the victim realises he has no choice but to get out and so he endures the extra discomfort more out of sense of "righteous compulsion" than personal desire - something he may resent and thus actually compound the problems of deliverance at different stages of the process.

The Exodus from Egypt is celebrated annually by both unsaved Jews and Messianics like ourselves. We retell the story and celebrate a Passover Meal at Pesach. Without going into the details of this, Passover is chiefly remembered as deliverance from the angel of death by means of a ritual ordinance consisting of dabbing the blood of lambs on the doorposts of the Israelites' homes. When the angel of death saw this blood it passed by and the firstborn of that home was spared. This ordinance prefigured the death of Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) who by spilling His blood on the cross as a ransom for our sins, delivers us from spiritual death and brings us into eternal life. The key to demon expulsion is the blood of Christ by which they are defeated. If a victim believes in the work of Christ on the cross, he can be delivered from demons. If he does not, he cannot be delivered. It is that simple. By accepting the atonement of the Son of God, he symbolically applies the Passover blood to his home - his body - and thereby forces the demons out.

The passing by of the angel of death was the first of many miracles, but it was without doubt the most important one. Getting rid of demons is the same as leaving Ramses and heading out across the desert towards the Promised Land. This event is marked as #1 on the diagram.

The second obstacle was the Sea of Reeds, or what is incorrectly called the 'Red Sea' in most of our Bible translations. It was a huge lake that the Israelites had to cross in order to escape the pursuing Egyptian army. The moment demons are expelled they will be on your tail and will be bent on either enslaving you again or, failing that, destroying you. You all know what Pharaoh wanted to do. Though he was forced to let the people go, after they had gone, he realised what he had lost in terms of slave labour and changed his mind. Once Satan has been forced to disgorge his demons from you, he'll be angrily on your tail wanting you back! And you'll find yourself trapped with your backs to the sea as the Israelites were.

Understanding the next stage of deliverance is important because the New Testament describes the supernatural crossing of the Sea of Reeds as a baptism. Now we know that had Yahweh not supernaturally parted the waters the Israelites would either have been recaptured or massacred, so this is an important clue for us. When a person accepts Yah'shua (Jesus) as their Lord and Saviour they are commanded to at once be baptised in water. This ordinance, quite apart from being a commandment of Yahweh for believers, signifies that the believer is putting away his old life as an unsaved pagan by symbolically laying it down in the grave (the water - which became the grave for Pharoah's army) and then arising into a new life in Christ. In short, to avoid being recaptured or destroyed, you have to become a Christian. Not any old sort of Christian, but as we discover from the rest of the wandering through Sinai, an obedient Christian. Those who are not obedient, as we learn from the rest of the Exodus story, have innumerable problems - they may follow antichrists like Korah (by following false teachings about God) or perish in the wilderness from snake bites (= redemonisation) unless they gaze up at the symbol of the crucified (= executed) carnal nature represented by the brazen snake nailed to the pole which Moses was commanded to set up.

Having been delivered from the lie of Satan's Matrix and having had the worst demons expelled through trusting by faith alone in the blood of the Messiah, Yah'shua (Jesus), comes the practical part of the Gospel: baptism and obedience to Torah. Baptism symbolises leaving the old (demonised) life behind and starting a new one no matter what difficulties may lie ahead ... and the life of salvation is not a bed of roses, at least not always. By being physically baptised by immersion, in the presence of witnesses, to indicate your committment to Christ, is the next and most important step. Without it, Pharaoh's army wins. The devils come back and return you to prison in Ramses.

Once baptised, there should be great celebration. We remember Miriam's dance after the children of Israel crossed over and their enemies were drowned. Then came a long walk through the desert to Mount Sinai which is where Israel was given Torah - the commandments. Now you will remember that there was much complaining and grumbling by the people on this next stretch of the journey, and yet they were shown miracles to prove that Yahweh loved them and was taking care of them practically. He provided water out of rocks for their thirst, and manna and quail for food. The diet was pretty basic but it was adequate. By their behaviour, the Israelites revealed that whilst they had left Egypt physically, Egypt was still inside them. The surgical process to remove that was to be obtained at Sinai.

If you look on your chart at #2 you will see 'Mount Sinai' where the Torah was received. And you will remember the continuing story I am sure. What happened next? Well, Yahweh revealed His laws - His rules - to the people. He demonstrated His presence in great power. They even heard His voice. But they were scared. They said: "No, thanks, we're too afraid to talk to you directly. Let Moses be our spokesman," something they had complained about doing earlier when He led them to Sinai. Anyway, as you know, Yahweh gave them His rules for happy living, and they answered Him by returning to idolatry while Moses was up on the mountain talking to Yahweh. They not only redemonised themselves by worshipping Apis, a golden calf, but engaged in sexual orgies of the most satanic kind. The excuse? They wanted a god they could see. They were bored. They wanted the payoff there and then without going through inner cleansing. BUT they were now under covenant. They were under baptismal covenant and and they were to come under the covenant of Torah. And when you enter covenants with the Most High, the one thing you don't do is break them; for if you do, the consequences are dire.

Israel paid a heavy price for refusing to wait for Yahweh. They were impatient. And in their impatience they turned back to the demons again. When Moses came back and found them worshipping Satan, he broke the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written - the 10 foundational laws of Israel and of all believers. The punishment was great and the people suffered. They asked to no more hear Yahweh but to get His Word from their leader's mouth. And they got their wish, but they still complained when they didn't like what Moses told them to do. I can think of few men who have had a harder time at the hands of God's 'people'. And if you are a deliverance minister, you must expect no less.

Anyway, Moses returned with another set of tablets and the journey resumed. The problem was the people started believing the lie that the Law is bad. Millions of Christians still believe that. They say that rules and laws are bad ... and pay the consequences for it. They say the Law has been "done away with", totally misreading Paul, and making Christ out to be a liar. Should we be surprised that when people make Yahweh's Son out to be a liar that they continue having demon problems? For forty years they paid the price of believing that lie. They tried to get into the Promised Land whilst their hearts and minds were still impure and believing in lies. They attacked the Amalekites at Kadesh-barnea and got defeated. Millions of so-called 'Christians' have rejected the Torah (Law) and claim to be 'saved' and yet they are being deceived wholesale by the end-time charismatic delusions such as Toronto and Pensacola whose leaders are satanists. Yes, the 'Kingdom Now/Restorationist' and other theologies are deceiving millions into rejecting Yahweh's Laws and are now openly demonising believers! I have watched people like Benny Hinn, Kennth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, and others actually praising Satan and demons in large ralleys. All the rolling around on the floor and holy laughter is the work of demons. This is a fruit of lawlessness. And Christians are being led through a Sinai desert wandering because of it, and many will fall into the pit along with their Korah-leaders.

When we rebell against Yahweh and His Torah, suffering follows. And yet Yahweh is still working. He is, in spite of our rebelliousness, cleansing and purifying through pain and suffering. It is not the best way to be cleansed but it is better than being lost. The better way is the way of Joshua and Caleb - because they maintained their pure faith and obeyed Yahweh's Torah, they did not have to be refined in this way. For those who will trust Yahweh's rules there is a better way. Of course, Satan was active in the desert. He told the people that they would all die in the desert, and there He told the truth. They did die. However, we who are wandering in a desert of pain and suffering caused by rebellion need not die or believe Satan's lie that we will die. We can, rather, choose the way of Joshua and Caleb. We must not believe Satan's lie that full deliverance is not possible because of our sufferings in the wilderness.

If you look at the diagram in the box where it says, "The Desert Wandering", you will see how Yahweh makes the best out of our contrary and foolish natures. He uses the desert wandering to accomplish five important things:

• 1. Through the contrasts learned in comparing truth with Satan's lies, we learn to unlearn the Matrix and to better understand the mind of Yahweh;
• 2. We learn, through our chastisements, that Torah, Laws and Rules are really the best and only way to be truly free - we learn to trust what Yahweh revealed through His prophets and apostles, especially when because of our disobedience we are cut off from His presence. We learn that anything we experience which contradicts Yahweh's Word in the Bible is either from our imagination or more of Satan's lies;
• 3. We learn to overcome fear - the report of the Giants in the Promises land ... yes, there are obstacles ahead of us too - and to believe that full deliverance and healing is possible;
• 4. We learn that in spite of our stupidity we are fed and taken care of supernaturally - the clothes they wore never wore out! - even though we often feel abandoned; and lastly
• 5. We learn to really trust Yahweh in everything.

If you look on the diagram, we have now reached #3, a place called Ezion-geber, a port on the Gulf of Aqaba. It was here the desert wandering ended once certain lesson had been learned. We have now reached the point where the people have not only learned the importance of obeying Yahweh's rules but are starting to genuinely trust in Him. And what you must understand here is that the kind of faith or trust they had when they left Egypt, the kind of faith and trust they had during the journey to Mount Sinai, and the kind of faith and trust they had in the 40 years wandering was very different to the one they now had. Indeed, they had genuinely become "born again", represented by the death of the first generation and the maturity of the second. At this point the "old man of sin" is truly dead and gone and a new "man of faith, purity and obedience" has been born. Only then can the conquest of the Holy Land - our Millennial condition and heaven - really begin.

New-borns are vulnerable, as you will know if you have children. Other dangers await them. From Ezion-geber commences a march to the east bank of the Jordan (#4) and along the way the Israelites met opposition from false prophets like Balaam and from people like the Moabites and the Amalekites. Satan tries new lies at every stage of the journey of our spiritual discipleship and that he did here. First, he convinced the Israelites that they could define God how they wanted to, and second, that there is no harm in imitating the customs and traditions of the heathen because it is good 'socialising'. Millions of Christians have created a God in their own image whom they call the God of the Bible but who isn't Yahweh (see Which God Do You Worship?) neither is it His true Messiah, Yah'shua (Jesus) but one of their own invention. And so, as they did at Péor, they commit further sins and incur Yahweh's wrath. Though Balaam had blessed Israel earlier, this false prophet led Israel into sin the second time round and paid with his life. It is here that the false prophets in our lives must be expunged so that we are following the unadulterated truth of Yahweh and Yah'shua (Jesus).

Full deliverance is now at hand. It has been a long journey so far, has it not? But the reward was worth it - the Promised Land - "a land overflowing with milk and honey", a picture of the believer's Pardise. At the East Bank new miracles take place: the River Jordan parts, like the Sea of Reeds, only this time it isn't the prophetic figure of Moses parting the waves but the Priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant. And what does that Ark contain? The Tablets of the Law. The people who cross into the Promised Land are a people being led by a divinely consecrated Priesthood who bear Yahweh's Judgment Seat and His Law. Under the New Covenant, it is Yah'shua (Jesus) who is our High Priest, and the Law or Torah He brings is supposed to be inside us, inscribed on our hearts. The rules of Yahweh are now a natural part of us as we are His "Royal Priesthood". The passing through the Jordan is a second baptism - a baptism into a communal covenant as we shall see.

Then comes cicumcision at Gilgal, the sign of the covenant in the flesh. Under the New Covenant, Yahweh wants cicumcised hearts. The carnal man He wants cut off completely.

Satan is still lying, though. He tells us that the Promised Land is in heaven and that we will all be "raptured" away and so don't have to worry about further conquest. He teaches Christians to be complacent and lazy. This final part of the journey is about perfection, and that is something else most Christians would rather not think about. And indeed such will be metaphorically left on the east side of the River Jordan. Jericho has yet to be conquered - a last demonic strongman. This is not to be an ordinary conquest by the sword, however, but by faith and obedience. 100% trust in Yahweh's instructions is required, something that is only possible by a people who have proven themselves thus far obedient to Torah. Jerciho fell, and Yahweh did the conquering without the loss of a single life on the part of the Israelites. What a contrast to the 40 years wilderness wandering when a whole generation had to die because of disobedience. The contrast between obedience and disobedience could not be starker.

Jericho should have been the end of the journey for Israel and the rest of the country should have fallen effortlessly into the Israelites' hands, but they had to learn one last lesson still: the meaning of a communal covenant. So long as everyone obeyed, things went well. But when Aachan secretly stole some of the consecrated spoil from Jericho, and hid it, Israel started losing battles and lives.

Israel never fully took possession of the Promised Land. They disobeyed in other areas. They made a forbidden agreement with pagans called Gibeonites when they had been commandmed to be completely separate from the heathens and to completely exterminate them. What this means for us is that we can't leave demons behind in us - they all have to go. And the only way to do that is by faith in Christ and total obedience to His Torah. To believe anything else is to believe Satan and his lies.

As the Israelites' goal was ultimately Jerusalem, conquered by King David generations later, so ours is the New Jerusalem, the Millennial Zion. It is plainly not enough to believe that all you have to do is believe on the blood of Christ to effect a short escape that leads to imprisonment again. There's a false doctrine in Christendom which teaches that lie - "one saved, always saved". They say that you're ok so long as you have trusted in Christ. But Yahweh says, No. That is tantamount to staying in Egypt. Others insist on baptism, and manage to metaphorically get across the Sea of Reeds into the Sinai, but then they remain there because they never accept Torah. It should be obvious by reading the account of the Exodus what their fate is.

A true deliverance ministry should acknowledge all four steps to salvation and deliverance. You can't just stop mid-way through the journey, sit back, and hope that Yahweh will just "take care of things". It doesn't work like that. We have our obligations too, our struggles, our overcomings. Then the blessings come, and in overflowing abundance.

Please be wise. A half done job is an undone job. Finish the course, as Paul admonished. It's not over until the prize of victory is on your head.