The Doleful Creatures of Outer Darkness

By Tina M. Moore

Perhaps you or someone you know exhibits patterns of instability in a particular aspect of life. This fluctuation may show up as erratic mood changes, excessive fears or worries, extreme feelings of guilt, bouts of depression, double-mindedness, addictive behaviors, sexual bondage, etc.
In the New Testament, Paul teaches us that our struggle is not against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
The evil spirits that Paul referred to here are synonymous with the “wild beasts” that tempted Jesus in the wilderness for forty days. As a matter of fact, they are the same spirits that pressure us today, compelling us to the bitter realm of what the Bible refers to as outer darkness. The Old Testament reveals that these spirits embodied animals, the metaphorical doleful creatures mentioned in the book of Isaiah and throughout the entire Bible. However, God’s desire is to shine a light on these irritants so that we can cast them out and be made whole again. After all, Paul encouraged us to be openly aware of Satan’s devices, lest he should gain an advantage over us. The revelation knowledge you receive from this book will give you the insight you need to recover the parts of your life you’ve once lost or handed over to the enemy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887510118

Book preview

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The Doleful Creatures of Outer Darkness

Tina M. Moore

ISBN 979-8-88751-010-1 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88751-011-8 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Tina M. Moore

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

This book is dedicated to my two bubs, Jesse and Ryan. Thank you, guys, for enriching my prayer life. You have inspired me to dig much deeper into the kingdom things pertaining to spiritual growth and deliverance. I'm so proud to be your mom.

The Doleful Creatures of Babylon

Morphed by the World

The Dry Places

Idols within the Tree Groves

The Curse of Having Double Vision

Light a Lamp

Sweep Your House

Diligently Search

Wandering in the Land of Nod

Wandering Stars

Driven by the Storm

The Wilderness Test

Dominion Over the Animal Kingdom

Trampling on Snakes

Trampling on Scorpions

The Python Spirit

Paul's Encounter with the Spirit of Divination

Leviathan: The Wrath of the Deep-Sea Dragon

Leviathan: The Twisting Serpent

Leviathan: The Piercing Serpent

Azazel: The Satyr

Lilith: The Screech Owl

Foxes That Spoil the Vines

The Vomiting Pelican

The Vampire Spirit

Jacob the Supplanter

The Snare of the Spider's Web

Lest Satan Get an Advantage

A Fire That Drives Out Serpents

About the Author

This book is dedicated to my two bubs, Jesse and Ryan. Thank you, guys, for enriching my prayer life. You have inspired me to dig much deeper into the kingdom things pertaining to spiritual growth and deliverance. I'm so proud to be your mom.

The Doleful Creatures of Babylon

The entire chapter of Isaiah 13 was a proclamation against Babylon and, even more specifically, the ancient Babylonian Empire. Although today Babylon is symbolic of a wicked spiritual kingdom, literal Babylon was a pagan city (nation) that had come against Israel and Judah. God showed His love to His people by announcing His vengeance against their enemies, more especially Babylon, in Isaiah 13. God spoke about the city being in complete ruins, vowing to overthrow Babylon as He had Sodom and Gomorrah (v. 19). In verse 20, He swears that no one would ever live there again, no wandering Arab would ever pitch a tent there, and no shepherd would ever pasture a flock there (v. 20). Because of Babylon's mistreatment toward His people, the Lord's anger was coming to devastate the whole country. According to verse 6, they would howl in pain when the Almighty brought destruction upon them. His anger and fury would be so fierce on this day of judgment that a fire would come upon the enemies of His people, making the land a wilderness! Verse 21 and 22 speak about all of the different kinds of howling desert animals that would migrate into the ruined city of Babylon:

Desert animals will move into the ruined city, and the houses will be haunted by howling creatures. Owls will live among the ruins, and wild goats will go there to dance. Hyenas will howl in its fortresses, and jackals will make dens in its luxurious palaces. Babylon's days are numbered; its time of destruction will soon arrive. (Isa. 13:21, 22)

Notice that most of the creatures listed here (who settle among the ruins) are lonely creatures that howl and make loud noises. The King James Version translates verse 21 slightly differently:

But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.

Let's consider the meaning behind the doleful creatures in this verse. After all, the rendering of the word doleful for doleful creatures occurs only once in the Bible, which is here in Isaiah 13:21. However, some of these creatures found in the ruined city of Babylon (Isa. 13) can also be found listed among the desert creatures of Isaiah 34 in God's judgment against Edom (Isa. 34:11–15).

The dictionary definition of the word doleful means expressing sorrow; mournful; as in a doleful look. Other synonyms for the word doleful include mournful, woeful, sorrowful, sad, unhappy, depressed, gloomy, morose, melancholy, miserable, forlorn, wretched, woebegone, despondent, dejected, disconsolate, downcast, crestfallen, and downhearted.

According to the Strong's Concordance, the word doleful is interchangeable with howling. The word doleful is oach (or ochim), which means owl or jackal, but actually refers to any creature that shrieks, howls (owls), or cries out with noiseful sorrow, like jackals, leopards, and hyenas, which are noted for their piercing and dismal howling. The word oach (doleful creatures) is akin to ach, which refers to a howler or lonesome wild animal: doleful creature. Ach is a variation for ahahh, which is defined as oh! ah! or alas! and is a primitive word expressing pain exclamatorily, Oh! such as when a person bumps their toe and cries out in pain. Perhaps our word ache came from the primitive word ach used here to express great pain!

Doleful creatures then are demonic spirits identified with sadness, depression, grief, loneliness, and hopelessness. They express their anguish, sorrow, and loneliness through howling (yelping) cries of grief and pain. When doleful creatures locate dryness (brokenness, pain) within a man's soul and begin to operate through him, the one under their influence will demonstrate the same sorrowful expressions outwardly both through their countenance and in their behavior, even in their cries for help.

Although the literal kingdom of Babylon existed in reality when this prophecy was uttered (during the BC time period), the kingdom of Babylon is a spiritual kingdom that represents all that is wicked. Wicked men today who mistreat God's people will fall under the same judgment we read about here in Isaiah 13. However, when the scriptures note that their houses shall be full of doleful creatures, this is no longer a reference to dwelling places (places of residency or particular regions) but instead, human beings themselves as temples (houses) where these desert creatures dwell. After all, there are many references in the Bible to humans as earthen vessels, temples, houses, and jars of clay. Therefore, it would benefit us to know about these doleful creatures, their individual characteristics and the destructive behaviors, patterns, and moods that they are capable of driving mankind toward. In addition, by understanding Satan's schemes, we can begin to pray and intercede on behalf of loved ones who are influenced by these desert dwellers and help to disentangle them from Satan's sticky web.

Isaiah 13:21 says that wild beasts of the desert will move into the ruined city (the ruined city representing a man's thirsty soul), and they will lie there among the desolate places (of his soul). Wild beasts in this verse is tsiyyi, which refers to beasts of the desert that inhabit the wilderness: desert dwellers, criers, and yelpers. These are creatures that occupy the barren places; the solitary places; places of drought, dry land, and wilderness areas.

In Micah 2:4, the word rendered doleful lamentation is nahah, which means to wail; to bitterly lament (nehi); to groan, i.e., bewail (through the idea of crying aloud); to assemble (as if on proclamation).

There are many examples of men and women in the Bible who found themselves in what the scriptures refer to as outer darkness, which is the area outside the borders of God's lighted palace, the metaphorical wilderness located exteriorly to His glorious kingdom. These subjects were driven by doleful creatures to places of loneliness, despair, addiction, shame, and regret. Some made it back to the Father's house. Others did not, simply because they couldn't receive the mercy and forgiveness of God for their deliverance.

Is something compelling you to run from God's plan for your life? Do you find yourself in a violent struggle with a voice inside your head that's driving you to compromise your values and conform to the world? Or is it that you are seeing these things appear more in the behavior of one of your wayward loved ones? Perhaps you have a self-willed child who is difficult to control or predict because of their unusual and perverse behavior. You see them driving as fast as they can toward a distant land, away from God, and you feel helpless in your attempts to deter them from plunging headlong into destruction. The horrors involved in observing someone else travel on a broad path of destruction are that you can actually see it unfolding before you. Whereas, when it's a personal experience, to walk away from God's presence feels more of a casual drifting away, a slow fade from the pillars of truth.

Today, the metaphorical wilderness in the book of Isaiah (that Babylon turned out to be after enduring God's judgment) is now a term that the New Testament gospel-writer Matthew deemed as outer darkness, in which he also referred to three times in his writings. As a matter of fact, only the gospel of Matthew refers to it. Unlike the ruined city of Babylon however, outer darkness is a reference to a spiritual place, not a literal one. It's a spiritual dimension that's actually positioned within the inner realm of a man's soul. The wandering travelers who aimlessly linger there in its blackness experience weeping and gnashing of teeth, according to the accounts in Matthew. The reason for the agonizing soul torments ascribed here is because those who find themselves in its throes are now alone in their miseries. God destined the outer darkness to be a spiritual desert for solitary confinement. Indeed, it is a place of mourning and woeful cries. Many of those who are sequestered here are wicked men who have been commissioned to its confines via the delegated authority given to God's intercessors. They are sent here as an act of separating the wheat from the tare for the growth of the harvest. Take notice, don't interfere with God's harvest, or you'll find yourself propelled to a dimension for the desolate. The godless men sent here are being detained and have been placed in this desert isolation of outer darkness for sanctification as an act of God's merciful judgment—that is, of course, before the last and final judgment. On the other hand, some men voluntarily wander farther and farther into the distant land of darkness, where they experience the shame and regret of decisions made in the past. Many are there because, simply put, they can't forgive themselves; and so the mercy of God is not accepted for their iniquities.

Outer darkness is a spiritual place, an exterior location (spiritual dimension) for men who are physically alive on earth today. The loneliness of the wilderness (outer darkness) is where all of man's enablers have been removed, much like the prodigal son in Jesus's parable who grew miserable as no man would give unto him. When a worker of iniquity is sent here, or even the believer who ventured out on his own accord, he must face the torments of his sin alone, hence the reason for the miseries of outer darkness. The darkness is so dark here that it can be felt. Wicked men can only escape outer darkness after they have yielded to the refining (pruning) process and attain their own life source. God will hearken to them when He hears the same words of the wayward son: I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you' (Luke 15:18).

Although it represents a place of regret, the preserving concept of outer darkness is that a man will turn his face back to the Father's house after he discovers that the heat of the wilderness is too hot. If he turns to the Father from outer darkness, he will be spared. If he refuses His mercy, he will suffer the fiery torment of eternal hell come judgment day. Outer darkness is where God gives every man multiple chances to return to him and live in his kingdom.

Are you being driven toward the outer borders of darkness? Are there doleful creatures compelling you to venture out to the desert wasteland? Or do you recognize these characteristics in those you are personally acquainted with? Don't just sit around and watch them struggle with the decisions they've made in the past. Don't sit idly by while they are overpowered by demons in their present. These doleful creatures must bow their knees to a God that has already won the war. It is time to pick up your sword and fight. God has given you this mountain, and it will be forced to become level ground before you. Go ahead and make the decision to become a mighty warrior who executes God's righteous judgments against the doleful creatures that plague us and/or our loved ones. We all deserve the freedom that comes through knowing Christ, the Anointed One.

I, the Lord, have dedicated these soldiers for this task. Yes, I have called mighty warriors to express my anger, and they will rejoice when I am exalted. (Isa. 13:3)

Morphed by the World

God's truth is liberating. Scriptures indicate that we will be made completely free when we come to a full knowledge of the truth. When the truth is shrouded from a man's spiritual eyes, then he will believe the lies of the Deceiver, our enemy who introduces the lying thoughts to our minds. Not every passing thought that scrolls across the screens of our minds is truth. I heard a preacher say once, Just because a bird flies over your head doesn't mean that you have to let it build a nest in your hair. All kinds of birds are flying over, so to speak. Let's not let these fowls of the air find a home and build a nest in our minds.

The enemy engages in a style of conflict known as attrition warfare. Attrition warfare is a military strategy consisting of belligerent attempts to win a war by wearing down the enemy to the point of collapse (through continuous losses in personnel and material). The battlefield that Satan chooses to use is the mind of man. The shots he fires are in the form of thoughts, a barrage of continual thoughts he employs to wear a man down (to the point of collapse). Even dripping water can hollow out stone, not through force but through persistence. This is how the enemy breaks us down mentally. In the natural, a continual drip of water can cause sediment to move and will eventually erode soil and rock.

By definition, the word erosion is the gradual destruction or diminution of something. This is the same weapon that the enemy uses to take hold of our minds. Over time, the continued battery of thoughts assailed against our minds can erode the truth and move us off our rock-solid position. Just as erosion causes changes to the earth's surface, deception and lies erode the truth. As a result, the areas of our lives where we once felt the most grounded are now unanchored. Truths that we might have stood firmly on for a lifetime no longer exist as part of our foundation. At this juncture, we have allowed our thoughts to change our perceptions, our feelings, and our emotions. As we begin to notice pieces missing from our foundation, remember, it all began on the battlefield of the mind first. Deceived people are unstable and unfastened. They are not in their right mind or else they wouldn't hurt those who love them, walk away from amazing job opportunities, search for sex instead of love, choose the void of darkness instead of a marvelous light. Romans 12:2 says,

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Here in his letter to the Roman Church, Paul instructed the believer's not to conform to the patterns of the world, in thought or in conduct. This was in reference to the external shaping that occurs as a believer begins to compromise the truth, exchanging it for a lie. Paul warns believers: Do not be conformed to this world. To think like the world is to walk in a gross haze of darkness.

The word conform in the verse aforementioned is the Greek word suschématizó, which means to identify with, have outward shape, assume a similar outward form by following the same pattern (model, mold). Just as a potter will mold a vessel by shaping it with his hands, Paul warned believer's against allowing the world to shape and form their thought patterns. Satan will sit as a potter behind the wheel, and if we allow him to shape us (by conforming to the world's mindset), we will begin to think and look just like the world. When we're hurting, the last place we should look for our identity is in the world or else we will begin to talk like the world talks, treat our enemies as the world treats their enemies. When we act like the world, we'll take shortcuts instead of practicing excellence in the workplace. When times become difficult, we will fragment into pieces instead of searching for the wholeness of restoration. In desperate situations, people who conform to the world consult mediums to know the future instead of resorting to the Holy Spirit for insight. These are all examples of the way that broken people conform to the patterns of this world.

Paul ordered, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Here, Paul teaches us, in order to be transformed, our minds must go through a process of renewal through the Word of God. There is a striking difference between conforming and being transformed. In English, the word conform entails coming into an agreement with, to comply or to correspond in form or character. Conforming to something means that a person becomes attuned with; they tie themselves in with a particular pattern of thought. Transformation, however, necessitates a complete alteration in form and structure. The word transform means to change in condition, nature, or character; to convert (metamorphose).

The spiritual transformation process begins in the mind. Paul said, Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Anyone who has fallen away from the faith has conformed to the world in their mind first. A believer doesn't start looking like the world until after he has started thinking like the world. In which case, he has aligned himself with a destructive mindset and allowed the world's warped pattern of thinking to give