Breaking Unhealthy Soul Ties: Do Your Relationships Produce Bondage or Joy? (8 page)

Making promises and commitments is part of everyday life. However, in more serious cases, we must make note to break the soul-ties created in vows or promises if we realize that the vows we have made cannot be kept.

The subject of vows is little understood, but is extremely important, especially for the Christian.

...Then her vows shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she
bound her soul
shall stand.

Num. 30:7b

Better is it that thou
shouldest
not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin
...

Eccl. 5:5–6a

Vows are extremely serious, and are taken far more seriously by heaven than by modern man. The following rather lengthy passages from Numbers 30 are included in their entirety because they are not well known and are extremely important for spiritual warfare, and are especially significant for the breaking of spiritual bondages of the soul!

And Moses spake... saying, This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded.
If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth
.

Num. 30:1–2

The significance of this passage cannot be ignored: if a man swears an oath, or makes a vow, his soul is bound to the completion or fulfillment of that to which he has sworn or vowed, and there are no exceptions noted.

A related principle, and a beautiful revelation, is that God binds Himself by His words:

My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

Ps. 89:34

Man, likewise, binds himself with his words. A commitment to God or to another man is created by a vow or a promise. This is probably one of the reasons for the Lord’s warning or admonition:

But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Matt. 5:37

A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.

Prov. 18:7

Man is instructed simply to say, “Yes” for yes and “No” for no!

Notice the difference between the vows made by a man, and the vows made by a woman:

Also if a woman makes a vow to the LORD, and binds herself by an obligation in her father’s house in her youth, and her father hears her vow and her obligation by which she has bound herself, and her father says nothing to her,
then all her vows shall stand
and every obligation by which she has bound herself shall stand. But if her father should forbid her on the day he hears of it,
none of her vows or her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand
; and the LORD will forgive her because her father had forbidden her. However, if she should marry while under her vows or the rash statement of her lips by which she has bound herself, and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day he hears it, then
her vows shall stand
and her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand. ”But if on the day her husband hears of it, he forbids her, then
he shall annul her vow
which she is under and the rash statement of her lips by
which she has bound herself
; and the LORD will forgive her.

Num. 30:3–8 NASB

From this section we can plainly see that the woman who isn’t in her right mind, or who isn’t thinking clearly, can have her erratic actions undone by the one in authority over her. For example if she says, “I wish I were dead” or prays “God, please kill me now,” the husband can renounce and revoke her request, or vow.

Note the salient points in the passage. If the woman is still under the authority of her father, then her father has the authority to revoke her vow, to prevent her coming under bondage, and to cause the Lord’s forgiveness to flow to her. If she is married, then her husband in like fashion has authority over her to break the vow or oath’s effect, to make it null and void.

But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her.

Num. 30:9

Unfortunately, under this Old Covenant law, the widow and the divorced woman do not have anyone to set aside their vows. The vows which they make shall stand, until or unless, one should come with the power to break them.

Not to be overlooked is the clear statement in verse eight of this chapter, that unless the father or husband intervenes in her behalf, the woman has bound her soul! Her soul will remain in such bondage, until someone comes on the scene with the authority and power and loving concern to break her bondage. Praise be to God, a Greater One has come, in the person of Jesus Christ, who possesses such authority, power and love!

This enforcement of this revelation is repeated in Numbers 30:

Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void.

Num. 30:13

Once again notice both the clear statement and the responsibility placed upon the husband, to both hear and set aside the vow, or to allow it to be established. This foreshadows the tremendous authority later granted by Jesus to believers in Matthew 18:

At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus... Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Matt. 18:1a, 18

The literal meaning of this passage in Matthew 18, because of its tense, should read, “whatsoever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven,” and “whosoever you loose on earth has already been loosed in heaven.”

How can this possibly be? It is true and possible only because it is the Holy Spirit who leads us, either to bind or to loosen, in accordance with the will of God. Thus our actions parallel that which has already been done in the heavenly realm.

Jesus gave His disciples the authority to both bind and loose from bondages, in much the same way that the father or husband of the woman could set aside or break her bondages. Thus, the disciples were empowered to break, or set aside, the bondages which the potential
Bride of Christ
might experience!

The Bridegroom, Jesus, has placed us in the role of husbands and fathers to void the self-destructive wishes, intentions and deceptions that may afflict the Bride of Christ. In fact, Jesus was the One who came with a greater anointing than that of the father or husband to set free those who were in bondage without a kinsman redeemer to act on their behalf, or to set them free. He announced at the commencement of His ministry:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised...

Luke 4:18

These captives of whom He speaks actually are, as the literal Greek states,
prisoners-of-war
. How appropriate that phraseology is. From the standpoint of spiritual warfare and deliverance, that is exactly what these captives are — Satan’s prisoners held in chains of bondage!

...in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

2 Tim. 2:25–26 NKJV

The NKJV renders the last clause of this passage as “taken captive to do his will.” This translation is extremely revealing about the operation of the spiritual realm. It shows that Satan has snares for the people of God; that he desires (it is his will) to take captives. The servants of the Lord are to gently teach (i.e. without condemnation), instructing with meekness, those who “oppose themselves,” who work against their own best interests.

There are two aspects, or possible interpretations, of this verse. The first, with which we are most familiar, would normally interpret it to mean, we “are held captive by Satan to prevent us from serving in the army of God, or from being able to do the will of God.”

The second is suggested by the NKJV, which points to the other extreme, and Satan’s greater goal, of “having the captives literally come into his service, to actually do his bidding.” There are, of course, some who are so deluded by Satan’s various wiles that they do come to a point of serving him; some of those even consciously draw upon or invoke his power. However, others are unaware of whom they are serving, but nonetheless participate in his work.

Soul-Ties of Addiction

Addictions are other snares that create soul-ties. The person addicted to heroin or other drugs is an interesting caricature of someone under a soul-tie or bondage. That person is dependent upon the “friend” who can meet his or her “need.” The individual who is hooked is more concerned with having his need met than he is about morality, or any other obligations which he may have either to man or to God. Those in extreme soul-tie bondages are similarly unable to break free from the “supplier” of their perceived needs. Although we are using drugs for the purpose of an illustration, there are many other sources of cravings, dependency and addiction, such as prescription drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, sex, sweets.

Soul-Ties of Idolatry

Is it possible for one’s soul to be bound to an inanimate object, or to a non-human? Certainly, through attachments made to idols, animals or places.

Spiritual harlotry refers to those who are ungodly joined to idols and who go to places of idol worship. Of course, all negative soul-ties are by definition, demonic in nature. However, there are specific soul-ties that can directly occur with demons.

Man who violates God’s commandment and chooses to worship false gods, invites a demonic soul-tie with that idol, or the god (demon) that it represents.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Ex. 20:3

Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have
fellowship with demons.

1 Cor. 10:19–20 NKJV

Paul clearly warns that to sacrifice to an idol is to sacrifice to the devil (demon) behind the idol, or represented by the idol; and to do so is having fellowship with demons. This is a distinct warning to avoid demonic soul-ties.

In the blatantly occult workings of witchcraft, witches voluntarily bind themselves to demons, or bind demons to themselves, in order to gain greater power. We have delivered women from witchcraft who have bound themselves to Pan and similar demons by fire, smoke or blood in order to gain the power and protection against stronger demons whom they feared.

Similarly we have encountered children whose parents dedicated their souls to idols of gods and goddesses (demons) by sacrifices of smoke (incense), food or flowers placed upon altars or shrines. The babies were placed upon the altar and smoke blown across the child, dedicating the child to various Hindu or Buddhist idols. The effects upon the children are often both dramatic and tragic. The child so dedicated may be deformed, crippled, blinded, or unable to speak. We have rejoiced to see children delivered from such bondages when a parent repents and seeks deliverance for his child in Jesus’ name.

Man may become attached in his soul to things. Thus idolatry occurs in various forms: to animals, to people, to babies; anything given inordinate affection can become an idol. Even something good and designed by God such as Nehusthan (2 Kings 18:4), can become distorted in the perception of the beholder and become an idol. Likewise something can begin as a good soul-tie; marriage, a parent-child bonding, or a friendship like that of Jonathan and David. All can start well but can become perverted or restrictive, as in the case of a
little girl spirit
that prevents a woman from maturing emotionally.

Some common soulish attachments include:

• Places: “I left my heart in San Francisco. I left a piece of me there.” Unnatural, sentimental attachments to places leave one depressed, sad or melancholy when unable to return to that place. This is also true of situations, such as unnaturally long periods of grief, a holding on to the feeling of sadness, or a refusing to be comforted like Jacob.
  

How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily?

Ps. 13:2a

• Things, Inanimate Objects: “I love my rifle, my Corvette, my computer, my house, my lucky shirt.”
  
• Animals: Any pets, doting on dogs, cat fetishes, horses, any out of balance emotions directed toward animals. All can think of someone who overly dotes on his or her pet(s). Someone who would spend thousands of dollars to save a stray kitten may be out of balance.
  

What we are considering is actually inordinate affection, which I thought was a unique concept and teaching of my own, but I found Paul mentioned it first.

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth... Mortify therefore...
inordinate affection
, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: