Guarding Your Ear Gates-Part 1

February 8, 2023

What are your Ear Gates?

Your ear gates are the spiritual barriers protecting your ears and the first line of defense preventing outside attacks from the enemy. Just like a gate to your house would prevent intruders from coming in, your ear gates work the same way. We have to be very careful what we listen to because it will have a direct impact on the condition of our soul and spirit.

The enemy’s first plan against all of humanity happened at the Garden of Eden when the serpent (devil) deceived Eve by “telling” her that she could eat from the tree of knowledge. Having her ear gate unprotected, she “listened” to what the enemy said to her and it led to the fall of man, Genesis 3:1-7. Make no mistake about it; the devil’s tactics have not changed since then.

He will use the things that we listen to as an open door to allow his evil thoughts, sexual immorality, our own lusts (lust of the flesh), and negativity to come in and wreak havoc on our lives. That is why it is so important that we remain vigilant to what we allow to enter into our ear gates.

If we let the wrong things come in because of the things that we hear, it will be detrimental to our spiritual health, our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, and the will of God for our lives. There are several verses of Scripture that the Lord gives us regarding the devil and his schemes. Some of the most powerful ones are:

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
2 Corinthians 2:1 “lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Here we can see on multiple occasions that God’s Word is letting us know that we need to pay attention to the enemy and his methods. We can’t just go on about our day with no spiritual discernment cluttered with worldly knowledge but unable to digest the Word of God. The devil is a liar!

It is called spiritual warfare for a reason. If you do not have that connection with the Holy Spirit, who is the One that will lead you into all truth (John 16:13) the enemy will deceive you with the things of this world. Remember he is the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2) meaning that God has allowed him to have a strong influence over what goes on here on Earth.

However, the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light have to abide by the spiritual rules and regulations that the Lord has established in His Word. That is why it is imperative that we guard our eye and ear gates because the enemy can legally gain access to our lives through those entry points by what we watch and listen to.

I have articles regarding the spiritual laws of God that you can read to gain an understanding of how they work: The Spiritual Laws of God-Having an Understanding, The Spiritual Laws of God-The Power of Your Tongue!, The Spiritual Laws of God-The General Principles, The Spiritual Laws of God-Restoration, The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 1, and The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 2.

One of the main ways to ensure that you keep your spiritual barriers from being infiltrated is by keeping yourself in the Word of God and allowing it to renew your mind, Romans 12:2. Over and over again the Lord tells us through Scripture that those that have a hearing ear to hear, let them hear, Matthew 11:15, Mark 4:9, Mark 4:23, Matthew 13:9, to name a few. Some translations say “listen and understand.”

The more that you allow yourself to hear the voice of the Lord; listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and obeying His Word, the more spiritual growth you will see naturally manifest.

On the contrary: the more that you allow the things of this world to penetrate your ear gates, the more you will see them manifest in the way that you think, act, and speak. The enemy is a master at using our music and social media choices to ensnare us in one of his traps. He knows how powerfully listening to harmful and bad things can corrupt your mind.

I am going to go into detail about one of the most used schemes that the devil entangles people in over and over again, music!

Music

In order to fully understand one of Satan’s greatest weapons, we have to gain an idea of who he is. When people think of the devil they often see him as a made up fictional character that really doesn’t exist. That is so far from the truth, he is a very powerful supernatural being that one cannot see with the naked eye. He is the ruler of an organized, structured, and militant demonic kingdom.

Within our own strength there is no way that we can overcome his tactics; we need the divine power of God to defeat his strategies. His goal is to kill, steal, and destroy every single one of us as he hates the entire human race, John 10:10. In order for us to refrain from giving the enemy the upper hand we need to know how he operates.

A lot of people think that the devil is an ugly being with a cape and horns, not so. The Bible’s description of him is nowhere close to that.

Ezekiel 28:12-15 states, “…You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.”

Here we can see that the prophet Ezekiel through the Holy Spirit is describing Satan as full of wisdom, perfect in beauty, and covered in precious stones. That is why he is so dangerous because people have no clue about the adversary that they are truly facing.

So, he has the ability to slither his way into our lives undetected coming in as an angel of light, 2 Corinthians 11:14. The part in these verses of Scripture that I wanted to highlight is “…The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.” Here we can see that the Lord is letting us know that the enemy is very knowledgeable when it comes to music.

The word workmanship used in this text is the Hebrew word mᵉlâʼkâh which means occupation or ministry. Another word for timbrel used in these verses of Scripture is tambourine which is a musical device and pipes as we know is also used to play music. We can conclude that the devil is no stranger when it comes to music.

That is why it comes as no surprise that he uses music as one of his most used weapons against both believers and non-believers alike. If he can get us to allow his music to pierce through our protective barriers that cover our ears, he can begin to formulate his plan to build as many strong holds in our lives as he can. Unfortunately a lot of people including Christians don’t understand how the spiritual realm works; they don’t realize the repercussions to listing to certain music.

Some of the genres of music that the enemy uses are:

Heavy metal or Rock:

When it comes to heavy metal or rock music, there is no denying the demonic influences in their lyrics, beats, and the imagery that they use on their album covers and in their videos. If you do some research you will find that there have been several people in Heavy Metal and Rock bands that disclose that they get their inspirations from people like Aleister Crowley.

If you don’t know who that is, he was an English occultist who coined the phrase “do what thou wilt” meaning do whatever you want and there are no repercussions. Unfortunately many people become immersed in the music they listen to because of the way that it sounds not realizing where it is stemming from. The enemy is extremely crafty and understands how powerful music truly is when you listen to the negativity embedded in the lyrics on a consistent basis.

Heavy Metal is the genre of music that is known for invoking spirits of suicide, murder, rage, anger, and death. The more that you are exposed to it, the more of an influence that it will have in your life. That is why what you listen to and allow into your ear gates is so critical because it can alter the entire trajectory of your life.

Some verses of Scripture that you can lean on when understanding how important your ear gates are:

Proverbs 2:1-2 “My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding.”

Proverbs 2:11-12 “Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you,
To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things.”

We can see here that the Lord is letting us know that if we receive His Words (found in the Scriptures) and take heed to His commands that is how we obtain wisdom. Then He goes on to state in Proverbs 2:11-12 that when we have discretion or judgment on the things that we allow our ears to be exposed to, it will preserve us from those that speak perverse or wicked things.

Explicit Rap Music:

Since rap music came into the scene it has progressively gotten worse and worse along the years. You can’t listen to a full song without the use of profanity, condescending words against men and women, drugs, alcohol, and violence. The enemy lures you in with the beats that are attached to the music because of how they make you feel in that moment. The problem is that most of the time we don’t pay full attention to all of the lyrics that are creeping into to our ear gates.

If you’ve ever listened to rap music then you know that it can make you want to: move your body inappropriately, speak crudely, and in some instances it can even make you want to fight. The longer that you allow this kind of music to marinate in your spirit, the more of an effect it will have on you. Why is that?

When you are allowing the negative lyrics into your ear gates, you are giving the enemy the legal right to come in and cause destruction. He will use the negative words that you are listening to on a regular basis penetrate your mind and then into your heart. We have to remember, out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth speaks, Luke 6:45.

If all that you are storing into your heart is vulgarity, vileness, crudeness, and addiction then that is what is going to protrude out of your mouth. Before I got saved I used to listen to some really harsh, grimy, and vulgar infested rap music like: the Wu Tang Clan, Gravediggaz, Tupac, and the Notorious B.I.G just to name a few and my mouth would spew out what I was listening to.

After I got saved one of the first things that the Lord dealt with me about was my mouth and how I would speak. I had to take a hard look at myself and realize if I wanted to take my walk with Jesus seriously I had to get rid of all of the barriers that were standing in the way of that including the music that I was listening to.

The enemy will still try to take my mind back to that time in my life when certain songs come on, but in those moments I cast those thoughts down that are contrary to God’s Word in the name of Jesus, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. He will try to test you and see if he can find any kinks in your armor.

For more about the pieces of the Armor of God that He provides us with, check out my article: The Armor of God.

Overly Sexual and Seducing Music:

The devil is no stranger when it comes to music and how certain rhythms and beats can have an effect on you when you listen to them. It is not by chance that he influences people to create music to promote sexuality to both men and women. The words that are being used in the songs all have a direct correlation to something involving sex.

There is no getting around the way that the videos are made: they promote having no self-respect, fulfilling your own selfish ambitions, and fornication. What people don’t realize is that there is a spiritual aspect to the music that they are allowing into their ear gates. The enemy and his minions are lingering around just waiting for an opportunity for you to give them legal access to wreak havoc in your life. He is like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour, 1 Peter 5:8!

That verse of Scripture 1 Peter 5:8, is God warning us that the devil will infiltrate your space if he happens to find an open door to come in through. Sexual music can invoke thoughts of sex, fornication, and often times even adultery if you’re not careful. The more that you allow that type of music into your spirit, the more of an influence the enemy will have over you. His goal is to get you to act on those thoughts so that you will violate the Word of God. Your violation is what will give him and his demonic kingdom the legal right to come into your life and create turmoil!

Conclusion

Your ear gates need to be guarded just as much as your eye gates do. The devil doesn’t care if you are a teenager, an adult, a Christian, or a non-believer; his goal is to kill, steal, and destroy you by any means necessary, John 10:10. He will use your lack of spiritual knowledge and discernment to create strongholds in your life and keep you bound.

When it comes to music, as believers of Jesus Christ our main question should be: is what I am listening to glorifying the Lord? If it is not, you need to check what it is glorifying if it is not Jesus Christ. If you are not sure, ask the Lord for discernment and He will let you know. The Holy Spirit dwells on the inside of every believer and you best believe He will give you that check in your spirit if what you are listening to isn’t of God.

It will then be on you whether or not you take heed to His voice. Remember the Spirit of God is a dove (gentle) and He is not going to force you to do anything against your own will. That doesn’t mean that you don’t have the ability to grieve Him by the choices that you make. I will leave you with this passage of Scripture that happens to be one of my favorites:

1 Kings 18:21 “And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word.”

Also, don’t forget to check out my other blogs pertaining to this topic:

Guarding Your Eye Gates-Part 1

Guarding Your Eye Gates-Part 2

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 1

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 2

The Spiritual Laws of God-Restoration

The Spiritual Laws of God-The General Principles

The Spiritual Laws of God-The Power of Your Tongue!

The Spiritual Laws of God-Having an Understanding

The Power of Your To ngue

Proverb Scriptures that will Help You Tame Your Tongue!

If you’ve missed any of the other weekly quotes, no worries I am listing them down below: