2003-01-13
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
There are times when the Holy Spirit takes me to a passage that I don’t fully understand until I take some time with it and go on my knees to the Father in prayer about it. Such is the case with MT 12: 43-45, the story of the return of the unclean spirit, told by Christ Himself. “When an evil spirit goes out of a person, it travels over dry country looking for a place to rest. If it can’t find one, it says to itself, ‘I will go back to my house,’ so it goes back and finds the house empty, clean, and all fixed up. Then it goes out and brings along seven other spirits even worse than itself, and they come and live there. So when it is all over, that person is in worse shape than he was at the beginning. This is what will happen to the evil people of this day.” In yesterday’s message, I was led to write about stories of personal demon possession and exorcism in the context of the power we are given to combat this form of evil. This passage deals with spiritual warfare with regard to Israel’s history. Once again without apology, I recite EPH 6:12, “For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age.”
While Satan is not omnipresent as God is, it is clear that he has enough followers (angelic and human) to cause plenty of trouble, not just on the personal level, but also on a national level. Since Israel by God’s own words is a nation of His chosen people [EX 19: 5-6], it has been Satan’s prime target since its establishment long ago. The MT 12 passage above is Christ’s capsule spiritual and political history of unbelieving Israel, presented in the presence of some Pharisees who had just tried to demand that Christ perform a miracle. Let’s take a deeper look into what Christ is actually saying in MT 12: 43-45. The person in (43) is Israel. The “dry country” term used in this verse refers to the places where demons live mentioned in IS 13: 19-22 and REV 18:2. The “evil spirit” in that verse is idolatry that was practiced from the time the Jews left Egypt until they were punished with scattering and loss of nationhood [dyaspora] at the time of the Babylonian Captivity (586 BC) in the south and the Assyrian Captivity (722 BC) in the north. The term “out of a person” refers to the temporary cleansing of idolatry from Israel that occurred from the end of the captivity (about 445 BC) until the rebellion began to creep back into Jewish spiritual life that is seen in the Pharisees’ attitude and in the rejection of John the Baptist and Christ, leading up to their physical deaths.
The “empty house” in (44) refers to the spiritual vacuum in Israel that is responsible for the Jews not recognizing Christ as their Messiah and rejecting Him. This is despite the fact that He had come to bring them to salvation. “All fixed up” in this same verse refers to that temporary cleansing of evil that had come with the earthly ministries of John the Baptist and Christ-sadly, not to last. In (45), “the seven other spirits even worse that itself” is a direct reference to the coming second dyaspora and the Tribulation Judgment of the condemned. The former begins in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans; the latter is the final separation of sheep and goats referred to in MT 25: 32 and REV 19: 20-21. Nothing is quite so evil an idolatry as the worship of the antichrist that is prophesied for the future of those who continually reject Christ. It is the final straw that leads to the Judgment of the condemned. That is surely being in “worse shape than he was in the beginning.”
One might ask why Christ felt the need to say these things to the Pharisees. The answer to that lies in recognizing God’s main objective is the salvation of as many people as possible by their repentance and coming to faith in Christ [COL 1: 20]. There is also a timely nature to this inherent warning. If one doesn’t want to suffer the consequences of sin, then he must not dawdle around deciding to come to faith. MT 24: 36 reminds us [regarding the onset of the end times], “No one knows, however, when that day and hour will come-neither the angels in heaven nor the Son; the Father alone knows.” The time is now as we learn in 1 THESS 5: 2, “For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief comes at night.” Our own experience with being saved and basking in the warm glow of complete forgiveness should be enough to motivate us to find those still standing on the fence and witness to our faith that has brought us the peace we have. We should spend time in prayer that the Holy Spirit will also come to those people, bringing them faith, peace, justification, and salvation. Christ may have very well known He was in the presence of Pharisees whose minds had been under attack by Satan. He was using the history of their very own country to shake them into the recognition of their need to seek truth and forgiveness. Our understanding of how Satan can gain a stranglehold on a nation from passages like MT 12: 43-45 should surely motivate us to take steps to interfere with that evil purpose. We can consider the direction in which our own society has been going and the threat of war that we face with such evil nations and organizations as our president has named as our enemies.
PRAYER: O Lord, through the teaching of Your Son and our access to knowledge about Israel’s history, You have brought us to the desire for peace. Through Christ in JN 13: 34-35, You have made us see that we should always be at peace with You and with each other, loving one another as He loves us. At the same time, You have allowed the circumstances of our lives to be combined with the discernment we get from studying Your word to alert us to our need to make spiritually responsible decisions. We use the words of PS 32: 8 to remind us where to look for direction. “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine eye.” You remind us that we are not alone when we must make decisions in PS 37: 23-24, “The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” We face difficult times, Dearest Abba, in our families, on our jobs, in our congregations, in our communities, and as a nation. Without You, we shall surely fall; with You as Your trusting and obedient covenant partners, we will stand firm and be victorious against evil in Christ’s name. You have let us know in RO 5: 10-11 that when a person comes to faith, he is finally at peace with You. “We were God’s enemies, but He made us His friends through the death of His Son. Now that we are God’s friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ’s life! But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has made us God’s friends.” We thank You for giving us the Scriptures which allow us to know what the consequences of sin are nationally and in every other way. We thank You for the inherent warning, so that we will not only be encouraged to remain obedient and faithful to You, but we will also be motivated to be faith-builders and bring those still lost to where the Holy Spirit can grant them faith too. Dearest Lord, we echo the words of IS 23: 3, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, whose thoughts are fixed on You. Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the Eternal Rock.” We humbly confess our sins and offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, trust, obedience, thanks, and praise. In Christ’s name, amen.
In helping us to have a deeper understanding of our Lord’s teaching and the context from which it arises, the Gospel of Luke acts as a chronological yardstick for the other Gospels. I was blessed to study all the Gospels in the same two courses on them that I took. Tomorrow’s message is designed to demonstrate this truth as it applies to spiritual warfare. An important part of successfully doing battle with the adversary and his followers is keeping them on the run. We can’t let down our guard, even for a minute. Christ shows us this through many of the events of his public ministry. What a great example God has given us in His Son! If we ask ourselves why God was willing to endure so much pain and aggravation for us, the only logical and truthful answer must be that He loves us beyond what we can imagine. This is true even though we don’t deserve any of this love. His grace is why He makes us His friends and brings us to peace with Him when we obey His commandments [PHIL 4: 7]. Out of that love He leaves us with this reminder in PHIL 4: 13, “I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.” That applies to our warfare with the adversary too. Peter and I also send each one of you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn