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Tag: leveticus

  • Evil spirits, exorcism, possession of Power

    Evil spirits, exorcism, possession of Power

    ACTS 19:

    ..and the evil spirits went out of them.

    Acts of the Apostles 19:12c KJV

    Acts of God, evil spirits and exorcists

    In his account of Paul’s third missionary journey the physician Luke now records signs YOU may find hard to believe.

    DO YOU BELIEVE THIS, 21st Century believer in the Lord Jesus Christ?

    ..they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled.

    Acts of the Apostles 19:12b NLT

    Previously, in Luke’s account:

    Lectures about God in Athens’ University of Idols
    Back in Athens Paul had lectured about the futility of worshiping things made by man as having the power of God.
    Powerful Preaching to powerless Christians
    Luke tells us how (as an itinerate preacher) Paul had encountered some believers who had not received the power of the Holy Spirit.

    Powers of Preaching

    Apollos had preached the word with power prior to departing Ephesus for Corinth. Paul then arrives in Ephesus and proclaims the Gospel in the local synagogue for three months.

    BUT in the meantime, some itinerate Jews have heard ot these men attracting a following and so sought to imitate their techniques and powers of persuasion. 

    As you may know it doesn't go so well for them, even as some time ago on Paul's first missionary journey Bar-Jesus lost his evil influence on events in Cypress.

AND you probably have a Hollywood-tainted image of a ritualistic Roman Catholic ceremony.

    Jewish Exorcists

    But there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists who attempted to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus when dealing with those who had evil spirits. They would say, “I command you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches.”

    ACTS 19:13- J.B. Phillips New Testament paraphrase – The violence of evil and the power of the “name”

    “I command you in the name of Jesus!

    CAN ANYONE DO THIS? OR CAN A PRIEST OR PREACHER COMMAND EVIL SPIRITS?

    YOU probably have your 21st century of the Common Era doubts.

    But what happened to these exorcists?

    Mostly nothing at all — just like the Pentecostalism preached on some 20th century television stages. AND of course no authentic healing of the sick like JESUS had done so often.

    Luke’s account however does give us one powerful example of what did happen:

    Acts 19:

    14 Now seven sons of one named Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said to them,

    “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”

    16 And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them, subdued all of them, and utterly prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

    Acts 19:14-16 Legacy Standard Bible
    Don't YOU just want to say, 'GOOD!' They got their just due?

    BUT WAIT A MINUTE!

    IF WE ACKNOWLEDGE WHAT LUKE TELLS US ABOUT SEVEN PRIESTS RUNNING OUT OF A HOUSE NAKED AND DEFEATED BY AN EVIL SPIRIT, THEN WE MUST ACCEPT AN IMPACT OF EVIL SPIRITS ON ORDINARY MEN AND WOMEN.

    Miracles and Power!

    Luke now moves on from the ethereal teaching of Tyrannus and Mars Hill to the aetheris winds beyond that which is seen by man.

    Most of us don’t really believe in miracles, do we?

    WE know of the unexplainable, but rare is any occasion of seeing the unseen.

    Sinful men and women want power!

    Seven priests talked a good game, but when the higher unseen truth is told, they were humiliated and exposed as frauds.

    POWER has a source — as does life and spirit.

    And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that cloths or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.

    Acts of the Apostles 19:11-12 LSB

    THEOS (Greek word for God) was performing extraordinary MIRACLES! — dynamis, from which (in English) we get DYNAMITE!

    NOT Paul, but God by the hands of Paul.

    And as a consequence of GOD using these lifeless items and Spirit-filled Christians, the Lord Jesus Christ became known for HIS MIRACLES among the Gentiles of Ephesus.

    KJV Translation Count — Total: 120x
    The KJV translates Strong’s G1411 in the following manner:

    power (77x), mighty work (11x), strength (7x), miracle (7x), might (4x), virtue (3x), mighty (2x), miscellaneous (9x).
    inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth; power for performing miracles; moral power and excellence of soul; the power and influence which belong to riches and wealth; power and resources arising from numbers; power consisting in or resting upon armies, forces, hosts

    Strong’s G1411 – dynamis – BlueLetterBible.org

    evil spirits

    Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.

    And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

    Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.

    Leviticus 19:21; 20:6-7

    confronted by Jesus

    “Aw, let us alone! What to us and to you, Jesus the Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

But Jesus rebuked it, saying, 
“Be quiet and come out of him!” 

And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, it came out of him without doing him any harm. And amazement came upon them all, and they were talking with one another saying, 
“What is this word, that with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.”

And the report about Him was spreading into every place in the surrounding district.

Gospel of Luke 4:34-37
    So you say you don't believe in evil spirits? 
The Law of Moses addresses them AND
JESUS *cast them out of possessed men [*exorcism] and commanded unseen spirits with Authority.

    confronted by Paul

    And certain of the wandering exorcist Jews, took upon them to name over those having the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, ‘We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul doth preach;’

    Acts 19:13 Young’s Literal Translation

    and the evil spirit, answering, said, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I am acquainted with; and ye — who are ye?’

    Acts of the Apostles 19:15 YLT

    SPIRIT – pneuma – from ‘breath’ or ‘of the wind‘

    Holy or unholy? Good or evil?

    Can the HOLY SPIRIT or an EVIL SPIRIT indwell a mortal man [anthrōpos]? (OR perhaps influence intellectual reasoning or affect any actions of a man or women of flesh?)

    By what POWER may a mere mortal become an EXORCIST of EVIL (ponēros) and healer of diseases?

    Questions of the first century Ephesians.

    Yes, even questions for 21st century christians of the Common Era, perhaps skeptical of Scripture and miraculous signs through the Apostles which God gave to witness the Lord Jesus Christ.

    And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

    Acts of the Apostles 19:17 KJV

    ACTS of the Apostles — To Be Continued…

    NEXT:
    and fear fell upon them all 

    Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel

  • Lord of the Sabbath

    Lord of the Sabbath

    Dr. Luke retells two stories of witnesses about Jesus and the Sabbath. (We should consider that the Good News is witness of the message of salvation, though the story of Jesus is not always chronological.) The time of these witnessed stories is not so important as the point.

    Returning (for this) to Luke 6:

    Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

    6 On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3 And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

    (We will return to this example of Jesus and David in a moment.)

    A Man with a Withered Hand

    6 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.7 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.”And he rose and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

    “They were filled with fury and ‘discussed…’”

    Nothing like the mixing of politics and religion, but that is the background and subject of these discussions; therefore let’s once again take on this controversy of Sundays, Sabbaths and the time and place of worship of God. [The ‘Sundays’ link points to my earlier post on Exodus: Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.]

     

    Richard A Horsley, in ‘Scribe, Visionaries, and the Politics of Second Temple Judes,’ points out: The attention to conflict, whether with external imperial powers or internally between scribes and priest or between wealthy elites and others, results in a story of endless power struggles…

    Horsley continues: ‘a credible picture of the diversity of Judaism in Hellenistic Palestine emerges… ‘conflict: this time between the priestly aristocratic rulers of the Judean temple-state and their scribal retainers…

    Jesus lived under the watchful eyes of several opposing religious and political views, the two mentioned here: Scribes and Pharisees. Perhaps your church has a ‘scribe’ or ‘pharisee’ who would go on and on over endless controversies of how and when to worship God.

    It’s certainly not only the Saturday vs. Sunday controversy or what ‘Christians’ ought to do or ought not do on ‘the Lord’s Day.  As more recent controversies: “The State shouldn’t sell liquor on Sunday. The mall used to be closed on Sunday. God help us if we don’t have football and other sports to watch on Sunday!”

    No, the Sabbath controversy (artificial and particular as it can be) is not new and sometimes results in ‘christians’ being ‘filled with fury’ or resigned to unrighteousness. Jesus encountered such controversies every day. In fact, like conservatives and liberals, the religious and political types enjoyed such ‘discussions’ as a part of their ongoing emphasis of beliefs. (Nothing new under the sun.)

    When the Bible (Hebrew Bible, Orthodox Bible, Catholic Bible or Protestant Bible – {Get the idea?}) mentions Scribes, Pharisees, Priests or other religious officials; understand that these men had ongoing differences in their views of God and worship.

    The simplicity of Jesus approach to the Sabbath (or Sunday) is evident enough in Luke 6:9 KJV

    I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil?

    Jesus answer is so intuitive: It it lawful to do good seven days a week and 365 days every year; and unlawful to do evil on ANY day.

    Doing good is not work and failing to do good is evil.

    Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath and you would not expect your doctor to take Sunday off if you had a heart attack or were injured in an accident on the way home from church or the Sunday afternoon sporting event.

    In the earlier example, Jesus addresses the Sabbath ‘work’ controversy a little differently. (Imagine these men following you and your family to a restaurant after church.) Jesus and His Disciples were hungry and broke open some grain in a field as they walked through it (perfectly legal: Deuteronomy 24:19-22). The question of the Pharisees for these poor and hungry sojourners or travelers (Jesus and the Disciples) was ‘should you prepare and eat food on the Sabbath?’

    Jesus then uses the example of bread prepared for the Temple of God and an incident with King David.

    breadLuke 6:4 KJV How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone?

    Let’s examine this less-familiar reference a moment.

    Exodus 25:30  And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me regularly.

    Leviticus 24: 5 “You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it… 6 And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold before the Lord… 7 …as a memorial portion as a food offering to the Lord. 8 Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the Lord regularly… 9 And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the Lord’s food offerings, a perpetual due.”

     David is not a Priest or a Levite of the line of Aaron.

    David and the Holy Bread

    21 Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David trembling and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” 4 And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” 6 So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.

    Or course, the Disciples are not Levite. Neither are Jesus and the Disciples in the holy place of the Temple. Yet the Pharisees did not recognize that they were in the Presence of Holiness.

    One earlier instance of the Hebrew use of this word for the Bread of the Presence.

    Genesis 14: 

    18 And Melchizedek king of Salem (where Jerusalem now stands) brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 19 And he blessed him and said,

    “Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
    Possessor of heaven and earth;
    20 and blessed be God Most High,
    who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”

    And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

    Jesus is our Redeemer and High Priest.

    Later, Jesus would say, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” (See John 8.)

    Here Jesus closes all discussion on the Sabbath controversies of the Scribes and Pharisees with a remarkable statement.

    Luke 6:5 KJV And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

    Jesus’ most frequent reference of his person is “son of man,’ that is:  huios anthrōpos. How bold a statement for Jesus to say that He lord [kyrios] also of the sabbath.

    Jesus IS Lord.

    He IS either your Lord…

    the Son of Man, who is Lord even over the days of the week – yes, even our measured days

    OR He will be Lord at your Judgment.

    Will you acknowledge Christ Jesus as your Savior and Redeemer?

    Abraham and Lot worshiped the Lord after the destruction of Sodom. God judged the sinful men and sinful women of those cities, yet saved Lot and his children. He would save you, also… before the wrath of the Lord rains down on you and it is too late.

    Worship Him.

    The Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath. Is He also your Lord and Savior?