Bible Study series: Matthew 12:43-45. The house that has been swept clean must be filled with the Spirit and the word.
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In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Matthew 12:43-45
43 When an unclean spirit goes out of a person it passes through waterless places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then at that moment it says, “I shall return to my house where I came out of.” And it comes and finds it vacant, swept, and put in order. 45 Then at that moment it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and squat there. And the latter state of that person is worse than the first. And in this way it shall also be for this evil generation. (Matt. 12:43-45)
Comments:
43:
The point here is not waterless places, but regions where humans do not live. However, if a preacher wishes to spiritualize the water, as in baptism or the Holy Spirit, then he is free to do so. The point is that evil spirits consigned to the earthly realms and are disembodied from people do not find resting places outside of people. Demons need to occupy and harass humans.
Then we learn that demons have a certain measure of free will and self-interest and mental ability to spot their own needs, so that this one goes back to the house or soul it left (literally “from which I left”).
44:
“ordered”: it comes from the verb kosmeō (pronounced kohss-meh-oh), and we get our word cosmos from it, and it means “put in order.”
So what does it mean to have a soul vacant or empty and swept and ordered? It is clear or is it assumed that the person has been delivered by a Jesus follower? My interpretation: “Swept” and “ordered” mean his mind does not think an endless series of bad thoughts. They do not dominate him. His mind is being renewed. Also, his life is being ordered. He does not visit the old haunts where he did his drugs or drink his alcohol or visit unsavory places. He lives a clean life. The single demon cannot break through the cleaning and the ordering.
The only problem is that the person’s soul is vacant. It has nothing in there to keep the demons away.
45:
“seven”: you can either take it numerically (a literal platoon of seven demons, plus the original one) or symbolically (seven is the number of completion, so it is a complete and powerful attack), or both literally and then symbolically. I take it literally and numerically and symbolically. It is the first demon plus seven others, totaling eight.
This passage teaches us that demons can communicate with each other and plan and strategize their attack. Next, they can spot your former weakness by which one demon had gained a foothold and go strong on the attack. Then they harass your soul with temptation to compel you to give in to your old weakness. Your mind reels. You lose your perspective. Your mind focusses back on your old sins that were disordered and piled up dust and debris in your mind. You can’t stop thinking about your old life. The demons attack and provoke your old desires. “I just gotta have that old drug!” “I just gotta have that drink!” “I just gotta go back and fornicate with my old boyfriend!” Then you give in. Now your end is worse than your beginning (literally “first”). Getting desire under the control of the Spirit is very important.
“squats”: it is a heavier verb than “lives” or “dwells,” but if you prefer the translation “lives” or “dwells,” you can certainly pick either of those verbs. But “squats” makes it seems like an illegal breaking-and-reentry. The demons don’t belong there in the person’s house or soul, now that it had been swept clean and ordered.
The last clause about this generation may refer to Jesus’s cleansing effect as he taught the kingdom and implemented it, and now the generation of his day has been swept and put in order, but it is still vacant. Their repentance is incomplete. So evil comes back seven times worse.
However, I prefer the pastoral interpretation. People who are delivered from the power and penalty of sin must get their house in order and full of God.
We have to combine preaching or proclaiming and then have signs and wonders. When just signs and wonders are done by street evangelists, they miss the teaching element. Let’s hope that Matt. 12:43-45 and Luke 11:24-26 doesn’t take effect. After a demon is expelled he goes out and looks for seven more demons to repossess the body, and the latter condition is worse than before. People need to be filled with the Word and fellowship, after their deliverance.
Therefore, the good news is that you can be forgiven and restored, if you were to give in to these eight demons. But you do not have to give in even to one demons. You can stand on these five foundation stones, in order to keep you soul unvacant or unempty, but full of God:
(1). Prayer and intimacy with Christ in your walk with him.
Bible Basics about Praise and Worship
(2). Get baptized in the Spirit. The single demon went to waterless places, which (as noted) speaks of the absence of the Spirit, since water symbolizes the Spirit (John 3:3-7; 7:37-39). But you don’t need to symbolize this passage to be filled with the Spirit.
Baptized, Filled, and Full of the Spirit: What Does It All Mean?
(3). Get water baptized.
(4). Scripture: you need to get Scripture to saturate your mind. Recall that Jesus fought his big temptation with Scripture (Matt. 4:1-11). Study it strategically—who God is, who Christ is, who the Spirit is. Find Scriptures that talk about your personalized weakness. Memorize them, so you can think about the verses when the temptation comes.
The Power of Scripture and Doctrine in the Church
(5). You must fellowship with other believers at a Spirit-filled, Bible-teaching and Jesus-following church. Then the people of God can pray for you when you are being demonically attacked.
(6). You must live the surrendered life before God. James 3:7: “Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
GrowApp for Matt. 12:43-45
1. How do you fill your soul with God, so that you don’t come under domination by evil and sin and even literal demons?
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SOURCES
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom.
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