Two Men Set Free

Last week we talk about Jesus calming the storm, and the storms in our lives. Jesus was on the sea of Galilee. When they had sail across the sea they came to a place called Gadarenes. If you notice this account in the gospel of Mark he tells of 2,000 pigs being present on the hillside. Pigs were, according to Leviticus 11, unclean animals. Meaning that the Jews were not allowed to eat them, and they were not allowed to touch their carcasses. Why would people not be allowed to eat such wonderfully delicious meats? It was likely outlawed in order to make it more difficult to worship idols and false gods throughout the region as pagans sacrificed various animals to various entities. Bats are on the list as well (Thanks China). If you were not allowed to eat them, and you could not touch them if they died, then it would be pointless to keep many of them around let alone 2,000 of them. This area was likely dominated by gentiles. Those are people who are not Jews and do not know God.

As men walked the way of the tombs, the demons attacked them. No one was able to withstand. It was like crazy homeless men keeping you out of Walmart. You wanted to go, some needed to go, but two men kept everyone driven out. Other accounts say that the men were bound in chains but broke them in the power of the evil spirits. When Jesus arrives on the scene, these demon throw themselves at Him begging for mercy. They actually came out to meet Him. Demons that were cast out of heaven are allowed to roam the earth doing what they do. Making a mess of things. They however have a set of rules that they must follow. If they get out of line, God throws them into the abyss. Which means that they are locked up and unable to experience this small piece of freedom before their eternal judgement. They recognize Jesus as their sovereign power.

These were Gentile men oppressed by demons. Jesus did not have to do anything, but He wanted to. Jesus was all about helping people. Even if they never did a thing for Him. Even if they never accepted Him as the Son of God and God Himself, Jesus still sought to help others. That is who He is. Jesus drove the demons into the pigs, and the pigs went wild and threw themselves off the cliff into the water and drowned. Pigs are not the best swimmers, but also the waters were pretty rough on the steep shoreline. Not to mention the rocks. Thousands upon thousands of dollars wasted. The herdsmen ran back to the city and expressed what happened to the demon possessed men and the pigs. The men of the town begged Christ to quietly go. They might have been upset over the loss of the pigs, but fearful over the power that Christ had exemplified, but it is more likely that they knew that they were in the presence of God, and they knew that they were highly imperfect. So they ask God to leave their unholy region, and He obliged.

Demons are very real. We should realize that they are something that we should acknowledge, but we should also understand that demons answer to our God. It’s like knowing that bullies exist, but will be punished by the system for doing what bullies do. You may say “well a lot of bullies get away with things” or “No one turns a bully in or it gets 10 times worse on them.” But God’s judgement is perfect. He lets nothing slip past His eyes. Even if we think God is not watching He is, and their is a time for punishment. There is a time of sowing (Committing the sin, or doing something good) and there is a time of reaping (receiving punishment or reward). God has the perfect timing set.

The devil himself even had to go before God and seek permission before he laid a finger on Job.

Michael fought with Satan, and when defeating him did not mock him, but rebuked him if God’s name.

There was an instance in the book of Daniel when Gabriel, the messenger angle the one who brought the news of Jesus to Mary, was trying to get an important message to Daniel but he had been delayed because demons fought him between heaven and earth. Slowing him down for three days. Finally God sent Michael, the warrior angel and commander of God’s myriads of angels, to free Gabriel’s path and allow him to continue on.

Moses when he was buried was laid to rest in a place that no one knows about, and God buried him in a special way. Possibly for a special purpose. The devil argues over Moses’s body. He argues over Moses’s body for a couple possible reasons. 1.)To delay or try to prevent Moses arrival at his heavenly home because of the sins of his past. 2.) Moses was such a prominent male figure in the Jewish culture, and the devil was going to take him body and use it as some idol or had some other dark purpose for it.

But God sent Michael to contend with the devil, and Michael won.

In 2 Kings chapter 6 the Syrian are attacking Israel, but the Lord was telling Elisha the plans of the Syrians, and Elisha was telling the generals of the Israelite army, so they were always one step ahead. When the Syrian king found out about Elisha he sought to kill him. He sent his armies to surround Elisha, and when Elisha’s servant woke up one morning and saw them surrounded by the massive army he freaked out. Elisha asked God to open his servants eyes to who was for them and God allowed the servant to see how God was protecting them. All around them were chariots of fire, full of angels ready for battle. God would not let anything bad come of Elisha. Then God blinded the Syrian army and Elisha led them into the middle of the Israelite army and handed them over.

Demons are real, and demons have some power, but they cannot come close to standing against God. If God is for you, no one, not a single one, can be against you.

Lets look at a few things that are made evident here.

Heaven and Hell exist. The Greek language that is used there is the term Tartarus. Which in mythology was hell below hell. It was reserved for the worst people, the worst gods, and the worst demons. Jews picked up the term to describe their hell as well. Hell exists, and the demons did not want to go. They knew that they were going, but they wanted to prolong the inevitable as long as possible.

If hell is real, then heaven has to be real as well. Every religion has a heaven and a hell, or something to the fact maybe not called heaven and hell, but they all have something. It is ignorance to believe that both heaven and hell do not exist, and that eternal life is something that we do not obtain. You are going to live forever. That’s why these demons were begging not to be kicked out just yet.

Jesus has all authority. These demons terrorized people that passed by, but the moment Jesus’s feet touched ground in that region the demons ran to find Him. They threw themselves at Him and begged for the chance at staying on earth a little while longer. They knew Jesus had the power to expel them from this earth and immediately lock them in hell for the rest of eternity.

James 2:19 “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!”

Jesus told the disciples “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

You can believe that Jesus exists, The demons believe that He is real too. They have seen Him. Acknowledging that He is real is not enough. You have to put your faith in Him.

Jesus has the power to put you away, and the right. But He also has the power, and authority to set you free.

You, like the demons, are going to spend eternity somewhere. The question is where? You can spend it in eternal pain and anguish for the punishment of your sin, or you can turn everything over to Jesus and allow Him to take care of it.

The choice is yours. If you ever want to let go of your sins, and take hold of Christ, and you are wonder just how exactly you do that you can come talk to me either in person, or through many other manners like social media. But ask the important questions. So many people in life have questions but they never have them answered.