⁴³ When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.

⁴⁵Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. Matthew 12:43-45

What I am about to say is not revolutionary revelation, but it opened my eyes as a key truth to deliverance ministry. It concerns the "Demons Favorite Scripture." In Matthew 12 Jesus reproves the Pharisees and the generation of Israel to which He came. He healed and cast out demons. He rebuked them for their unbelief and likened the nation to one who has demons. He spoke of them as a generation that were resolved to continue in the possession, and under the power, of Satan. In spite of all of God’s attempts to rescue them and free them. Jesus uses a parable to compare them to one out of whom the devil is gone, but returns with double force. The devil is here called the unclean spirit.

The parable represents Satan and his demons possessing men’s bodies. Matthew Henry says, "Christ having lately cast out a devil, and they having said he had a devil, gave occasion to show how much they were under the power of Satan. This is a further proof that Christ did not cast out devils by compact with the devil, for then he would soon have returned again; but Christ’s ejectment of him was final, and such as barred a re-entry: we find him charging the evil spirit to go out, and enter no more, Mk. 9:25."

What a great statement, there was no deal with Satan as the Jews had accused Him ... there are two key issues in clarifying this horribly misused scripture. 1) It was a parable. 2) the word is gone out, not cast out. I will say that again, "gone out" not "cast out!"

Another great insight from Matthew Henry: "Probably the devil was wont sometimes thus to sport with those he had possession of; he would go out, and then return again with more fury; hence the lucid intervals of those in that condition were commonly followed with the more violent fits. When the devil is gone out, he is uneasy, for he sleeps not except he have done mischief (Prov. 4:16); he walks in dry places, like one that is very melancholy; he seeks rest but finds none, till he returns again. When Christ cast the legion out of the man, they begged leave to enter into the swine, where they went not long in dry places, but into the lake presently."

The application of the parable makes it to represent the case of the body of the Jewish people and nation: So shall it be with this wicked generation, that now resist, and will finally reject, the gospel of Christ...and then he shall take a durable possession here, and the state of this people is likely to be more desperately damnable than it was before Christ came among them, or would have been if Satan had never been cast out." Clearly Jesus makes this statement in parable to what He called a wicked generation.

I have been doing this for a few years! Virtually all believers who have a causal knowledge of scripture misunderstand and misapply the scripture here. This what they will say, "if you don’t keep the house filled, the cast out demons will come back seven times stronger…"That is NOT true! That is not what is being taught here. If, as most believe, demons can return in double force once they have been cast out wouldn’t it be unwise to cast them out. What would allow demons to do this? Be cast out and yet, later return?

Nonsense. Look carefully at the scripture parable Jesus used. The demons here are not cast out, they are gone out … apparently they leave to try to find a better home...knowing they can return because there is still an open door. When the demon(s) decided to return it was not because the house had not been filled (so often and erroneously taught), the house was filled, it was garnished, clean and decorated. The demons knew they could go back because they knew they still had legal permission. Their legal rights to be there had never been cancelled.

When demons are cast out there is finality in the Name of Jesus. Those particular demons cannot return! However, there are plenty of demons who can and possibly will if legal rights are granted. That an individual can continue a downward spiral is true whether they go through deliverance or not if a person grants them an open door. It is so important to know this. Demons love to intimidate deliverance candidates with lies and threats.

Never do we command demons to go into dry places, that seems to be where they congregate and make their plans and evil strategies. Demons have done a good job at using these scriptures to confuse and prevent people from seeking deliverance. I have had many people ask me, "Now what do I do to keep them from coming back 7 times stronger?" Most preachers even make misleading comments about this section of scripture. You know, words like, "Be sure and keep the house filled so the demons don’t come back stronger…"

The demons love it. Keeping people in ignorance and fear is their specialty. In many, many years of ministry I have never seen this happen ... someone being worse off because they experienced deliverance ... never! Someone who continues in a lifestyle that initially granted permission will be once again entangled because doors stay open. There is a big difference! Don’t be intimidated by their confusion and lies, they can’t come back stronger, because those can’t come back.

When I leave my office I "go out" knowing I can come back, could even invite some friends to come back with me. I have a door, I have the keys. However, if the owner of the building evicts me, takes the keys back and demands that I leave, I can’t come back. Big difference "gone" out and "cast" out.

Read again Matthew Henry’s comment on this:

"...Christ did not cast out devils by compact with the devil, for then he (demon) would soon have returned again; but Christ’s ejectment of him was final, and such as barred a re-entry: we find him charging the evil spirit to go out, and enter no more, Mark. 9:25."

The commands we give when "casting" out demons is that they go into the abyss, the pit of hell, and never return again. That does not mean that the individual cannot continue to live a dysfunctional lifestyle by being disobedient to God. Some do make choices to disobey and to grant legal rights to demons. Choices always remain and bad choices generally open doors to demons. Don’t give them too much credit. Don’t fear them and don’t let them gain an advantage by misuse of God’s Holy Word!

Blessings!

Don

 
www.dondickerman.com

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