COME AS A CHILD LESSON 95 PHARAOH HAS A DREAM

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Years went by.  Joseph continued his imprisonment.  The cupbearer went happily about his own life, never mentioning Joseph.  One thing to note about Joseph.  He didn't get bitter.  He didn't whine about how unfair life was to him.  He didn't blame God for his bad circumstances.  As a matter of fact; he leaned on God to help him through his circumstances.  Joseph was content and thankful in every place where God put him.  He simply trusted God for better days when things were not so well.  He did not lose faith.

One night, Pharaoh had a dream.  In this dream he was standing by the Nile River.  Out of the river came up seven cows.  They were sleek and fat and they grazed among the reeds.  After those cows came seven other cows.  They were ugly and gaunt.  They came up out of the Nile and stood beside the fat cows on the riverbank.  Then the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows.  After that Pharaoh woke up.

Perhaps this dream disturbed him, but he didn’t speak of it to anyone.  He was probably pondering what it meant and wondering if it was significant.  Maybe he would have let it pass, but he had yet another dream.  In the second dream he saw seven heads of grain.  They were healthy and good to eat and were growing on a single stalk.  After that he saw seven other heads of grain.  They were sprouted and thin and scorched by the east wind.  The seven thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy heads of grain. 

Well, this time Pharaoh WAS troubled.  Two similar dreams that he knew meant something, but he wasn’t sure what they meant.  It troubled him so much that he sent for his magicians and wise men.  Each man listened carefully to Pharaoh’s dream, but not one of them had an interpretation. 

Of course, the Chief Cupbearer was standing guard over Pharaoh and watching all of this as it transpired.  Suddenly he regained his memory!  He thought of Joseph.  He said to Pharaoh:  “Today I am reminded of my shortcomings.  Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard.  Each of us had a dream the same night.  Each dream had a meaning of its own.  Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard.  We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream.  And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us.  I was restored to my position, and the other man was impaled.

On hearing this Pharaoh sent immediately for Joseph.  They brought him out of the dungeon, allowed him to shave and change his clothes and sent him to meet Pharaoh.  Pharaoh said to Joseph:  “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it.  But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.

Joseph, always quick to give God the Glory for what God allowed him to do said:  “I cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”

Pharaoh just kept talking:  “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, when out of the river there came seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds.  After them, seven other cows came up – scrawny and very ugly and lean.  I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt.  The lean ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first.  But even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before.  Then I woke up.

Joseph didn’t say a word and Pharaoh kept talking.  He began to tell Joseph about the second dream.

“In my dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk.  After them, seven other heads sprouted – withered and thin and scorched by the east wind.  The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads.  I told this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me.”

God gave Joseph the meaning of both dreams.  He said to Pharaoh:  “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same.  God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.  The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and same dream.  The seven lean, ugly cows that came afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind.  They are seven years of famine.  It is just as I said to Pharaoh.  God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.  Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, but seven years of famine will follow them.  Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land.  The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe.  The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.   And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt.  Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.  They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food.  This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”

Pharaoh accepted Joseph’s interpretation of the dreams, and Joseph’s advise seemed good to him.  So Pharaoh asked those who ruled under him:  “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?”  He turned to Joseph and said:  “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.  You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders.  Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”   

God had given Joseph a good day!  

Little did anyone realize that God had given the sons of Abraham and the Family of God a way to keep from starving in the years to come.  He did it through His servant Joseph.  Because of Joseph Israel and His children would maintain life.  Because the Family of Abraham was being provided for by God; the children of Egypt benefited also.  Not one person realized exactly all that was going on.  No one saw or knew that Joseph had been put into his circumstances in order to preserve the ancestors of the coming Messiah.  They were simply thinking of their own stomachs.  Sometimes God even uses our greed and our twisted human nature for the benefit of The Kingdom of Heaven.  All anyone knew was that their own set of circumstances might bring them trouble and they must begin to prepare.  What better person to help them do this than Joseph, the one who interpreted dreams, who remembered details, who followed instructions and finished things well.

Joseph was released from prison and moved into a palace all in one day.  When God is in control, things can change quickly.  This was the moment Joseph had waited and prayed for.  God’s answer was better than any he could have visualized for himself.  Joseph went right to work managing Pharaoh’s palace.  

COME AS A CHILD LESSON 94 BEYOND THE CUPBEARERS DREAM

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

A lot of the story of Joseph is about dreams that have meanings.  In the first part of our story we hear about Joseph’s dreams, that his family would bow down before him and he would rule over them.  He dreamed this same dream in a different way twice.  His dreams also predicted the coming famine in the land where Jacob's family lived. 

In the middle of Joseph's story we hear of the dreams of the baker and the cupbearer of the King of Egypt.  We would do well to examine their dreams a bit closer.  In the scriptures we are simply told the basic story and the basic facts, but other scriptures recall portions of these dreams.  There may be more meaning to the story than we see on the surface at the first glance.  

For instance, let's look again at the dream of Pharaoh’s Chief Cupbearer.  The cupbearer told Joseph that he squeezed the grapes into Pharaoh’s cup in his dream.  

On the night that he was betrayed, during the Passover Seder (which recalls the escape of the Hebrews from Pharoah’s bondage, Jesus also took a cup in much the same way that this cupbearer would have done.  After the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”  (Luke 22:20)  

Think back to our original story now when Joseph told the cupbearer the meaning of his dream.  He said the three branches were three days and within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.  In other words, in three days the cupbearer would basically pass from his sentence of death to a new life and a restoration of his former self.  

We can clearly see that the cupbearer’s dream speaks of the new covenant in which we pass from spiritual death to eternal life because Jesus Christ, Our Messiah, rose from the prison of a grave on the third day into life. Because of this we too have been given a new and eternal life with God.  We, like the cupbearer, have been restored.  Our old sins have been forgiven and forgotten and we are able to stand before God restored, just as this cupbearer resumed his old job before Pharaoh. 

Joseph, hopefully explains to the cupbearer, knowing that he will be restored and stand before the King again, that he has done no harm to anyone, yet he has been imprisoned as an innocent man for quite some time.  He asked the cupbearer to “remember me.”  

Did Jesus not ask the same of us, using those very same words; "remember me?"   Did Jesus not want us to remember that his precious and innocent blood was shed for us?  How many times did he ask?  Yes, He has asked us to remember, and we do this every time we partake of communion.  We remember. Do we really?  Sometimes I wonder how much remembering Jesus is involved?  We must be dwelling on Him.  We must remember how He served us.  It was not His place to serve us, but our place to serve Him.  He did it anyway.  Do we REALLY remember?

So the Baker saw that the Cupbearer’s dream was interpreted favorably and he decided to ask for an interpretation of his own dream.   I'm sure he was hoping for the same good news.   In this dream he was carrying three baskets of bread on his head and the birds were coming down and eating the bread from his baskets.  Joseph told the baker that the three baskets represented three days and in three days his head would be lifted off by Pharaoh and his body would be impaled on a pole and the birds would come and eat his flesh.  What a gruesome interpretation!   I’m sure the baker regretted asking!  He probably would rather not know the outcome at this point.  Can you imagine his terror? He must have been especially terrified when he saw the Cupbearer's dream play out exactly as Joseph had predicted.  

So Joseph had predicted that  the cupbearer's head would be lifted up, and the baker's head would be lifted off.  This is a dream that portrays the day of judgement for all mankind.  The Baker's dream  symbolically speaks of sin and the evil one. 

This all sinks in and becomes much clearer when we read 1 Corinthians 5:8; “Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

It is noted that the different varieties of the breads baked for the king in the baker’s basket would have contained leaven.  Leaven is symbolic of sin, wickedness and malice.  The baker symbolically had sin upon his head.  Sin always leads to death.

Think for a moment about the vision of the birds swooping down to eat the bread from the baskets the Baker was carrying on his head.  We are reminded of a parable with a line that says:  “As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. “  (Matthew 13:4.)

We know that the scriptures always manage to interpret themselves if you just keep reading.  In Matthew 13:18-19 we get the interpretation of the parable:  “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:  When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart.  This is the seed sown along the path. “

The birds which ate the seeds in the parable of the sower represented the agents of Satan.  The birds in the baker’s dream symbolized the carrion-eating, unclean birds which would eventually eat away the baker’s flesh. 

So we see the culmination of Joseph's interpretation of the two dreams.   Pharaoh’s birthday arrived on the calendar and he had a huge party, a feast and a festival for all the people in the land.  He brought forward the cupbearer and the baker and lifted up their heads in front of all of his officials.  He restored the cupbearer and beheaded the baker, just as Joseph predicted would happen. 

Are you a Christian saved by the atonement of the blood of Christ?  Then you are comparable to the Chief Cupbearer and you are freely given eternal life! We are all cupbearers to the King of Kings!  Those who believe in Christ have been restored and lifted up.  We get to pour ourselves out every day like wine before the King of the Kingdom of God.  

Have you not believed on the name of Jesus yet?  Have you decided to believe there is no God and have you chosen to walk away from all the evidence that One True God does exist?  Then you are comparable to the baker in this story.  Without realizing it, when you deliberately choose not to follow God you get the default for that; you choose to follow Satan.  Those who follow Satan and live wicked lives go the way of the baker, straight into Satan’s trap where they will die with their sin on their own heads.

There is one huge difference between our lives today and the lives of these two dreamers.  We have a choice.  We can choose our destiny, they could not.  For centuries men have been given a choice, but the time for deciding is quickly running out.  Like sand in an hourglass we are quickly approaching an end to the period of grace that God has so generously granted.  Have you chosen correctly?  Have you chosen at all?  The day is coming when no more decisions can be made, either you have decided to follow God, or you have not.  I hope everyone reading this considers those consequences.     

For those who HAVE decided, I hope you were paying attention to that one little detail at the end of the story of the cupbearer and the baker.  By now you have all figured out that Joseph so clearly represents Christ in this story.  He had asked the cupbearer to "remember me."  Yet, after he was completely restored and back to an even better life than he once had before prison, the chief cupbearer failed to remember Joseph!  The cupbearer got exactly what he needed and more.  He was completely restored and forgiven by the King and allowed to return to abundant life, but he forgot all about the one who had promised this would happen.  He forgot to remember Joseph to the King.

Does this have a familiar sound?  Have you been living happy and snug in the Kingdom, just so restored and relieved, but forgetting who proclaimed your destiny in the first place?  Have you thanked the King for Jesus lately?  Wasn't He the One who told you the end of your story?  Do you take it all for granted and just go on with your good fortune?  Do you ever remember to remember?

Joseph was still stuck back in that prison, not complaining, just serving the Lord, waiting on the day that the King would find out and proclaim His innocence.  Jesus is still in that throne room, daily listening to your prayers, taking them to the Father.  Have you asked God to let him come quickly to his rightful place as King of Kings and Lord of Lords?   He hasn’t been crowned yet, but He, like Joseph, has a greater destiny than just restoring us and interpreting our destiny.  One day the King will look down and see Him in all His innocence and set him upon His rightful earthly throne, the one his enemy Satan would love to steal away from Him.  It is Satan's plan that none of us remember, that we are like that foolish cupbearer who only thought of himself when God blessed him.  But Jesus, like Joseph, is simply waiting on God’s timing.  Unlike the forgetful cupbearer, He always remembers and he always keeps His promises.  Soon we will know.  One day soon….HE IS COMING!   

The significance of the cupbearer's dream lives on, and an even greater cupbearer will one day be restored to an even greater Kingdom.  Keep your eyes open and your heart prepared.  

COME AS A CHILD LESSON 92 JOSEPH ENCOUNTERS MORE TROUBLE

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Back in Egypt, young Joseph was beginning his life as a slave in the house of Potipher.

 

Potipher was one of Pharaoh’s top officials.  Potipher’s Captain of The Guard had purchased Joseph from the Ishmaelites.

 

In his life as a slave, everything that Joseph touched seemed to go well.  This was soon observed by Potipher.  Joseph knew this blessings happened to him because he worshiped The One God of Heaven and Earth.  Joseph knew God was looking down on him and showing him favor in his circumstances.  Potipher just knew Joseph was a perfect servant.  He listened well.  He followed instructions well.  He did his job thoroughly.  He could be counted upon.  Potipher eventually trained Joseph to be his personal assistant.  He trusted Joseph with all that he owned and he noticed more and more that the hand of God was upon Joseph. 

Eventually Potipher put his whole house under the good leadership of Joseph.  Because Joseph was living in the household of Potipher, God blessed Potipher’s home.  His house was blessed and his fields were blessed because of the presence of Joseph, who worshiped God.  With Joseph in charge Potipher had no concerns but to eat, drink and be merry.

Joseph grew into a handsome young man.  Every woman noticed him.  Eventually, so did Potipher’s wife.  She tried to seduce Joseph and entice him to have an affair with her.  Joseph did not respond, yet she did not give up.  Finally Joseph had a conversation with her and explained that Potipher had trusted him with his whole household and God had blessed Potipher because of Joseph.  Because of this loyalty and honesty between them, if Potipher was blessed, Joseph was blessed.  Joseph explained that the only thing God had not given to him that he had given to Potipher was her.  She was Potipher’s wife, and it would be a sin against the God who was blessing them so for him to take her.  She did not seem to follow the conversation.  Joseph began to avoid her in his days.  She continued to speak with him every chance she got.  She tried very hard to wear him down, but Joseph did not encourage her or go to bed with her. 

One day Joseph came to work and no one was in the house but Joseph and Potipher’s wife.  She grabbed him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me.”  Joseph ran out of the house.  She had hold of his cloak, so he slipped out of it, pulled free, and left her standing there holding his cloak in her hands.  

Now we have learned earlier that a man’s “cloak” was usually an outer garment that symbolized who he was.  It usually had something on it that spoke of him as an individual.  It was worn as a decorative outer garment, much like liturgical priests wear over robes to liturgical services today.  It is more the size of a large scarf than a coat and it is worn on the top of the main outer shirt or garment.  

Perhaps this “cloak” could have been what Joseph had used to replace the “coat of many colors” that his father had given to him as a boy.  The coat of many colors was probably a cloak also. 

Perhaps Joseph had fashioned his new cloak in the same way as the old one that he loved so much, which his jealous brother’s had taken to his father stained with blood on it.  The blood had probably covered all the special designs and symbols that Jacob had fashioned for Joseph. 

The cloak was easy to pull off, since it was an “outer garment” used only for decoration and not worn as a full garment or a coat, but only for decorating the plain garment it topped.  The cloak was something that Hebrew men received when they became of age and wore throughout their lifetime.  It was individualized over the years to be symbolic of the events and decisions of a man’s life.  Significant things about the man were added over time, such as symbols for each child, or symbols for battles fought, or symbols for the land they owned, or things that pertained to their household; whatever was significant to the man.   Remember how Tamar had the cloak of Jacob?  It was positive proof of the fact that she had been with Jacob and no other man.  What was Potipher’s wife trying to pull with removing the cloak?  It could belong to no one else but Joseph.  The cloak clearly identified him. 

Joseph made the strong decision not to sin against God, even at the risk of losing something special that belonged to only him, something that symbolized his heritage and his life as a man; something that he had made to replace the special cloak which had been ripped away from him when he was sold into slavery.   Once again, out of evil and wrong motives, the identity of Joseph and everything he stood for was being ripped away from him and he was again totally innocent in the process. 

So Potipher’s wife was VERY mad and angry with Joseph for refusing her advances.  She was humiliated and probably very worried of what Joseph would say to her husband later. Most likely she was a very spoiled woman, used to always having her way.  She probably did not know the proper way to handle rejection.  She fumed around trying to decide what to do, now that she was in this strange predicament that she was not at all used to encountering.   

She devised a quick scheme, messed up her hair and her clothes and the room and called loudly to her servants for help.  They came running in from outside.  Some of them had probably seen Joseph leaving in a hurry and wondered what his haste was all about.  Some of them had probably seen the perplexed expression on his face.

When the servants entered the room where Potipher’s wife was screaming she was standing there crying and upset holding Joseph’s cloak.  She indicated to them, both through words and actions, that he had tried to rape her and she had resisted.  She explained that he left so fast when she screamed for help that he left his cloak behind.  The cloak made it clear that she was talking about Joseph.  After all, they had seen him running out of the house with that strange look on his face!  Poor Mrs. Potipher!  I wonder how many of the servants got a little raise in wages that week?

Later when Potipher came home, the story was repeated to him. All the witnesses were there. There was the cloak.  There were the faces of the servants who testified to her scream.  There was a sobbing, but unharmed wife clinging to Potipher for dear life.  Not wanting to hurt him, Joseph had never spoken to Potipher about his wife. 

It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for Joseph!

Potipher, in his great anger, put Joseph in prison.  He must have been very hurt and confused that his faithful and loyal assistant had turned on him.  He probably blamed it all on his wife’s irresistible beauty and charm.  He must have comforted himself by saying to himself that at least her honor and dignity had been salvaged and she had not been hurt.  He must have been very proud of her bravery and willingness to resist such a handsome man as Joseph in order to stay true to him.  Oh bother! 

Too bad for Potipher and his household that the favor shown to Joseph by God in Potipher’s house followed Joseph to prison. 

While Joseph was in prison the warden found him to be a worthy and honorable man.  He discovered he could trust Joseph with anything.  He saw that Joseph listened well and respected others.  Joseph paid attention to detail and he followed instructions well.  He saw that Joseph was wise, much wiser than all the other prisoners.  Eventually, the warden put Joseph in charge of one thing after another, each time Joseph proved true.  Finally the warden put Joseph in charge of all the prison and all the prisoners.  The warden knew he did not have to worry about anything as long as Joseph was in charge.

No matter where Joseph went, or what circumstances he was in, The LORD was with him and gave him success.   

PIECES OF THE PUZZLE - ON THE SUBJECT OF DEMONS

                                        

It was one of those subjects you don’t usually get excited about discussing in a group.  I’m speaking of our recent bible study from Luke, Chapter 8.  The subject was that odd story of the man who had a legion of demons living in him when Jesus came along and cast them out and healed him.  For many people this horrifying example of demonic possession is a pretty frightening subject that they would prefer not to think about. 

At first glance it seems odd and a bit foreign to discover such a bazaar story tucked in among the safe and reassuring passages of so many other happy and joyful scriptural miracles of the Gospel.    On second thought, and after a closer consideration the truths of The Kingdom of God; perhaps the subject isn’t really “odd” at all.  It could be considered another one of the greatest miracles.

I will confess that most of the people I know (myself included) aren’t living in graveyards or cutting themselves with rocks like the man in this story; but the truth is many ARE fighting demons constantly.  Many are not even aware of what is truly happening to them on a daily basis.  They might notice something is wrong, but not understand what is going on.  Some actually realize what is going on and are tired of fighting the battle and have just caved in to their demons.  These are people who are constantly tormented all the time.  They have given up hope.  Seems this was even a problem for Martin Luther at times, but he overcame this by God’s power.  Maybe it isn’t such an “odd” story after all.  Maybe this old story can be applied to our lives today.  Perhaps we should listen more carefully.  Jesus never wasted His words.    Let’s let the scriptures speak for themselves.  Both Mark and Luke were witnesses to this miracle: 

 Mark 5:1-17

5 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. ² When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, ³ and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; ⁴ because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. ⁶ Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; ⁷ and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” ⁸ For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹ Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. ¹² The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” ¹³ Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.¹⁴ Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion”; and they became frightened. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. ¹⁷ And they began to implore Him to leave their region.

Luke 8:26-37

²⁶ Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷ And when He came out onto the land, He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. ²⁸ Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.” ²⁹ For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. ³⁰ And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. ³¹ They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss. ³² Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain; and the demons implored Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission. ³³ And the demons came out of the man and entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. ³⁴ When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country. ³⁵ The people went out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened. ³⁶ Those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well. ³⁷ And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to leave them, for they were gripped with great fear; and He got into a boat and returned.


Would Jesus have stayed longer, had the local people been more welcoming?  I wonder.

The timing of the demoniac crossing the path of Jesus was very interesting.  Jesus had just been on the sea in a storm with the disciples and they had been extremely afraid.  Jesus calmed the storm as well as the disciple’s fears, and they landed safely on the other side of the sea; the side where the Gentiles dwelled.  It is often in times like these when demons chose to show up.  They like to catch you off guard, and they enjoy playing on people’s fears.  

Trauma and traumatic experiences often open the door of our souls to demons.  For most of us who are Christians, God will shield us and not allow them to stay; but that doesn’t mean they will not keep trying to continue their games of torture in the meantime.  We tend to react just like those disciples in that boat did.  So often when we reach the place of fear in our lives, we forget that Jesus is in the boat with us.  More times than not we allow ourselves to become weak and helpless before we even think of calling out His name.  These demonic spirits like for us to stay in this condition, and they sneak easily in when we aren’t filling our hearts and minds with the peace of God instead of the lies of the enemy. 

The disciples had just been through a lot of trauma on that ship at sea.  Fortunately for them, Jesus was there, and brought His peace into the situation, making them stronger instead of weaker as they crossed over the sea and entered the land of the gentiles. 

I love how the passage notes that they “crossed over the sea.”  Those words conjure up images of all the many multiple times God’s people have been in danger and He gently led them out of bondage, through the sea and into the promise land.  We really need to hold on to this image as we live out our lives in today’s world.  We really need to trust in the miraculous delivery of God when we come to those hard, impossible places that we must navigate through in life. We too are on a journey to a promise land, and no one ever said it was going to be easy! 

Undoubtedly this man in the story who was possessed by a legion of demons had been through many hard, dry places in his life; Legion is a Roman word that means “an army of many.”  The actual numbers in a legion varied, but the basic pattern of organization was always the same.  This might matter to you one day should you ever face a legion of demons.  Listen up here!   Satan is very organized and his demons use the same old patterns over and over again.  They are not so smart; they just keep repeating the same patterns.  If you know the usual patterns, you will begin to better understand how they operate. 

In a Roman legion the smallest unit was the tent group (contubernium).  This group was usually composed of 8 men who shared a tent.  They usually had a mule, and they carried eating equipment with them.  The fact that they shared a tent is significant.  I find it interesting how many times our bodies are referred to in the bible as “tabernacles,” or "tents," in other words – “dwelling places.”    Perhaps the “tents” referred to here could mean a man’s body.  This legion of many demonic spirits was dwelling in the tent of a man’s body. 

In a Roman legion, these contubernium were organized into a disciplinary unit called a century.  A century was under the command of a centurion.  The basic fighting unit was a called a cohort and it was composed of six centuries (usually 480 men each plus 6 centurions each).  The legion itself was composed of ten cohorts, and the first cohort had many extra men—the clerks, engineers, and other specialists who did not usually fight—and the senior centurion of the legion, the primipilus, or “number one javelin.”  Are you getting a picture?  These many demons making up the legion were experts in many different fields. 

So, does this mean that all legions of demons are organized similar to the structure of the Roman army?  Who knows?  But it is a thought worth pondering.  It might matter in your approach to receiving discernment from God in casting them out.  The more you understand about what you are facing, the more you will understand what to do.  Look to The Holy Spirit for true answers and guidance.  If you listen to The Holy Spirit you will not need to know all of the facts, because God knows and His Spirit will guide you.  Trust God to lead you.

This legion of organized demons now had this man in the story under a strong bondage.   Can you imagine what he faced every day of his life being subject to an army of many demons living in him?   If they WERE in fact organized similar to a Roman legion it would have meant that each demon involved in the army carried out different functions within the group.  The poor man would have been in a state of constant confusion and chaos.    It was a prison so strong and fortified that this poor man had lost hope and stopped fighting.  What a perfect time for the only answer available to step out of the boat and appear on this side of the sea!  Jesus, the lover of this man’s soul was passing by!   Anytime Jesus is passing by; it is wise to pay attention.

This sad, evil, pagan place on the other side of the sea was where Jesus performed the first of a long string of miracles for this Gentile part of the country.  His witnesses were those twelve (or maybe more at times) raggedy disciples; those peculiar men who had been strengthened enough in the boat to let go of their fear and step out to be the first little church of believers.  I’ve often wondered why it was this particular miracle that came in this particular order.  The miracle that happened after the time of preparing the disciples in the boat and teaching them not to be afraid was a miracle of casting out a legion of demons.  Now that’s a powerful start!   It also gives the church a point of priority. 

When Jesus and the disciples came to the land of the Gerasenes to a place “opposite of Galilee,” as Luke describes it, the demoniac came running up to Jesus. 

It comes to mind that Jesus and the disciples were on THE OTHER SIDE; the side that was opposite to  everything that was familiar and safe to them.  Often we find that dealing with demons means walking through and encountering the unknown, unsafe and unfamiliar.  As they stepped out of the boat following Jesus, the first place they had to walk through was a horrible, evil place.  There is no talk of life and the living on this side of the world.  They found themselves in a graveyard, a place of the dead.   Gone was the beauty and glory of Jerusalem and the excitement and adventure of overcoming in the days spent together in the boat.  They found themselves far from the land of the living.  Nothing was familiar here.  Everything was opposite of what they knew to be good and right and Godly.  They must have wondered why Jesus sent them to this place of all places.

Anyone trying to follow Jesus, trying to step bravely out of the boat, may find themselves in this same place one day.  It happens.  You go on God’s Sabbath to worship and praise and spend time before the Lord thanking Him for all He has done and has been to you.  You find your soul is filled up with the power of God from each of the holy convocations where He meets with His people and inhabits their praises in pure and holy times of worship.  The experience is wonderful!  Just being in the strong pure presence of God with your brothers and sisters is awesome.  Here we see The Church in its truest form, serving like a little cocoon, wrapping its love around true believers, nourishing them, teaching and protecting them and giving them safe harbor and rest each seventh day; so that they may gain the strength and stamina to go out into the world again, carrying the gospel as they go.  The church prepares God’s people to walk among the dead.  Hopefully within the fortified walls of the congregation of God they learn how to pass on the power of God to others who at present can only dream of moving to the land of the living. 

If you are a Christian bent on ministry and carrying out God’s will in your life you too will pass daily through a cruel world of dead men walking; seeking no good.  It is not the fault of these people.  It is the work of our enemy living in and around them.  We must be like Jesus and see beyond their demons and learn to love their souls.  God did not put anyone on this earth to be tormented.  He has a purpose for each life that comes into this world.  Sometimes we can’t see beyond the circumstances, but God can.  We must trust this fact and be bold.  By the blood of Jesus shed for us we all can be free.  Sometimes God uses His people and certain circumstances to bring about His purposes that Satan is always trying to destroy.  My friends remember, the battle has already been accomplished on the cross at Calvary.  Believe me; God is in control of the demons in the world.    

In this place of the dead, among the graves, dwelt that tired man who was less than alive.  Both Mark and Luke clearly described his condition in their writings. 

The people were basically ignoring this man.  They were afraid of him.  The people in this land were going about their day, oblivious to God’s dietary laws, obviously making a very good living by breeding and selling pigs.  

We all have our pigs to sell, don’t we?  Sometimes out there in the world we are encouraged to accept the things that God doesn’t approve of in the name of making a living.   We try to justify this stance and make it appear honorable.   We often compromise our principals and justify our means for doing so by calling it “being responsible.”   Now these are “respectable” sins, but soon we learn that even when our sins are “respectable” in the eyes of some men; they are still sins none the less.  We must seek God’s respect, not mans.  It is very hard to continue to stay holy and clean before God in this world because of all the demons prowling around, twisting and turning the truth of our perceptions until we can’t even see correctly anymore.  Thus was the state of these people.  Thus was the state of the demoniac.  The demons were having a hay day with everyone here.  Some of it was more obvious.  Jesus could see it all.  His eyes are pure and holy.
 

Jesus did not verbally address the obvious problems of the crowd; He just eliminated the problem of all the pigs along with the demons as He cleaned and healed the soul of the helpless man.  Jesus is like that.  He has a way of making everything simple often without even using words. 

The man who came to Jesus obviously was living a horrible life.   Have you ever seen a person caught in a severe pattern of self destruction?  There is no logic to it.  That is usually the first sign that they haven’t decided to let God get involved with their lives yet.  

God is a God of order, not chaos.  He brought order to chaos when He breathed into the deep and the world was first born and shaped.  From the very beginning, God has been about controlling the chaos that Satan tries to orchestrate in our world. 

Over and over when you find out demons are tormenting people you will see a pattern of chaos and disorder in every area of their lives.  They might not be cutting themselves like the man in the story, or running around naked screaming or bruising themselves constantly by rocks; but something is usually clearly off.  They will often seem to be going against every pattern of logic that could help them improve their situation.  

People who care about those tormented with demons will often try to help to no avail.  For some reason the tormented souls will often refuse to listen to those closest to them who have their best interest in mind.  They continue the pattern of self destruction taking all those who step into their path down the hard road with them.  Eventually they end up very broken and alone.   If you’ve seen and experienced this, you might be looking at someone a lot like the man in this story. 

Demons don’t discriminate.  

It can happen to anyone.  

Ordinary, honest, hard working people might suddenly have several demons living inside of them or around about them, controlling them, manipulating them and ruining their lives.  It happens even to good people.  After all, why would demons need to control bad people?  They are already contributing to the work of Satan without even realizing it.  Demons love to conquer the pure of heart the most. 

The only cure for this is for the one who is being tormented to bow at the feet of Jesus and ask for mercy.  

You can’t do this for them.  

You can intercede for them and beg God to speak to their hearts and souls and help them to hear.  You can offer a fast for them and pray for them, but the person being tormented must submit himself to the power of Jesus in order for the demons to leave and stay gone.  

If you are praying for a person tormented by demons, ask God to soften their hearts and make them aware of His will for them.  Ask for mercy and forgiveness for them.  Then ask God to lead them to the right person that is willing to do battle for them in His army.  It may be you, if it is; you should be ready.  Be filled up to the brim with God’s Holy Spirit.  Be walking and talking with Jesus every day.  Be strong in prayer and obedience.  Be fully confessed of your sins before God.  Be strong and courageous and covered in the blood of Jesus.  This isn’t a place for the weak to visit.

Most of the time the wounded and hurting people caught up in these situations are not even consciously aware of what is going on.  They just know something is terribly wrong, but they can’t figure it out.  It takes Jesus coming along, passing their way, entering into the land of the dead where they are living out their lives.  He may pass by through you. 

How does this happen today? 

If Jesus is living in you, He is passing through the land within you.  Through you He is protecting and defending others as you pass through the land of the dead and hopeless of this world.  You are taking Him with you everywhere you go.  You are simply the vessel for other people’s healing; a connection to God for them when they are hopeless and have truly lost their way.  You are a disciple who has been delivered from fear.  You are able to step boldly out of the boat of the church into an opposite world that is in great need.  

You are crossing the sea to the other side every time you leave the comfort and peace of the worship inside the church.  Be prayed up and be aware.  Get refueled every Sabbath.  Keep The Holy Spirit abundant and overflowing in your spirit.  Don’t fall.  Make careful prayerful steps down the path of light.  Don’t forget to stay behind the footsteps of Jesus on your journey.  That is your place of safety.  If you forget Jesus, you put yourself and others in jeopardy of falling into the same life that the man in the story fell into. 

It is only the power of Jesus that saves us and makes us whole.  So; take Jesus with you where ever you go, and let Jesus use you as an instrument to do His work, which sometimes means casting out legions of demons.   

Believe it, demons exist, but believe more that Jesus exist!

Working right along with Jesus are legions of Angels!  His army is much stronger than Satan’s.  Jesus has overcome the world and the demons must bow at His feet.  God has given Him all authority over Heaven and Earth.  Jesus has given His church that same authority.

Does that frighten you? 

Maybe it is a wise fear that will provoke you to call Jesus into the situation, just like the disciples in the boat as they went through the storm before they encountered the land full of demons.  God conquered their fears first; then He sent them out to use His power.

Always remember WHO is in charge.  Those who remember to keep the power of God alive and dwelling within them have the power to overcome all demons and the demons will tremble at their command.   This is because they know WHO has the power and it is God, not their weak human flesh.  This is because those who know Jesus will be prepared from their time in the boat, and they will be quick and sure to follow the example that Jesus showed them through this odd little often ignored story.

Once again I tell you, the man was living among the dead.  Have you ever found yourself living among the dead? 

Do you hang out with people who don’t have the living power of God dwelling inside of them and think that they will bring you out of your misery?  Well, they can only take you further down to the pits of hell.  Misery loves company.  Choose your companions wisely.  If you spend your life hanging out among the dead you are going to begin to collect demons.  That is where they dwell.  They can’t dwell in the people who have the living power of God inside of them. 

If The Holy Spirit inhabits your soul there will be no room for the demons.  Stay filled up!  This man in the story didn’t make very wise choices in friendship.  He chose the dead instead of the living.

It would have been okay for him to go out there hoping to help those who had the sad life among the graves, but that is not what he was doing.  He was there to become like them, to live their sad lifestyle until it destroyed him.  If you venture out to a place full of spiritually dead people, give your testimony, pray for them, ask God to remove their demons, ask God to remove the curses they leave like a trail behind them.  Love their souls and pray for them, but move on out of the land of the dead afterwards.  

Come back into the fold to be refilled with life.  Come back to the land of the living where your people dwell.  Come back to the place of God’s presence and avoid the demons unless God specifically tells you to go there.  He will need for you to do this at times, but when your mission is done, come home to The Church, the place where God has put his name and the place that is about LIFE and not death.  If all goes well, you will be bringing those with new life back with you. 

If the demons are truly cast out, the people seeking help will be re-clothed.  The robe of the blood of Jesus will cover them, and they will come and sit at His feet and worship with you.  It is up to them to decide. God does not twist people’s arm to make decisions.  He allows free will.  He wants true love, not desperate love that comes and goes with every circumstance in life.  You cannot decide for anyone else.  Every man must choose for himself.  

This man knowingly and intentionally kept inflicting wound upon wound upon himself.   We do that when we don’t turn to God and ask forgiveness for our own sins, and that opens the door wide for demons to dwell. 

Why I don’t know, but often we who know better just keep returning to those same old sins, inflicting wound upon wound, knowing we do wrong and knowing that we aren’t following God, until we reach the place where we let too many demons come upon us.  

This sad state is often found even among the faithful of God who attend church regularly.  If you had a demon detector that made the demons people bring in the door every Sabbath show up, you might be surprised and even afraid to sit on your favorite pew.   Leave them alone until the time it right, they are seeking Jesus and that is the first step.  When people truly begin to worship and praise God; the demons will flee of their own accord. 

This was the state of the man who came to Jesus in the story.  He had opened too many doors and too many demons had taken over.  He was in a very helpless state.  They now controlled him; and he thought it was useless to fight them anymore.  He gave himself over to them and they just became stronger and stronger.  The passage tells of how strong they were.  Someone had tried to bind the man to keep him from inflicting pain upon himself.  He had broken the binds.  Someone had shackled him and he had even broken the shackles.

This is what happens when you know you are giving in to your demons and you decide to ask a weak Christian who hasn’t spent much time before God earnestly seeking His will to pray for you about this.     They have a little power because they are covered in the blood of Jesus; so they can pray a little prayer that will temporarily bind the demons, but then the demons will break the binds and the process will start all over again.  Maybe another demon will join them, and it will become twice as strong as before.  The demon possessed person must seek Jesus!  The person praying with them must be strong in The Lord and be walking in purity and truth before The Lord.  Discernment matters.  If you are in a weak spiritual state, please excuse yourself from praying against demons.  It will only harm the person needing help. 

The passage says there were shackles put on the man and they were broken too.  Shackles are thick locked chains that can’t usually be broken, but the demons were so many that they were broken.  An army of demons can easily break shackles; but one word from Jesus can stop them in their tracks! 

So let me say it another way, for emphasis:  How do you get rid of an army of demons? 

Good question!  YOU can’t, but Jesus CAN.  You ask Jesus to pass through the area and cast them out and send them where Jesus wills for them to go, never to return.  Jesus has the power to do this.  If He dwells inside of you and you are truly submitted to His will, you can request this and it will happen. 

So Jesus passed through the land and the man became aware of him.  The demons inside of the man were under the authority of Jesus and they knew it.  They FEARED Him.  They knew He had the power to cast them into utter darkness into the abyss forever.  They bowed before Jesus and pleaded for mercy.

When they bowed before Jesus we are told that He told them to come out of the man and He asked them what their name was.

When you are confronting another person’s demons and trying to help them, be sure Jesus is there with you.  Stay prayed up.  If you know and feel the power of Jesus in you, command the demons to bow before Jesus.  Then do what Jesus did.  Ask them their names.  You have to know how many demons you are dealing with.  It isn’t impossible to deal with many demons. In this story Jesus was dealing with a legion!  Can you imagine how long it must have taken just for all of them to tell Jesus their names? So many names bowing before The King of Kings, waiting in fear to see what He is going to do with them! 

My friends, it is important to understand something.  Legions of demons are the reason this country is in the shape it is in.  Armies form principalities.  We are told to pray against the principalities of the devil. The church isn’t on its knees enough for bringing those demons to bow before Jesus and name who they are and what they are up to.  

We are guilty of remaining lukewarm.  We are guilty of carrying around our own demons and letting them prevent us from casting the demons out of others.  If you have been doing this – confess your sins to God and beg for mercy and forgiveness.  You can cast the demons out of your own life.  They should have no power over you.  Every time you confess and God grants forgiveness they have to leave.  Don’t let them accumulate until you allow a legion!  Get rid of them.  

Most of the time people are only tormented by demons that come and go.  Real possession is rare, though it can happen.  These weak little demons are so insignificant before the throne of God.  Use the authority Jesus gave you when He died for you and allow His blood to cast them out. 

Then; when you are clean and filled up with the Holy Spirit until it spills out and runs over, join the REAL army.  Go help clean up the legions that are attacking the church, our land, our nation, and the nations of the world.  

Seek The Kingdom of God every day.  

Get that army of demons to bow before Jesus, get them to say who they are.  Ask Jesus to send them to the place He chooses to send them.  If the whole church would stand up and do this, we would not have the problems we have today.  We would only have a clean, pure, loving home here on earth where we are waiting on our Bridegroom to come for us.  Our dwelling place would be prepared and ready for the King of Kings, and He would return to find his true love waiting, clean and ready for service before Him.  The church needs to get this picture.

It has always puzzled me as to why Jesus honored the request of the demons and sent them into a herd of swine, and why the demons even wanted Him to do this.  Why did He have mercy on those demons and not send them straight to the abyss?  When they went into the swine and the swine ran off the cliff and died, what happened to the demons at that point? 

There is definitely another lesson to learn here.  The people of the region were allowing sin to exist and run rampant among them.  They had not taken control of the area and had not put their land under the Kingdom Authority of God; hence the demonic activity freely ruled the land.  Did they repent when they saw the miracle of Jesus?  NO!  They were simply fascinated that it happened.  They were probably disgusted that they lost their investment in the pigs.  

They considered it, became fearful and asked Jesus to leave.  Can you imagine that?  Yet, it happens in churches across America everyday!  People come and sight-see.  They observe great miracles done in the name of Jesus.  And they walk away and go right back to their homes full of sins and demons. 

Will America ever get this? 

The people of the land in this story were not a bit changed when Jesus, The Son of God, passed by.

So, who was changed? 

The only one in that whole land that changed was the man that Jesus healed. 

One man.  I am reminded of The Good Shepherd who leaves the many to go and save the one.   

It was said that the local people were amazed to see the man clean and clothed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, begging to follow Him and go with Him.   

Isn’t that us all after Jesus comes and cleans up our demons?  He cleans us and clothes us with the robes of righteousness.  He covers us with His cloak, that cloak of the wedding feast that will allow us the grace to enter the Father’s banquet one day.  We find ourselves sitting at the feet of Jesus, hungry and thirsty to know more of HIM.  We find ourselves completely in love with him, wanting to go where He goes and do what He does. 

He didn’t allow the man to go with him.  Jesus needed that man right were he was.  It was now up to him to live out a life before God that would bring all the other people to know the truth of The Kingdom.   

We are in the same situation.  We long to be in our heavenly home, but for now, He looks at us and smiles and tells us to go home and tell others what God has done for us, just like the man in the story.  Jesus goes on to prepare a place for us in Heaven that the Father will one day bring down to earth for The Kingdom of God where Jesus will reign as King of Kings and we, His Bride, will be beside Him forever.  We have a lot to look forward to!  In the meantime, we have a lot of work to do.  It is a privilege not a task. 

The healed man did just the right thing.  He went off to tell others what God had done for him.  The demons no longer had any power over him; and he had been granted the blessing of a life with God for eternity.   

It was the greatest gift the man could ever receive.  

Will you receive it too?  

Will you join the family and come into the Kingdom today?  I promise you, all demons will flee and your life will be changed forever.