Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Matthew 17:21 - Casting out of Devils (demons/spirits)

Mat 17:14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,

Mat 17:15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.

Mat 17:16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

Mat 17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.

Mat 17:18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

Mat 17:19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?

Mat 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Mat 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Note: this same word is used in Revelation 9:19-20

Rev 9:19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

Rev 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:

And the definition includes spirits, idols and false gods, these can take many forms.

Devil

DEVIL, n. Devl. [L., to calumniate.]

1. In the Christian theology, an evil spirit or being; a fallen angel, expelled from heaven for rebellion against God; the chief of the apostate angels; the implacable enemy and tempter of the human race. In the New Testament, the word is frequently and erroneously used for demon.

2. A very wicked person, and in ludicrous language, an great evil. In profane language, it is an expletive expressing wonder, vexation, &c.

3. An idol, or false god. Lev 17. 2 Chr 11.

G1140

δαιμόνιον

daimonion

Thayer Definition:

1) the divine power, deity, divinity

2) a spirit, a being inferior to God, superior to men

3) evil spirits or the messengers and ministers of the devil

Part of Speech: noun neuter

A Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: neuter of a derivative of G1142

G1142 (Thayer)

δαίμων

daimōn

Thayer Definition:

1) a god, a goddess

1a) an inferior deity, whether good or bad

2) in the NT, an evil spirit

Part of Speech: noun masculine or feminine

A Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: from daio (to distribute fortunes)

Matthew 17:21 Gill

Howbeit, this kind goeth not out,.... The Vulgate Latin renders it, "is not cast out"; and so do the Arabic version, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel; and which confirm the more commonly received sense of these words, that they are to be understood of that kind of devils, one of which was cast out of the lunatic, and was of the worst sort, of a fierce and obstinate kind; and having had long possession, was not easily ejected: and that there is a difference in devils, some are worse and more wicked than others, is clear from Mat 12:45 and not of that kind of miracles, or kind of faith to the working of such miracles. Moreover, the above versions, as they fitly express the word εκπορευται, here used; see Mar 9:17 compared with Mat 15:17. So they pertinently set forth the dispossession of devils, who do not go out voluntarily, but by force; and this sort could not be ejected,

but by fasting and prayer: that is, in the exercise of a miraculous faith, expressed in solemn prayer to God, joined with fasting. It seems that Christ not only suggests, that faith was greatly wanting in his disciples; for which reason they could not cast out the devil, and heal the lunatic; but they had been wanting in prayer to God, to assist them in the exercise of their miraculous gifts; and that whilst Christ, and the other three disciples were on the mount, they had been feasting and indulging themselves with the people, and so were in a very undue disposition of mind, for such extraordinary service, for which our Lord tacitly rebukes them. This agrees with the notions of the Jews, who think that, by fasting, a divine soul (f) תשיג את מבוקשה, "may obtain that which is sought for"; and that among other things, for which a private person may afflict himself with fasting, this is one, מפני רוח רעה, "because of an evil spirit" (g); which they think may be got rid of this way.

(f) Jacchiades in Dan. x. 3. (g) T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 22. 2. Maimon. Hilch. Taaniot, c. 1. sect. 6.

Matthew 12:45 (KJV)

45 Then 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.