Reading for Today:

• Genesis 21:1 Chapter 21 1 And Jehovah visited Sarah as he had said, and Jehovah did unto Sarah as he had spoken. –22:24
• Psalms 6:6-10 6 I am weary with my groaning; Every night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. 7 Mine eye wasteth away because of grief; It waxeth old because of all mine adversaries. 8 Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; For Jehovah hath heard the voice of my weeping. 9 Jehovah hath heard my supplication; Jehovah will receive my prayer. 10 All mine enemies shall be put to shame and sore troubled: They shall turn back, they shall be put to shame suddenly. Psalm 7 Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto Jehova, concerning the words of Cush a Benjamite.
• Proverbs 3:5-6 5 Trust in Jehovah with all thy heart, And lean not upon thine own understanding: 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he will direct thy paths.
• Matthew 8:18-34 18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandments to depart unto the other side. 19 And there came a scribe, and said unto him, Teacher, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven `have' nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 21 And another of the disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 22 But Jesus saith unto him, Follow me; and leave the dead to bury their own dead. 23 And when he was entered into a boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the boat was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. 25 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Save, Lord; we perish. 26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him? 28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, there met him two possessed with demons, coming forth out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man could pass by that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? 30 Now there was afar off from them a herd of many swine feeding. 31 And the demons besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine. 32 And he said unto them, Go. And they came out, and went into the swine: and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep into the sea, and perished in the waters. 33 And they that fed them fled, and went away into the city, and told everything, and what was befallen to them that were possessed with demons. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought `him' that he would depart from their borders.

Notes:

Genesis 21:1 the LORD visited Sarah. To the aged couple (vv. 2, 5, 7), exactly as promised, a son was born and the 25-year suspense was finally over with the laughter of derision turning to rejoicing (v. 6). The barrenness of Sarah (11:26) had ended.

Genesis 21:10 Cast out…not be heir. Legal codes of Abraham’s day—e.g., of Nuzi and of Hammurabi—forbade the putting out of a handmaiden’s son if a rightful, natural heir was born. Sarah’s request, thus, offended social law, Abraham’s sensibilities, and his love for Ishmael (v. 11). Abraham, however, was given divine approval and assurances to overcome his scruples before sending Hagar and Ishmael out into the wilderness (vv. 12–15).

Matthew 8:21 let me first go and bury my father. This does not mean that the man’s father was already dead. The phrase “I must bury my father” was a common figure of speech, meaning “Let me wait until I receive my inheritance.”

Matthew 8:24 suddenly a great tempest arose. The Sea of Galilee is more than 690 feet below sea level. To the north, Mt. Hermon rises 9,200 feet, and from May to October strong winds often sweep through the narrow surrounding gorges into this valley, causing extremely sudden and violent storms. He was asleep. Just before the disciples saw one of the most awesome displays of His deity, they were given a touching picture of His humanity. He was so weary that not even the violent tossing of the boat awakened Him—even though the disciples feared they would drown (v. 25).

DAY 11: What does it mean to be demon-possessed?

Matthew 8:16 16 And when even was come, they brought unto him many possessed with demons: and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were sick: and 8:28 refer to individuals who were demon-possessed. This means “demonized,” or under the internal control of a demon. All of the cases of demonization dealt with by Christ involved the actual indwelling of demons who utterly controlled the bodies of their victims, even to the point of speaking through them ( Mark 5:5 5 And always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones. –9), causing derangement ( John 10:20 20 And many of them said, He hath a demon, and is mad; why hear ye him? ), violence ( Luke 8:29 29 For he was commanding the unclean spirit to come out from the man. For oftentimes it had seized him: and he was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters; and breaking the bands asunder, he was driven of the demon into the deserts. ), or rendering them mute ( Mark 9:17 17 And one of the multitude answered him, Teacher, I brought unto thee my son, who hath a dumb spirit; –22).

From Matthew 8:29 29 And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? , it is evident that even the demons not only recognized the deity of Jesus, but also knew there was a divinely appointed time for their judgment and He would be their judge. Their eschatology was factually correct, but it is one thing to know the truth and quite another thing to love it (see James 2:19 19 Thou believest that God is one; thou doest well: the demons also believe, and shudder. ). Luke 8:31 31 And they entreated him that he would not command them to depart into the abyss. relates they pleaded not to be sent into the abyss, meaning the pit, the underworld, the prison of bound demons who disobeyed (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6). They knew Jesus had the power and authority to send them there if He desired.

Deliverance from demons and healing were a fulfillment of the words spoken by Isaiah the prophet concerning the atonement (Is. 53:4, 5). Christ bore both the guilt and the curse of sin (see Gal. 3:13). Both physical healing and ultimate victory over death are guaranteed by Christ’s atoning work, but these will not be fully realized until the very end (1 Cor. 15:26).

From The MacArthur Daily Bible Copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Bibles, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc, Nashville, TN 37214, www.thomasnelson.com.

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