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Original Message
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Spiritual Food so you will not be deceived....
At the name of Jesus Christ, every being, be it good or bad, angel or human, dead or alive-- all things will bow a knee and pay homage to the One who is worthy of all praise—Jesus Christ!
Mark 5:5-7
6 When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped Him. 7 And he cried out with a loud voice and said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?
All the demons knew Jesus, and recognized Him as Son of the Most High God!
The people of the world don’t want to know Him, and refuse to consider Jesus as the Savior of the world, and as mankind’s Savior-- the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.
But, the demons knew Jesus. And, they believed in Jesus, too!
Remember the 7 sons of Sceva, in the Book of Acts, when confronted with an evil spirit? (Acts 19:14)
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" 16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
The demons tremble at the name of Jesus Christ, their Judge; and ours, too.
19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble! (James 2:19)
Jesus then commands the evil spirit to depart…
Mark 5:7-8
8 For He said to him, "Come out of the man, unclean spirit!"
Then, look at the next verse. I find this question to be the most interesting, intriguing question, of all 20 that we study.
Mark 5:9
9 Then He asked him, "What is your name?"
Jesus asks, “What is your name?”
Well, this leads me to ask…WHY? Why did Jesus ask this question??
“What is your name?”
Of all the demons that our Lord cast out of people, why did He ask this particular demon what his name was?
In verse 9, the demon answers the Lord…
And he answered, saying, "My name is Legion; for we are many."
Let’s stop here for a moment.
Jesus asked the demon what his name was.
The demon answered Him and replied, “my name is Legion, for we are many.”
Friends, I say to you that Jesus, once again, did NOT ask this question because He did not know the name of this spirit; NEITHER did He ask this question so that He could acquire knowledge.
Neither did He ask this question, this time, so that God would get the glory, at the demon’s name being revealed.
No, this time, Jesus asked the question for us, the readers, for OUR behalf!
This time, it seems to me that Jesus wants us to know something, by asking this question.
Does this name, Legion, ever come into play again, in the future?
Well, to know the future, we must go to the past. Let’s turn to Ezekiel 38:8
Friends, I would like all of you to read this account, whenever you have the time, since time constrains me from getting into this like I would want.
But, here in Ezekiel 38, we have a glimpse of the Battle of Armageddon, in the thinking stage……
BUT, more importantly, we have a very, very important glimpse into a catalyst of this battle—a demon that is responsible for the gathering of the participants.
The next verse that we look at is Ezekiel 38:8, a prophecy in which God tells Ezekiel the prophet to deliver to Russia (Gog), most likely.
Ezek 38:8
8 After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.
The logical question is this: Who does the visiting here?
Who does the visiting? Who influences Russia, and others, to fight the war to end all wars?
Verse 10…
10'Thus says the Lord GOD: "On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan:
I love that: Thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan.
Right after this visit, this world ruler has a bad case of the “I will’s”, just like Satan did, recorded in Isaiah 14:13,14.
These chapters, 38 and 39, in Ezekiel, describe this war…But, at the defeat of this army, God gives the city a peculiar name…
Ezek 39:16
16 The name of the city will also be Hamonah.
Friends, guess what this word “Hamonah” means?
This word means, MULTITUDE, MANY, or LEGION.
Let’s go one more place, although this is the same battle; Rev 16:13
Rev 16:13-14
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Is this why Jesus asked this demon what his name was?
Perhaps…
I just wanted to offer some interesting insights into this question.
One thing is certain: Jesus wanted us to know the name of this demon!
As we close this study then, we look at the evidence…
Jesus asks a demon what his name was, and it was told to him, and to us, that his name was “Legion”, meaning “multitude”, or “many”.
In the future battle of Armageddon, we see a demon influencing a world ruler, by putting thoughts into his mind…
Ezek 38:10-11
10'Thus says the Lord GOD: "On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: 11 You will say, 'I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates'—
For all intents and purposes, we see God naming the city of this carnage, “Legion”.
Ezek 39:16
16 The name of the city will also be Hamonah. Thus they shall cleanse the land." '
How about the translation from the Living Bible…
Ezek 39:15
A city named "Multitude" is there! And so the land will finally be cleansed.' TLB.
And, we see the battle of Armageddon, and demons, being dispatched out of the mouth of Satan himself, the antichrist, and the false prophet (Rev 16:13)
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Is this the same demon that was tormenting this man, in Jesus’ day?
I do not know…
Dear Lord, my prayer tonight is for all those who are faithful students of Your word, here in the bible class. Also, for those who might not be faithful, too. I pray, Lord God, that You would fill them all with the desire to know You better, and to know Your word better.
May everybody here have the unquenchable fire burning inside of them; a fire that drives everybody to read Your word, and to search out the Scriptures, on their own.
Lord, please bless each and every soul tonight, with wisdom and understanding. In Jesus’ name I ask this, and pray…AMEN
God bless you all this week!
[link to www.gospelstudy.net]
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