Rather than me, some of you could be teaching from this scripture with more expertise than me. But as it is, the Lord has given me this responsibility tonight. I hope and pray that my comments are accurate and helpful. Because, assuming that the Lord permits us to live a few more years in this world, there is a good likelihood that we will eventually have contact with Satan and his hoards, whether or not we are aware of it at the time.
Let’s start with some general comments about Biblical demonology.
First, the plural word “devils” is found forty-five times in the New Testament. The singular word “devil” is used another fifty-seven times. Many of those fifty-seven are speaking about Satan – “the devil,” while others refer to one specific demon. Are you aware that the word “demon” is not to be found in our Bibles? I would prefer to say “demon” when speaking about fallen angels other than Satan, but that is just a preference. Satan, himself, has several names and several titles. We might tend to think of Satan as “the Devil,” and it is certainly true. But “devil” is a title – which means “accuser” or “slanderer.” Satan is a slanderer but so are his demons – his devils. The point is, there is one specific individual called Satan, Lucifer and “the devil.” But he is probably not one of the devils in this scripture. These are some of his demonic, fallen angels.
Second, it must be recognized that when the Bible speaks about devils, it is not in an emotional, hysterical or romantic way. The Bible speaks directly, rationally and, of course, accurately. For example, Hollywood might try to describe the voice of the demons in this scripture in various ways. It could have been shrieking, growling, or multi-leveled like a thousand voices speaking at once. Romanticized demonism would have had this poor man flying around the tombs or with his chest grotesquely undulating. But unlike fictionalized demonism, we are presented with unvarnished facts, and that is true also of every other scripture dealing with demons. There is no exaggeration, no superstition and no human imaginary opinion. Later when a little demon-possessed boy is brought to the Saviour, it is said that the demon often tried to toss the child into the fire, but it is stated as a matter of fact. And when the demon left, it “tore” the boy’s body, but that event wasn’t sensationalized. It is often said by unbelievers that Christ used the superstitions of the ignorant masses to further his deception, but that is a Satanically-inspired lie. A third general comment about demonism is that the subject is consistent with the rest of Biblical theology. I am told that the doctrine of demonism in the LDS church makes Satan a brother to Christ. That is inconsistent with the Word of God – it cannot be found in the Bible – it is a Satanic lie. And like the fiction of wooden stakes in the hearts of vampires, Roman Catholicism likes to suggest that the cross is an undefeatable talisman against Satan. Again, even though it sounds half-way logical, I can’t find that sort of thing in God’s Word. We don’t have time to get into it tonight, but the Bible describes the beginning and history of Satan. And it is completely rational. It declares that Satan is a creature – something which came from the hand of God.
The Biblical doctrine of Satan is consistent with the sovereignty of God. Satan is not a second god; he is not a divine equal – he is a fallen evil. The Bible doesn’t teach the dualism which is found in Hinduism and new-age religion. Good and bad, yin and yang, light and darkness, sin and righteousness are not vying for supremacy. Nor are they complementary co-equals which together make up the whole. The righteous God is supreme, and He has temporarily permitted evil for a reason. Why has God permitted such a creature as Satan, and why is he permitted to continue? The simple answer is that ultimately Satan will bring greater glory to Jehovah. It is the same as the answer to the question, why has God permitted sin? Satanism is consistent with the sovereignty of God, and with the fall of man. The fall of Lucifer and the fall of Adam run parallel to each other. That God has sovereignly chosen to save some of Adam’s children, but none of Satan’s minions is still Biblical doctrine. Whether or not Hollywood agrees, the Bible declares that the life of Satan is limited. I John 3:8 – “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”
Now, let’s return to our scripture and think about some of things that it teaches us about devils.
It reveals some things about their general nature.
Obviously, devils are real. People in general, and even Christians at times, are prone to put on their rose-colored glasses and deny things which are distasteful to them. They have relatives whose behavior is unexplainable or openly evil, and they whisper that they have some sort of mental illness. They look at Mao, Stalin and Hitler, explaining them with their social background or evil in general. How many mass-murderers, serial killers and sadistic madmen have been demon possessed, but the unbelieving world refuses to consider such a blatantly religious notion? The Bible flatly, consistently, and as a matter of fact tells us of the existence of demons.
And devils are persons in that they have personality, will and choice. They speak; they learn; they know stuff, they don’t know other stuff, and they recognize deity. They understand divine judgment; they would rather not suffer one thing over another. These are things that we understand and exhibit because we are persons ourselves. Not directly knowing any demons as demons, I can’t say with assurance, but I wouldn’t be surprised to be told that they have differing personalities. Like C.S. Lewis’ Wormwood and Screwtape, some may be bold, some may be fearful and timid, some may be stronger and other weaker, and some are probably smarter than others.
Implied here in Matthew is the fact that devils are spirit creatures – they don’t possess bodies per se. Like ourselves, our souls are spiritual, and our souls will go on whether or not our bodies live or die. One of our problems as human beings is that we tend to focus on bodies to the neglect of our souls. Unlike ourselves, angels, whether good or evil, do not come with pre-designated bodies. This room may have more angels in it than human beings, because they aren’t in bodies. And there may be demons here as well, but I am less certain of that. Unless the Lord gives that angel permission to clothe itself in some sort of body, we are probably not going to know of its presence. Demons, of course, are not going to wait for the permission of God; they take their orders from another source. And in the case of these men of Gadarah, a great number of devils had taken up residence them. Then when they were ordered to vacate, they temporarily entered the bodies of number of swine.
One of the books which I consulted this week was the theology of Lewis Sperry Chafer. Knowing that no human being is infallible when it comes to subjects like this, I read him with more than a little bit of salt. One of things that Chafer said was that devils seek to enter into the bodies of others. Is that right? We are certainly told here that these devils asked permission to move from a human body to a bunch of porcine bodies. Chafer then quoted more than a dozen scriptures which said that Christ cast demons out of bodies. I didn’t think that he proved his point. But he raises something worth considering. Demons seek to enter the bodies of mortals or beasts, “for their power seems to be in some measure dependent upon such embodiment.” At the same time, that man, when demon-possessed seemed to be stronger than ordinary men. “He had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces.” Satan is the Prince of the Power of the Air, but does he have any telepathic power over man? Can either the saved or the lost be influenced by devils simply by walking down the street? I’m not sure that they can. But when Satan is embodied in an educator, a politician, an entertainer, a teacher or a preacher, that is when he can really influence people. At that point, not only does he dominate his host, but then he can reach out to grasp others as well.
One of the major points about devils is that they are wicked.
Their history began in rebellion against Jehovah. Satan, their leader, appears to have been at one time one of the more prominent angels of God. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” Other scriptures tell us that at the fall of Lucifer/Satan he took with him a third of the angelic host. Satan and the others commenced their new course in utter wickedness and rebellion. I don’t know for sure, but I’m not convinced that there can be one good thing said about any of them. They are evil, wicked, rebellious and totally dedicated to the overthrow of Jehovah’s dominion.
The general purpose of a devil is to hinder the righteous purpose of God. In what way were these demons’ possession of this remote man an attempt to overthrow Jehovah? Well, it could have been that he or a family member had heard of Jesus, and were considering crossing Galilee to learn more of him. It could be that he had been trying to make Decapolis a more righteous or religious place. Could it be that he had contemplated inviting Christ to cross the lake?
In Matthew 17, Christ, John and Peter were at the top of a small mountain, and Christ was transfigured. Down below, the disciples were getting no rest, debating, working miracles, testifying – and failing. After Jesus’ return, the father of a demon-possessed child to confronted Him. “And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, 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. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 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. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.” Could we say that while Christ was away, Satan sent one of his demon-possessed minions on a mission to try to turn a few of the other disciples away? Maybe he was hoping to discourage, or even to terrify some of the disciples.
I believe in the absolute sovereignty of God – over creation, over the spirit world, and over all men. I have no doubt that what God has intended for His creation He will carry out. There is no coalition of man strong enough to stop the intended plan of Jehovah. And if all the myriads of Satan’s evil angels came together, with the Devil at the forefront, they could not deter, deflect or delay the decreed will of God. That is what I believe, but I believe that to be true because the grace of God has given me the ability to believe. I very seriously doubt that the woman who lives in the house just behind of ours would agree with me. And I am also convinced that Satan doesn’t really believe that either. Until that faith is divinely given, no one will ever receive it.
Satan ordered these devils into Gadara with the intention that somehow they would further his dominion over those idolatrous people. Again, I don’t know if they were old-time Canaanites, or fallen Israelites, but that really isn’t important. Satan is not the least bit ashamed to use or occupy even a professing Christian church in order to extend his kingdom. I am not sure that he’s not using the United States any less than he is Iran or Saudi Arabia to further his agenda. Except for the grace of God, nothing is safe from the onslaught of Satan and his devils.
But whatever plans and hopes that he and his devils have, they are doomed to failure.
I can’t completely explain how chains can be used to keep Satan incarcerated for a thousand years during Christ Jesus’ earthly reign, but I know that it will be. And I know that there has been a lake of fire and brimstone prepared for the devil and his angels. I know that he and his minions will eventually be cast into that lake to be tormented for ever and ever. “The devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Furthermore, “Whosoever (of the human race) was not found written in the (Lamb’s) book of life, was cast into the (same) lake of fire.” Satan and the devils here in Matthew 8 are living on borrowed time – they are doomed.
So what was the purpose of the Lord Jesus’ trip to Gadara? I think that I know Matthew’s purpose – it was to show us the glory and the authority of Christ. Christ spoiled principalities and powers, making a show of them openly, triumphing over them – Colossians 2:15. That was probably the purpose of Matthew. But what was Jesus’ purpose? Was it the same? Was it to attack a battalion of Satan, or was it to save the soul of the demoniac? Was it to send these demons into torment? What? As I said earlier, I’m not going to say that God can’t multitask – He may have had many purposes.
And one of those purposes may be seen in what happened to the pigs. Soon after the little landing party disembarked and began coming up the beach, the Lord started toward the possessed men. Perhaps before they could react, He took the bull by the horns and commanded to demons to depart. I am not sure of the exact order, but at some point the primary demoniac threw himself down before Christ, while the demons cried out, “What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Are thou come hither to torment us before the time?” The words of the demons tell us that they recognize the true nature of the Lord Jesus. Actually they have known the Son of God for several thousands of years. They may not have worshiped Him, and they will never have that desire, but they at least knew Him. And they also knew that it was the decree of God that all His enemies would be judged in torments. They may have hoped and wished that it was not true, but they knew of the intention of God.
Thinking that perhaps they would be cast into judgment at that moment, that legion of demons asked instead for permission to enter the herd of swine. I think that they could have been ordered to leave the man without being allowed to reenter the pigs. They could have been set at liberty without judgment, but not permitted to become embodied again. That seems to have been true in several other demon possession cases. But here, their request was granted and they entered the swine. Now let me give you my idea of what happened next. When Christ granted them permission, they probably thought that they had a small victory. Maybe they were thinking that if they remained in the area, after Christ left they could go right back to their earlier work, but in other people, if necessary. They were undoubtedly pleased to have their porcine hosts. But why did they kill the pigs? Did they kill they kill the pigs? I cannot think of a logical diabolical reason for the demons to kill their hosts – I don’t think that it was they. Well then perhaps the pigs were smart enough to kill themselves. Again, that doesn’t make much sense to me.
I may be thoroughly insane, but I think that Christ granted the demon’s permission and then ordered the whole herd of pigs to behave contrary to their nature, in order to make a point. Perhaps, the Lord was telling those devils and all the rest of Satan’s host that they are doomed. There is nothing that they can do to get an advantage over Christ. He can destroy them as easily as a man might step on a tiny ant. He granted them permission to enter the swine, and then He killed the swine. What happened to the demons at that point, I can’t tell you for sure, but it was probably nothing. The Lord made sure that they knew that they were powerless before Him, and also that they were doomed to destruction.
Perhaps another lesson was that the Gergesenes had no business doing business contrary to the Law of God. He was telling all of us that “all power is given unto Him in Heaven and in Earth.”
So one of the lessons of this scripture is that there is no room for any of us to fight against God. Demons may have power over sinful men, and they may empower those men over other men. But neither man, nor beast, nor demon has any power over the omnipotent Son of God. Bow before Him. Repent before Him. Worship Him in humility and truth.