Supernatural beings are not necessarily rocket scientists

This morning I was in the gospel of Mark and came across a passage that has always challenged me as to the understanding. One thing that I saw this morning is kind of contrary to how Christians perceive demonic spirits.

Mar 5:1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.

Mar 5:2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,

Mar 5:3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:

Mar 5:4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.

Mar 5:5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.

Mar 5:6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,

Mar 5:7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.

Mar 5:8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.

Mar 5:9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.

Mar 5:10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.

Mar 5:11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.

Mar 5:12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.

Mar 5:13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.

I have seen demonic possession overseas, but I have not witnessed a lot of it here in America, although I have seen it from time to time. I will most likely teach on that at some point, and will prompt many questions with just a nugget this morning.

First of all, I don’t believe a demon spirit can possess a real Christian (the word of emphasis there is, “real”) covered by the blood of the lamb. I do not believe that Satan or his minions can cross the blood. That power was taken from them at Calvary. I do believe that I have seen Christians “oppressed” and “influenced by” the enemy, but not a full blown possession. Until you’ve seen one of those… you just don’t know, and to speak as though you do know, can be dangerous.

He can and does oppress with thoughts spoken to you as if they were your own thoughts. A thought like… “take a look at that girl over there in the red dress!” He then watches your eyes to see if you are listening to him. If your eyes travel, he knows you are listening… and he engages you in conversation. Thought planter is much different than mind reader.

Remember that in this story told by Mark in the fifth chapter, Christ had not yet shed blood and Christians were people who followed Jesus, but had not yet been redeemed. With that being said, I am not going to teach today on “where” or “who” they can inhabit, but of their level of intelligence.

As Christians, we deem supernatural beings to have supernatural intelligence. We think that the enemy is omnipresent and omniscient, but he in fact, is not. Satan and all that are under his power are deluded and walk in a realm of utter chaos and confusion. Only when they come in contact with the Holy Ghost, Jesus or the Father do their compasses come to true north and they come to a place where they can be coherent. In possessions, they seek to utilize the rational mind of a human being and as the human being gives up ground, the rational mind that the demonic spirits desire to have begins to diminish. They find themselves stuck in a catatonic body with no exit in sight.

Possession in a body is a battle for the human mind. The enemy seeks the peace of the human spirit and the rationality of the human mind, but in fact, when the human mind is conquered, it becomes irrational as does the behavior. One totally possessed is reduced to a zombie like state that can not function. The very thing that the enemy goes after – he can not have.

The case of the man in Gadera (a region that was controlled by gentiles and under heavy Roman influence with a Hellenistic religion) was a man who had been reduced to a monster. The enemy was entrapped in a man that could no longer be rational.

One thing we do see is that the man (“he”) had just enough mind left to run to Jesus. Mark 5:6 “He (the man) ran and worshipped.” Satan and his armies will one day bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, but that day has not come yet and they refuse to worship God, and in fact run from God. In our worship services they do everything in their power to STOP and confuse the worship. No… they will not at this time run to worship God, nor will God accept forced and coerced worship.

Now in Mark 5:7, the distinction is not made as to “he” but the verbiage is simply, “And cried” – translating out that there was a cry that came from something or someone within the man.

That someone was a closely knit group of demonic spirits that had one leader and one spokesman in the presence of Christ. Out of Christ’s presence, I believe that nobody could distinguish the thousands of voices that were all speaking at the same time. Christ’s presence commands order and respect.

The devils believe because they know who Jesus is, and although they tremble, they will refuse to worship, but they must obey. In that presence, the demons inside were livid and afraid and asked to be sent into a herd of swine.

This speaks to the confusion and the lack of intelligence in this group. Upon the death of the pigs, they are released into the restless, dark and dry void.

They think they come up with great ideas, but their ideas always end in destruction. When they can’t inhabit a host, Matthew is clear as to where thy dwell: Mat 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, walks through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.

Remember that a dry place can not be a living being, for living beings are made up of water – and this word “dry” is translated out as “a place without water”.

There is no rationality in the enemy. There are no good ideas. Their paths lead to destruction and they take as many with them as they possibly can. Think of them as a swarm of unruly and irrational beings without direction, without a defined leader, no sense and no intelligence. And this is who the gentile world listens to? And sadly… some Christians as well.

Can you see the enemy influence in the world right now? The enemy is leaving footprints from the statements of politicians to the actions of suicide bombers. One thing the enemy isn’t… is bright. He moves in darkness, he lives in darkness and he tries to run from darkness.

Hindsight must always be painful… for the enemy.