Luke the beloved physician wrote how, “God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul. So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them”, and in chapter nineteen and verse thirteen of the book of Acts Luke shared how, “certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus” where we read:
Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.
The verse begins, “Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, ...”: Luke began with the words, “then certain of the vagabond Jews” which means “at that time particular ones who belonged to the wandering and navigating Jewish people as respects to origin, birth or religion”, “exorcists” or “ones who employ a formula of conjuration for expelling demons ”, “took upon them” which means “put their hand to, attempted and undertook” “to call over them which had evil spirits” or “to utter, name and cast out labor filled, annoying and wicked demons who were conceived as inhabiting the bodies of men by using” “the name of the Lord Jesus” which means “everything which the name covers including the thoughts or feelings which are aroused in the mind by mentioning, hearing and remembering belonging to the One to whom a person or thing belongs about which he has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah whose name means Jehovah is Salvation and is the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate”, “saying” or “uttering, declaring and proclaiming” the following words. Luke shared how there were “wandering Jews” who attempted to “cast out” demons by employing the “name” of Jesus to do so.
The verse continues, “... We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Luke added the words, “we adjure you” or “we, vagabond Jews, put an oath on, solemnly enjoin and charge you evil spirits” “by Jesus” which means “through Jesus whose name means Jehovah is Salvation and is the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate” “whom Paul preaches” or “that Paul, whose name means small or little, heralds, proclaims and publishes”. Luke shared how the “vagabond Jews” commanded and charged the “evil spirits” by “Jesus” that “Paul” was proclaiming.
When we meditate upon Luke's words in this verse, we learn how “wandering Jews” were attempting to use the “name of Jesus” to cast out demons the way “Paul” did. We shall see how this works out for them in our next couple verses, but for now let us concern ourselves with the fact that they knew “Paul” was able to use “Jesus' name” to discharge “demons”, and they thought they could do the same. God extends His supernatural powers to whomever He desires, and the purposes for them are to bring people into a personal relationship with Him through His Son Jesus. When a person submits to Jesus, they will be forgiven of their sins and granted everlasting life with God. Afterward He decides when He will use the supernatural to affect the natural, and this is distributed by His Holy Spirit. (See 1 Corinthians 12:4-11). The miracles of God, especially when working with evil spirits, are to be manifested by God, and those who are wise will not attempt to imitate that which only He distributes.
Next time Luke shares how, “there were seven sons of one Sceva”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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