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O5. Casting Demons Out of Persons Unable to Maintain Deliverance.    [Make a Comment]

We are not to cast demons out of persons who, through their lack of faith or repentance, are unable to maintain the deliverance.

This precept is derived from His Word (blessed is He):

Key Scriptures

Matthew 12:43-45
When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry country seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says to itself, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house standing empty, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they come and live there - so that in the end, the person is worse off than he was before. This is how it will be for this wicked generation.

Luke 11:24-26
When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry country seeking rest. On finding none, it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they come and live there - so that in the end the person is worse off than he was before.

Supportive Scriptures - Deliverance from Unclean Spirits

Matthew 12:22
Then some people brought him a man controlled by demons who was blind and mute; and Yeshua healed him, so that he could both speak and see.

Matthew 17:14-20
As they came up to the crowd, a man approached Yeshua, kneeled down in front of him, and said, "Sir, have mercy on my son, because he is an epileptic and has such terrible fits that he often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your talmidim, but they couldn't heal him." Yeshua answered, "Perverted people, without any trust! How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me!" Yeshua rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, so that from that moment he was healed. Then the talmidim went to him privately and said, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He said to them, "Because you have such little trust! Yes! I tell you that if you have trust as tiny as a mustard seed, you will be able to say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there!' and it will move; indeed, nothing will be impossible for you!"

Mark 1:23-25
In their synagogue just then was a man with an unclean spirit in him, who shouted, "What do you want with us, Yeshua from Natzeret? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God!" But Yeshua rebuked the unclean spirit, "Be quiet and come out of him!" Throwing the man into a convulsion, it gave a loud shriek and came out of him.

Mark 9:20-21
They brought the boy to him; and as soon as the spirit saw him, it threw the boy into a convulsion. Yeshua asked the boy's father, "How long has this been happening to him?" "Ever since childhood," he said; "and it often tries to kill him by throwing him into the fire or into the water. But if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us!" Yeshua said to him, "What do you mean, 'if you can'? Everything is possible to someone who has trust!" Instantly the father of the child exclaimed, "I do trust - help my lack of trust!" When Yeshua saw that the crowd was closing in on them, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You deaf and dumb spirit! I command you: come out of him, and never go back into him again!" Shrieking and throwing the boy into a violent fit, it came out. The boy lay there like a corpse, so that most of the people said he was dead. But Yeshua took him by the hand and raised him to his feet, and he stood up.

Mark 9:29
After Yeshua had gone indoors, his talmidim asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He said to them "This is the kind of spirit that can be driven out only by prayer."

Mark 9:38
Yochanan said to him, "Rabbi, we saw a man expelling demons in your name; and because he wasn't one of us, we told him to stop."

Mark 16:16-18
Whoever trusts and is immersed will be saved; whoever does not trust will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who do trust: in my name they will drive out demons, speak with new tongues, not be injured if they handle snakes or drink poison, and heal the sick by laying hands on them.

Luke 4:33-36
In the synagogue there was a man who had an unclean demonic spirit, who shouted in a loud voice, "Yaah! What do you want with us, Yeshua from Natzeret? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God!" But Yeshua rebuked it: "Be quiet, and come out of him!" The demonic spirit threw the man down in the middle of the crowd and came out of him, having done him no harm. They were all astounded and said to one another, "What kind of teaching is this? Why, he gives orders with power and authority to the unclean spirits, and they come out!"

Luke 8:1-2
After this, Yeshua traveled about from town to town and village to village, proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God. With him were the Twelve, and a number of women who had been healed from evil spirits and illnesses - Miryam (called Magdalit), from whom seven demons had gone out;

Luke 10:17
The seventy came back jubilant. "Lord," they said, "with your power, even the demons submit to us!"

Acts 16:16-18
Once, when we were going to the place where the minyan gathered, we were met by a slave girl who had in her a snake-spirit that enabled her to predict the future. She earned a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes. This girl followed behind Sha'ul and the rest of us and kept screaming, "These men are servants of God Ha'Elyon! They're telling you how to be saved!" She kept this up day after day, until Sha'ul, greatly disturbed, turned and said to the spirit, "In the name of Yeshua the Messiah, I order you to come out of her!" And the spirit did come out, at that very moment.

Acts 19:13-16
Then some of the Jewish exorcists who traveled from place to place tried to make use of the name of the Lord Yeshua in connection with people who had evil spirits. They would say, "I exorcise you by the Yeshua that Sha'ul is proclaiming!" One time, seven sons of a Jewish cohen gadol named Skeva were doing this; and the evil spirit answered them. It said, "Yeshua I know. And Sha'ul I recognize. But you? Who are you?" Then the man with the evil spirit fell upon them, overpowered them and gave them such a beating that they ran from the house, naked and bleeding. When all this became known to the residents of Ephesus, fear fell on all of them, Jews and Greeks alike; and the name of the Lord Yeshua came to be held in high regard.

James 4:7
Therefore, submit to God. Moreover, take a stand against the Adversary, and he will flee from you.

Commentary

In Matthew 10:5-8 we read of how Yeshua's disciples were sent out to minister to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" with Holy Spirit power that included power to cast out demons. Earlier in the Scriptures, we see numerous examples of Yeshua casting out demons and expecting his disciples to do the same. For example, in Matthew 17:20 (verse 21 in NKJ) we read of how, after seeing Yeshua cast out a demon, his disciples were perplexed by not being able to cast it out themselves:

And he said to them: "Because you have such little trust! Yes! I tell you that if you have trust as tiny as a mustard seed, you will be able to say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there!' and it will move; indeed, nothing will be impossible for you!"

In another Scripture (Mark 9:28-29), we read:

After Yeshua had gone indoors, his talmidim asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He said to them "This is the kind of spirit that can be driven out only by prayer."

Because the Holy Spirit is with us today as he was during and after the time of Yeshua, we too have the power to cast out demons in Yeshua's name. That notwithstanding, we are cautioned by the Scriptures that underlay this Mitzvah not to do so if we perceive that the person who is the subject of the ministry cannot hold the deliverance due principally to lack of faith or continued or un-repented sin.

Classical Commentators

This Mitzvah is not addressed by any of the classical commentators.

NCLA: JMm JFm KMm KFm GMm GFm

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