We understand what it is like to get accurate details in a situation when there is a large crowd of people gathered around describing what they witnessed of an event. We ask several people what happened and we have to piece together the entire story using the varying and often different accounts. This is what happened after the mount of transfiguration, when Jesus, Peter, James, and John, came down the mountain. We have three accounts written for us. One was written by Matthew the very detailed tax collector. Another was written by Luke the physician who interviewed the disciples, primarily Thomas. And then there is Mark who wrote Peter’s account of the event in a rather cut and dried manner. Three different accounts written about the same event. Being that there are three accounts, the disciples must have thought this was an important event for them to write about it. The reason this story is important in our day is because we have to learn the details in how to extract a particular genos of demon. Once we see the keys, we will be able to unlock those who are bound.
Here are some previous studies on casting out demons.
https://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2018/09/superhuman-potentates-miracle-power.html
https://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-name-knees-bow-many-ask-lord-lord.html
https://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2022/10/potentates-name-unclean-spirits-testify.html
The gospel of Mark was scribed by Mark from Peter’s account of events. We see a detail here that is interesting.
Mar 9:14 (ISV) As they approached the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and some scribes arguing with them.
Mar 9:15 The whole crowd was very surprised to see Jesus and ran to welcome him.
Mar 9:16 He asked the scribes, "What are you arguing about with them?"
This is the first time we see Jesus is speaking to the scribes. Why are the scribes arguing with the disciples?
Mar 9:17 (ISV) A man in the crowd answered him, "Teacher, I brought my son to you. He has a spirit that won't let him talk.
Mar 9:18 Whenever it brings on a seizure, it throws him to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes stiff. So I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they didn't have the power."
The scribes were gathered around the disciples when the man who may have been a scribe as well explains that he brought his son to Jesus, but as we know Jesus was not there, he was on the mountain. This is why the disciples attempted to cast out the demons. Notice the man says that the spirit won’t let the boy speak. The boy has seizures, he is thrown to the ground, foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth and then becomes stiff.
We want to look at this next section closely. Luke was not an eyewitness to these events, but he did extensive research, putting the events in order of time. Matthew was a witness of these events and he puts these events in order as well, but Matthew gives us more details. Jesus went up on the mountain and was transfigured in front of Peter, James and John, and then they all came down to a situation where the disciples, who were given dunamis and exousia, could not cast out an unclean spirit.
Luke 9:37-42 (KJV)
37 And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were come down from the hill, much people met him.
38 And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child.
39 And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him.
40 And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not.
41 And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither.
42 And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father.
By this time, the disciples had the reputation that they could cast out demons, otherwise the man would not have brought his son to them. Something else was going on here. The twelve were successful prior to this, now something isn’t working for them. Both Luke and Matthew provide us with clues and an answer.
Matthew 17:14-21 (KJV)
14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
15 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.
16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
17 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.
18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
Mar 9:19 (ISV) Jesus told them, "You unbelieving generation! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me!"
Mar 9:20 So they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into convulsions. He fell on the ground and kept rolling around and foaming at the mouth.
Mar 9:21 Then Jesus asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" He said, "Since he was a child.
This seems to be an unimportant question. Who cares how long? But the length of time is related to something. It is related to a specific incident or a traumatic event. It also tells us something. It tells us that this Father was not adhering to the prescribed laws of Moses along with the feasts and holy days for a fairly long period of time. Most likely the Father was not adhering to the laws and feasts from before the boy was overcome by this demon.
Why were the scribes there? Was the Father a scribe? Was he friends with the scribes? The words of the scribes were honored above the law of Moses and it was a crime to offend the scribes. The scribes have a checkered past, annulling the commands for their own traditions. The scribes were “lawyers” promoting the laws but they promoted their traditions, as well, such as allowing Jonathan Apphus to become high priest, when he was not of Aaronic lineage. The scribes “sided” with the Pharisees (as they wanted to continue their work) and sect, thereby compromising with sin. Then being bound by one sin, the scribes gave themselves to defending the traditions of the Pharisees, rendering their version of the law of none effect in the eyes of the Elohim. Their morality changed by their observance of false traditions and their teachings became skewed. Jesus challenged them to search the scriptures because they all thought they had eternal life but they were rejecting the Messiah himself. Matthew 23 tells us everything we need to know about the scribes. With this in mind we can understand what the Father was dealing with regarding the scribes and his son. But Jesus showed himself Lord and Messiah that day. How many scribes believed on Jesus after this? Very few.
Our first clue comes from verse 17.
Matthew 17:17 G611 And responding G1161 G3588 G* Jesus G2036 said, G5599 O G1074 [4generation G571 1unbelieving G2532 2and G1294 3perverted], G2193 until G4219 when G1510.8.1 shall I be G3326 with G1473 you? G2193 Until G4219 when G430 shall I endure G1473 you?
1074 LSJ Gloss:γενεά race, stock, family
Dodson:γενεά a generation a generation; if repeated twice or with another time word, practically indicates infinity of time.
Thayer:
1) fathered, birth, nativity
2) that which has been begotten, men of the same stock, a family
2a) the several ranks of natural descent, the successive members of a genealogy
2b) metaph. a group of men very like each other in endowments, pursuits, character
2b1) esp. in a bad sense, a perverse nation
3) the whole multitude of men living at the same time
4) an age (i.e. the time ordinarily occupied be each successive generation), a space of 30 - 33 years
γενεά
genea ghen-eh-ah' From (a presumed derivative of) G1085; a generation; by implication an age (the period or the persons) KJV Usage: age, generation, nation, time.
571 LSJ Gloss:ἄπιστος not to be trusted
Dodson:ἄπιστος unbelieving, incredulous, unchristian, unbeliever
unbelieving, incredulous, unchristian; sometimes subst: unbeliever.
Thayer:
1) unfaithful, faithless, (not to be trusted, perfidious)
2) incredible
2a) of things
3) unbelieving, incredulous
3a) without trust (in God)
ἄπιστος
apistos ap'-is-tos From G1 (as a negative particle) and G4103; (actively) disbelieving, that is, without Christian faith (specifically a heathen); (passively) untrustworthy (person), or incredible (thing) KJV Usage: that believeth not, faithless, incredible thing, infidel, unbeliever (-ing).
1294 LSJ Gloss:διαστρέφω to turn different ways, to twist about, distort
Dodson:διαστρέφω I pervert, corrupt, oppose I pervert, corrupt, oppose, distort.
Thayer:
1) to distort, turn aside
1a) to oppose, plot against the saving purposes and plans of God
2) to turn aside from the right path, to pervert, corrupt
διαστρέφω
diastrephō dee-as-tref'-o From G1223 and G4762; to distort, that is, (figuratively) misinterpret, or (morally) corrupt KJV Usage: perverse (-rt), turn away.
Jesus rebukes the entire generation. He says that they (the generation) are faithless and perverted. Faithless doesn’t mean that they (the generation) don’t believe on Jesus; obviously the father believed that the disciples of Jesus could heal his son, but after the disciples’ difficulty he then turned to Jesus to heal his son. So it is not a matter being faithless toward Jesus. The entire generation is perverted, or distorted. Our next clue comes in verse 21 when Jesus explains this to the disciples.
The scribes should not have been a faithless and distorted group of people, but here we are.
Mar 9:21 Then Jesus asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" He said, "Since he was a child.
Peter recalls these events a little differently. Jesus asks the man how long this has been happening and the man tells him, since he was a child. The man didn’t say since he was born but since he was a child. This gives us an idea of when the entry point of this demon took place. Jesus did not ask what events happened to cause this but he instead puts the burden back on the father.
Parents have a responsibility in the spiritual well being of their children. An abusive parent can break a child so that the child becomes infiltrated by demons. Have you ever heard of satanists putting children in boxes underground to break them? Why? Those children are tortured for a later purpose by the cult. Likewise a parent who leaves a child spiritually unguarded in the world is allowing demonic abuse. Parents are responsible for what a child sees and is taught, not other adults. Fathers also have a Biblical responsibility to lead by example regarding the word of the Elohim.
Mar 9:22 (ISV) The spirit has often thrown him into fire and into water to destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us!"
Mar 9:23 Jesus told him, "'If you are able?' Everything is possible for the person who believes!"
Mar 9:24 With tears flowing, the child's father at once cried out, "I do believe! Help my unbelief!"
What was going on that the father didn’t believe? He was not following the laws of Moses, he was not adhering to the feasts for cleansing, he was not regularly repenting and teaching his family the same. This is the father’s responsibility. This is why Jesus rebukes the entire generation as faithless and perverse. Now remember, Peter is telling us that Jesus is speaking to the scribes. That’s a problem. The people copying the books of the laws, the prophets, and the histories, don’t believe in nor understand the value in the feasts? The times for atonement, the times for getting sin out of the house? These spring and fall feasts were more than a ritual, but were to keep a person spiritually clean. No wonder the entire generation is twisted.
We have a similar problem today where entire denominations believe that the word of God, written to us by the Holy Spirit, is irrelevant for our time. Many pastors and preachers do not believe in the logos, the written word that is sharper than any two edged sword. They deviate from the logos and the rhema to preach mans wisdom and logic. Some people believe the Bible is too old to be of value for us. I believe the written word of the Elohim given to us by the Holy Spirit is more relevant than churches, denominations, and preachers, who reject it. I believe there is a relevance found in the original words of the text. This logos is more important than we realize.
Another problem we face in the church besides the woke preachers who preach a different Jesus, is the lack of demonology. We are not teaching the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the casting out of demons to the Body of Christ. We seem to only allow a few people to “minister” when in reality everyone should have this knowledge. Why pretend demons do not exist or influence people when the evidence is everywhere?
Mar 9:25 (ISV) When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You spirit that won't let him talk or hear—I command you to come out of him and never enter him again!"
Jesus spoke directly to the demon. He did not speak about the demon. He did not negotiate with the demon. He commanded the demon to come out, but went further to demand the demon never enter him again. Why don’t we do the same? Are we fearful we might fail like the disciples? There is no failure here unless we do not try. Many things factor into the situation. The Father, who is the guardian of the boy, had to want the demon removed. The boy had to want the demon removed, even if he was in an incapacitated state. The Father was going to be responsible to keep the family spiritually clean and needed to become “untwisted”.
Mar 9:26 (ISV) The spirit screamed, shook the child violently, and came out. The boy was like a corpse, and many said that he was dead.
Mar 9:27 But Jesus took his hand and helped him up, and he stood up.
Why did the spirit scream? The demon didn’t want to leave but Jesus commanded him to and the Father believed it was available for his son to be healed. This wasn’t up to Jesus as much as it was up to the Father, the scribe. Imagine what that must have been like to be be in the crowd. All those scribes got a lesson that the Elohim is not dead. They also got a lesson in who the Messiah was.
Mar 9:28 (ISV) When Jesus came home, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive the spirit out?"
Mar 9:29 He told them, "This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting."
Matthew 17:21 G3778 But this G1161 G3588 G1085 kind G3756 does not G1607 go forth G1508 except G1722 by G4335 prayer G2532 and G3521 fasting.
1085 LSJ Gloss:γένος race, stock, family
Dodson:γένος offspring, family, race, kind offspring, family, race, nation, kind.
Thayer:
1) kindred
1a) offspring
1b) family
1c) stock, tribe, nation
1c1) i.e. nationality or descent from a particular people
1d) the aggregate of many individuals of the same nature, kind, sort
γένος
genos ghen'-os From G1096; “kin” (abstractly or concretely, literally or figuratively, individually or collectively) KJV Usage: born, country (-man), diversity, generation, kind (-red), nation, offspring, stock.
4335 LSJ Gloss:προσευχή prayer
Dodson:προσευχή prayer, a place for prayer (a) prayer (to God), (b) a place for prayer (used by Jews, perhaps where there was no synagogue).
Thayer:
1) prayer addressed to God
2) a place set apart or suited for the offering of prayer
2a) a synagogue
2b) a place in the open air where the Jews were wont to pray, outside the cities, where they had no synagogue
2b1) such places were situated upon the bank of a stream or the shore of a sea, where there was a supply of water for washing the hands before prayer
For Synonyms see entry G5828
προσευχή
proseuchē pros-yoo-khay' From G4336; prayer (worship); by implication an oratory (chapel) KJV Usage: X pray earnestly, prayer.
3521 LSJ Gloss:νηστεία a fast
Dodson:νηστεία fasting, the day of atonement.
Thayer:
1) a fasting, fast
1a) a voluntary, as a religious exercise
1a1) of private fasting
1a2) the public fast as prescribed by the Mosaic Law and kept yearly on the great day of atonement, the tenth of the month of Tisri (the month Tisri comprises a part of our September and October); the fast accordingly, occurred in the autumn when navigation was usually dangerous on account of storms
1b) a fasting caused by want or poverty
νηστεία
nēsteia nace-ti'-ah From G3522; abstinence (from lack of food, or voluntary and religious); specifically the fast of the Day of Atonement KJV Usage: fast (-ing.)
This genos, type of demon, only comes out by prayer as prescribed by the mosaic law, with an offering in the temple. This kind also only comes out with fasting as prescribed by the mosaic law. Remember at this time there was a temple and temple service. This is inclusive of fasting on the day of atonement. This is why these feasts were ordered during spring and fall equinox, as per the Enoch and Zadok priesthood calendars. Twice per year these holy days of ritual service were to take place. The holy days were ordered to keep one spiritually clean so that people would not have accusations against them from the satan. Today the need for ritual service is annulled as Jesus is the sacrifice and the atonement, but at that time people were to partake in these holy days for this very reason. However the entire generation had become faithless and corrupt. They were not partaking of these prescribed holy days. Therefore that type of demon would not be extracted; not due to the disciples, but due to the faithlessness and corruption of the father of the boy. The father believed in Jesus, but not in the need to adhere to the prescribed laws of prayer and fasting. In their day and time, that is what they should have been doing if they had faith in Yahweh.
The disciples were doing everything they could, the stronghold of the unclean spirit resided with the father who did not atone for sin. Yet it is the circumstance as well that hindered the disciples. They saw the child in this uncontrolled state as the demon made quite a show. Demons do this to try to fake people out. If you are a superhuman potentate, you have authority over this demon. Jesus said you only need a small amount of faith for this. But seeing the boy writhing, foaming, and yelling, was a scare tactic from the demon to trick the disciples. In these cases stand tall with your exousia and dunamis and continue to unseat the demon. However if it wasn’t for the generation of distorted people who did not atone for their sins, it would be much easier to dislodge this type of demon. Deliverance ministry is messy from time to time, but not out of our realm of superhuman power. Jesus mentions something interesting as Luke records.
Luke 9:44 (KJV)
44 Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.
They did not understand this but let’s review the situation. Jesus comes down from the mountain and a crowd of people are waiting because this father wants healing for his son. As soon as they see Jesus, the demon starts acting out. Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit and then tells his disciples that he would be delivered into the hands of men. What? Men are powerless, blind, and dumb. Jesus would be delivered into the hands of spiritually blind, unbelieving, and perverse people. Jesus’ disciples have power. Jesus’ disciples have authority. But Jesus was going to be handed over to regular men. Jesus, who had just rebuked a demon that scared his disciples. Jesus, who healed blind eyes and deaf ears. Jesus, who gave miraculous power and authority to others was going to be handed over to deaf, dumb, and blind men. Wow!
https://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2018/09/superhuman-potentates-miracle-power.html
Prayer and fasting is not widely promoted in the church but there are benefits. For the person casting out the demons, prayer is very important, especially listening to the Elohim. Fasting is putting our physical body into subjection to our spirit. If we fast we are denying our body food, a life source for our body, to connect to the Living God, who is the life source of the world. Demons do not like people who pray, nor do they like people who put themselves under the Elohim. They also do not like people who take authority over their own body putting it in subjection to the spirit. Prayer and fasting has benefits for both the one casting out demons and the one with demons.
Someone who wants to utilize the gifts of the spirit has to have self restraint in all things pertaining to themselves. If someone has a lust problem for food or sex, that person is not going to wield the power of a self-restrained spirit. Learn prayer and fasting to get control of personal appetites to grow spiritually to cut out demons. Don’t assume the seven sons of Sceva were dopey lowlifes. They were the sons of a high priest. They just didn’t have the internal spiritual power or ability by their belief in Jesus Christ. Yet generally speaking a man can cast out demons without believing in Jesus Christ because the spirt of man is above demons in the spiritual hierarchy. Dunamis is given by Jesus Christ when the Holy Spirit lives in us. This clue is gained from Mark 9:22 when the Father says to Jesus “if you are able” dunamai. Jesus turned the “able” back on the Father, and said if he was “able” to believe.
This genos can come out. This genos is the kind that causes seizures and foaming at the mouth. This kind is a specific kind, bigger and stronger in a person than other genos’. It can be extracted. If the lack of following the commands can exacerbate demonic possession, then the practicing of commands as per Jesus Christ would loosen the grip of demonic possession. For the regular Christians there is a simple everyday plan to keep in mind. Feed yourself on Jesus Christ, worship, praise, prayer, fasting, and communion with the Holy Spirit. Make demons uncomfortable every day all day long. Then use your own authority in Christ and in the name of Jesus, to command demons to leave. Remember it is Christ in you, make demons so uncomfortable they want to leave. We are schooled by the world to think that the Bible is either irrelevant or a bunch of rules that make us miserable, but the reality is that if we follow Jesus Christ and do what he suggests then we will live better; freer, happier, and healthier.
