I am puzzled at what appears to be a regular Sabbath service having in attendance a demoniac. There is absolutely no indication that he pushed into the service rather he seems to have sat silently until Jesus begins preaching - then cries out.

Was he in regular attendance?
Was he attending seeking to be delivered?
Did the congregation know he was possessed by a demon?
Had the scribes tried exorcism and failed? (seven sons of Sceva)

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Eoghan
member,Thurso Baptist Church
Scotland

specialist subject: Creationist Genetics (Bottleneck effect of the Ark)
interests: holiness (practical theology)
member of Biblical Creation Society (available as a guest speaker in the far north of Scotland)

Does anyone know? Probably not! Maybe some of those things that are hidden.

See also other threads on demon possession and similar topics; there may be some info on the nature of demon possession or if demon possession is taught in Scripture.

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Richard
communicant member, FCoS
Perth, Scotland UK

His Name forever shall endure;
last like the sun it shall:
Men shall be blessed in Him,
and blessed all nations shall Him call (Ps. 72:17)

Yes I know much is left unanswered, yet it would be very interesting to know how demon possesion was dealt with in the first century.

We know there were jews who practiced exorcism. (Act 19:13 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 preacheth. ) Demon possession seems to have been accepted, although we have no information on it's frequency.

Amongst the Romans, commercial exploitation of the demon possessed occurred. (Act 16:16 And it came to pass, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a certain maid having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.
Act 16:17 The same following after Paul and us cried out, saying, These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim unto you the way of salvation.
Act 16:18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, being sore troubled, turned and said to the spirit, I charge thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out that very hour.
Act 16:19 But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they laid hold on Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers,
Act 16:20 and when they had brought them unto the magistrates, they said, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
Act 16:21 and set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to receive, or to observe, being Romans. )

I am however still intrigued as to the status of those demon possessed withing the synagogue community.

Now surely there is a minister out there who spent some time while studying for their degree, in studying contemporary Jewish thought and practice regarding demoniacs (amongst other things)?

And you may remain intrigued until the new age.

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Brian Withnell
Deacon, OPC
Leesburg, Virginia

You cannot train for war in the midst of a battle. Prepare before the battle starts; if the battle is long and hard, you will wish you had.

Talmud teems with sorceries and auguries. It associates everything with demons. Rabbi Rav Hunr says, "Each of us has ten thousand demon companions on his right, and ten thousand demons on his left." Rabbi Rabba says, "The congestion of crowds, during preaches in synagogues, is because of demons. Our clothes wear out because demons rub themselves against them. Breaking of feet is, again, because of demons." It is written in Talmud that demons dance on the horns of oxen, that the devil cannot harm a person reading the Taurah, that the fire of Hell will not burn the sinful ones of Israelites.

Whilst it is conjecture, when I recently preached this passage, it was the suggestion of several commentators that the fact that a demoniac could sit through the synagogue service (presumably a regular) without being challenged was a sign of how spiritually dead it was there.

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Jonathan Hunt

Elder holding forth the word of life at:
Cheltenham Evangelical Free Church (Confessionally Based)
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence.
-- Thomas Elsworth

I checked out the earlier occasion when He attended the synagogue service in His home town, Nazareth. The synagogue was OK when He announced that He was the Messiah - Luke 4:22 Yet when He went on to speak of His own rejection and illustrates it with the rejection of Elijah who was sent to a Gentile - then the synagogue were furious and sought to throw Him from over a cliff!

If the synagogue in Capernaum was spiritually dead and insensitive to the presence of a demoniac in their midst, what does it tell us about Jesus home fellowship in Nazareth? The one that as a mob, wanted to kill Him - how much more was the Nazareth fellowship spiritually dead?

Maybe we should focus on remaining faithful to God rather than chasing a really, really good fellowship?

Demons, demons everywhere - on the Puritanboard!!

Arguments against modern day demonic possession

http://www.puritanboard.com/searchre...RID%3A11&hl=en

http://www.puritanboard.com/searchre...RID%3A11&hl=en

http://www.puritanboard.com/searchre...RID%3A11&hl=en

You make a very good point. I wonder what the Lord had to put up with for the first 30 years of His life. What grace!