Help me understand Luke 11:24-26, please?

Question

"When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first."

Does this mean it's not a good idea to cast out evil spirits?

Answer 1

It seems to be a reference to someone having been exorcised and cleansed of demonic possession. However, if that person is simply following that up by practicing the empty ritualistic "cleansing" that the Pharisees were providing, they would still be as an empty dwelling and that would leave them open for even more demons to enter in. I believe the passage is a warning against ritualistic or phoney righteousness. "Swept and garnished" implies that there has only been an outward display of righteousness of the type typical of the Pharisees. Jesus is saying that a cleansing is useless unless the void is filled with an inward manifestation of the Spirit of God which is evidenced by repentance. In other words, removing evil is not enough. It must be replaced with something else or something worse may enter in. This would seem to be a plausible explanation of the passage in light of the fact that in the previous verses it appears that Jesus was aware that the people were trying to trick him into incriminating himself with an answer. But as is typical of Jesus, He managed to have their arrows recoil on themselves, so to speak, and expose their own unrighteousness.

Answer 2

When the unclean spirit was cast out the first time...the man did not renew his mind (Romans 12:1-2) with who he was in Christ (Ephesians- look everywhere it says in Him, in Whom and in Christ) and he allowed the spirit to return and it brought friends. Just because a person is tempted once...does not mean they are free and clear...Jesus was tempted 3 times. If a person is dealing with a problem, they need to remove themselves from the environment or they leave the door open for temptation to reenter. In Luke 11:24-26 it also says, the house was found empty, the man cleaned up his life, from those unclean things, but he did not replace it with anything...the man should have been so "full" of God, that there would not be enough room to house any unclean spirits. So, you should cast out the spirit, but unless a person is born again and FILLED with the spirit of God, it will only last a moment. 1 John 4:4 "...because greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world."

Answer 3

No, what Jesus is talking about is when a demon comes out of a man it goes through dry places seeking rest and finds none. However it goes back to the place it was cast out of. However, this is a important part to know. The Lord said when the demon comes back he finds the place unoccupied swept and in order. There is a greek word "scholazo" which means "to relax". This word "scholazo" is in reference to the house being swept clean and it means "to be at ease". Basically, what the Lord is saying is the demon came back and found a house unguarded or a person who was not watching his life to kept the demons from coming back. When demons see that you are not guarding your spiritual life they will bring more worse demons to bind you up. So casting out of demons is good, but it needs to be followed up by doing the things which keeps them out for good. Watching and guarding your spiritual life.

Answer 4

To your last question, the answer is negative.

The account simply shows that if you have a rat infested area and clean up the mess without getting rid of the rats -- you are working in vain.

Thus when a demon/s leave a person, the person thus cleaned out must fill his mental void with the positive things of scripture and needs to be a believer in God and his son Christ so as to NOT LEAVE the 'building' unoccupied. Otherwise the rats come back immediately.

Answer 5

21"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.

23"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.

24"When an evil[h] spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' 25When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first."

27As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you."

28He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

No that is not what it is saying. This is what it is saying.

the condemnation that awaits those who, despising the grace offered to them, again open the door to the devil.

Answer 6

A man who has been possessed with a demon and gets rid of it has a vacuum left. This vacuum or emptiness left by the evacuation of the demon is to be filled with the Lord’s spirit, with a faith backed up by works in harmony with God’s Word. Then when the demon returns he would not find the person, likened unto the demon’s house, “unoccupied but swept clean and adorned.”

Instead, he would find the place he had vacated filled with a stronger spirit, God’s active force, and the demon spirit would not be able to reoccupy this person. Apparently in the case Jesus was discussing the person freed of a demon left the vacuum unfilled, not taking up God’s service and making room for God’s spirit in his life, but merely cleaning himself up and adorning himself in a visible show of piety. Such a person will not be able to prevent the return of the demon spirit, and in his relapse his plight worsens, more demon spirits than before occupying him.

Applying the principle in a general way, a person may be a part of the world under condemnation, alienated from God. Then he gets a knowledge of the truth, ousts from his life the evil spirit of this world and of Satan, but then he fails to continue in God’s way. He does not receive God’s spirit and make room for it in his life, allowing it to direct him in good works and fill his life. He quenches the spirit of God in his life, leaving his existence empty, nothing but a shell of outward piety cleansed of some of his former worldly filth. His lack of appreciation and service and good works inspired by God’s spirit leaves him open for reoccupation by Satan’s defiling influences, and demon spirits control his life more completely, if more subtly, than ever before.

Answer 7

(Luke 11:24-26) Yes, a blank mind makes a person easy prey for the demons. But the Christian, through proper meditation on Bible truths, can resist these wicked spirit creatures.—Eph. 6:11-13.

The apostle Paul did urge Timothy: “Ponder over these things; be absorbed in them.” (1 Tim. 4:15) But Paul was advising the young man to ponder over, or meditate on, his personal teaching, conduct and ministry. The apostle was not recommending any kind of trance-inducing fixation of thought on a single idea or object. Nor was Timothy being told to make his mind a total blank.

And what of meditation that leads to self-induced hypnosis?
What about the yogi’s development of extrasensory perception and such manifestations as knowledge of the future, clairvoyance, levitation and clairaudience?

A Biblical incident enables us to identify the source of these things. At Philippi, “a certain servant girl with a spirit, a demon of divination,” met Paul and his companions. “She used to furnish her masters with much gain by practicing the art of prediction,” says the account. But in the name of Jesus Christ the apostle Paul ordered the demon to come out of her, “and it came out that very hour.” With what result? No longer was she able to predict the future. (Acts 16:16-19) A demon had been responsible for her uncanny power.

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Answer 8

No... Look at it in away you can better understand. A drug user when they get clean They have to stay away from drug and people and places they can get drugs. If they don't what happens? They return to drug use. (99% of the time) And its worse than it was before. Same way with this man he was clean for a while and returned to "his house" and the last state was worse then the first. It was up to the man to stay clean and he didn't .

Answer 9

What it means is, it's not a good idea to leave your "house" empty. You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, and the unclean spirit will find the house occupied when he returns.
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Answer 10

It means that it's not enough to have demons cast out. You then need to occupy your life with something. In other words, Jesus. If the demons come back, and find Jesus, they will flee. If there has been no change in the individual, when then they will feel free to reside there again.