Good Question!

[Simon_Templar]

Well I have to respectfully disagree -- if Satan knows God's power and authority, then why did he even rebel in the first place when he knows God will reign and throw him into Gehenna eternally?

He wouldn't have bothered uprising... so imho, it isn't contrary reasoning; Satan both knows God's power AND still rebels and attacks...
the demons could have been trying to intimidate for the other people's sakes who Jesus was with.?

I just don't think it's contrary reasoning necessarily.

Yes, Satan did rebel, even knowing God's power... but he deluded himself into believing that he could be as God.. he could become as powerful. (assuming of course that the descriptions in Isaiah and Ezekiel are actually applicable to Satan).


I also have no trouble seeing unclean spirits playing possum as it were.. pretending to be weak, and attacking as soon as they perceive a chance etc.
However, there is nothing in any of Jesus' interactions with unclean spirits to remotely indicate such behavior with him.
In all the examples we have available, the demons recognize clearly who Jesus is and there is no indication that they ever remotely imagine that they could over power him. Their only response in any encounter with Jesus is to beg for mercy.

given that context, why would we assume that their description of themselves as legion is an attempt to intimidate Jesus? There is no indication of that, and no precedent for it.

By contrast look at the example of the seven sons of Sceva. They tried to cast out demons in Jesus name and the demon said to them "Paul I know, and Jesus I know, but who are you?" and then the demon set upon them and proceeded to beat the crap out of them.

Demons clearly know who has authority and who does not. I have a hard time believing, based on what the bible says that this was an attempt to intimidate Jesus.

A more interesting observation, and probably more pertinant is the fact that there appears to be a great multitude of spirits involved, but they speak as one, and they are often addressed in the text as one.

Actually, the comparison between Satan's rebellion and the attitude of the demons here is interesting. The scriptures in describing Satan's rebellion speak of his glory and majesty, perhaps indicating that he was deceived by his own greatness and his own spleandor, to think that he could become as great as God.
In Jude, we are told that celestial beings, even fallen ones are not to be addressed lightly, and should not be spoken evil of, or I think the conotation is, should not be talked down to or spoken foolishly about etc.
The picture of fallen angels presented through out scripture is that even in their fallen state they are mighty beyond our knowledge and still magnificient in certain senses. Further they are almost always tied to the realms of air around the earth.

Unclean spirits on the other hand are depicted as almost piteous mean things which wander the earth looking desperately for a body to inhabit.

 

[Simon_Templar]

Well, you may be right about the second one, I don't know, but you gotta give Matthew Henry some props. He is seriously old skool. Look him up, LOL! I think you will laugh at calling him "modern".

Lisa

I suppose I should clarify.. most people think modern means "current". The modern age is held by historians to have begun at the signing of the peace of westphalia in 1648.

The reason this date is chosen is because it marks the beginning of the modern nation state concept. However it is also convenient because the intellectual/philosophical climate of europe underwent a signficant change coming from the reformation, which in turn produced the scientific revolution at that time, and then shortly after that, the enlightenment.

so in historical terms, MH is considered "modern".