Luke 10:17-19 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name. 18So He said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. THE DEVIL and his DEMONS MUST SUBMIT TO THE NAME OF JESUS when we call on His name in faith. There are many Christians who read this passage and only see this passage of casting out devils and demons, and healing was only for the apostles and those of that time. If you think this way, then you believe this verse should be left out of their bible. Why? because this is seventy-two, who were not the apostles, but followers of Jesus. In essence, this passages tells all believers that Jesus gives us authority over devils and demons and to heal. Now here is a problem. Most believers don t live knowing there is always spiritual battle going on in and to their lives continually. Ask yourself this question, Is spiritual warfare real? And if you believe that it is real, then how significant do you think that it is in your life? Do you really consider that satan and his demons are continual opposing you in some manner or another to your life? I want you to notice something about Jesus response in verse 10:18-19, yes Jesus spoke in response to the 72 who had returned. He said, So He said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. To get a better understanding of this interaction between Jesus and the 72, we has to look at how Jesus sent them out two by two to witness the Gospel to others, Luke 10:1-12:
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two a others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2He told them, The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. 5 When you enter a house, first say, Peace to this house. 6If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 7Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. 8 When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9Heal the sick who are there and tell them, The kingdom of God has come near to you. 10But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11 Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near. 12I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. Now, when they returned, they were excited, amazed at what they had encountered, and how the Name of Jesus gave them authority exercised over demonic forces, and they with joy and excitement started telling Jesus how demons and devils were subject to them at His Name. They knew you Jesus and they obeyed us when we spoke with authority of knowing you. This is what they were saying. Jesus responds by telling them, how He was there when satan was kicked out of heaven and hurled down to the ground by His authority, He now gives us the authority to rebuke satan and his horde of demons. However, in order for you to operate in the authority given you, you must know and believe that there is a reason that the authority was given to you. Eph. 6:12: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. We must all become awake to the fact that there is a continual spiritual battle going on.
The phrase rulers of the darkness of this world is actually one Greek word kosmokratór κοσμοκράτωρ, ορος, ὁ (kos-mok-fat'-ore), which is used of the demonic powers controlling the sublunary (mundane, worldly) world. It refers to satan and demons influencing the lives of worldly people. The word wrestle is palé πάλη, ης, ἡ, (pal'-ay), meaning struggling with, fighting against, a combat against. What most Christians fail to realize, is the extent of the battle. Many see the battle in a grand big scheme of the mark of the beast 666 or some traumatic event or crisis, but fail to see it in their daily or regular life. Most Christians see things as things that just happen in life, a bump in the road here, a little detour there I ll get over it, a problem here and a problem there. We as Christians don t recognize the spiritual activity surrounding us on a daily basis, and many of the things that happen in our lives are not just things that happen in life. The enemy is called the god of this world, the prince of power of the air, and he uses whatever is at his disposal to challenge, call into question and defeat our faith in the Lord. If it s finances, if it s family members, children, our friends, our co-workers, other people, our weakness of flesh, our emotions, our past, our fears, the light company, phone company, car problems, car accidents, etc., he uses whatever at his disposal against us. This is why God s word tells us, 2 Cor. 10:4: for the weapons of are warfare are not carnal but mighty through God Because, living by faith in the Lord is warfare, and we are not wrestling just ourselves flesh and blood, but the prince of power of the air, the god of this world who has those minds blinded to him. We know satan blinds the minds of unbelievers, so they can t see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, but does satan blind the eyes (mind) of believers too, to him and his schemes, plans and plots against them?
Eph. 1:17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit f of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. Eph. 1:18-22 18I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church. Paul prays that their eyes of their heart may be enlightened Why? in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. The word eyes is ὀφθαλμός, οῦ, ὁ ophthalmos (of-thal-mos'); the eye; figuratively: the mind's eye. The eye is the index of the mind, index meaning something used or serving to point out. The eye represents the faculty of knowing. Like when a person doesn t recognize the right indication of something, we say, they have a bad eye. So if we read this verse correctly, we must imply and assert that if Paul prays for the eyes of believers to be opened, then it must mean they can be blinded or have a bad eye by the enemy in not recognizing. However, many Christians tend to think that we shouldn t attribute certain things to the enemy, and just look at ourselves or that it s just happenstance or circumstances of life. To attribute things to the enemy is giving credit to the devil. However, if this be the case, then what do you say to 1 Peter 5:8-9 ; Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a
roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith The devil and his minions are always attacking believers. They will always attack the heart or the spirit of a person. And, in doing so, they will attack any area of your life that will make you lose heart and question your faith. For some that may mean an attack on your health. For others an attack on your finances. Others, attack on your relationships, and still others an attack on your faith and it goes on and on. All they want to do is to get us to lose heart stop having faith. Jesus knows this, that is why He told them/us, He was there when satan was cast out of heaven, and why he has given us (believers) authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy. To tread on serpents. As we know, the devil is represented as the serpent (Gen. 3: 1; Rev. 12:9; 12:14; 20:2) - the enemy - satan. The meaning of this verse is, that Jesus would preserve them (us) from the power of satan and all his emissaries - from all wicked and crafty people used by him. Jesus has divine power over the enemy and gives us the authority to exercise it in His Name. When we see the enemy, their plans, schemes and devices, Jesus tells us we can us His Name to defeat their plans, schemes and devices against us - Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 2:11: Lest satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. The phrase should get an advantage of us is actual the Greek word πλεονεκτηθῶμεν (pleonektēthōmen); meaning, to be outwitted, advantage taken against us. And, the word devices is νόημα, ατος, τό noéma (no'-ay-mah); meaning, thoughts and purposes his schemes. To overcome the enemy s plots, plans, schemes, devices, thoughts and purposes, we must be clothed with the almighty power of the Lord. Scorpions - The scorpion is a creature a pointed weapon, a stinger. Its sting is extremely poisonous, and sometimes can be fatal to life. Scorpions are just mean creatures that only wants to inflict pain. I saw
this program were scorpions attacked anything, even other scorpions, their just mean little creatures. They even stung themselves when too much light was shined on them when they were in the dark. Jesus is equating scorpions with evil spirits. That s why He said, Rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you immediately after He said, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions. How also do we know he is referring to demons. In Revelation 9:5-6, "And their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when he striketh a man; and in those days shall men seek death and shall not find it: and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them." Rev. 9 speaks about these evil creatures The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. 7The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8Their hair was like women s hair, and their teeth were like lions teeth. 9They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer). The enemy is only permitted power over the children of God, when we find ourselves in his domain and do not act upon the power and authority Jesus gave to us over these creatures, to bring them to defeat. See, Jesus
tells us, Luke 10:20: Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. We are to rejoice... that we are counted among the people of God. It s good to know we have authority and power over the enemy, but that power and authority only comes from the one with all power and authority, and in this we ought to rejoice! Knowing, that our deliverance from the bondage of the devil and his minions is effected in no other way than through the Gospel; in which, demons and devils, serpents and scorpions have no power. We have to understand that Jesus gave us power to tread on serpents and scorpions,... Which may be literally understood and figuratively of the devil, his minions, his principalities and powers, and all his emissaries; who, with craft, cunning and poisonous sting, seek to harm and hurt by their nature and influence. To me, it seems best, to interpret this scripture, the Lord's words, as referring to spiritual powers of evil, taking the serpent and scorpion as symbols of these evils seeking always to oppose me. Jesus told me in Mark 16:16-17: 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be made well. Most of all, what I must understand, is not authority that I should seek, but the relationship with God through Jesus. And If, I have that relationship with Jesus, then the authority over serpents and scorpions is mine in His Name! Amen!