I'm gonna be totally frank with everyone, I've got nothing to talk about this week. We're still in isolation, still working to the best of our ability, and still trying to figure out what to do. We did manage to get a new potential investigator with high prospects (in my opinion, at least), but it sounds like we won't be able to contact him for another month, by which time I may not even be here anymore.
However, I do have another scribbling of thoughts to share, so hopefully I'll have enough of those to hold out until I can get other stuff to share. Anyways, enjoy, stay healthy, and have a good week! Matta ne!
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Week 45 Study Thoughts
The Law of Estates
God has made it clear to us that those who have bodies have power over those who don't. However, we weren't provided with much of an explanation why that is. After all, spirits have the ability to enter into a body and even manipulate the body they have possessed, as seen in the records of the Bible. Furthermore, when certain unrighteous individuals, ones which had bodies themselves, attempted to cast devils out of the afflicted, the devils turned and attacked them, resisting the power that they supposedly should have held. So what is the explanation for all this? What is the power that we who have bodies have over those who don't? If my interpretation is correct, I believe that it is simply legal power.
Imagine this parable for a moment: a number of individuals were brought to trial for not upholding the terms which were requisite for them to own their respective houses. The verdict of this case was that all of the accused were stripped of their homes and left to live on the streets for the rest of their lives, for they had not the money to purchase new ones. Bitter and desirous of a place to call home, some of these persons began to steal into the homes of others. In their greed, they ran the houses they snuck into like their own, eating the owner's food, using their appliances, even spending their money on occasion! Whenever the owner of a house detected one of these trespassers, some would try to drive them out on their own. In natural response, the evil person would fight back, even attempt to bind the owner and force them to do their bidding. However, there were yet other wiser persons who, upon detecting the trespassers, contacted the law enforcement as soon as they were able, testifying to their legal ownership of their house and demanding the banishment of their unwelcome guests. The law enforcement came, seized the evil persons, and cast them back out into the streets.
For those who weren't able to follow this example, the people who had their homes stripped from them represent the devil and his angels, whereas the rest of the homeowners represent all of us who have bodies, with the houses acting as symbols of our respective tabernacles. As the parable showed, there is no noteworthy difference in the physical strength of those who had bodies compared to those who didn't. In fact, on account of their desperation, those who hadn't were more likely to succeed in one-on-one struggles than those who had. However, those who had bodies had one trump card up their sleeves: the legal right to their property. Regardless of the strength of either individual, should one who owns a body call on the law, or Christ Himself, to have their intruders banished from their property, the intruders will be forced to leave. Now on the other hand, though not mentioned in the parable, should someone come to cast out a trespasser, but not as one having the authority of the law behind them, the trespasser would be able to resist and fight back just as they could with the owner of the house they were occupying.
So there is my understanding of things. I hope this was as enlightening for all of you as it was for me.
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