(21) From that time Yeshua began to explain to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem, and to suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised the third day. (22) But after taking Him aside, Peter personally began to rebuke Him, saying, “Avinu will be favorable to you, Lord. In no way shall this happen to You.” (23) Then He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, because your thoughts are not in accord with the things of Avinu, but the things of men.” (Mt 16:21-23)
Like Peter, we could be motivated to believe or disbelieve something, accept or reject something, say something or keep silent, depending on the circumstance. Additionally, we may have no reaction at all at the moment of communication, but the thought is stored and available for later use or supplementation. It is entirely possible for a person to go through his entire life as a pawn of Satan and never know it.
This situation reflects a usage of what the Bible’s writers term “spirit.” Spirit is the English translation of the Hebrew ruach (Strong’s #7304), in the Old Testament and the Greek pneuma (Strong’s #5141) in the New. It can literally mean “a current of air,” “breath,” “blast,” or “breeze.” However, when used figuratively, it indicates “vital principle,” “disposition,” “the rational soul,” etc., or an invisible super-being such as Avinu, Meshiach, an angel, or a demon. Whether used literally, as with “wind” or “breath,” or figuratively, as indicating Avinu, angel, or demon, it describes something that is invisible and immaterial and at the same time powerful, even a thing of considerable power.
The foremost elements of spirit, then, are invisibility, immateriality, and power.
E.W. Bullinger remarks in Appendix 9 of the Companion Bible:
The meaning of the word is to be deduced only from its usage. The one root idea running through all of the passages is invisible force. . . . [I]n whatever sense it is used, [it] always represents that which is invisible except by its manifestations.
He also shows that ruach is used in nine different ways in the Old Testament, while pneuma is used fourteen different ways in the New Testament.
In John 6:63, Yeshua says, “It is the Spirit [which] gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” Here is a clear example of the figurative use of “spirit.” Words are the symbols used for communication; they are received into our minds through sight, as when reading, or sound, as when hearing. But once in the mind, nothing material is packed into our brain. Words – and thus the concepts they carry with them – are spirit because they are immaterial, invisible, and of considerable power, depending on how we use them. Thus, we can receive “spirit” in the form of words or concepts from a spirit being. In this case, it is in reality “thought transference” because no sound is heard through our ears.
Just because one is close to Meshiach does not eliminate the prospect that a demon will communicate with and through him. As seen in Matthew 16:22-23, Peter did the speaking, but Yeshua spoke directly to Satan, naming him as the source of Peter’s outburst against Avinu’s will that Yeshua should suffer and die. Without Peter’s recognizing it, he permitted himself to be a conduit for Satan’s will. The disciple’s “good” intention was against Avinu’s will, and Yeshua thus judged it to be evil.
A modified article by: — John W. Ritenbaugh (cgg.org)
Yeshua described this situation in a different way. Here is what He teaches,
“16 “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? 17 “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 “Therefore by their fruits you will know them. 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Mt 7:16-23 NKJV)
In this passage, Yeshua gives us the only way that we can know if we are serving Avinu and not the impostor.
Ask yourself this question, “Am I following the will of Avinu or am I practicing ‘lawlessness’?”
Do I understand what sin is and am I repenting from those sins as they are brought to my attention?
The people in verse 22 absolutely believed that they were believing and doing the right things. The impostor has them fooled.
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