LEGION.

Solomon is a striking example of what Scripture means by a city set on a hill.

Far from being a mere illustration, he reveals the vast capacity of the human heart and soul to accommodate many influences, for the Bible records that he loved many foreign women, a thousand in number. Many ancient biblical cities accommodated such populations. 

The man possessed by Legion is another witness to this immense capacity of the human heart to sustain myriads of distraction and destruction. A legion was an ancient Rome military unit of about three to six thousand soldiers. It is therefore no wonder that when the demons were driven out of the Gadarene demoniac, they entered two thousand swine and drove them violently into the sea!

Pause and consider for a moment the nature of this man.

Scripture in Mark 5:1-13 shows he was unsubdued and unhinged. Attempts were often made to restrain him with chains, yet none could hold him down. He was given to self-harm, cutting himself with stones. And he dwelt continually among the tombs—day and night.

But while the Gadara demoniac may seem as just an old story in the Bible, it is a lived reality for many. Many appear whole outwardly, yet inwardly are entangled by legions of ungodly forces that are harming, unhinging, destroying, and maddening their soul. They look composed, but within, unseen legions are driving them toward rebellion, stripping them of their spiritual garments and leaving them exposed. Many walk among the living on earth, yet in the spirit dwell day and night among tombs like the Pharisees whom Jesus called whitewashed tombs.

Their hearts, minds, affections, and energies have consciously or unconsciously been married to influences that minister death rather than life. As such, their lives continually pour out death instead of life. Their life force emits bitterness rather than sweetness. And where Christ expects fruit of them, all he finds is leaves devoid of substance!

Ah Lord! That you would deliver us from the legions that are distracting and destructing us. 

Lord, cause our hearts to be single and steadfast towards you.

“We await Your salvation, O Lord.”