The Strong Man
The strong man is referred to in Matthew12:29, Mark 3:27, and in Luke 11:21. Who is this strong man that is referred to and spoken of by Jesus?
Luke 11:21, “When a strong man armed and kept his palace; his goods are in peace: 22, But when the stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.”
What are we to learn of everything that is said here? Who is the strong man? Where is his palace? What are his goods? And is this really peace? What is this armor referred to here?
To understand all that is said, we must go back to the beginning of what scriptures say about the creation of man.
Creation of Man
Hebrews 2:5, “For unto the angels hath He not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. 6, But one in a certain place testified, saying” What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? or the Son of Man, that Thou visitest him. 7, Thou hast made Him a little lower than the angels; Thou crownedest Him with glory and honor, and did set Him over the works of Thy hands.”
We read here that man is made a little lower than the angels.The angels are stronger and mightier than man, 2nd Peter 2:11. Men were created weaker, therefore we need someone stronger than Satan and his angels if we are to fight against the wiles of the strong man, Ephesians 6:11.
Satan is the strong man
Revelation 12:9 lists 4 different names for the god of this world. The great dragon, that old serpent called the devil, and Satan. In the experience of men, Satan, because He is created with more power and authority than man needs the help of one greater than man to defeat the strong man.
We read in the Old Testament that there were only a very few who were pleasing to God. These are who the Apostle Paul describes as having faith in Hebrews the 11th chapter, but why so few? Was God’s initial goal a failure? If Satan is the strong man, where did he get his strength?
Genesis 2:16, And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17, But of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it.: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shall surely die.”
It was here, in the Garden of Eden, because of Adams disobedience, that there was a change in the administration in the earth. Because God will not force Himself on anyone, Adam and Eve were given free choice. The authority of God was taken by Satan because of Adam and Eve’s rejection of God’s instructions. Satan has now became the god of this world by default, ruling over everything that God had created, 2nd Corinthians 4:4. Everything of the old creation is now under the authority of the god of this world Satan. Because The angels as well as Satan were made stronger than man, man would be doomed without someone stronger than himself to take back what was taken by Satan, the god of this world.
The Stronger than He
The first impression one thinks with the statement of “one stronger than he” in Luke 11:21 is referring to Jesus Christ but that is only partly true. With the beginning of John the Baptist’s ministry, we read:
Mark 1:7, And preached, saying, “There cometh One mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.”
John’s statement says One mightier not stronger. We can understand the One mightier being God Himself, in the person of Jesus the Son of God, but who is the “stronger than he” a reference too.
To get the proper understanding of who the stronger than he is referring to, we need to let the scriptures speak for us.
1st Peter 3:7, “Likewise ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers are not hindered.
The Apostle Peter say that the wife is the weaker vessels so naturally the husband is the stronger. Those who are believers in Jesus Christ, and of His being the Mediator of the new covenant, consider John’s statement to be the mightier One, Mark 1:7; Hebrews 12:24. The “stronger than he statement still needs to be solved.
Galatians 3:27 “For as many of you as have been been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond or free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
The Apostle Paul says that there is neither male or female in the body of Christ. Peter addresses his verse to husbands to have knowledge of the wife as to be the weaker vessel. How can we explain these verses to be understood and accurate with clarity without a doubt in the meaning of who is the stronger and why? It would be helpful to read our article located on this site, “The Church, as a Woman, Composed of Men as Well as Women.”
The Woman of Revelation 12
Revelation 12:, And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2, and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
This woman points to a future time, past time as well as this present time. God has always had a people He was working with throughout the ages. Don’t think that there weren’t godly people during the days of Noah, Isaiah, or Jeremiah. The ones we read about in the Old Testament were those who became the stronger ones, the man-child during their day. Down through the ages, the statement that, many are call but few are chosen is the pattern which God uses.. God has never thrown away any of His people. All the people who God is working with are members of His body of believers, 1st Corinthians 12:20. They are all called as a woman, placed into the body of Christ, waiting the marriage to the bridegroom to take place. However, all members in the body are not on the same level of maturity. There will be some, because of their zeal, and maturity will be the stronger ones within the body. Down through the ages, the stronger within the body have been called upon to fight against Satan and his angels. See Daniel chapter 10:7-21; Ephesians 6:10-12. These are those who overcome and are called the man-child.
Revelation 12:5, And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His Throne.
Before that event stated in verse 5 can happen, the strong man needs to be bound first.
Revelation chapters 2 and 3 are messages sent to the seven churches bought and paid for by Jesus Christ. His desire is that all overcome. Those who do overcome are called the man-child. These were more zealous and more serious than those who didn’t overcome. They repented more, they studied more, they ate more of God’s words, they had a deep love for God and had a will to please Him, Revelation 4:11. Those who were born the man-child are those who will help defeat Satan and strip him of his palace, possessions, and armour.
Results of what had happened in the Garden
When Adam and Eve took of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they took to themselves the poisonous nature of Satan. They placed in themselves as well as those who would be born in the flesh, the death penalty, Romans 5:12. To continue with His purpose, God announces to Satan the promise of a seed within the woman who would bruise Satan’s head while Satan would bruise His heel. The bruising of Christs’ heel was Jesus going to the cross. Christ defeated death, Hebrews 2:14,
John 16:11, “Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”
Satan has now been defeated and is the one who has had judgment placed upon him. But his spirit is still trying to eliminate and destroy the many member body that Christ paid for, Revelation 12:17. Although Christ took away the curse of the death sentence placed upon humanity in the Garden, the judgment placed upon Satan, because he usurped God’s possessions, His children, will be carried out. The execution of Satan and his angels will be accomplished by the man-child, the stronger Spirit filled ones within the woman. With Christ becoming the life given Spirit, 1st Corinthians 15:45, the man-child will overcome the serpentine nature within them, thereby binding the strong man first, then the kingdom of Satan disturbing its peace.
Rescuing God’s Children
Only then, with the binding of the strong man first, and the breaking of the old man and his fallen nature, will we be free to execute the message of the Gospel to the members of the body of Christ and even to the world. We will be in a position to spoil Satan’s goods, his possessions, God’s children from his kingdom into the Kingdom of God.
This is the responsibility of those within the body of Christ, to bind the strong man first. In doing so, his kingdom in which he trusted will be shaken, and the taking away the peace he once had, with the restoring of his goods, God’s children, to their rightful possessior, God Himself. With the work of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit will come not only our new nature but the breaking and the transformation of the old man into a new man, Ephesians 4:22-24. We need to be thankful and give honour and praise to the Eternal God and Father for allowing us to have a part in His work.