{"id":352,"date":"2013-03-24T15:24:39","date_gmt":"2013-03-24T15:24:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ntmu.net\/?p=352"},"modified":"2013-05-17T17:34:19","modified_gmt":"2013-05-17T17:34:19","slug":"ekballo-that-surprising-cast-out-verb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ntmu.net\/?p=352","title":{"rendered":"Ekball\u00f4 – that Surprising “Cast Out” Verb"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image002\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jim van Heiningen<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"image003\"<\/a>A ship in a harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are for!<\/i><\/b>
\n<\/i><\/b>Ships are built for navigation. They do get into ports but then out again and on their way. A mission waits to be accomplished. What\u2019s the use of a ship sitting idly in a harbor?<\/p>\n

And then you have the Christian in his \u201ccomfort-zone\u201d, as George Verwer would put it. Very much like that ship while it is idling in a harbor – useless! However, we must have a look not at the sea, but at the land, because our Lord points at some most important principles there.
\n<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter these things the Lord appointed seventy others also,and sent them two by two before his face into every city and place where He himself was about to go. Then He said to them, \u2018The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest\u2019<\/i><\/b>\u201d<\/i><\/b> (Lk. 10:1-2)<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Verbal difference<\/b><\/p>\n

In verse one it is He himself who sends<\/i> out his disciples. In verse two the same English verb \u201csend\u201d <\/i>is used <\/i>(see also Mt. 9:37-38), but in reality, what both Matthew and Luke record in Greek, is a very different verb. In Luke 10:1 the \u2018normal\u2019 word for \u2018sending\u2019 a person is used (from which the word \u201capostle\u201d is derived), but in verse 2 the verb \u201cekball\u00f4<\/b>\u201d<\/i> expresses something much stronger, usually translated by \u201ccasting out\u201d<\/i>. Indeed, no less than 34 times it is used for the casting out of demons! Another example is the throwing out of the temple of the salesmen (Jn. 2; Mt. 21).<\/p>\n

So the question arises, why would our Lord use a verb that implies force and even violence? Doesn\u2019t that go against all the rules of \u2018correct\u2019 missionary policy? Let us see if we can find some answers.<\/p>\n

Those strings<\/b><\/p>\n

In Matthew 9 the Lord is pictured as deeply moved by the needs of all those around him – no shepherds for the scattered sheep and hardly any reapers in the vast harvest fields<\/i><\/b>. As He looks into the future, He can see that overwhelming need being multiplied a thousand times through the centuries. Of course, He does acknowledge what missionary effort there is, but what is that handful of laborers compared to the great need? \u201cThe laborers are few\u201d<\/i><\/b>,<\/i> <\/b>extremely few. He shares the burden that weighs heavily on his heart – his disciples must enter into it. He wants them, and He wants us<\/i><\/b>, to pray for something extraordinary – something that will cause many new laborers to be cast out<\/i> into the fields.<\/p>\n

He knows that a myriad strings restrain potential laborers, effectively holding them back. If they are cast out <\/b>(ekball\u00f4), the strings will be broken \u2026<\/i> Isn\u2019t that what He is telling us to pray for?<\/p>\n

George Murray in \u201cPulse\u201d once told this story: \u201cI was at a missions conference, and a young couple said to me: \u2018God has spoken to us. We both have our Bible training. We both believe that God wants us on the mission field. There\u2019s just one little thing that stands in our way. We just bought a house and want to pay it off before we go.\u2019 I said, \u2018Well, how long will that take?\u2019 and they said, \u2018Twenty years.\u2019 That sounds funny, but it\u2019s not funny, because they did just that. They took 20 years to pay it off. They\u2019re not on the mission field today. And there\u2019s no indication that they\u2019re heading for the mission field, but everybody in their evangelical church is telling them how wise they were to build equity and to buy that house.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

The apostle Paul had something to say about \u2018strings\u2019: \u201cYou therefore must endurehardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles<\/b> himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier\u201d<\/i> (2 Tim. 2:3-4).<\/p>\n

Laborers \u2018cast out\u2019, with strings broken, are set free to serve. In these pages we have reported on the awful yet wonderful<\/i><\/b> things happening in Communist China, as well as in a number of other nations with harsh persecution of Christians \u2013 Vietnam, Eritrea, Muslim countries, and above all North Korea.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s happening in China<\/b><\/p>\n

How often Hudson Taylor (famous founder of the China Inland Mission) must have prayed the Matthew 9:38 prayer for his beloved \"image004\"<\/a>China, biggest of all harvest fields! And not only he, but also his coworkers and those who stood with them. Has the Lord answered those prayers of a century ago?<\/p>\n

He has<\/i> answered and He is<\/i> answering. The Lord of the harvest is doing so in unexpected and breathtaking ways. He is doing so through the Communist repression of nearly sixty years. As new (and old) believers are on the run from the pitiless \u2018arm of the law\u2019, they spread the Good News of eternal salvation in Christ. The results are a harvest that is being reaped – countless Chinese, far and wide, are won to Christ \u2013 many, many millions of them now!<\/p>\n

Of late, more and more Chinese believers are also preparing to take the Gospel across the borders into \u2018closed\u2019 countries. Reports are already coming in from Muslim countries where an impact is being made. Our Lord knew what He was talking about. Harvest laborers that are \u2018cast out\u2019 have no strings to hold them back.<\/p>\n

He uses another word picture to explain that there cannot be any \u201clooking back\u201d. If a \u2018plowman\u2019 is still attached to his past, he cannot help looking back all the time, which means his furrows will be a mess. But if \u201ccast out\u201d and \u2018unattached\u2019, he can look forward and be unrestricted in the work that is waiting. \u201cNo one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for (preaching) the kingdom of God\u201d<\/i> (Lk. 9:62).<\/p>\n

Samuel Zwemer, pioneer missionary among Muslims, had this to say: \u201cThere is nothing finer… to me than the way in which missionaries unlearn the love of the old home, die to their native land, and wed their hearts to the people they have served and won… How vulgar the common patriotisms seem beside this inverted homesickness, the passion of a kingdom which has no frontiers and no favored race, the passion of a homeless Christ.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/i>God\u2019s outcasts<\/b><\/p>\n

If \u201cekball\u00f4\u201d stands for \u201ccasting out\u201d, the question will be asked \u201cout from what?\u201d<\/i> A ship is \u2018cast out\u2019 of the harbor; demons are cast out from the bodies they possessed; salesmen are cast out of the temple; Satan is cast out of heaven; but missionaries\u2026? The answer is the \u201ccomfort-zone\u201d! The \u2018zone\u2019 where we feel \u2018comfy\u2019, cozy and completely at home, where we are safe, well provided for, and where, gratefully, we count our many blessings..!<\/p>\n

In Deuteronomy 20 we find the divine principle that soldiers won\u2019t be of much use on the battle field if they are \u201cattached\u201d – attached that is to possessions<\/i><\/b>, occupations<\/i><\/b> or relations<\/i><\/b>. It meant that in Israel these men were excused from going to war. Israel needed \u2018all-out\u2019 warriors, not \u2018halfhearted\u2019 ones. A soldier \u2018cast out\u2019 from possessions<\/i><\/b>, occupations<\/i><\/b> and relations<\/i><\/b> can truly give himself to the Lord\u2019s battles and do the Lord\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

Right from the beginning that was the Lord\u2019s intent. He commanded: \u201cGo<\/b> therefore and make disciples of all the nations<\/b>\u201d<\/i> (Mt. 28:18-20); and \u201cyou shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth\u201d<\/i> (Acts 1:8). It didn\u2019t materialize through the first seven chapters of The Acts of the Apostles, but his intent and strategy were there.<\/p>\n

Obviously, there had to be a time of consolidation and local extension after Acts 2, but then..? Might the laborers be getting rather \u201cattached\u201d? And rather foggy and forgetful about \u201cSamaria and the end of the earth\u201d? <\/i>We notice this especially in Acts 10 and 11 in the case of Peter and his fellow servants in Jerusalem and their grave misgivings about the \u2018uncircumcised\u2019. The time had come for some \u2018special measures\u2019. It is true that Peter\u2019s death as a martyr was still years away, yet the prediction that he would be carried \u201cwhere you do not wish\u201d<\/i> (John 21:18) was already coming true in Acts 10.<\/p>\n

Intelligent design in Acts<\/b><\/p>\n

We must have a closer look at God\u2019s designs in Acts. We find that He is meticulously preparing some effective \u201ccasting out\u201d crises.<\/p>\n

As more and more believers were truly consolidated in their faith, grasping and absorbing what God was teaching them, the grace and power of the risen Christ among them were undeniable. Consequently, in the very place where their Messiah had been betrayed and crucified, pressures were building up again…<\/p>\n

Had all this been mere religious \u2018effervescence\u2019, then the Ananias affair of chapter 5 would soon have burst the superficial \u2018bubble\u2019. Instead, bane was turned into blessing. In chapter 6 serious complaints about discrimination broke out. The answer to that was the selection and appointing of the first \u2018deacons\u2019 – again a bad thing turning into a good thing. \u201cThen the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.\u201d<\/i> These deacons, however, weren\u2019t to remain deacons for long\u2026<\/p>\n

Whereas today the \u2018office\u2019 and ministry of a \u2018deacon\u2019 may mean something very different from denomination to denomination, a NT deacon simply \u201cserved tables\u201d. But that didn\u2019t exclude him from the spiritual ministries that were open to all the believers. Deacon Stephen had a testimony unrivaled by anyone \u2013 it stung the enemies of the Gospel. And \u201cthe wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke\u201d <\/i>soon proved to be the last straw! The pressures of bigotry and hatred were coming to their boiling point.<\/p>\n

The apostles, so far, had survived touches of real persecution. Now it was one of the first deacons who was going to be the very first Christian martyr\u2026 God, however, was fully in control. In fact, we can see a two pronged strategy: God\u2019s eye was on Saul of Tarsus, and<\/i> it was on a massive \u2018casting-out-of-laborers\u2019!<\/p>\n

Scatterings<\/b><\/p>\n

\"image005\"<\/a>Stephen\u2019s testimony in life and death triggered both the \u201cekball\u00f4\u201d and<\/i> the developments that led to Saul\u2019s conversion: \u201ca great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered<\/b> throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria\u2026 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Therefore those who were scattered <\/b>went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them\u201d <\/i>(8:1-4).<\/p>\n

The word for \u201cscattering\u201d is the very word used for \u201csowing the seed\u201d. Hadn\u2019t Jesus said that the \u201csons of the Kingdom\u201d were \u201cthe good seed\u201d (Mt. 13:38)? Now the \u2018good seed\u2019 was being scattered, literally being \u2018cast out\u2019, just as Jesus had told them to ask in prayer of the Lord of the harvest. Every believer, now a refugee and cast out from home and loved ones and work, had in fact become fully involved with both \u2018sowing\u2019 <\/i>and \u2018reaping\u2019.<\/i><\/p>\n

And the story goes on: \u201cNow those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia<\/b>, Cyprus<\/b>, and Antioch<\/b>, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. But some of them\u2026 when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord\u201d <\/i>(11:19-21). Judea and Samaria were being reached, now Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch were added \u2013 Antioch being right on the borders of present day Turkey. Whole nations and big cities were involved, yet we are only given a glimpse of all that happened after the Jerusalem \u2018ekball\u00f4\u2019. Heaven\u2019s annals have the full story.<\/p>\n

Noah & sons<\/b><\/p>\n

Before we conclude this article, something must be said about three personal \u2018ekball\u00f4\u2019s. We cannot doubt our Lord\u2019s vital interest in all of the harvest fields of the world, and, as if to underline that, He draws our attention to three men who represent every single race on earth. All humanity is descended from Noah\u2019s sons: \u201cShem, Ham, and Japheth.., from these the whole earth was populated\u201d<\/i> (Gn. 9:18-19). God\u2019s wonderful design has us stumble across them in Acts 8, 9 and 10. In chapter 8 Ham is represented by the Ethiopian eunuch \u2013 eunuchs didn\u2019t amount to much on the Jewish grade list, and being a descendant of Ham wasn\u2019t much of a help either. Yet of the three he is mentioned first!<\/p>\n

Saul of Tarsus in ch. 9 represents Shem, and Cornelius in ch. 10 was a Japhethite, possibly a Spaniard. All of the Shem, Ham and Japheth harvest fields were known to the Lord when He said to the disciples: \u201cDo you not say, \u2018There are still four months and then comes the harvest\u2019? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!\u201d<\/i> (Jn. 4:35).<\/p>\n

Now for each of these three key men – the Ethiopian, Saul and Cornelius – the Lord of the harvest needed a \u2018laborer\u2019. At the same time such \u2018laborers\u2019 themselves needed a personalized \u2018ekball\u00f4\u2019 \u2013 at least a severing of any strings holding them back.<\/p>\n

It is easily conceivable that when Philip was still one of the seven deacons in Jerusalem, the Ethiopian was there at the same time. The Jewish establishment, obviously, wasn\u2019t of much spiritual help to this son of Ham \u2013 they were too busy thinking of the \u2018outrages\u2019 of Stephen\u2019s ministry. But at least, before he left Jerusalem, the man had gotten hold of the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. By the time his readings had gotten him to chapter 53, his horses were trudging towards Gaza. And that is where Philip, now an \u2018outcast\u2019 from Jerusalem, was ready to \u2018labor\u2019 in the harvest field.<\/p>\n

Ananias of Damascus in chapter 9 (not to be confused with the Ananias of chapter 5) was a local Christian – possibly one of the elders in the congregation. Understandably he was most reluctant to go and see Saul of Tarsus, who was just about the last person a Jewish Christian would want to meet. Yet Ananias, who knew and loved his Lord intimately, didn\u2019t need extreme measures. He was ready to be cast out and to be used as God\u2019s harvest tool for Saul.<\/p>\n

Peter knew he had been called to be a fisher-of-men, but somehow that had always meant fisher-of-Jews to him. So on that housetop in Joppa God had to deal rather drastically with him. Peter was shaken, but, as things sunk in, he stopped saying \u2018no\u2019, let himself be \u2018cast out\u2019 to Cesarea, and even took six Jewish believers with him. Cornelius and a houseful of uncircumcised were harvested.<\/p>\n

These sons of Ham, Shem and Japheth repented, believed and received. They were baptized, went on their way rejoicing and were in turn ready to be \u2018cast out\u2019 as well, i.e. if the experience of Saul, the son-of-Shem, is anything to go by. God did it all, yet in his sovereignty He \u2018needed\u2019 three men as \u2018co-laborers\u2019. Were Philip, Ananias and Peter ready for that? To each one He said \u201cArise and go!\u201d Philip had already been cast out and was ready when the call came, the other two had their grave doubts and reservations, but then the Lord was allowed to cut every \u2018string\u2019 that was holding them back.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A question<\/b><\/p>\n

Do we have to wait and keep on asking for \u2018laborers\u2019 until, through the upheavals of cruel persecution, God\u2019s children are<\/i> \u2018cast out\u2019? Or can we sincerely offer ourselves to him now, pleading with him to \u2018cut all our strings\u2019 and \u2018cast us out\u2019, into our own neighborhoods and cities as the laborers He is needing there, and possibly further afield?<\/p>\n

The country of Spain represents an open door that leads to the rest of Europe, which means it attracts countless Latin Americans and North Africans. Of the Latin Americans coming in many are Evangelical Christians, a much higher percentage than that of Spanish Evangelical Christians. In other words, thousands of Christian \u2018Latinos\u2019 (apply that to the Christian Hispanics in the US, if you wish) are bursting onto the Spanish harvest scene. They have been, so to speak, \u2018cast out\u2019 through economic circumstances. Are they the laborers in the Lord\u2019s harvest field this country has been so desperately needing?<\/p>\n

Sadly, unlike the Jerusalem refugees (speaking generally), their eyes are not on the Lord and his will for their lives. Purely and simply, what they come looking for, is economic improvement. They may start out attending Christian meetings, but soon disappear into the \u201crat race\u201d of materialism. They were \u2018cast out\u2019 right onto a desperately needy harvest field, but\u2026 they come with \u2018strings attached\u2019 – and not ready to be \u2018detached\u2019. Instead of being God\u2019s amazing answer, they become a poignant part of the problem. They may do well economically, yet lose out totally in the things that really matter.<\/p>\n

So, how about it?<\/b><\/p>\n

Keep on praying? Definitely! But that won\u2019t avail much if you<\/i><\/b> are not truly at his disposal, and \u201cdiligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth\u201d<\/i><\/b> (2 Tim. 2:15).<\/p>\n

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