Dogs and Evil Spirits
Today, it is rare that a mother finds that her young daughter has an unclean spirit. But, 2000 years ago, it happened as the Gospel reported.
If a young child has an unclean spirit, there must be a reason that should be ascribed to the environment where he or she lives. And, the major one who is in the environment is his or her mother. But, there may be other creatures such as dogs and cats in the vicinity.
In the case described in the Gospel, the main players are a young daughter, the mother and dogs. The evil spirit must have come through the relationships among them into the young daughter. So, there must be something wrong in the relationships. And, the most important factor for living of the young daughter and the dogs is foods. The key to this problem must be foods.
Christ Jesus with his super ability could see that the cause of the trouble was in how the mother fed her young daughter and dogs.
As depicted in other part of the Gospels, evil spirits could even go into pigs. Dogs could have also evil spirits. In this case, the dogs had not been fully fed by the woman. So, one dog came to have a grudge against the woman and her young daughter who had been fully fed. This grudge invited an evil spirit into the dog.
The evil spirit of the dog started to act to have the dog eat fully, so that it called another evil spirit and made it get into the mother who then started to take the bread from her daughter and cast it to the dog. She did so as she felt that her young daughter looked like having an evil spirit while the dog looked so poor. It was a magic the evil spirit worked in her mind.
Subsequently, the young daughter, in protest, came to express her complaint wildly as if she had an evil spirit. So, the mother thought that her daughter had really an evil spirit. But, some sound part of her mind made her think that something was wrong, so that she came to Christ Jesus for help.
Christ Jesus found the evil spirits in the dog and the mother. So, He said to her, "Stop feeding the dogs but give foods fully to your daughter!" His words were also directed to the evil spirit in the mother: "I know you, an evil spirit, occupying the mind of this mother. If you do not get out of her, I will destroy you."
So, hearing the words of Christ Jesus, the evil spirits in the dog and the mother got afraid, and the one in her said, "Yes, the Son of God, I will leave this woman, but even dogs should be allowed to eat crumbles from the table where children eat."
Christ Jesus accepted the words of the evil spirit and saw the evil spirits leaving the mother and the dog, though the Gospel should have read as "the devil is gone out of thy daughter to thy eyes though it actually got out of thee."
When we observe animals or try to communicate with animals, we sometimes feel that they have some ability to spiritually interact with us as if we and the animals shared the same spiritual communication ability. But, it also means that evil spirits could be in animals.
So, lambs must be animals where evil spirits do not enter, since they are too vulnerable. But wolves and dogs are animals where evil spirits can enter easily, since they are equipped with dangerous teeth and nails.
Anyway, Christ Jesus did not allow dogs to accompany Him. We must separate dogs and other animals from the human sphere in case that they happen to have evil spirits.
![[Illustration]](http://www.mainlesson.com/books/hurlbut/bible/zpage584.jpg)
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=hurlbut&book=bible&story=answer
**** **** ****
Mar 7:25 For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:
Mar 7:26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
Mar 7:27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.
Mar 7:28 And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.
Mar 7:29 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.