1 Kings 18:28

1 Kings 18:28

And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.

1. “…and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.”

a. Cutting oneself is a characteristic of idolatry, and demonic oppression. It was strictly forbidden by God for his people.

1). Leviticus 19:28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

a). This is interesting in light of the worldwide fascination of tattooing. In America tattoo parlors are everywhere, and people everywhere are getting them. The many nations that comprise the group of nations called the ‘Canaanites’ that God dispossessed and gave to Israel as an inheritance, practiced tattooing, it was  a characteristic of their idolatrous worship. God strictly forbade Israel of engaging in such behavior. Even though we are not under the Covenant that forbade such behavior, I believe that is wisdom not to engage in any Canaanite practices. It is a fact that tattooing, along with the Canaanite practices such as child sacrifice, homosexuality and a fascination with witchcraft, which are strictly forbidden under the New Covenant, these behaviors are becoming firmly established in America. Along with that is a drenching of every form of sexuality which also was a characteristic of Canaanite culture. All of this is an indication that the void created by our national leaders of forcing God out of our nation, is being filled by Canaanite practices, and we its citizens many of us Christians are allowing it, and in some cases helping it. We need to repent.

2). Deuteronomy 14:1Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.

b. The demoniac of Gadara cut himself with stones.

1). Mark 5:1-5 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.

And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,

Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:

Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.

And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.