Swept & Garnished

Is "Swept & Garnished" pointing to the church in tribulation and Lot's wife going back into the house? Let's examine.

CASTING OUT SPIRITS: REDEMPTION OF THE BODY?

Mt 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.

Mt 8:16 When the EVEN was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:

Ac 16:18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same HOUR.

Mr 5:2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,

Mr 5:8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.

Mt 12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

1Jo 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

SEEKING DEATH: SEEKING SALVATION?

Mt 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.

Am 8:12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

Re 9:6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

Re 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

RETURNING TO THE HOUSE: LOT’S WIFE – GOING BACK TO THE OLD WAYS?

Mt 12:44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.

Lu 17:31 In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.

Lu 17:32 Remember Lot’s wife.

Heb 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Joh 5:14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

2Pe 2:21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

2Pe 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

Mt 12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last {state} of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

SWEPT AND GARNISHED: INHABITED BY FALSE PROPHETS?

Mt 12:44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished <2885>.

Tit 2:10 Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn <2885> the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

Mt 23:29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish <2885> the sepulchres of the righteous,

Lu 21:5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned <2885> with goodly stones and gifts, he said,

Lu 21:6 As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

Isa 14:23 I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.

Isa 28:17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of LIES, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

Jud 5:21 The river of Kishon (Palestinian river) swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.

MORE WICKED: JUDGMENT ON THE UNSAVED CHURCH?

Mt 12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last {state} of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

Mt 19:30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

Lu 8:2 And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,

Re 16:14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

Mt 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

Jude 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the

people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

Re 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

SUMMARY CONCLUSION

The parable of Mat 12:43-45 seems to be pointing to Lot’s Wife. Corporately the Body is said to be saved (unclean spirit cast out) both during the church age as well as post tribulation. However the unsaved in the body who may give evidence of salvation are eventually destroyed as God allows more wicked spirits to rule in them.