Bind & Plunder

"No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house." Mark 3:27 [NKJV]

I experienced one of those moments recently while reading the passage above (Mark 3:27). The verse says, "No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house."

This verse says that the ONLY way anyone can plunder a strong man’s house is to first bind him up. That is, unless a strong man is bound up, his house can never be plundered. In other words, unless you tie up a strong man, he’s not going to sit around and watch you plunder his house. He’s going to put up a fight, and being a strong man, the likelihood of your winning that fight is slim. So, your best shot at plundering his house is to first tie him up.

Two words caught my attention in this verse -- the words bind and plunder. To bind in the context of this verse means "to tie up," "to render useless or ineffective," "to confine or restrain," etc. To plunder means, "to pillage or loot," "to seize by force," "to assault," "to disorganize," "to disorientate," or "to take over."

While meditating on this verse, I thought about how the strong man in this verse can be likened to a born-again Christian, and the plunderer likened to Satan. Every born-again Christian is a strong man –- spiritually. "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." 1 John 4:4. Satan has no power to spiritually plunder a born-again Christian’s household, unless he first binds him up. That’s why we are admonished not to give him place (Ephesians 4:7).

So, what Satan does (and has been doing since the Fall of Man) is to spiritually bind up a spiritually strong man (a born-again Christian) before plundering his house. Once he binds him up spiritually, physical bondage is inevitable. Spiritual bondage is soon manifested in physical bondage.

All through the Bible you see examples of how he bound up strong men and women of God in order to plunder their households. He started with the first family – Adam and Eve. To plunder Adam’s house, he ‘bound’ him with a fruit! To plunder Cain’s house, he bound him up with jealousy. To plunder Noah’s house he bound him up with wine.

To plunder Jacob’s household, he bound him up with deception. To plunder David’s household, he bound him up with adultery and murder. To plunder Solomon’s household, he bound him up with women (700 wives and 300 concubines) and idolatry; to plunder Samson’s household he bound him with Delilah. To plunder Judas Iscariot’s household, he bound him up with greed (money). To plunder Ananias and Sapphira’s household, he bound them with lies. One could go on and on…

Satan’s weapon has not changed all these years. Therefore, the same is true today. Today, we are bound up with habits and hobbies while Satan plunders our households. The proof that Satan is plundering our households is evidenced in our families, homes, schools, churches, etc. Some of us are bound up with sports, video/computer games, TV, the internet, even the telephone! Some of us are bound up with career, fame, power, money, sex, drugs, alcohol, etc. Whatever it takes, Satan will use it to bind a person up. He doesn’t care. Once he identifies what it takes to bind you up, that’s what he uses. For some people it is food! For some it is fear! For some it is anger!

Remember, he tried the same trick on Jesus but failed. He tried to bind Jesus up, first with food, power and material things (Luke 4:1-13)!

Needless to say, for every man (and woman) out there, especially a born-again Christian, there’s a rope with your name on it. Your rope could be sports, sex, money, power, fame, career, lies, etc. Whatever it is, the first thing you have to do is determine where Satan has you bound. Or better yet, identify what rope he is using to bind you, while he plunders your household. Then seek God to strengthen you to break free from his yoke and shackles, and not be entangled in it again.

Rest assured that whether you realize it or not, there’s an area where Satan is plundering your household. The question is, "Where?"