Demons, Demon Possessions
“Demons, Demon Possessions”
DIRE WARNING: “Under NO circumstances at ANY time should you go through your home burning sage, incense, using an eagle feather, etc., it’s WITCHCRAFT, this doesn’t work, isn’t in the Bible, and burning sage, incense, only serves to irritate the dark ones, and although it MIGHT make them leave temporarily, they WILL come back and WITH a vengeance…stick with the Word of God, let God, the Holy Spirit, the angels do the fighting for you.”
A demon is an angel who rebelled against God by following Satan’s commands.
Demons carry out Satan’s commands and they try to get people to disobey God’s will.
When demons actually enter the lives of human beings, this is called demon possession. There are many examples of demon possession in the Bible, and a big part of Jesus’ work on earth involved healing people of the demons that controlled them.
Just Who Demons Are
The English word “demon” comes from the Greek word daimon, which means “a false deity” 1 Corinthians 10:20. Any deity other than the one true God is a spirit opposed to him. Because of this, such a spirit is an evil spirit, or a demon. The word “demon” does not appear in the King James Version, which mistranslates daimon as “devil.”
There is only one devil, who is known by a variety of names and titles in the Bible. The devil is the ruler of all the other demons, who are subject to him. There are many times in the Bible when the word “spirit” is used for demon, along with a descriptive phrase.
For example, the Bible mentions “evil spirit” Acts 19:12-13, “unclean spirit” Matthew 10:1, Mark 1:23, Mark 1:26, and Acts 5:16, “spirit of infirmity” Luke 13:11, and “dumb and deaf spirit” Mark 9:25.
Evil spirits might be identified by their specific role or function. Some demons possess the spirit of murder, suicide, fear, or lying. This associates them with various sins or attitudes that are contrary to the will of God.
In the Hebrew Old Testament there is no word for “demon” In some references, the term “evil spirit” occurs Judges 9:23, 1 Samuel 16:14-23, 1 Samuel 18:10, and 1 Samuel 19:9.
A specific powerful demon referred to in the Old Testament is “the prince of the kingdom of Persia” This demon hindered the archangel Gabriel from coming to bring information to Daniel.
Because of this, the archangel Michael came to Gabriel’s assistance Daniel 10:13. We do not know the exact number of demons. It appears that there are a vast number, perhaps so many that they cannot be counted.
Revelation 12:4 suggests that about one-third of the angels were led astray by Satan. This means that the angels of heaven outnumber Satan’s powers by two to one.
Ephesians 6:12 suggests that there is an order or rank of demons. There are “principalities,” “powers,” “world rulers of this present darkness,” and “spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” Ephesians 6:12. Demons are created beings. They are immortal, and they cannot reconcile their previous relationship with God.
They have great powers when they are compared to humans, but they cannot match the power of God. God has given us authority over them, and Christians who believe in the power of Jesus cannot be conquered by the power of demons.
WHAT DEMONS DO
Angels were created to worship and praise God, to serve him, and to act as his messengers. The Bible states that they are “spirits sent from God to care for those who will receive salvation” Hebrews 1:14. Demons have a similar function, but they serve a different master. They are ruled by Satan, whom they serve out of fear. Demons work in the lives of human beings, but their purpose is to carry out the schemes of Satan and to oppose God.
Demons tempt, deceive, and delude people in the hopes of bringing them to eternal damnation. They constantly attack, oppress, and accuse the people of God. Since Satan cannot be everywhere at the same time, he uses his demons to carry out different tasks.
For example, in the parable of the sower Matthew 13:3-9, Mark 4:1-20 and Luke 8:4-15 demons snatch away the word before it can take root Mark 4:15.
Many times, Satan causes some people to fall away from God before they have made a genuine commitment Mark 4:17. By tempting people with the desire for material things, Satan chokes the Word of God so that no fruit can be produced Mark 4:19.
Basically, demons operate according to the pattern set by Satan in his temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden.
- demons deny the truth of the Word of God and they challenge the statements it makes
- demons deny the reality of death
- demons appeal to human vanity and pride by telling men and women that they can become like God or be gods themselves Genesis 3:1-5
These also are the basic methods and teachings behind most cults and false religions.
THE FINAL DESTINY OF DEMONS
The Bible tells us that God took the angels who sinned against him and he “cast them into hell and committed them to pits of nether gloom to be kept until the judgment” 2 Peter 2:4.
Jesus also spoke about the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. He also described how people who do not believe in him would also be cursed to this horrible fate for eternity Matthew 25:41.
Eventually, Satan and the demons will be thrown into the lake of fire Revelation 20:10, which is also the place of eternal torment for all people whose names are not written in the Book of Life Revelation 20:12-15.
DEMON POSSESSION
Demon possession occurs when a demon actually occupies the spirit of a human being. The term “possession” is misleading and is not the best translation for the Greek word daimonizomai, which literally means to be “demonized” and can often best be translated as “to have a demon.”
The Bible tells us that demons can enter the body of a person Luke 8:30 and Luke 22:3 in order to control an individual’s thoughts and actions. Although a non-Christian might be described as someone who is “possessed” by a demon, a Christian cannot be possessed in this way.
All Christians belong to Jesus Christ and their human spirits are sealed by the Holy Spirit Ephesians 1:13. Demons somehow know and acknowledge this seal. Demons can also enter the bodies of animals, as in the case of the swine in Mark 5:13.
Demons are associated with books of magic Acts 19:19 and idols 1 Corinthians 10:19-21. Demons also often cause illness or physical disability. Luke 13:11 describes a woman who had “been crippled by an evil spirit” for eighteen years but was delivered and healed by Jesus Luke 13:11. Since demons often attack people’s minds and emotions, many symptoms of mental illness can be attributed to their evil activities.
A boy whom Jesus healed just after the Transfiguration exhibited symptoms of epilepsy. In the same way, paranoia can also be the work of an evil spirit of fear.
Some individuals who seemingly suffer from multiple personalities may be afflicted by a number of evil spirits. It is possible for a person to have many demons. Jesus cast seven of them out of Mary Magdalene Luke 8:2 and another demon Jesus cast out said his name was Legion, “for we are many” Mark 5:9 and Luke 8:30.
In the time of Caesar Augustus, a Roman legion consisted of six thousand foot soldiers, usually accompanied by an equal number of auxiliary troops. This shows just how many different demons can be at work in the life of a single human being.
Demon possession occurs in various ways. Some people are demonized by a curse that passes down through a family’s generations Exodus 20:5. The curse against illegitimacy was especially strong, and these children could not enter the congregation of Israel until the tenth generation Deuteronomy 23:2. Curses may also be placed upon someone by spells, incantations, or similar practices such as voodoo or other forms of witchcraft.
Usually, Christian believers are immune from curses made against them, unless they have given grounds to the devil Ephesians 4:27. Involvement with tarot cards, horoscopes, or any other form of fortune telling may also give demons an opportunity to enter the life of a Christian. Such practices might seem harmless to most people, but Satan uses the smallest opportunities to gain an advantage over any and all people.
MANIFESTATION
Often demons prefer to hide rather than to make their presence known, for then they can exercise control without opposition. When demons do make their presence known, all sorts of strange and frightening things can occur. Demons possess supernatural powers Revelation 16:14, and they can exhibit these powers through their victims. The demon-possessed man from Gerasa had superhuman physical strength, and he could not be bound with fetters or chains Mark 5:4-5.
He also lived in tombs and ran around at night screaming and injuring himself with stones. The spirit in the demonized boy in Mark 9 made him dumb and deaf, threw him on the ground, and made him roll about and foam at the mouth Mark 9:18-20. The demon also caused him to grind his teeth and become rigid. In addition, the demon had tried to kill the boy by throwing him into the fire and into the water on various occasions Mark 9:18-22.
Before leaving the boy’s body at Jesus’ command, the demon cried out Mark 1:26, made the boy convulse, and left him lying like a corpse. Jesus took the boy by the hand and raised him up Mark 9:27. Similar stories of demon possession take place today.
EXORCISM
Casting out demons, or exorcism, was a regular part of Jesus’ ministry, and he commanded his followers to do the same. This command for followers of Jesus has never stopped, and it should be even more important today when the forces of evil are so rampant in the world.
The following principles come from the practice of Jesus, the Scriptures, and personal observation and involvement.
Jesus spoke to demons and commanded them to come out Mark 1:25 and Mark 9:25. He cast them out “with a word” Matthew 8:16. Jesus gave his followers authority to use his name in casting demons out and used this as a sign of a Christian believer (Mark 16:17. Jesus’ name is not a magical formula, and its use depends on the relationship between the Lord and the person using his name Acts 19:11-18.
Jesus cast out demons by the Spirit of God Matthew 12:28. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power to heal all who were oppressed by Satan Luke 4:18-19 and Acts 10:38.
Jesus gave clear teaching about “the binding of the strong man” in deliverance Matthew 12:29 and Mark 3:27 and about binding and loosing Matthew 18:18.
Prayer is an important weapon in dealing with demons. When the disciples asked why they could not cast out a certain type of demon, Jesus replied that certain kinds of demons could only be conquered with much prayer (Mark 9:28).
Revelation 12:11 describes the power “the blood of the Lamb” has in overcoming Satan Revelation 12:11. Demons do not like to hear of the blood of Jesus and often become agitated when it is mentioned.
God has equipped the Christian believer with armor for defense in spiritual battle against demons Ephesians 6:10-17.
The Lord answered Satan with passages from the Bible. We have been given the Word of God Ephesians 6:17 and Hebrews 4:12 as a tool of defense and for attack against Satan.
- We must come against the demons of hell with help from heaven, not from our limited earthly positions Ephesians 2:6
- We must recognize that the ultimate victory has already been won by Jesus, who came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) and to destroy Satan’s power of death Hebrews 2:14-16
- When Jesus cried out on the cross, “It is finished,” he meant that his redemptive work was done
- When he arose from the dead, he demonstrated his power over death
- We win only if we become a part of Jesus’ victory over Satan and the demons.
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