Bible Teachings on Demons
by Dave Brown
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Biblical Teachings on Demons - Part 1
By Dave Brown
This is a three-part article, of which all three parts are on this page.
As we have with several other subjects, our intent here will be to copy out the passages that apply with a minimum of comment, and as much as possible take a comprehensive approach to the subject. We have faith in your ability to understand what the bible teaches on this or any other subject.
In a previous article related to occult organizations we mentioned that if certain practices/teachings were not from God, they were demonic, which means that they "pertain to an evil supernatural being." That these demons have exercised observable power on the earth in the past is a bible fact. We will discuss the power that they still have today in more detail in Part 2; but for now, let us explore the basic biblical teachings on this subject.
A qualifier before we get started. We recognize that Satan is a major player in the book of Job, and the events presented there probably occurred before those of Deuteronomy. However, we refer you to a separate article on Satan, and for that reason we will hold off on any major consideration of Satan. At that point we just assert what we will prove in a subsequent article – that Satan is the owner of the kingdom of the demons (Luke 11:18), and should therefore be considered a demon himself.
The first mention of the word demon in the bible is:
Deuteronomy 32:16-17
16 They moved Him to jealousy with strange (gods); With abominations provoked they him to anger.
17 They sacrificed unto demons, (which were) no God, To gods that they knew not, To new (gods) that came up of late, Which your fathers dreaded not.
This is talking about the sin of the Children of Israel in the wilderness, and a practice that continued thereafter as they were enticed by the gods of the nations around them. This is part of the Song of Moses, which he gave very near the end of his life, shortly before the Children of Israel crossed over into the promised land. Notice how foreign gods often seem to be innocent enough, but they are an abomination to the true and living God, and sacrificing to these idols is a sacrifice to demons, as we have defined the word above. Also, demons do not have to be performing supernatural acts in order to be considered to have influence and to be real.
The only other mention of demons (apart from Satan) in the Old Testament is in Psalms 106, where the writer is describing much the same problem as Moses did above.
Psalms 106:34-39
34 They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them,
35 But mingled themselves with the nations, and learned their works,
36 And served their idols, which became a snare unto them.
37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto demons,
38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus were they defiled with their works, and played the harlot in their doings.
The shedding of innocent blood is an obvious abomination to God (Proverbs 6:16-17), but the sacrifice (killing) of children to satisfy demons was an even greater offense, and one that is specifically pointed out as deplorable to God. God certainly would not wish to be held responsible for such heinous acts of cruelty.
Often referred to as making the children that were being sacrificed pass (or go) “through the fire,” it is the most staunchly condemned sin in Leviticus 18:21 (first reference) and 13 other times in the Old Testament. It seems quite reasonable that the purpose for the total elimination of those who practiced these things, and the saving of the children, was one of the reasons for the command of God to utterly destroy these people See Genesis15:16: “And in the fourth generation they shall come hither again. For the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.” The necessary implication of this verse is that there would come a time when the iniquity of the Amorite would be full, and at that time corrective action would follow and that nation would be punished.
We should not be surprised about such a total punishment since the Old Testament tells us of similar judgments at Noah’s time and regarding Sodom and Gomorrah. The only difference in this case was that God employed the army of the Children of Israel in this punishment, we think to impress upon the Children of Israel the severity of God’s wrath toward those who had so little respect for innocent human life. We all would do well to take note of this today. We should also note that no such action is commanded or justified today – we urge anyone with doubts to read about the difference between the Old and New Testaments.
While the word demon or demons does not appear elsewhere in the Old Testament, the names of the various gods that were contrived by the nations surrounding Israel are mentioned, and the verses above link them directly to demons. Similarly, we can conclude today that any religion that is not of God is of demons, since there can only be one of two sources for spiritual truth/error. Let us turn our attention now to the New Testament.
There are many references to demons in the New Testament, e.g., Matt 4:24; 7:22; 8:16, 28; 9:32; 10:8; 11:18; 12:22; 15:22; 17:18; Mark 1:32; 3:15; 5:15; 7:26-30; Luke 4:33-35; etc.; John 8:48-52; 10:20-21 – just some of them. From these we can see clearly that demons were allowed to possess and visibly exercise physical power over certain individuals as late as the first century. It is speculated that this was allowed to present a true picture of the depraved evil nature of demons, and to show that the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus and ultimately the teachings of his apostles (e.g., in Matthew 10 and the book of Acts) was superior to their power. While not stated explicitly, this is consistent with the examples that are given. For this reason we can conclude that, with the passing of the miraculous power of those who had the laying on of the hands of the apostles to perform miracles (see Acts 8:18 and 1 Corinthians 13:8-12), the comparable (although diametrically opposite in intent) miracles of Satan and his demons have also ceased. This is also discussed in Part 3 of this article given below.
Space will not allow generating of all of these passages; below we provide a representative sampling of those that we feel best relate to the demonic forces that are in the world today.
Jesus’ first set of temptations is recorded in the first part of Matthew 4. He was tempted of Satan, who is referred to as the one who rules over the kingdom of the demons (Matthew 12:26). As stated above, Satan is another complete study, so we will defer that discussion for now and concentrate on demons, who are subservient to Satan. Suffice it to say that in the Old Testament Satan is first mentioned without any definition in 1 Chronicles 21:1 as one who tempted David successfully. This infers that they were aware of Satan and had some understanding of his evil purposes. Perhaps they were aware of the story of Job, where Satan’s interactions with God are discussed in the first two chapters. He is also mentioned once in Zechariah. Our reference to Satan here is to introduce the first mention of demons in the New Testament. This occurred shortly after Jesus’ temptation by Satan, which was a total failure on Satan’s part (see Matthew 4:1-11). The following is the reference to demons shortly after Jesus resisted Satan’s temptations …
Matthew 4:24
24 And the report of him went forth into all Syria: and they brought unto him all that were sick, holden with divers diseases and torments, possessed with demons, and epileptic, and palsied; and he healed them.
There are two important points to recognize in this passage:
Matthew 8:16
And when even was come, they brought unto him many possessed with demons: and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were sick: …
Mark 5:1-20
5:1 And they came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes.
2 And when he was come out of the boat, straightway there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
3 who had his dwelling in the tombs: and no man could any more bind him, no, not with a chain;
4 because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been rent asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: and no man had strength to tame him.
5 And always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones.
6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped him;
7 and crying out with a loud voice, he said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure thee by God, torment me not.
8 For he said unto him, Come forth, thou unclean spirit, out of the man.
9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he said unto him, My name is Legion; for we are many.
10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
11 Now there was there on the mountain side a great herd of swine feeding.
12 And they besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
13 And he gave them leave. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered into the swine: and the herd rushed down the steep into the sea, (in number) about two thousand; and they were drowned in the sea.
14 And they that fed them fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they came to see what it was that had come to pass.
15 And they come to Jesus, and behold him that was possessed with demons sitting, clothed and in his right mind, (even) him that had the legion: and they were afraid.
16 And they that saw it declared unto them how it befell him that was possessed with demons, and concerning the swine.
17 And they began to beseech him to depart from their borders.
18 And as he was entering into the boat, he that had been possessed with demons besought him that he might be with him.
19 And he suffered him not, but said unto him, Go to thy house unto thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and (how) he had mercy on thee.
20 And he went his way, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men marveled.
Observations:
End of Part 1
In Part 2 of this article we will describe how Jesus sent out others who also cast out demons. Jesus indicated that this reflected the casting down of Satan, and we will relate this to passages that deal with Satan’s being restrained that occur in the subsequent books of the New Testament. We will also show references to Paul casting out demons recorded in the book of Acts, and his discussion of them in 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy. Then we will show their mention in the book of Revelation and 2nd Thessalonians, and how this relates to their potential effect upon us today.
Please recognize that today demonic influences injure ONLY those who allow them to have influence in their lives. It is important to seek and find protection in Jesus Christ. This protection is in the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, not in any organization. Those organizations that are preaching the truth will tell you to only trust what you learn out of the bible, and that salvation is in the truth of God’s word, not in any organization or any man.
Biblical Teachings on Demons - Part 2
By Dave Brown
In Part 1 of this article we showed the nature of demons as they were allowed to have power in the first century. We saw how they exercised some power by influence in the Old Testament and manifested themselves in idolatrous worship and sacrifices. In the first century and especially while Jesus was on this earth demons were allowed to demonstrate their heinous evil nature so that Jesus could demonstrated his power over them. We continue this study by showing that the supernatural power of these demons existed for a short time after Jesus ascension into heaven. While there is no evidence that their supernatural powers exist today, there can be no doubt that their influence is quite significant within major subcultures of our society. Like good influences, evil influences last forever.
Part 2
Please skim through the many passages that are in the gospels that were listed in Part 1 of this article: Matt 4:24; 7:22; 8:16, 28; 9:32; 10:8; 11:18; 12:22; 15:22; 17:18; Mark 1:32; 3:15; 5:15; 7:26-30; Luke 4:33-35; etc.; John 8:48-52; 10:20-21. We feel that this sampling of passages gives a very good idea of the power that demons had in the first century while Jesus was on this earth, and this was discussed in Part 1.
Jesus was not the only one who cast out demons during the three years that he was on this earth. His disciples (also called apostles) were sent out (recorded in Matthew 10), and 70 others were also sent out by Jesus (recorded in Luke 10). In both cases they were given the authority to cast out demons with the clear purpose of proving the legitimacy of their preaching, i.e., that the gospel they were proclaiming was from God, and that Jesus Christ was the Son of God.
Luke 10:17-18
17 And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in thy name.
18 And he [Jesus] said unto them, “I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven.”
We do not want to make this statement of Jesus into anything more than it was understood by the disciples at the time. It was a powerful statement of the restriction of the power of Satan and his angels (demons). But since comparable demon possession continued for some time after Jesus’ statement, this statement was a prophecy of restriction as opposed to something that had already happened. This will be discussed in more detail below. For now, we can be assured that demons will have no more power over us than that which can be overcome by God’s power, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16-17). In the disciples casting out demons, Jesus could see the imminent binding or restriction of Satan by the gospel once Jesus’ stay on this earth was over. Let us now turn to demons mentioned in Acts and Paul’s letters.
Acts 16:16-18
16 And it came to pass, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a certain maid having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.
17 The same following after Paul and us cried out, saying, These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim unto you the way of salvation.
18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, being sore troubled, turned and said to the spirit, I charge thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out that very hour.
1 Corinthians 10:19-21
19 What say I then? that a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
20 But (I say), that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have communion with demons.
21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons: ye cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and of the table of demons.
The passage above is in the context of a discussion as to whether Christians could without sin eat meat that was killed in the process of it being sacrificing to idols. That is a very different subject than that of demons per se, but let us see what information about demons we can obtain from this passage. Of course, sacrificing animals to idols would not be something that Christians would have anything to do with; and for that matter, all sacrificing of animals was done away with at the death of Jesus since the Old Testament law was no longer in effect. However, with regard to these sacrifices to false gods, Paul asserts that whoever is serving false gods is “sacrificing to demons.”
Note the similarity of this with that of Deut. 16:32-33 and Psalms 106:34-39 that were discussed in Part 1 of this article. The conclusion is obvious – when we worship or serve anything other than the true and living God of the bible, we are serving demons. And Paul is quite adamant about the fact that we cannot serve Christ and demons at the same time – any service to demons totally negates our service to God. It is deplorable to God when serving demons is claimed to be serving God. How would you like it if someone did sordid evil and blamed it on you?
1 Timothy 4:1-3
1 But the Spirit says expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons,
2 through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron;
3 forbidding to marry, (and commanding) to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth.
This falling away from the truth can be tracked historically as the local churches were corrupted and organized in an unscriptural way. There were some fairly obvious characteristics mentioned here that appear in the institutions that came into existence as a result of that falling away. But let us not be distracted from our task here, which is that of understanding the nature of demons. The falling away was probably started by prideful Christians toward the end of the first century. For evidence of this, see 1 Corinthians 1-6 and Revelation 1, 2 and 3.
While the falling away from the truth revealed in the New Testament continued into the second and third centuries, there can be little doubt that this prophecy also applies several hundred years later, and it even applies in principle to us today. There are still faithful churches that are being corrupted and falling away. For this reason we can conclude that demons are still seducing people and leading them to believe lies (their doctrines) in a very similar but opposite way that the Holy Spirit is still active in leading seekers of God (Heb. 11:6) to follow Christ. These influences do not need to be displayed supernaturally, as both clearly were in the first century. In fact, non-miraculous influences may have a more lasting effect on the individual than observing a miracle, since once a miracle is performed, there seems to be an insatiable desire for the miraculous to continue (e.g., see John 6:22-26 and many other examples).
Similarly, most bible students agree that the timing of the fulfillment of the passage below from Revelation 9 would be significantly after the first century.
Revelation 9:20-21
20 And the rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 and they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
We do not have to have a clear understanding of the exact timing of the events described in this passage to realize that it demonstrates, along with 1 Timothy 4:1 (above) that the worship of demons would be a continuous practice throughout the latter days that we are in now. We should not be at all surprised by this because many flaunt their worship of demons today and make no secret about it.
The final verse in the bible that references demons is in Revelation 16.
Revelation 16:13-14
13 And I saw (coming) out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, as it were frogs:
14 for they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
This passage suggests quite definitively that these demonic spirits will work signs (a word that generally in the New Testament refers to supernatural powers). This was prophesied by Paul in the passage given immediately below. Although the word demon(s) is not used there, we can be sure that he is talking about the very same thing in this passage as in Rev. 16:
2 Thessalonians 2:8-12
8 And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to naught by the manifestation of his coming;
9 (even he), whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie :
12 that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Some feel that the word “lying” as a qualifier of “wonders” is indicative that these signs are not truly of a supernatural nature, but that they have been contrived to appear as such. Is it necessary for us to have to resolve this question? We think not ...
It is our opinion that the distinction between an actual and a perceived demonic supernatural event is artificial. It does not matter because the net effect on those who believe in it is the same. Those who want to believe that demons now have supernatural powers will believe it, regardless of whether it is true or not, and they will act upon it accordingly, whether it is real or not. Those who do not believe in demonic supernatural power will stay far enough away from this sordid conjuring so as to avoid it having any effect on their lives one way or the other. This is the reason that we say that it is irrelevant as far as human behavior is concerned (good or bad) whether demons have legitimate supernatural power today or not. Thus, we need not waste time arguing about it.
Since we have never seen miraculous demonic powers, we are quite skeptical of their supernatural capabilities (e.g., to possess individuals) in this day and age. Seeing is belieiving, and we urge our readers not to be influenced by testimonies of fallible and self-seeking men, or worse yet, what is clearly contrived to deceive on the Internet. People can be made to appear to be possessed by a variety of devices that are exploited by evil men. Remember, who the father of liars is (Jn. 8:44) – Satan is his name, and deceit is the nature of his game.
Biblical Teachings on Demons - Part 3
By Dave Brown
Considerations regarding this part of the article. Revelation Chapter 20 is one of the most intriguing and challenging passages in the scriptures. You will notice that while we will give evidence that we are currently in the 1000 year period spoken of (whether literally or figuratively), we make no definitive statements as to the anything that we believe should be taught dogmatically. Read most scholarly commentaries and you will find they give several alternative meanings. And although they might favor one of them, they will usually give a fair hearing to all of them and state honestly that there is no way to totally resolve which (if any) of the alternatives given is so definitive as to be bound as doctrine. Those who claim to have all the answers should be highly suspect. Most who make this claim also claim that they have some direct revelation from God. If so, then why use the bible at all? We have tried to look at the passage in terms of the general teachings of it as opposed to specific applications of time and location. We encourage you to do the same.
Let us complete our bible study of demons by adding some facts relative to Satan’s powers in general that impact the subject. Consider:
Revelation 20:1-3
20:1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
3 and cast him into the abyss, and shut (it), and sealed (it) over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed for a little time.
We present evidence in another article that the 1000 years is not a literal definitive period but that there is ample evidence that we are living in this time period right now. This should be reasonable because there is little evidence that any legitimate supernatural events, such as demon possession (that are described quite graphically in the gospels and the book of Acts), are occurring now. In other words, the Devil/Satan along with his angels (demons) are currently bound. However, verse 3 says clearly that there will come a time when Satan will be loosed, and we would expect at that time for him to exercise only those powers that God allows him to exercise when this occurs. We have no idea what the extent of those powers might be, but we know that they can have no effect upon anyone who adheres to the truth of God’s word.
The binding of Satan is correlated with the absence of God’s miracles such as those done by the apostles for the purpose of revealing the truth and confirming that that truth was of God. Zechariah talks about such a correlation in …
Zechariah 13:1-2
1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
2 And it shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered; and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
From the other end of the spectrum, truth-revealing and truth-confirming miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit were likewise stated to cease upon the completion of God’s revelation. This is confirmed by the passage in 1 Corinthians 13 below. Note that the subject of 1 Cor. 13, 14 and 15 is the proper exercise of spiritual gifts that some Christians at Corinth possessed at that time.
1 Corinthians 13:8-10
8 Love never fails: but whether (there be) prophecies, they shall be done away; whether (there be) tongues, they shall cease; whether (there be) knowledge, it shall be done away.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;
10 but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.
The parts here are referring to the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. This is totally consistent with our experiences in that while most of us have experienced weird unexplainable things at times, there is no systematic set of spiritual gifts today such as those discussed in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14 and Ephesians 4.
If in fact, the demons are going to be allowed to exercise supernatural powers at some time in the future, we can be sure that God will enable His people to overcome them either through miraculous or natural means. All we need to do is ask:
John 14:13-15
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name , that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask anything in my name, that will I do.
15 If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments.
Those who love Jesus and all the he stands for should ask for protection from evil demonic influences, and God will grant them.
We hope this study has been both enlightening and comforting.
If anyone sees any variance in these articles from what the bible teaches, please contact us and allow us to make correction – we will count you as a dear friend in this regard.
What are the conditions of salvation given by Jesus?
Retun to the Demons and Occult Page
By Dave Brown
This is a three-part article, of which all three parts are on this page.
As we have with several other subjects, our intent here will be to copy out the passages that apply with a minimum of comment, and as much as possible take a comprehensive approach to the subject. We have faith in your ability to understand what the bible teaches on this or any other subject.
In a previous article related to occult organizations we mentioned that if certain practices/teachings were not from God, they were demonic, which means that they "pertain to an evil supernatural being." That these demons have exercised observable power on the earth in the past is a bible fact. We will discuss the power that they still have today in more detail in Part 2; but for now, let us explore the basic biblical teachings on this subject.
A qualifier before we get started. We recognize that Satan is a major player in the book of Job, and the events presented there probably occurred before those of Deuteronomy. However, we refer you to a separate article on Satan, and for that reason we will hold off on any major consideration of Satan. At that point we just assert what we will prove in a subsequent article – that Satan is the owner of the kingdom of the demons (Luke 11:18), and should therefore be considered a demon himself.
The first mention of the word demon in the bible is:
Deuteronomy 32:16-17
16 They moved Him to jealousy with strange (gods); With abominations provoked they him to anger.
17 They sacrificed unto demons, (which were) no God, To gods that they knew not, To new (gods) that came up of late, Which your fathers dreaded not.
This is talking about the sin of the Children of Israel in the wilderness, and a practice that continued thereafter as they were enticed by the gods of the nations around them. This is part of the Song of Moses, which he gave very near the end of his life, shortly before the Children of Israel crossed over into the promised land. Notice how foreign gods often seem to be innocent enough, but they are an abomination to the true and living God, and sacrificing to these idols is a sacrifice to demons, as we have defined the word above. Also, demons do not have to be performing supernatural acts in order to be considered to have influence and to be real.
The only other mention of demons (apart from Satan) in the Old Testament is in Psalms 106, where the writer is describing much the same problem as Moses did above.
Psalms 106:34-39
34 They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them,
35 But mingled themselves with the nations, and learned their works,
36 And served their idols, which became a snare unto them.
37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto demons,
38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus were they defiled with their works, and played the harlot in their doings.
The shedding of innocent blood is an obvious abomination to God (Proverbs 6:16-17), but the sacrifice (killing) of children to satisfy demons was an even greater offense, and one that is specifically pointed out as deplorable to God. God certainly would not wish to be held responsible for such heinous acts of cruelty.
Often referred to as making the children that were being sacrificed pass (or go) “through the fire,” it is the most staunchly condemned sin in Leviticus 18:21 (first reference) and 13 other times in the Old Testament. It seems quite reasonable that the purpose for the total elimination of those who practiced these things, and the saving of the children, was one of the reasons for the command of God to utterly destroy these people See Genesis15:16: “And in the fourth generation they shall come hither again. For the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.” The necessary implication of this verse is that there would come a time when the iniquity of the Amorite would be full, and at that time corrective action would follow and that nation would be punished.
We should not be surprised about such a total punishment since the Old Testament tells us of similar judgments at Noah’s time and regarding Sodom and Gomorrah. The only difference in this case was that God employed the army of the Children of Israel in this punishment, we think to impress upon the Children of Israel the severity of God’s wrath toward those who had so little respect for innocent human life. We all would do well to take note of this today. We should also note that no such action is commanded or justified today – we urge anyone with doubts to read about the difference between the Old and New Testaments.
While the word demon or demons does not appear elsewhere in the Old Testament, the names of the various gods that were contrived by the nations surrounding Israel are mentioned, and the verses above link them directly to demons. Similarly, we can conclude today that any religion that is not of God is of demons, since there can only be one of two sources for spiritual truth/error. Let us turn our attention now to the New Testament.
There are many references to demons in the New Testament, e.g., Matt 4:24; 7:22; 8:16, 28; 9:32; 10:8; 11:18; 12:22; 15:22; 17:18; Mark 1:32; 3:15; 5:15; 7:26-30; Luke 4:33-35; etc.; John 8:48-52; 10:20-21 – just some of them. From these we can see clearly that demons were allowed to possess and visibly exercise physical power over certain individuals as late as the first century. It is speculated that this was allowed to present a true picture of the depraved evil nature of demons, and to show that the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus and ultimately the teachings of his apostles (e.g., in Matthew 10 and the book of Acts) was superior to their power. While not stated explicitly, this is consistent with the examples that are given. For this reason we can conclude that, with the passing of the miraculous power of those who had the laying on of the hands of the apostles to perform miracles (see Acts 8:18 and 1 Corinthians 13:8-12), the comparable (although diametrically opposite in intent) miracles of Satan and his demons have also ceased. This is also discussed in Part 3 of this article given below.
Space will not allow generating of all of these passages; below we provide a representative sampling of those that we feel best relate to the demonic forces that are in the world today.
Jesus’ first set of temptations is recorded in the first part of Matthew 4. He was tempted of Satan, who is referred to as the one who rules over the kingdom of the demons (Matthew 12:26). As stated above, Satan is another complete study, so we will defer that discussion for now and concentrate on demons, who are subservient to Satan. Suffice it to say that in the Old Testament Satan is first mentioned without any definition in 1 Chronicles 21:1 as one who tempted David successfully. This infers that they were aware of Satan and had some understanding of his evil purposes. Perhaps they were aware of the story of Job, where Satan’s interactions with God are discussed in the first two chapters. He is also mentioned once in Zechariah. Our reference to Satan here is to introduce the first mention of demons in the New Testament. This occurred shortly after Jesus’ temptation by Satan, which was a total failure on Satan’s part (see Matthew 4:1-11). The following is the reference to demons shortly after Jesus resisted Satan’s temptations …
Matthew 4:24
24 And the report of him went forth into all Syria: and they brought unto him all that were sick, holden with divers diseases and torments, possessed with demons, and epileptic, and palsied; and he healed them.
There are two important points to recognize in this passage:
- It was clearly understood that at this time people could be “possessed with demons.” Exactly what this means is something that we hope to convey in our sampling of passages below. Please verify that they could largely take control of the human body through supernatural means.
- There is a distinct difference between demon possession and diseases and torments. We bring this out because of the common “scholarly” opinion that diseases were not understood in the first century, and so in their ignorance they referred to diseases as demon possession. Read the above verse very carefully and see that the two are distinctly different. Clearly the writer and the people at that time understood that there was a distinct difference between them, although sometimes the symptoms might be confused.
Matthew 8:16
And when even was come, they brought unto him many possessed with demons: and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were sick: …
Mark 5:1-20
5:1 And they came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes.
2 And when he was come out of the boat, straightway there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
3 who had his dwelling in the tombs: and no man could any more bind him, no, not with a chain;
4 because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been rent asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: and no man had strength to tame him.
5 And always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones.
6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped him;
7 and crying out with a loud voice, he said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure thee by God, torment me not.
8 For he said unto him, Come forth, thou unclean spirit, out of the man.
9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he said unto him, My name is Legion; for we are many.
10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
11 Now there was there on the mountain side a great herd of swine feeding.
12 And they besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
13 And he gave them leave. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered into the swine: and the herd rushed down the steep into the sea, (in number) about two thousand; and they were drowned in the sea.
14 And they that fed them fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they came to see what it was that had come to pass.
15 And they come to Jesus, and behold him that was possessed with demons sitting, clothed and in his right mind, (even) him that had the legion: and they were afraid.
16 And they that saw it declared unto them how it befell him that was possessed with demons, and concerning the swine.
17 And they began to beseech him to depart from their borders.
18 And as he was entering into the boat, he that had been possessed with demons besought him that he might be with him.
19 And he suffered him not, but said unto him, Go to thy house unto thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and (how) he had mercy on thee.
20 And he went his way, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men marveled.
Observations:
- Demons are often referred to as unclean spirits and we should recognize that there is no difference at all between the intent of two designations; however this tells us that the terms “demons” and “unclean spirits” are synonymous (if we did not already know).
- Those possessed with demons often had extraordinary physical strength, and they were not at all to be reasoned with.
- Perhaps through the demons, the possessed man recognized Jesus and worshipped him. Clearly this man did not want to be possessed and continue to suffer as he was suffering, and he saw Jesus as a way of escape.
- The demons also recognized Jesus for who he was (something that the Jewish religious leaders refused to do). They revealed this by speaking through the man that they possessed.
- The demons at this point did not seem to be in a state of torment, but they well understood their fate (see James 2:19) – clearly their faith in understanding who Jesus was did not save them as James explains quite well; in the context of James 2, we can say that they had faith only.
- We will not speculate on just why they reasoned with Jesus to allow them to go into the swine; perhaps they were trying to buy some time. But this did afford Jesus an opportunity to give a visual demonstration of his superiority over the demons.
- The swine that were destroyed caused Jesus to fall out of favor with the swine keepers and those in the city. Again, we will leave that for the reader to meditate upon, but no doubt the swine had value to their owners that was now gone.
- When the demons were excised from the man, it was clear to the man and to all that he was now free of their domination, to the point where he wanted to become a disciple of Jesus.
End of Part 1
In Part 2 of this article we will describe how Jesus sent out others who also cast out demons. Jesus indicated that this reflected the casting down of Satan, and we will relate this to passages that deal with Satan’s being restrained that occur in the subsequent books of the New Testament. We will also show references to Paul casting out demons recorded in the book of Acts, and his discussion of them in 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy. Then we will show their mention in the book of Revelation and 2nd Thessalonians, and how this relates to their potential effect upon us today.
Please recognize that today demonic influences injure ONLY those who allow them to have influence in their lives. It is important to seek and find protection in Jesus Christ. This protection is in the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, not in any organization. Those organizations that are preaching the truth will tell you to only trust what you learn out of the bible, and that salvation is in the truth of God’s word, not in any organization or any man.
Biblical Teachings on Demons - Part 2
By Dave Brown
In Part 1 of this article we showed the nature of demons as they were allowed to have power in the first century. We saw how they exercised some power by influence in the Old Testament and manifested themselves in idolatrous worship and sacrifices. In the first century and especially while Jesus was on this earth demons were allowed to demonstrate their heinous evil nature so that Jesus could demonstrated his power over them. We continue this study by showing that the supernatural power of these demons existed for a short time after Jesus ascension into heaven. While there is no evidence that their supernatural powers exist today, there can be no doubt that their influence is quite significant within major subcultures of our society. Like good influences, evil influences last forever.
Part 2
Please skim through the many passages that are in the gospels that were listed in Part 1 of this article: Matt 4:24; 7:22; 8:16, 28; 9:32; 10:8; 11:18; 12:22; 15:22; 17:18; Mark 1:32; 3:15; 5:15; 7:26-30; Luke 4:33-35; etc.; John 8:48-52; 10:20-21. We feel that this sampling of passages gives a very good idea of the power that demons had in the first century while Jesus was on this earth, and this was discussed in Part 1.
Jesus was not the only one who cast out demons during the three years that he was on this earth. His disciples (also called apostles) were sent out (recorded in Matthew 10), and 70 others were also sent out by Jesus (recorded in Luke 10). In both cases they were given the authority to cast out demons with the clear purpose of proving the legitimacy of their preaching, i.e., that the gospel they were proclaiming was from God, and that Jesus Christ was the Son of God.
Luke 10:17-18
17 And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in thy name.
18 And he [Jesus] said unto them, “I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven.”
We do not want to make this statement of Jesus into anything more than it was understood by the disciples at the time. It was a powerful statement of the restriction of the power of Satan and his angels (demons). But since comparable demon possession continued for some time after Jesus’ statement, this statement was a prophecy of restriction as opposed to something that had already happened. This will be discussed in more detail below. For now, we can be assured that demons will have no more power over us than that which can be overcome by God’s power, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16-17). In the disciples casting out demons, Jesus could see the imminent binding or restriction of Satan by the gospel once Jesus’ stay on this earth was over. Let us now turn to demons mentioned in Acts and Paul’s letters.
Acts 16:16-18
16 And it came to pass, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a certain maid having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.
17 The same following after Paul and us cried out, saying, These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim unto you the way of salvation.
18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, being sore troubled, turned and said to the spirit, I charge thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out that very hour.
- Here the demon is called “a spirit of divination,” but like “unclean spirit” this is just another descriptor for a demon.
- Since this event occurred during Paul’s second missionary journey, this passage establishes that as the preaching of the gospel progressed the demons were still allowed to possess a limited number of persons, although it seems that the number of people directly possessed was dwindling.
- The fact that the owners of this poor girl placed so much value on her being possessed shows her plight to be a rare commodity. We do not know what combination of legitimate signs and lies were being perpetrated, but …
- The demon instilled within the maid some legitimate supernatural powers. The maid would have no other way to know that Paul and Barnabas were servants of God if this were not so, and neither would Paul have exorcized the demon falsely.
- Demons and their influence are often used to create financial profit. This capability should not be underestimated given the nature of money (1 Timothy 6:10), and I am sure I am not telling you anything you do not already know when it comes to the accumulation of great sums of money by evil means.
- Paul had no objection to the maid knowing that they were of God; his problem was that he did not want this type of commendation, since her knowledge was clearly coming from a demon. Demons will tell the truth in those cases where telling the truth produces evil effects. We are not ignorant of their devices (2 Cor. 2:11). In this case the evil impression that was created was that Paul and Barnabas were somehow associated with demons. We can understand why this would make Paul “sore troubled.”
- If we follow this story to its completion, it demonstrates how the overcoming of this demon contributed tremendously to the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That seems to us to be the reason that God allowed demon possession at this time.
1 Corinthians 10:19-21
19 What say I then? that a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
20 But (I say), that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have communion with demons.
21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons: ye cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and of the table of demons.
The passage above is in the context of a discussion as to whether Christians could without sin eat meat that was killed in the process of it being sacrificing to idols. That is a very different subject than that of demons per se, but let us see what information about demons we can obtain from this passage. Of course, sacrificing animals to idols would not be something that Christians would have anything to do with; and for that matter, all sacrificing of animals was done away with at the death of Jesus since the Old Testament law was no longer in effect. However, with regard to these sacrifices to false gods, Paul asserts that whoever is serving false gods is “sacrificing to demons.”
Note the similarity of this with that of Deut. 16:32-33 and Psalms 106:34-39 that were discussed in Part 1 of this article. The conclusion is obvious – when we worship or serve anything other than the true and living God of the bible, we are serving demons. And Paul is quite adamant about the fact that we cannot serve Christ and demons at the same time – any service to demons totally negates our service to God. It is deplorable to God when serving demons is claimed to be serving God. How would you like it if someone did sordid evil and blamed it on you?
1 Timothy 4:1-3
1 But the Spirit says expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons,
2 through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron;
3 forbidding to marry, (and commanding) to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth.
This falling away from the truth can be tracked historically as the local churches were corrupted and organized in an unscriptural way. There were some fairly obvious characteristics mentioned here that appear in the institutions that came into existence as a result of that falling away. But let us not be distracted from our task here, which is that of understanding the nature of demons. The falling away was probably started by prideful Christians toward the end of the first century. For evidence of this, see 1 Corinthians 1-6 and Revelation 1, 2 and 3.
While the falling away from the truth revealed in the New Testament continued into the second and third centuries, there can be little doubt that this prophecy also applies several hundred years later, and it even applies in principle to us today. There are still faithful churches that are being corrupted and falling away. For this reason we can conclude that demons are still seducing people and leading them to believe lies (their doctrines) in a very similar but opposite way that the Holy Spirit is still active in leading seekers of God (Heb. 11:6) to follow Christ. These influences do not need to be displayed supernaturally, as both clearly were in the first century. In fact, non-miraculous influences may have a more lasting effect on the individual than observing a miracle, since once a miracle is performed, there seems to be an insatiable desire for the miraculous to continue (e.g., see John 6:22-26 and many other examples).
Similarly, most bible students agree that the timing of the fulfillment of the passage below from Revelation 9 would be significantly after the first century.
Revelation 9:20-21
20 And the rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 and they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
We do not have to have a clear understanding of the exact timing of the events described in this passage to realize that it demonstrates, along with 1 Timothy 4:1 (above) that the worship of demons would be a continuous practice throughout the latter days that we are in now. We should not be at all surprised by this because many flaunt their worship of demons today and make no secret about it.
The final verse in the bible that references demons is in Revelation 16.
Revelation 16:13-14
13 And I saw (coming) out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, as it were frogs:
14 for they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
This passage suggests quite definitively that these demonic spirits will work signs (a word that generally in the New Testament refers to supernatural powers). This was prophesied by Paul in the passage given immediately below. Although the word demon(s) is not used there, we can be sure that he is talking about the very same thing in this passage as in Rev. 16:
2 Thessalonians 2:8-12
8 And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to naught by the manifestation of his coming;
9 (even he), whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie :
12 that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Some feel that the word “lying” as a qualifier of “wonders” is indicative that these signs are not truly of a supernatural nature, but that they have been contrived to appear as such. Is it necessary for us to have to resolve this question? We think not ...
It is our opinion that the distinction between an actual and a perceived demonic supernatural event is artificial. It does not matter because the net effect on those who believe in it is the same. Those who want to believe that demons now have supernatural powers will believe it, regardless of whether it is true or not, and they will act upon it accordingly, whether it is real or not. Those who do not believe in demonic supernatural power will stay far enough away from this sordid conjuring so as to avoid it having any effect on their lives one way or the other. This is the reason that we say that it is irrelevant as far as human behavior is concerned (good or bad) whether demons have legitimate supernatural power today or not. Thus, we need not waste time arguing about it.
Since we have never seen miraculous demonic powers, we are quite skeptical of their supernatural capabilities (e.g., to possess individuals) in this day and age. Seeing is belieiving, and we urge our readers not to be influenced by testimonies of fallible and self-seeking men, or worse yet, what is clearly contrived to deceive on the Internet. People can be made to appear to be possessed by a variety of devices that are exploited by evil men. Remember, who the father of liars is (Jn. 8:44) – Satan is his name, and deceit is the nature of his game.
Biblical Teachings on Demons - Part 3
By Dave Brown
Considerations regarding this part of the article. Revelation Chapter 20 is one of the most intriguing and challenging passages in the scriptures. You will notice that while we will give evidence that we are currently in the 1000 year period spoken of (whether literally or figuratively), we make no definitive statements as to the anything that we believe should be taught dogmatically. Read most scholarly commentaries and you will find they give several alternative meanings. And although they might favor one of them, they will usually give a fair hearing to all of them and state honestly that there is no way to totally resolve which (if any) of the alternatives given is so definitive as to be bound as doctrine. Those who claim to have all the answers should be highly suspect. Most who make this claim also claim that they have some direct revelation from God. If so, then why use the bible at all? We have tried to look at the passage in terms of the general teachings of it as opposed to specific applications of time and location. We encourage you to do the same.
Let us complete our bible study of demons by adding some facts relative to Satan’s powers in general that impact the subject. Consider:
Revelation 20:1-3
20:1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
3 and cast him into the abyss, and shut (it), and sealed (it) over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed for a little time.
We present evidence in another article that the 1000 years is not a literal definitive period but that there is ample evidence that we are living in this time period right now. This should be reasonable because there is little evidence that any legitimate supernatural events, such as demon possession (that are described quite graphically in the gospels and the book of Acts), are occurring now. In other words, the Devil/Satan along with his angels (demons) are currently bound. However, verse 3 says clearly that there will come a time when Satan will be loosed, and we would expect at that time for him to exercise only those powers that God allows him to exercise when this occurs. We have no idea what the extent of those powers might be, but we know that they can have no effect upon anyone who adheres to the truth of God’s word.
The binding of Satan is correlated with the absence of God’s miracles such as those done by the apostles for the purpose of revealing the truth and confirming that that truth was of God. Zechariah talks about such a correlation in …
Zechariah 13:1-2
1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
2 And it shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered; and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
- Surely the fountain opened for the saved must refer to the blood of Christ.
- The house of David and Jerusalem are figures that are referring to God’s saved people (Romans 9:6-7; Gal. 3:28-29).
- Zech. 13:2 above indicates that in that day both the true prophets of the Lord and the unclean spirit will pass out of the “land.” In the first century both of these agents had supernatural powers.
- This land is figurative of those who are remaining faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ and thus under his protection.
- For an explanation as to what the “unclean spirit” is, see Revelation 16:13-14 discussed above.
- This passage shows that not even the evil thoughts that Satan and his demons often put into the minds of the righteous will be able to overcome God’s people as long as they are faithful to Jesus Christ.
From the other end of the spectrum, truth-revealing and truth-confirming miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit were likewise stated to cease upon the completion of God’s revelation. This is confirmed by the passage in 1 Corinthians 13 below. Note that the subject of 1 Cor. 13, 14 and 15 is the proper exercise of spiritual gifts that some Christians at Corinth possessed at that time.
1 Corinthians 13:8-10
8 Love never fails: but whether (there be) prophecies, they shall be done away; whether (there be) tongues, they shall cease; whether (there be) knowledge, it shall be done away.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;
10 but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.
The parts here are referring to the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. This is totally consistent with our experiences in that while most of us have experienced weird unexplainable things at times, there is no systematic set of spiritual gifts today such as those discussed in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14 and Ephesians 4.
If in fact, the demons are going to be allowed to exercise supernatural powers at some time in the future, we can be sure that God will enable His people to overcome them either through miraculous or natural means. All we need to do is ask:
John 14:13-15
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name , that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask anything in my name, that will I do.
15 If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments.
Those who love Jesus and all the he stands for should ask for protection from evil demonic influences, and God will grant them.
We hope this study has been both enlightening and comforting.
If anyone sees any variance in these articles from what the bible teaches, please contact us and allow us to make correction – we will count you as a dear friend in this regard.
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