Hollywood has given us many misconceptions, and has given birth to many superstitions over the years when it comes to the subject of demon possession. Although there may be some truth hidden in a movie like "The Excorcist" or more recently in 2005, "The Exorcism of Emily Rose," for the most part these movies rely on theatrics, special effects, and shock factors, all in the hopes of making a scary movie for the viewers. Therefore, most people tend to gravitate towards whatever Hollywood has taught them about demonic possession. Due to these over-the-top theatrics many people have come to a disbelief in demonic possession as well, in spite of the countless cases involving the unexplainable phenomena throughout history.
For those of us like myself not wanting to get our answers from an industry that is often influenced by the demonic, let's examine what the bible has to say on the subject of demonic possession instead. First we will look at what it is in general.
What are Demons?
Within the body of Christ there is some debate about what demons actually are, and truthfully, nobody can honestly say, "they know" for we are all mere students of God's word, and there are many spiritual truths that God has not yet revealed to man. (Deuteronomy 29:29)
So at best we can say we have theories about demons and their origin. One such theory is that demons are the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim (Genesis 6). The Nephilim are the offspring of fallen angels and humans. The theory goes as follows: Nephilim were destroyed in the flood, yet their spirits remained on the earth as what we now call demons. Other theories involve a pre-Adamic race that existed. In the King James 1611 version, and in some of the revised KJV's, Genesis 1:28 uses the phrase "replenish the earth" and again used in Genesis 9:1. Some believe this must mean a pre-adamic race existed and they now are in operation as demons under the rule of Satan.
Personally I believe that Demons are evil spirits, and judging from the description given in the bible, they are fallen angels. Demons are Angels that opposed God and his work. Like Satan, they were probably created before the world was created. Revelation 12:4 tells us about a third of the angels falling. It is therefore believed by most who study the bible (including myself) that these fallen angels became demons.
The bible teaches us that God has angels and He also has them ranked. Satan's name before his fall was Lucifer, and he was God's highest ranking angel when he was in Heaven. (Ezekiel 28:13). We also see in places throughout the bible where Michael is referred to as the Archangel. It is very clearly laid out that God is not running things chaotically, but He has an assigned duty for each of His angels. Likewise, Lucifer (now Satan), imitates God for he seeks to be God. Satan has also placed a system of ranking on his angels (demons).
Whatever their origin, demons seem to make one thing very clear. Like Satan, and the fallen angels, they oppose the work of God. This can be bad news for the average person, but for the Christian there is hope. There are things we need to know however, for it is always wise to know our enemy. I believe the bible teaches us that we are clearly outnumbered even though we (as Christians) have authority over demons. How many demons are there? We do not know a specific number, but we have been given clues, that is, if demons are indeed fallen angels.
As an exile the Apostle John, on an island in the Aegean Sea called Patmos, was given a vision from God, and he recorded this down.
Revelation 5:11 (NIV) says:
When Jesus encountered a man who was demon possessed who had been living in the tombs, He asked the demon his name. The demon replied, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him (Luke 8:30). In a Roman army, the size of a legion has varied between 3,600 to 6,000 soldiers depending on the period of rule, but even at the lowest figure this would be a vast amount of demons to be wasted on just one man! To say that everyone on the earth has 3,600 demons trying to attack them may be a stretch, but it is shown here that a person could have this many or more. It is safe to guess that there are far more angels, and even far more demons, than there are people.
Demonic Possession
In the bible we find that there were people who were in fact possessed by demons. In this case the demon has assumed control of the persons body, and they are directly controlled by the demon. These people's speech and actions are now that of the demons. In the following bible passages we see this example:
Matthew 17:14-18 (NKJV) says,
Demonic Oppression
There are also people in the bible who were oppressed by demons. It is very important that we know the difference between possession and oppression. Demonic oppression could mean any variety of attacks like illness, whether physical or mental. It could be addictions, sleeplessness, nightmares, and any other way to cause a person anxiety. Whether you are a Christian or not, you are not immune to these attacks.
This isn't to say that every bad thing that happens is a demon, for we certainly don't want to give the devil too much credit. Many times our physical ailments are our own fault when we get sick if we don't eat right, exercise, get enough sleep, etc... Also, our financial problems we face may be our own doing if we don't budget our money and plan things wisely. We are under attack, but sometimes I think we make the devil's job pretty easy by the way we treat ourselves.
Demonic Influence
There are people who may not be possessed, and they may not even be oppressed by the demon (that they are aware of), but they are definitely influenced by the demon. This is probably where most of us encounter the demonic, although we are often unaware of it. When you are tempted to sin where do you think this temptation comes from? The easy answer would be the devil, however the devil is not omnipresent as God is, so he can only be in one place at a time. The devil (Satan) must rely on an entire network of demons to d his dirty work. How big is this army of demons? Answer: we do not know, however we can speculate based upon what we do know in scripture.
The truth is, if Satan and his demons can tempt you to sin, and cause yourself harm, then you have made their job easy, and they can move onto the next person, while the sin you have committed then produces what the demons hoped for it to accomplish.
The Demon and Christians
Jesus dealt with demons trying to oppress Him, but He would immediately put them in their proper place when He encountered them. He would take authority over them. Of course we are tempted to think, "Yeah, but that was Jesus." What we need to understand though is that we also, as the children of God, have authority over the demonic realm in the name of Jesus. We Christians, in the name of Jesus Christ, have the power to resist evil. In fact the bible tells us that when we resist the devil and submit ourselves to God, then the devil will flee. (James 4:7)
As a Christian you are indwelt with the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9-11; 1 Cor 3:16; 6:19). Since this is the case there is no demon going to ever push God, the Holy Spirit out of his way and then move in on Him. God has made His children "new creations" (2 Cor 5:17) and therefore, this means a true Christian cannot be possessed by a demon.
In the overall scheme of things though these demons are even used as mere pawns by God's mighty hand. While they can still oppress us and influence us through temptation, It is always a good idea to ask the Lord to bind demons on your behalf. We also must remember though that God's ultimate goal is not to make us happy, but to see us become more like His son Jesus. Because of this, God lets some things happen to us in order to do this.
For those of us like myself not wanting to get our answers from an industry that is often influenced by the demonic, let's examine what the bible has to say on the subject of demonic possession instead. First we will look at what it is in general.
What are Demons?
Within the body of Christ there is some debate about what demons actually are, and truthfully, nobody can honestly say, "they know" for we are all mere students of God's word, and there are many spiritual truths that God has not yet revealed to man. (Deuteronomy 29:29)
So at best we can say we have theories about demons and their origin. One such theory is that demons are the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim (Genesis 6). The Nephilim are the offspring of fallen angels and humans. The theory goes as follows: Nephilim were destroyed in the flood, yet their spirits remained on the earth as what we now call demons. Other theories involve a pre-Adamic race that existed. In the King James 1611 version, and in some of the revised KJV's, Genesis 1:28 uses the phrase "replenish the earth" and again used in Genesis 9:1. Some believe this must mean a pre-adamic race existed and they now are in operation as demons under the rule of Satan.
Personally I believe that Demons are evil spirits, and judging from the description given in the bible, they are fallen angels. Demons are Angels that opposed God and his work. Like Satan, they were probably created before the world was created. Revelation 12:4 tells us about a third of the angels falling. It is therefore believed by most who study the bible (including myself) that these fallen angels became demons.
The bible teaches us that God has angels and He also has them ranked. Satan's name before his fall was Lucifer, and he was God's highest ranking angel when he was in Heaven. (Ezekiel 28:13). We also see in places throughout the bible where Michael is referred to as the Archangel. It is very clearly laid out that God is not running things chaotically, but He has an assigned duty for each of His angels. Likewise, Lucifer (now Satan), imitates God for he seeks to be God. Satan has also placed a system of ranking on his angels (demons).
Whatever their origin, demons seem to make one thing very clear. Like Satan, and the fallen angels, they oppose the work of God. This can be bad news for the average person, but for the Christian there is hope. There are things we need to know however, for it is always wise to know our enemy. I believe the bible teaches us that we are clearly outnumbered even though we (as Christians) have authority over demons. How many demons are there? We do not know a specific number, but we have been given clues, that is, if demons are indeed fallen angels.
As an exile the Apostle John, on an island in the Aegean Sea called Patmos, was given a vision from God, and he recorded this down.
Revelation 5:11 (NIV) says:
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.Now this figure comes to 100,000,000 angels that John is describing, so I think it is safe to say that John was estimating on what he saw. In other words, John was overwhelmed at a number that was far too innumerable to count.
When Jesus encountered a man who was demon possessed who had been living in the tombs, He asked the demon his name. The demon replied, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him (Luke 8:30). In a Roman army, the size of a legion has varied between 3,600 to 6,000 soldiers depending on the period of rule, but even at the lowest figure this would be a vast amount of demons to be wasted on just one man! To say that everyone on the earth has 3,600 demons trying to attack them may be a stretch, but it is shown here that a person could have this many or more. It is safe to guess that there are far more angels, and even far more demons, than there are people.
Demonic Possession
In the bible we find that there were people who were in fact possessed by demons. In this case the demon has assumed control of the persons body, and they are directly controlled by the demon. These people's speech and actions are now that of the demons. In the following bible passages we see this example:
Matthew 17:14-18 (NKJV) says,
14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” 17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.In cases where there is demonic possession, the person has no control over his or her own body, just like the man in the passage above.
Demonic Oppression
There are also people in the bible who were oppressed by demons. It is very important that we know the difference between possession and oppression. Demonic oppression could mean any variety of attacks like illness, whether physical or mental. It could be addictions, sleeplessness, nightmares, and any other way to cause a person anxiety. Whether you are a Christian or not, you are not immune to these attacks.
This isn't to say that every bad thing that happens is a demon, for we certainly don't want to give the devil too much credit. Many times our physical ailments are our own fault when we get sick if we don't eat right, exercise, get enough sleep, etc... Also, our financial problems we face may be our own doing if we don't budget our money and plan things wisely. We are under attack, but sometimes I think we make the devil's job pretty easy by the way we treat ourselves.
Demonic Influence
There are people who may not be possessed, and they may not even be oppressed by the demon (that they are aware of), but they are definitely influenced by the demon. This is probably where most of us encounter the demonic, although we are often unaware of it. When you are tempted to sin where do you think this temptation comes from? The easy answer would be the devil, however the devil is not omnipresent as God is, so he can only be in one place at a time. The devil (Satan) must rely on an entire network of demons to d his dirty work. How big is this army of demons? Answer: we do not know, however we can speculate based upon what we do know in scripture.
The truth is, if Satan and his demons can tempt you to sin, and cause yourself harm, then you have made their job easy, and they can move onto the next person, while the sin you have committed then produces what the demons hoped for it to accomplish.
The Demon and Christians
Jesus dealt with demons trying to oppress Him, but He would immediately put them in their proper place when He encountered them. He would take authority over them. Of course we are tempted to think, "Yeah, but that was Jesus." What we need to understand though is that we also, as the children of God, have authority over the demonic realm in the name of Jesus. We Christians, in the name of Jesus Christ, have the power to resist evil. In fact the bible tells us that when we resist the devil and submit ourselves to God, then the devil will flee. (James 4:7)
As a Christian you are indwelt with the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9-11; 1 Cor 3:16; 6:19). Since this is the case there is no demon going to ever push God, the Holy Spirit out of his way and then move in on Him. God has made His children "new creations" (2 Cor 5:17) and therefore, this means a true Christian cannot be possessed by a demon.
In the overall scheme of things though these demons are even used as mere pawns by God's mighty hand. While they can still oppress us and influence us through temptation, It is always a good idea to ask the Lord to bind demons on your behalf. We also must remember though that God's ultimate goal is not to make us happy, but to see us become more like His son Jesus. Because of this, God lets some things happen to us in order to do this.
