Articles
A Question About Demons
A Question About Demons
By Paul R. Blake
Tuesday last week I received a question from a sister in Christ: “I have been reading through the book of Luke and had a question concerning demon possession. My question stems mostly from Luke 11. I was wondering how did people become possessed with demons in Biblical times? And what does Jesus mean in verses 24-26. I feel like the most I have ever heard on the subject is “that doesn’t really happen anymore today.” If that is true, then why? I know demons are still very much around today. How do they work?”
Answer: “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first” (Luke 11:24-26).
There were five great periods of miraculous activity in the Bible clustered around critically important events and transitions. This does not mean that there were no Divine interventions in between those periods, but we can reason that they are few. Demon possession and casting out demons appears to be limited to those periods, especially in the New Testament. We know these things about demons based on conclusions drawn from the scriptures:
1) They could not possess a person who resisted them or who did not allow them to enter. They could attack others through the possessed person, but could not enter without permission. Children would be vulnerable, because they have not developed an adult will. It is evident in the text you were reading that the person relieved of his demon implicitly permitted the demon’s return by not raising his defenses and by not filling himself with sound spiritual things, leaving room for the demon to return. Swept and in order further implies that he was in a welcoming frame of mind toward repossession. I do not see innocent naiveté in Jesus’ description of him. Thus, just as one can resist the Spirit of God, so one can resist the spirits of the Adversary (Acts 7:51; Eph. 4:27; 1Cor. 2:12). Resisting the Holy Spirit occurs when we harden our hearts against God's will in our lives, refusing to yield to His guidance and testimony about Jesus Christ.
Consider: “The Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him” (1Sam. 16:14-16, 23, 18:10, 19:9). Why did God let an evil spirit torment Saul? In what way was the evil spirit “from” the Lord? First, the evil spirit was “from” the Lord in that it was allowed by God to harass Saul. Ultimately, all created things are under God’s control. It is likely that this evil spirit was part of God’s judgment upon Saul for his disobedience. Saul had directly disobeyed God on two occasions (1Sam. 13:1-14, 15:1-35). Therefore, God removed His Spirit from Saul and allowed an evil spirit to torment him. Likely, Satan and the demons had always wanted to attack Saul; God was now simply giving them permission to do so.
2) Demon activity via possession appears to be limited in scripture to periods of miraculous activity. That is, in order to answer a force that can subdue a human’s will upon entering, there must be a force powerful enough to remove it from a human being. Without such a countering force, we have an apparent violation of the gift of self-determination God gives to all.
3) Demons still exist and have done so at least since King Saul’s day (1Sam. 16:14). However, the shift in the latter part of the New Testament from miraculous removal to resistance to their entrance implies that when the power to remove them ended, their ability to wantonly enter and control people ended as well. Resisting the Devil means that one can also resist his minions. The Adversary is limited in what he can do in the Christian dispensation and possession appears to be one of the limitations imposed on him and his servants. Yes, they exist, just as the Adversary exists, but they would be equally limited as he is.
4) In the Christian Dispensation, there is a principle that I find more frightening than demon possession: the reprobate or debased mind. It is self-imposed through deliberate persistence in sin to the point that the Gospel can no longer reach them. It does not mean that the Gospel has lost its power, but that some have so devolved spiritually that they can no longer be moved by it. They may have weak, temporary pangs of conscience, but they long ago surrendered the power to be moved by it to action. I find it to be one of the darkest things in the New Testament, and it is well manifested by many in our own time. In a sense, they have become their own demons, living in debauchery and self-destruction and rejoicing in that condition. They don’t need to be possessed by demons; they are already demonic in their minds.
5) We are encouraged in scripture to think of healthy spiritual things (Phil. 4:8). It is dangerous for people to dabble in the darkness and flirt with the occult, as has become popular in contemporary culture. To do so makes one vulnerable to a whole new set of temptations and appetites that lead to spiritual devolvement that can resemble demon possession from a certain perspective, even without an actual demon possessing one. As Friedrich Nietzsche wrote: “And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” (Beyond Good and Evil) Question About Demons
By Paul R. Blake
Last Tuesday. I received an emailed question from a sister in Christ: “I have been reading through the book of Luke and had a question concerning demon possession. My question stems mostly from Luke 11. I was wondering how did people become possessed with demons in Biblical times? And what does Jesus mean in verses 24-26. I feel like the most I have ever heard on the subject is “that doesn’t really happen anymore today.” If that is true, then why? I know demons are still very much around today. How do they work?”
Answer: “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first” (Luke 11:24-26).
There were five great periods of miraculous activity in the Bible clustered around critically important events and transitions. This does not mean that there were no Divine interventions in between those periods, but we can reason from the record that they were few. Demon possession and casting out demons appears to be limited to those periods, especially in the New Testament. We know these things about demons based on conclusions drawn from the scriptures:
1) They could not possess a person who resisted them or who did not allow them to enter. They could attack others through the possessed person, but did not seem able to enter without permission. Children would be vulnerable, because they have not developed an adult will. It is evident in the text you were reading that the person relieved of his demon implicitly permitted the demon’s return by not raising his defenses and by failing to fill himself with sound spiritual things, leaving room for the demon to return. “Swept and in order” further implies that he was in a welcoming frame of mind toward repossession. I do not see innocent naiveté in Jesus’ description of him. Thus, just as one can resist the Spirit of God, so one can resist the spirits of the Adversary (Acts 7:51; Eph. 4:27; 1Cor. 2:12). Resisting the Holy Spirit occurs when we harden our hearts against God's will in our lives, refusing to yield to His guidance and testimony about Jesus Christ. Resisting evil spirits occurs when we resolve to dedicate ourselves to standing strong.
Consider: “The Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him” (1Sam. 16:14-16, 23, 18:10, 19:9). Why did God let an evil spirit torment Saul? In what way was the evil spirit “from” the Lord? First, the evil spirit was “from” the Lord in that it was allowed by God to harass Saul. Ultimately, all created things are under God’s control. It is likely that this evil spirit was part of God’s judgment upon Saul for his disobedience. At one time, Saul was counted among the prophets, but he had directly disobeyed God on two occasions (1Sam. 13:1-14, 15:1-35). Therefore, God removed His Spirit from Saul and allowed an evil spirit to torment him. Likely, Satan and the demons had always wanted to attack Saul; God was simply leaving Saul to his own wickedness, therefore allowing them opportunity to do so.
2) Demon activity via possession appears to be limited in scripture to periods of miraculous activity. That is, in order to answer a force that can subdue the human’s will upon entering, there must be a force powerful enough to remove it from a human being. Without such a countering force, we have an apparent violation of the gift of self-determination God gives to all.
3) Demons still exist and have done so at least since King Saul’s day (1Sam. 16:14). However, the shift in the latter part of the New Testament from miraculous removal to resistance to their entrance implies that when the power to remove them ended, their ability to dissolutely enter and control people ended as well. Resisting the Devil means that one can also resist his minions. The Adversary is limited in what he can do in the Christian dispensation, and possession appears to be one of the limitations imposed on him and his servants. Yes, they exist, just as the Adversary exists, but they would be equally limited as is he.
4) In the Christian Dispensation, there is a principle that I find more frightening than demon possession: the reprobate or debased mind. It is self-imposed through deliberate persistence in sin to the point that the Gospel can no longer reach them. It does not mean that the Gospel has lost its power, but that some have so devolved spiritually that they can no longer be moved by it. They may have weak, temporary pangs of conscience, but they long ago surrendered the power to be moved by it to action. I find it to be one of the darkest things in the New Testament, and it is well manifested by many in our own time. In a sense, they have become their own demons, living in debauchery and self-destruction and openly rejoicing in that condition. They don’t need to be possessed by demons; they are already demonic in their minds.
5) We are encouraged in scripture to think of healthy spiritual things (Phil. 4:8). It is dangerous for people to dabble in the darkness and flirt with the occult, as has become quite popular in contemporary culture. To do so makes one vulnerable to a whole new set of temptations and appetites that lead to spiritual devolvement that can resemble demon possession from a certain perspective, even without an actual demon possessing one. As Friedrich Nietzsche wrote in Beyond Good and Evil: “And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
A Moments Wisdom
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--It is hard to hear God’s voice when you have already decided what you want Him to say.
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--Men fall in private long before they fall in public. (J.C. Ryle)
--Deliverance gets you out of Egypt, but discipleship gets Egypt out of you.
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