Demons in Today's Culture

Passages to begin with:

1 Samuel 16:14-16 “14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and an evil spirit sent from the Lord began to torment him, 15 so Saul’s servants said to him, “You see that an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord command your servants here in your presence to look for someone who knows how to play the lyre. Whenever the evil spirit from God comes on you, that person can play the lyre, and you will feel better.””

2 Peter 2:4-10 “4 For if God didn’t spare the angels who sinned but cast them into hell and delivered them in chains of utter darkness to be kept for judgment; 5 and if he didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and if he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes and condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is coming to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, distressed by the depraved behavior of the immoral 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, his righteous soul was tormented by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold, arrogant people! They are not afraid to slander the glorious ones;”

Jude 6 “6 and the angels who did not keep their own position but abandoned their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deep darkness for the judgment on the great day.”

Theme Statement:

Demons are real, and they are active today. Believers need to be aware of their activity and their purposes, but believers have no reason to fear demons because God is sovereign over all creation (even demons) and provides victory over demonic forces through Jesus.

What does the Bible say about demons?

The New Testament contains more direct (though not necessarily more) content on this subject than the Old Testament.

Only two times in the OT is the Hebrew word translated as “demon” (שֵׁד) (Dt. 32:17 and Ps. 106:37); Often times, when demons are referred to in the Old Testament, they are referred to as evil spirits.

Roughly 63 times in the NT the Greek word translated as “demon” (δαιμόνιον) is used. It is heavily used throughout the Gospels; Paul uses it frequently; James uses it once; Revelation uses it three times. This is not meant to communicate that if this specific word isn’t used, then demons are not discussed. Similar to the OT, “unclean spirits”;“evil spirits”; “spirits of demons”; “deceiving spirits”; and “authorities, powers, and forces” are also used in the NT to refer to demons.

What are a few definitions of demons?

“Demons, then, are angels created by God and therefore were originally good; but they sinned and thus became evil.” - Erickson, 416.

“Demons are evil angels who sinned against God and who now continually work evil in the world.” - Grudem

“Demons are fallen angels who have rebelled against God and continue to propagate evil in the world.” - Sam Emadj- Lexham Survey of Theology [1]

Who is the head of demons?

Satan is the head of demons.

Satan is a Hebrew word (שָׂטָן) meaning “adversary” or “opponent”; it is transliterated into the Greek as Σατανᾶς. He is otherwise called “the devil” (the most common name used in the NT (διάβολος) [Mt. 4:1; 13:39; 25:41; Rev. 12:9, 20:2, et al), “the serpent” (Gen. 3:1, 14; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9, 20:2); “Be-elzbul” (Mt. 10:25, 12:24, 27; Lk. 11:15);”The ruler of this world” (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11); “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2); “the evil one” (Mt. 13:19, 1 John 2:13); “tempter” (Mt. 4:3, 1 Thess. 3:5); “enemy” (Mt. 13:39); “adversary” (1 Pt. 5:8); “deceiver” (Rev. 12:9); “great dragon” (Rev. 12:3, 9); “father of lies” (Jn. 8:44); “murderer” (Jn. 8:44); “sinner” (1 Jn. 3:8)

“Satan appears in Scripture as the recognized head of the fallen angels. He was originally, it would seem, one of the mightiest princes of the angelic world, and became the leader of those that revolted and fell away from God…He is represented in Scripture as the originator of sin, Gen. 3:1, 4, Jn. 8:44; 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Jn. 3:8; Rev. 12:9, 20:2, 10, and appears as the recognized head of those that fell away, Mt. 25:41, 9:34; Eph. 2:2. He remains the leader of the angelic hosts which he carried with him in his fall, and he employs them in desprate resistance to Christ and His Kingdom. He is also called repeatedly “the prince of this (not, “of the”) world, Jn. 12:31, 14:30, 16:11, and even “the god of this world,” 2 Cor. 4:4. This does not mean that he is in control of the world, for God is in control, and He has given all authority to Christ, but it does convey the idea that he is in control of the evil world, the world in so far as it is ethically separated from God.” [2]

Are demons still active today?

Yes.

“…If Scripture gives us a true account of the world as it really is, then we must take seriously its portrayal of intense demonic involvement in human society... In fact, there is no reason to think that there is any less demonic activity in the world today than there was at the time of the New Testament. We are in the same time period in God’s overall plan for history (the church age or the new covenant age), and the millennium has not yet come when Satan’s influence will be removed from the earth. Much of our western secularized society is unwilling to admit the existence of demons - except perhaps in “primitive” societies - and relegates all talk of demonic activity to a category of superstition. But the unwillingness of modern society to recognize the presence of demonic activity today is, from a biblical perspective, simply due to people’s blindness to the true nature of reality.” - Grudem, 420.

“There is no reason to believe that demon possessions are restricted to the past. There are cases, especially but not exclusively in less developed cultures, which seem explainable only on this basis. The Christian should be alert to the possibility of demon possession occurring today. At the same time, one should not too quickly attribute aberrant physical and psychical phenomena to demon possession. Even as Jesus and the biblical writers distinguished cases of possession from other ailments, so should we, testing the spirits.” - Erickson, 419.

How can I identify demons?

Erickson wrote, “As Satan’s subjects, demons carry out his work in the world. It may therefore be assumed that they engage in all the forms of temptation and deception he employs.” - Erickson, 417.

“Like the good angels, the fallen angels, too, are possessed of superhuman power, but their use of it contrasts sadly with that of the good angels. While the latter perennially praise God, fight His battles, and serve Him faithfully, they are powers of darkness are bent on cursing God, battling against Him and His anointed, and destroying His work. They are in constant revolt against God, seek to blind and mislead even the elect, and encourage sinners in their evil.” [Berkhof]

“Though demons are evil spirits who are invisible to humans, they sometimes appear in Scripture as possessing human and speaking through them (Lk. 4:31-37). Their primary activities in the world are to engage in cosmic warfare with the angels (Dan. 10:13, Rev. 12:1-12), tempt people to sin (Eph. 6:11), and deceive the world with lies that blind people to spiritual truth (1 Tim. 4:1). Scripture also speaks of demons physically assaulting people and even possessing people to do their will (Mk. 5:1-20).” [Emadi)

Note: See Dictionary of Bible Themes by Martin Manser entry 4132 for other helpful info. on the specific, identified activities of demons.

Can people be “demon-possessed”?

It should be noted that the language of the New Testament is not demon-possessed. Rather, a literal translation is “have a demon” or “demonized.”

People can be demonized or “demon-possessed”

Christians, even, can experience influences of demons. However, they should never be under total influence of a demon because “Scripture guarantees that sin shall have no dominion over us since we have been raised with Christ (Rm. 6:14, 4, 11).” -Grudem, 424.

“There evidently are degrees of affliction…in all of these cases the common element is that the person involved is being destroyed, whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually.” - Erickson, 418.

The differing degrees:

Extreme cases: unusual strength (Mk. 5:2-4 “2 As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him. 3 He lived in the tombs, and no one was able to restrain him anymore—not even with a chain—4 because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had torn the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him.” ) Act in bizarre ways such as wearing no clothes and living among the tombs rather than in a house (Lk. 8:27 “27 When he got out on land, a demon-possessed man from the town met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes and did not stay in a house but in the tombs.” — Mk. 1:23-24 “23 Just then a man with an unclean spirit was in their synagogue. He cried out, 24 “What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”) Engage in self-destructive behavior (Mt. 17:15 “15 “Lord,” he said, “have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire and often into the water.” — Mk. 5:5 “5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.” )

Moderate Cases: Perhaps involving convulsions (though it should be distinguished that convulsions are not a definite sign of demon-possession, Mt. 17:14-18 “14 When they reached the crowd, a man approached and knelt down before him. 15 “Lord,” he said, “have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.” 17 Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and from that moment the boy was healed.” Distinguished Mt. 4:24 “24 Then the news about him spread throughout Syria. So they brought to him all those who were afflicted, those suffering from various diseases and intense pains, the demon-possessed, the epileptics, and the paralytics. And he healed them.”); False teaching (not in every case) or cursing Jesus (1 Cor. 12:3 “3 Therefore I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.” — 1 Jn. 4:2-3 “2 This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.”)

What do you do when you encounter demonic forces?

Recognize that we have the power in Christ to overcome and resist them.

Jas. 4:7 “7 Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Eph. 6:11-18 “11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. 13 For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. 14 Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, 15 and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. 16 In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God. 18 Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.”

Recall the victory of Jesus over the forces of evil (demons), which is both real for believers now and also in the future.

Heb. 2:14 “14 Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil—”

Col. 2:15 “15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.”

Rev. 12:11 “11 They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; for they did not love their lives to the point of death.”

Bibliography:

[1] Sam Emadi, “Demons,” in Lexham Survey of Theology, ed. Mark Ward et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018).

[2]L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans publishing co., 1938), 148.

[3] Millard J. Erickson, “Evil Angels” in Christian Theology. 3rd Ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 415-420.

[4] Wayne Grudem, “Satan and Demons” in Systematic Theology. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), 412-436.

[5] Martin H. Manser, Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies (London: Martin Manser, 2009).