CHAPTER 13
THE DEVIL AND DEMONS ARE REAL
Not only the Old and New Testament, but many ancient texts and writings speak of invisible entities, which every so often cross the paths of ordinary people. Usually, when this happens, the meeting is a precursor to extraordinary events. Ancient peoples, and some not so ancient, have even sought these entities out. However, there is an old saying, “Beware of what you want, because you might get it.”
According to ancient literature and legend, almost every culture has some type of dealings with these invisible entities. The ancient Greeks called these entities daimon.
DEVIL. 1142. Dah’ee-mown; (to distribute fortunes); a daemon or supernatural spirit (of a bad nature); - devil. (The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D., Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984.)
Arab tradition called these entities jinn; these were supernatural beings that could take on human or animal form and they often sought to influence human affairs. The word jinn is probably the root of the word genius, it was the Latin belief that a genius, or guardian spirit, was assigned to a person at birth. It is also the modern name we give someone who displays a very high intellectual endowment.
It was the ancient belief that anyone who displayed some extraordinary ability must have obtained the favor of some powerful invisible entity. Much of ancient mankind’s time, energy and resources were spent attempting to obtain the favor of these entities, or at least trying to appease them. This is also where we get the idea of the familiar spirit. It was believed that a familiar spirit could attach itself to a family and be passed down from generation to generation.
Familiar, n.; 1. An intimate; a close companion.
All my familiars watched for my halting.
- Jer. xx. 10.
2. Formerly, a demon or evil spirit believed to act as an intimate servant; a familiar spirit. [Obsolete]
Much of the practice of sorcery was an attempt to appease or control these invisible entities. The spirit would then be used to benefit the sorcerer and to cause harm to his or her enemies. The Word of God is adamant; we are not to seek out the friendship of invisible entities. A great deal of Jesus Christ’s time was spent delivering people from demonic oppression. Most, if not all, disease and infirmity in the New Testament was directly attributed to demon activity and apparently it can begin in infancy.
AND THEY BROUGHT HIM UNTO HIM: AND WHEN HE SAW HIM, STRAIGHTAWAY THE SPIRIT TARE HIM; AND HE FELL ON THE GROUND, AND WALLOWED FOAMING.
AND HE ASKED HIS FATHER, HOW LONG IS IT AGO SINCE THIS CAME UNTO HIM? AND HE SAID, OF A CHILD.
AND OFTTIMES IT HATH CAST HIM INTO THE FIRE, AND INTO THE WATERS, TO DESTROY HIM: BUT IF THOU CANST DO ANY THING, HAVE COMPASSION ON US, AND HELP US.
JESUS SAID UNTO HIM, IF THOU CANST BELIEVE, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO HIM THAT BELIEVETH.
AND STRAIGHTAWAY THE FATHER OF THE CHILD CRIED OUT, AND SAID WITH TEARS, LORD, I BELIEVE; HELP THOU MINE UNBELIEF.
WHEN JESUS SAW THAT THE PEOPLE CAME RUNNING TOGETHER, HE REBUKED THE FOUL SPIRIT, SAYING UNTO HIM. THOU DUMB AND DEAF SPIRIT, I CHARGE THEE, COME OUT OF HIM, AND ENTER NO MORE INTO HIM.
AND THE SPIRIT CRIED, AND RENT HIM SORE, AND CAME OUT OF HIM: AND HE WAS AS ONE DEAD INSOMUCH THAT MANY SAID, HE IS DEAD.
BUT JESUS TOOK HIM BY THE HAND, AND LIFTED HIM UP; AND HE AROSE.
MARK 9:20-27
People like to believe there are invisible entities protecting them (angels), but people do not want to believe there are invisible evil entities (demons) out to get them, and frankly I do not blame them. There was a time when I had my doubts about the reality of angels and demons. I have been reading the Bible fairly regularly since I was about twelve years old and I thought I believed in angels and demons, but truthfully for a long time, I probably did not.
A portion of my family is religious and portion of my family is agnostic/atheistic. However, the agnostic/atheistic portion is getting smaller all the time. Even though I have professed myself a Christian since I was twelve years old, if anybody talked about angels or demons, I tended to take this type of talk with a grain of salt. I was a realist, if I couldn’t see it or touch it, I didn’t worry about it too much. I liked to think I was open minded, but I did not want to go off the deep end and have people think I was a nut.
One night I experienced a visit by a shadow entity (a demon). When I was in my early twenties, I woke up one night with a shadow of a man standing next to my bed. When I saw this person in my dark bedroom, it seemed to have substance, but I couldn’t make out any details or features. The shadow seemed to walk to the foot of my bed and then I asked, “Who are you?” Immediately, the shadow came to the head of my bed, grabbed my throat and started choking me. I grabbed one of its thumbs with my right hand, but could not pull its hands from around my throat. I couldn’t breathe or speak and after a moment I let loose of its thumb and soon thereafter, it released its hands from around my throat.
Then it started walking back to the foot of my bed. I sat up with a shout and grabbed at it, but my hand hit the wall and it disappeared. I sat in bed with my heart pounding. I turned on the light and looked around and I thought, ‘that was the weirdest dream I have ever had.’ I had a classic fear reaction, my skin was crawling, my heart was pounding, the hair on the back of my neck was standing up. I went out into the hallway and turned on the light and looked around. The experience was so real! Needless to say, I slept with my light on for a while after that experience.
I told my older sister about the experience the next day and she told me it was a demon. She then reminded me of something that happened to her when I was attending college at Oregon State University. At the time, she lived in Salem, Oregon, and I had visited her during the weekend. She told me that one night she heard her oldest son gasping for air and thrashing around, but when she went to check on him, he was sleeping peacefully. She said that strange things were happening when he slept in his bedroom. When other people would stay with her and sleep in his room, they would also experience breathing problems.
One night, my cousin stayed in the room and she said she woke up with a shadow of a man on top of her and she could not breath or speak. My cousin finally was able to whisper, “Jesus”, and the shadow fled. My sister decided to get rid of the thing and had some of our cousins come over and bind any demons in her house by the authority of Jesus Christ. My sister said they went through every room of her house binding any spirit in the name of Jesus. She said that when she came to the second floor, she saw the shadow of what looked like a man running from one side of the hall and then it disappeared through a wall. I remembered when she first told me, I thought, ‘Linda’s going a little overboard with her religion,’ but after my own strange experience I began to believe her and I thought, ‘Why would a demon be attacking me?’
At the time, I was working as a janitor at what was called the “Professional Building” in Richland, Washington. It was where Westinghouse Engineers had their offices at the time. I worked swing shift vacuuming the carpets, washing windows, and emptying the waste baskets. Approximately two weeks after my demon experience, a young man started working with me. He professed to being a Witch.
The first night I went to the break room, he was sitting cross legged on the floor pulling little pieces of wood, similar to scrabble pieces, from a satin bag. He was different because he had very short hair and at the time most young men I knew grew their hair long. I asked him what he was doing and he told me the symbols on the little pieces of wood were runes (old Norse alphabet) and he used them to tell his future. Of course I was intrigued, he was the first professing Witch I had ever met.
He told me all kinds of fantastic stories about his travels. He told me about visiting a town populated with spiritualists and being chased by spirits and astral projecting out of his body, and other strange stories. I try to keep an open mind, but he seemed to be pretty far out. I figured he must have used a lot of mind altering drugs. Then he asked me if I had ever been to the Yakima Delta. The Yakima Delta is where the Yakima River empties into the Columbia River in Washington State. It’s a public park with a lot of willows and cottonwoods, kind of an oasis in the desert. I had been there many times fishing and I had attended high school beer parties there at night.
After I told him that I had been to the Yakima Delta before, he emphasized to me that he didn’t drink or take drugs. Obviously, he suspected what I was thinking. Then he told me that he had been attacked by a spirit while he was at the Yakima Delta. He said that he had actually wrestled with it.
I was thinking, ‘Man this guy has really lost his marbles.’ Then I asked him what this spirit looked like and he said, “It’s about as tall as you, it’s shaped like a man, but it was all black, like a shadow.”
My eyes must have been as big as saucers, I said, “Do you believe in coincidence?” He told me that he didn’t believe in coincidence. Then I told him what had happened to me when I was sleeping in my bedroom two weeks before. I also told him that I was a Christian and that I believed that what had attacked us was a demon. I told him that he better stop practicing witchcraft or eventually the demon would probably kill him. He assured me that he had power to fight the spirit and showed me a hunting knife with magic runes carved into the blade.
We both quit that job shortly after that and I have always wondered what happened to him, whether he was dead or alive. After that experience, I have never doubted that demons exist, that they can manifest themselves physically and that they desire to harm me and others. I have told the story to many people since then and I am amazed at how many other people have had the same or similar experiences with demons or shadow people.
PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD, THAT YE MAY BE ABLE TO STAND AGAINST THE WILES OF THE DEVIL.
FOR WE WRESTLE NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, BUT AGAINST PRINCIPALITIES, AGAINST POWERS, AGAINST THE RULERS OF THE DARKNESS OF THIS WORLD, AGAINST SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS IN HIGH PLACES.
EPHESIANS 6:11-12
There is a radio show on late at night that occasionally talks about the shadow people called Coast to Coast. Apparently, shadow people (demons) are manifesting themselves on a fairly regular basis because there seems to be no shortage of people with stories about them in the United States. I would not be surprised if they are common all over the world. One characteristic that they seem to share is taking peoples breath away. This is not surprising since the word for breath is interchangeable with the word for spirit in many languages. Also, people are not able to speak and are paralyzed when these demons manifest themselves. Considering that our Words are also our spiritual sword, it makes sense they would attempt to disarm us by prevent us from speaking.
Some ideas and thoughts come to us, ideas and thoughts do not always come from us. Let me say it again, some ideas and thoughts come to us, ideas and thoughts do not always come from us. Our mind (soul) is similar to a very sophisticated radio. We can tune into different frequencies and wavelengths. We can receive messages from different sources. Sometimes these sources are not looking out for our best interests. The most obvious example of this phenomena occurred after the Lord Jesus told His disciples that He would be killed and raised again on the third day:
THEN PETER TOOK HIM, AND BEGAN TO REBUKE HIM, SAYING, BE IT FAR FROM THEE, LORD: THIS SHALL NOT BE UNTO THEE.
BUT HE TURNED, AND SAID TO PETER, GET THEE BEHIND ME, SATAN: THOU ART AN OFFENCE UNTO ME: FOR THOU SAVOUREST NOT THE THINGS THAT BE OF GOD, BUT THOSE THAT BE OF MEN.
MATTHEW 10:22-23
Do you see that Jesus recognized the source of Peter’s rebuke and immediately came against Satan?
Yes, Satan will use those closest to us in order to prevent us from obeying God. Most of the time, however, the devil will attempt to persuade us by giving us his thoughts and try to make us believe his ideas are our own ideas.
ABOVE ALL, TAKING THE SHIELD OF FAITH, WHEREWITH YE SHALL BE ABLE TO QUENCH ALL THE FIERY DARTS OF THE WICKED.
EPHESIANS 6:16
The fiery darts of the wicked are the evil thoughts that are sent in our direction by devils. The Devil cannot force us to do what he wants us to do, but he can send sinful thoughts in our direction and hope they find a weak spot. We can drink alcohol and tune into a different frequency. We can take drugs and tune into a different frequency. We can listen to music and tune into a different frequency. We can practice different religious and meditation techniques and tune into a different frequency.
There are all kinds of ways that we can change our frequency and receive thoughts and ideas that are not from us. People often think they are receiving thoughts or inspiration from God, but their inspiration or revelation is coming from a very different place. That is why it is so important to know the Word of God and that is why it is so important to commit God’s inspired Word to memory, otherwise we can easily be led astray. Any inspiration you receive from God must conform perfectly with the written Word of God (the Bible), if it does not, it is not from God.
KNOWING THIS FIRST, THAT NO PROPHECY OF THE SCRIPTURE IS OF ANY PRIVATE INTERPRETATION.
FOR THE PROPHECY CAME