I would much rather talk about the power and glory of Jesus and the advancing kingdom of God than the kingdom of darkness, but demons are still a spiritual reality that must be dealt with.  I have decided to do a series on the demonic because each of us will face them in our lives and I believe there is a great deal of demonic activity in America and the world today.  The only question is whether we will recognize what we are looking at and will we know what to do if we recognize that demonic spirits are in the mix.

A study of demons is both intriguing and frustrating.  They are simply a given in scripture with little or no explanation of their origins.  They are referenced in both the Old and New Testaments.  The first reference to demons is found in Deuteronomy.

Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior. They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to demons, which are not God— gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your fathers did not fear. (Dt.32:15-17). [Jeshurun is a poetic name for Israel who had begun to sacrifice to idols behind which were demonic spirits].

The Psalmist also declared, “But they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs. They worshiped their idols,which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood.”  (Ps.106:35-38).

In both references demonic spirits are attached to idol worship.  If we understand prophetic sections of the Old Testament correctly, Satan became proud and jealous and determined that he should be on the throne of heaven rather than Jehovah. It makes sense, then, that demons pose as gods and solicit worship.  Not only would their assignment include drawing people and nations away from the one true God, but surely they would also share the character of the one they serve and desire to be worshipped as he does.

The Old Testament refers to a number of spirits that are also demonic in nature – a lying spirit (2 Chr.18:22), a spirit of jealousy (Num.5:14 ESV), a haughty spirit (Prov.16:18-19), a spirit of heaviness or despair (Isa.61:3), a spirit of prostitution or spiritual adultery (Hos.4:12), and a spirit of perverseness (Isa. 19:14).

In Daniel 10, the curtain is drawn back on the spiritual realm and we see the angel sent in response to Daniel’s prayer engaged in cosmic warfare with the Prince of Persia who is resisting the plans of God.  This demonic spirit is so formidable that Michael, the arc angel, is released into the battle so that the first angel can deliver his message to Daniel. Later in the chapter the Prince of Greece is referenced which seems to be a demonic spirit as well.

So, throughout the Old Testament we see the move of demonic spirits who are opposing the people of God and pushing back against God’s will being done on the earth.  Some seem to be posing spirits who are not of great consequence while others seem to have power and authority in the kingdom of darkness. All of this lines up with Paul’s declaration in Ephesians 6 that the real battle is being waged in spiritual realms.

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph.6:12)

Old Testament references to demons are somewhat scattered and vague but in the New Testament, the people of Israel seem to be quite familiar with the demonic.  Jesus, the twelve, the seventy-two and the church engaged in deliverance on a regular (almost daily) basis.  The pattern given to the followers of Jesus to announce the kingdom of heaven was to preach the gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons, cleanse lepers and raise the dead. Many times, those who came to Jesus seemed quite clear about whether a person had a physiological condition or a demon.  Demons manifested in torment, physical conditions that looked like an illness, demonic doctrines taught by men without conscience (1 Tim.4:1-2), and, of course, all kinds of temptation to draw men away from the Father.

In general then, we see that demonic spirits are present throughout scripture.  They are indicated before the flood since every imagination of man was evil all the time (Gen.6:5), as Moses faced the occult practices of Pharaoh’s magicians (Ex. 7:11), during the time of the Law and the Exile and most certainly in the New Testament. We will talk more about how these spirits manifest in men later, but tomorrow we will examine a few of the theories about the origin of these spiritual beings.

As I close the beginning of this study, I want to emphasize that however we understand the demonic, the bottom lines is always, “He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world” (1 Jn.4:4).  Believers who understand who they are in Christ should not fear the demonic; rather the demonic should fear those believers.