Demonization
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Furthermore, we need to become
aware of what the Bible has to say so that we can demythologize the topic and
bring right theology to bear.
First, let’s take a look at how
translations into English may have compounded our understanding of the topic.Unhelpful Translations
Matt 9:32-33
Matt 17:14-18
Mark 7:25-26
Luke 4:33-35
Luke 8:26-33
Luke 11:24-26
Matt 12:25-29
Most Churches and teachers stay
away from this topic and avoid it like the plague. Some because they have
developed theologies to explain why there is no demonstration of God’s power in
the midst. Others, because they do not have a handle on it themselves and they
don’t want to open up a can of worms or give a foothold to wackos that see a
demon under every doily.
However, as we approach the
return of our Lord and the end times grow closer, now more than ever we need to
be aware of the Devil’s schemes so that we can resist them.
While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not
talk was brought to Jesus. 33 And when the demon was driven out (sent
away, asked to leave), the man who had been mute spoke.
daimonizomai (dahee-mon-id'-zom-ahee); to be exercised by a
daemon: have a (be vexed with a demon) Literally: to be demonized, to be
harassed or oppressed by, to be afflicted by a demon, to be under the power of
a demon.
In the middle eastern languages
that were spoken at the time the NT was written, including the Greek, one
cannot speak of a person 'being possessed by a demon.' A more appropriate
expression may be 'the person possesses a demon.' In other instances an
idiomatic phrase is employed, 'the demon rides the person'
Daimonizomai does not convey the English concept of
possession (either ownership or eternal destiny) as much as it does temporary
control ("under the power of demons," Amplified). This idea is seen
in the elderly woman who was bound by Satan for eighteen years before being set
free by Jesus (Luke 13:16).
(Evangelical Dictionary of
Biblical Theology. Copyright 1996 by Baker Books. All rights reserved. Used by
permission.)
Just because a demon can cause
physical symptoms such as blindness, seizures, or not being able to talk does
not mean that at the root of all these illnesses is a demon. If someone presents with one of these
illnesses we would first ask God how to pray and in the majority of cases we
would pray for healing. It is only if
God revealed that there was demonic oppression or influence present that we
would pray for that person to be released, set free from the oppression.
When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before
him. 15 "Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures
and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I
brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him." 17 "O
unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall
I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to
me." 18 Jesus rebuked the demon,
and it came out (departed) of the boy, and he was healed from that
moment.
In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter
was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a
Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her
daughter. (Literally: whose daughter had an unclean spirit. KJV is more
accurate)
In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit.
He cried out at the top of his voice, 34 "Ha! What do you want with us,
Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are-the Holy One
of God!" (Literally: who had a demon, and unclean spirit) 35 "Be quiet!" Jesus said sternly. "Come out of
him!" Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out
without injuring him. (In the Greek the word that is translated “out”
literally means “off” or “away”)
The fact that a demon will
sometimes talk through a person or manifest physical symptoms does not mean
that the demon is inside the person. It
only means that the person has yielded enough control to where the demon has
access to afflict and speak through the body.
They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake
from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed (Literally:
had devils) man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or
lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried
out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, "What do you
want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torture
me!" 29 For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out (depart
– come off of) of the man. Many times it had
seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he
had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places. 30
Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "Legion," he replied, because many
demons had gone into (to) him. 31 And they begged him repeatedly not
to order them to go into the Abyss. 32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there
on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave
them permission. 33 When the demons came out of the man (away from),
they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake
and was drowned.
"When an evil spirit comes out of (away from) a
man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it
says, 'I will return to the house I left.' 25 When it arrives, it finds the
house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other
spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final
condition of that man is worse than the first."
It is not enough to clean house
and get rid of everything evil. It is
important to fill that house with the Holy Spirit so that when the demon comes
back it finds that the house is not just clean, but is occupied by one more
powerful than itself, regardless of what help it brings along.
5 Jesus knew their thoughts and
said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and
every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan
drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom
stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive
them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if I drive out demons by
the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 "Or
again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions
unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.
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