No Fear! YOU have authority over demons

Exodus 4:3, Serpent. Serpents and staffs were powerful symbols and metaphors for spiritual realities. What lessons can we learn from Moses’ power encounter with Pharaoh’s magicians?

A serpent is often a biblical metaphor for Satan or demonic powers (e.g. Gen 3:1; Luke 10:19 cp. 9:1 and Mark 16:18; Rev 12:9; 20:2). Pharaoh as ruler over Egypt (a metaphor for this world) was a type of Satan who is the ruler of this world. A rod or a staff can be a biblical metaphor for power, authority, rulership or judgment (Gen 38:18; Exod 4:17, 20; Ps 2:9; Rev 19:15). 

In this verse, it seems evident that YHVH was giving Moses authority over the powers of Satan and his forces. When Moses cast down his rod, it became a serpent, and Moses was immediately able to assume control over the serpent at will for the purposes of advancing YHVH’s spiritual kingdom. This seems to have been YHVH’s way of showing Moses that he was giving him supernatural authority over Pharaoh (Satan) in fulfilling his divine commission to liberate the children of Israel. 

The staff changing into a serpent reminds us of the authority Yeshua gave his disciples to cast out demons and to heal diseases (Luke 9:1; 10:19; Mark 16:15–18). 

Furthermore, YHVH instructed Moses to construct a bronze serpent and place it on a pole, which when the Israelites looked on it, they were healed of the bites of the fiery serpents (Num 21:8). The serpent represents sin, since it is Satan the serpent who introduced sin to man in the Garden of Eden, which brought upon man the curse of death. Yeshua took that curse on himself when he was lifted up on the cross of judgment as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness (John 3:14). Yeshua defeated Satan the serpent at the cross (Col 2:15; Gen 3:15; Rom 16:20), even as Moses’ serpent defeated the serpents of the satanic Pharaoh’s magicians. Likewise, we as the servants of Yeshua the Messiah have the same authority over demonic powers (Luke 9:1; 10:19; Mark 16:15–18).

 

How to Deal With Demons in Yourself and Others—Updated

Mark 5:1–20, The Gadarene demoniac.

Eighteen Attributes of a Demonic Spirit

This encounter between Yeshua and this demon-possessed individual teaches us about the characteristics of one who is tormented, oppressed or even possessed by a demon or an evil, unclean spirit.

  • One with an unclean spirit is “unclean in thought and life” (Mark 5:2).
  • Such an individual may have a pre-occupation with things relating to death and dying (Mark 5:3).
  • They may possess superhuman strength thanks to the aid of the demon in them (Mark 5:4).
  • They may act wild, and unable to be restrained (Mark 5:4).
  • They may be prone to fits of shouting loudly (Mark 5:5), shrieking or making a shrill cry (Mark 9:18).
  • They may cut themselves, or resort to other acts of self-mutilation (Mark 5:5) or self destruction (e.g. burning oneself by fire, Matt 17:15; Mark 9:22), or attempts at drowning (Mark 9:22).
  • The demoniac may possess supernatural knowledge (Mark 5:7).
  • The demon can speak through the demonized person (Mark 5:7), or cry out (Mark 9:26).
  • A demonic spirit wants to possess or inhabit something; if not a human, then an animal (Mark 5:12), or a house, an objects like idols or books (Acts 19:19; Rev 13:15) or even a mechanical device or “matrix” (e.g. the image of the beast in Rev 13:13–14).
  • They may be clothed improperly or scantily (Mark 5:15).
  • They will not a possess a “right [sound, self-controlled, sober]” mind (Mark 5:15).
  • A demonic or an unclean spirit may cause convulsions or spasmodic contractions, bodily contortions within a person, or cause a person to be hurled to the ground (Mark 1:25; 9:18, 20) resulting in one wallowing or rolling around on the ground (Mark 9:20).
  • Epileptic-type seizures or madness can be symptoms of demon possession (Matt 17:15).
  • A demoniac may foam at the mouth (Mark 9:18, 20).
  • A demoniac may grind or gnash their the teeth (Mark 9:18)
  • A demonic spirit can cause one’s body to waste away, dry up or become rigid (Mark 9:18).
  • Demonic spirits can accompany people as they come into the congregation of YHVH (Mark 1:23; Luke 4:33).
  • A demonic spirit can make one to be mute or unable to speak (Mark 9:17).

How does one deal with a demon or demonic influence in a person? The short answer is this: Preach the gospel to them, and if they believe in Yeshua the Messiah, then, in the name of Yeshua, cast the demon out of them (Mark 16:15–17). Remember these Scripture promises:

Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. (Luke 9:1)

How to Deal With a Demonic Spirit in Yourself or Someone Else

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Eighteen Attributes of a Demonic Spirit

Mark 5:1–20, The Gadarene demoniac.

This encounter between Yeshua and this demon-possessed individual teaches us about the characteristics of one who is tormented, oppressed or even possessed by an evil, unclean spirit.

  • One with an unclean spirit is “unclean in thought and life” (Mark 5:2).
  • Such an individual may have a pre-occupation with things relating to death and dying (Mark 5:3).
  • They may possess superhuman strength thanks to the aid of the demon in them (Mark 5:4).
  • They may act wild, and unable to be restrained (Mark 5:4).
  • They may be prone to fits of shouting loudly (Mark 5:5), shrieking or making a shrill cry (Mark 9:18).
  • They may cut themselves, or resort to other acts of self-mutilation (Mark 5:5) or self destruction (e.g. burning oneself by fire, Matt 17:15; Mark 9:22), or attempts at drowning (Mark 9:22).
  • The demoniac may possess supernatural knowledge (Mark 5:7).
  • The demon can speak through the demonized person (Mark 5:7), or cry out (Mark 9:26).
  • A demonic spirit wants to possess or inhabit something; if not a human, then an animal (Mark 5:12), or a house, an objects like idols or books (Acts 19:19; Rev 13:15) or even a mechanical device or “matrix” (e.g. the image of the beast in Rev 13:13–14).
  • They may be clothed improperly or scantily (Mark 5:15).
  • They will not a possess a “right [sound, self-controlled, sober]” mind (Mark 5:15).
  • A demonic or an unclean spirit may cause convulsions or spasmodic contractions, bodily contortions within a person, or cause a person to be hurled to the ground (Mark 1:25; 9:18, 20) resulting in one wallowing or rolling around on the ground (Mark 9:20).
  • Epileptic-type seizures or madness can be symptoms of demon possession (Matt 17:15).
  • A demoniac may foam at the mouth (Mark 9:18, 20).
  • A demoniac may grind or gnash their the teeth (Mark 9:18)
  • A demonic spirit can cause one’s body to waste away, dry up or become rigid (Mark 9:18).
  • Demonic spirits can accompany people as they come into the congregation of YHVH (Mark 1:23; Luke 4:33).
  • A demonic spirit can make one to be mute or unable to speak (Mark 9:17).

How does one deal with a demon or demonic influence in a person? The short Continue reading


 

The Three Types or Levels of Demonization

Matthew 17:21, This kind [of demon]. There are different kinds of demons that influence humans. The Testimony of Yeshua speaks of being “possessed with a demon” or “demons,”  “vexed with a demon,” or “severely possessed with a demon” (Matt 4:24; 8:16, 28, 33; 9:32; 12:22; 15:22; Mark 1:32; 5:15, 16, 18; Luke 8:36; John 10:21). 

All these ideas are expressed by the Greek word daimonizomai meaning “to be under the power of or possessed by a demon, or demonized.” There are levels of demonization.

The Bible reveals that demons can influence humans (e.g. from fiery darts of Satan shot at the saints by which he attempts to influence them [Eph 6:16], by lying to humans [1 Kgs 22:22–23], through unclean spirits [e.g. Matt 12:43; Mark 1:23, 26; 3:30] and by literally living in or possessing a person. The latter is the most extreme form of demonization. In this passage, a demon lived inside of a child (v. 18), and when Yeshua rebuked the demon, it came out of the child.

When a person is possessed with a demon, prayer and fasting may be necessary on the part of the deliverer to cast out the demon. This is because the deliverer has, to one degree or another, himself been weakened spiritually by faithlessness and perverseness and therefore lacks the spiritual power and faith to cast out the demon (vv. 17, 22), or because he has been negatively influenced by those around him who are this way (v. 17), and thus has been weakened by his spiritual environment. This is why Yeshua, at times, had to put the spiritually weak and faithless people out of the room before healing a sick person (Mark 5:40). Prayer and fasting energizes a person spiritually by afflicting the soul (the mind, will and emotions) and forcing it into conformity with the word, will and Spirit of Elohim through which one gains the spiritual power to accomplish supernatural feats such as  casting out demons.

When Yeshua speaks of “this kind” of demon (v. 18). What did he mean? What kind of demon? The Bible reveals that there are various levels and types of evil, satanic spirits (e.g. Eph 6:12). The Book of 1 Enoch teaches and second temple Jewish sages based on this that demons were the disembodied spirits of the nephilim (see Gen 6:2–4), who after their human bodies died continued to live (as ghost-like figures) roaming in search of a body (human or animal) or object to possess (1 Enoch 15:8–10). This may be what Yeshua is referring to here.

With regard to the origin of demons, the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia under the articles entitles “Demonology” states,

The speculation regarding the nature and origin of these demons and their leaders led as early as the second pre-Christian century, in those fragments preserved under the name of the Book of Enoch, to the story of the fall of the angels (Enoch, vii.-viii.; lxix.). Like Beelzebub, or Lucifer (Isa. xiv. 12; compare Slavonic Enoch, xxix. 4), two hundred ‘Irin or “watchers” fell, attracted by the beauty of the daughters of men (Gen. vi. 4); only tradition obviously differed as to the leader of the rebellious host, whether it was Azazel or Shamazai. At any rate, they acknowledged the supremacy of Satan (liii. 3, liv. 6), though occasionally many satans are mentioned (xl. 7 et al.), and these fallen angels became “the evil spirits” (xv. 8, xix. 19) who taught mankind all the arts of deception, witchcraft, and sin (vii.-viii., lxix.). But their children, the offspring of this mixture of an earthly and a celestial race, became, when slain, the hybrid race of disembodiedspirits or demons doing the work of destruction until the Day of Judgment (xvi. 1). 


 

What is “the lowest sheol”?

Deuteronomy 32:22, The lowest sheol. The Scriptures in numerous places mentions sheol (the grave), but in several  instances there are references to the lowest sheol (e.g. Ps 86:13; Isa 14:15, NKJV). What is the difference between the grave and the lowest grave?

It appears to me that sheol or the grave is where the bodies of mortal men go to await their resurrection either to immortality or to eternal death in the lake of fire.

The lowest sheol appears to be the place where the devil and evil spirits (that rebelled at Lucifer’s fall and or prior to Noah’s flood) are confined awaiting the white throne judgment and their fate in the lake of fire.

If this interpretation is correct, this may explain the enigmatic “spirits in prison” passage of 1 Peter 3:19. This is the pit or abyss into which Satan is cast and confined for 1000 years at Yeshua’s second coming (Rev 20:3). This may be what Isa 14:14–15 is referring to when it describes the fall of Lucifer and prophesies his being brought down into the lowest sheol, the pit or abyss.

This lowest sheol or level of the grave is likely the same place that YHVH cast the angels that rebelled in the time of Noah where they await in chains of darkness awaiting their judgment at the end of the Millennium. This is probably the same “prison” or pit (Gr. tartaroo, or tar-tar-ah-ohw, see notes at 2 Pet 2:4) that Satan will be cast into at the beginning of the Millennium and then briefly released from at the end of it to go forth and to deceive the nations (Rev 20:7–8).

After that, Satan (presumably along with his demons) will be cast into the lake of fire where they will be tormented for eternity (Rev 20:10).The lake of fire is a different place than the pit, sheol or tartarahoh, which is a temporary place of restraint or prison where YHVH places rebellious angelic beings to await their final judgment, which is the lake of fire. 


 

The Anti-Torah, Demonic Origins of Obelisks, Steeples and the Christmas Tree

Deuteronomy 16:22, You shall not erect for yourselves a pillar [Heb. matstsebah], which YHVH your Elohim hates. The word pillar literally means “stand (upright), be set (over), establish.” One of the derivatives of this word is pillar or standing image. Such pillars were erected for pagan religious purposes (see The TWOT). C.J. Koster in his book The Final Restoration (reprinted as Come Out of Her My People) cites historical evidence for relating these pillars to the Egyptian and Babylonian obelisk, which was connected to sun worship (see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obelisk) and the phallic symbol (also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phallic_architecture). He states that these pillars were commonly erected at the entrances to pagan temples (also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obelisk) as fertility symbols in honor of the sun deity (Koster. p. 79). 

Even an Egyptian obelisk of this sort sits in the very center of the Catholic Church’s St. Peter’s Square in Rome, and it is traditional for obelisk-shaped steeples to be found on many Christian churches to this day in the form of a steeple (ibid., p. 81). Richard Rives in his book, Too Long In the Sun, makes the same connection between the Egyptian obelisk, Canaanite standing pillars and the Christian church steeple (p. 136). 

What is the point here? YHVH commanded Israel to destroy these pagan symbols and to have nothing to do with them. They were abominations that would defile YHVH’s set-apart people. Have his people heeded his command? Many of these remnants of ancient pagan cultic practices remain in both the Protestant and Catholic churches to this day (Easter/Ishtar, Christmas/Saturnalia, the Christmas tree/Tammuz tree, the Christmas wreath/a pagan fertility symbol, Lent, Easter eggs and rabbits, and the list goes on and on). Does YHVH’s command to his people of the end times to come out of spiritual Babylon (see Rev 18:4) now take on a new meaning to you?

Pillar. The pillars the Canaanites erected to worship their gods were actually phallic symbols commemorating the incursion of the demon gods (sons of Elohim) when they had sex with the daughters of men to create their Nephilim or demigod children in the pre and post flood world (see Gen 6:2–6). 

The Canaanites were not the only indigenous ancient people to have such a tradition of the gods mating with humans to create supernatural offspring. So did the Yoruba tribes of West Africa as well as the native peoples of Madagascar, Polynesia, New Zealand, along with the Hopi, Acoma, Arihara and Apache of North America, along with Celtic, Japanese, East Indians, Australians and Scandinavians. “Trees were employed…as facilitators, or places of meeting/joining of the gods of heaven with Mother Earth, while their branches reach out to Father Sky, of the gods of heaven…[T]rees form a bridge between heaven and earth and are a symbol of regrowth (reincarnation)…Because trees can live for hundreds and hundreds of years, their extraordinary life span represents  the immortality of the gods and the immortal spirit given to the original Nephilim. The World Tree is also the Tree of the Knowledge of both good and evil, for knowledge in pantheistic culture holds the key to immortality and reincarnation” (The Genesis 6 Conspiracy, p. 122, by Gary Wayne). “A Judeo-Christian, then, should be wary of the Christmas tree, for the immortal evergreen represents the meeting place of the gods and Mother Earth and the creation of Nephilim” (ibid., p. 123).

The act of the fallen angelic sons of Elohim mating with the daughters of men (Gen 6:2–4) and the results thereof literally turned the pre-flood world upside down resulting in YHVH’s most severe judgments against these evil-doers and those who followed them. The phallus to this day is the object that represents this act of rebellion and represents the unlawful sexual union between heaven and earth that created demons. Peter and Jude refer to this in their epistles (2 Pet 2:4; Jude 6).


 

On the Origin of Demons

Matthew 17:21, This kind [of demon]. There are different kinds of demons that influence humans. The Testimony of Yeshua speaks of being “possessed with a demon” or “demons,”  “vexed with a demon,” or “severely possessed with a demon” (Matt 4:24; 8:16, 28, 33; 9:32; 12:22; 15:22; Mark 1:32; 5:15, 16, 18; Luke 8:36; John 10:21).

All these ideas are expressed by the Greek word daimonizomai meaning “to be under the power of or possessed by a demon, or demonized.”

There are levels of demonization. The Bible reveals that demons can influence humans (e.g. from fiery darts of Satan shot at the saints by which he attempts to influence them [Eph 6:16], by lying to humans [1 Kgs 22:22–23], through unclean spirits [e.g. Matt 12:43; Mark 1:23, 26; 3:30] and by literally living in or possessing a person. The latter is the most extreme form of demonization.

In this passage, a demon lived inside of a child (v. 18), and when Yeshua rebuked the demon, it came out of the child. When a person is possessed with a demon, prayer and fasting may be necessary on the part of the deliverer to cast out the demon. This is because the deliverer has, to one degree or another, himself been weakened spiritually by faithlessness and perverseness and therefore lacks the spiritual power and faith to cast out the demon (vv. 17, 22), or because he has been negatively influenced by those around him who are this way (v. 17), and thus has been weakened by his spiritual environment. This is why Yeshua, at times, had to put the spiritually weak and faithless people out of the room before healing a sick person (Mark 5:40).

Prayer and fasting energizes a person spiritually by afflicting the soul (the mind, will and emotions) and forcing it into conformity with the word, will and Spirit of Elohim through which one gains the spiritual power to accomplish supernatural feats such as  casting out demons.

When Yeshua speaks of “this kind” of demon (v. 18). What did he mean? What kind of demon? The Bible reveals that there are various levels and types of evil, satanic spirits (e.g. Eph 6:12). The Book of 1 Enoch teaches and second temple Jewish sages based on this that demons were the disembodied spirits of the nephilim (see Gen 6:2–4), who after their human bodies died continued to live (as ghost-like figures) roaming in search of a body (human or animal) or object to possess (1 Enoch 15:8–10). This may be what Yeshua is referring to here.

With regard to the origin of demons, the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia under the articles entitles “Demonology” states,

The speculation regarding the nature and origin of these demons and their leaders led as early as the second pre-Christian century, in those fragments preserved under the name of the Book of Enoch, to the story of the fall of the angels (Enoch, vii.-viii.; lxix.). Like Beelzebub, or Lucifer (Isa. xiv. 12; compare Slavonic Enoch, xxix. 4), two hundred ‘Irin or “watchers” fell, attracted by the beauty of the daughters of men (Gen. vi. 4); only tradition obviously differed as to the leader of the rebellious host, whether it was Azazel or Shamazai. At any rate, they acknowledged the supremacy of Satan (liii. 3, liv. 6), though occasionally many satans are mentioned (xl. 7 et al.), and these fallen angels became “the evil spirits” (xv. 8, xix. 19) who taught mankind all the arts of deception, witchcraft, and sin (vii.-viii., lxix.). But their children, the offspring of this mixture of an earthly and a celestial race, became, when slain, the hybrid race of disembodiedspirits or demons doing the work of destruction until the Day of Judgment (xvi. 1).