WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT DEMON POSSESSION

With rampant growth of the occult and Satanism in our societies, and with the exploding popularity of New Age spiritualism, the spirit world is receiving more attention than ever before. But is there a spirit world? Are evil spirits real? If so, what are they? Where did they come from? And what about demon possession? Does this phenomenon really exist in our world today?

“Now the Spirit speaketh, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils [demons]; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron…” (1 Timothy 4:1-3). So warns your Bible!

But what are “seducing spirits” and “doctrines of demons”? Most psychologists and many theologians believe demons to be mere figments of the imagination, and regard “demon possession” as nothing more than an unscientific way of explaining mental illness. But does the Bible support such views?

Proponents of the “New Age,” on the other hand, believe very much in the existence of a spirit world. New Agers claim to have achieved “enlightenment” and inner peace through contact with “spirit guides” whom they believe to be the “spirits of the dead.” Are these “spirit guides” really the disembodied spirits of human beings? Or are they figments of the imagination? Or, are they something else?

What about this so-called “New Age”—is it really new? And what of the widespread practice of witchcraft, Satanism, necromancy, transcendental meditation, divination, and other forms of the occult? Are these mere “passing fancies”—fads that are not to be taken seriously?

Let’s now turn to the Bible, and see what God has to say about these practices.

Pagan Abominations

In the ancient world, the use of “curious arts” was common. The Egyptian Pharaohs had their sorcerers and magicians (Genesis 41:8,24; Exodus 7:11), as did Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king (Daniel 1:20; 2:2-13; 4:7). The Bible speaks of diviners (Deuteronomy 18:4; 1 Samuel 6:2); of soothsayers (Isaiah 2:6; Daniel 2:27); of those (mediums) with “familiar spirits” (Leviticus 19:31; 1 Samuel 28:7); of wizards (Leviticus 19:31; 1 Samuel 28:3); of enchanters and witches (Exodus 22:18; 2 Chronicles 33:6); of necromancers (Deuteronomy 18:11); of astrologers (Isaiah 47:13; Daniel 1:20). Both the Bible and archaeology confirm that these practices were universal in the ancient world.

When God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt, He utterly condemned the use of such practices, This is clearly proved by the following scriptures:

Exodus 22:18: “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”

Leviticus 19:26,31: “…neither shall ye use enchantments, nor observe times…. Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.”

Leviticus 20:6,27: “And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people…. A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.”

Deuteronomy 18:9-11: “When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire [human sacrifice], or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.”

In spite of God’s clear and repeated warnings, the people of Israel, time after time, “went a whoring” after the customs and practices of the heathen. They sought out the soothsayers, the enchanters, the charmers, and the consulters of familiar spirits. They sacrificed to the “gods” of the heathen; took up their abominable customs. They even burned their children as human sacrificial offerings to pagan deities (Jeremiah 19:5; 32:35).

enchanters, the charmers, and the consulters of familiar spirits. They sacrificed to the “gods” of the heathen; took up their abominable customs. They even burned their children as human sacrificial offerings to pagan deities (Jeremiah 19:5; 32:35).

Many of the same pagan practices were still occurring in New Testament times. A man named Simon “used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one” (Acts 8:9). In Cyprus, the apostle Paul confronted a sorcerer named Elymas, calling him a “child of the devil” and “enemy of all righteousness” (Acts 13:8-11). In Philippi, Paul cast a demon out of a woman “which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying” (Acts 16:16-18). And in the book of Galatians, witchcraft is included among the “works of the flesh” (5:19-21), showing that the “craft” was practiced at that time.

Clearly, the same old pagan abominations that brought great curses upon ancient Israel were still alive in the time of Christ and the apostles, And they are alive today!

Actually, all the spiritualistic “arts” and “crafts” we hear so much about today are nothing more than modern manifestations of very ancient practices—practices absolutely condemned in God’s Word! God calls these things abominations, and pronounces the death sentence upon those who practice them. Those who practice these things today are as guilty of sinning against God as those who practiced them in ancient times. Moreover, they are tampering with spiritual powers that could literally wreck their lives!

Spirits of the New Age

In our time, the abominations committed by ancient Israel have emerged in what is called the “New Age movement.” Proponents of New Age practices claim to have achieved “enlightenment” and personal fulfillment through “channeling”—contact and communication with the “spirits of the dead.”

Many book stores now carry hundreds of books on the New Age, including “how to” guides on channeling with so-called “spirit guides,” astral projection (“out-of-body” experiences), clairvoyance, transcendental meditation, astrology, use of pyramids, reading Tarot cards, dream interpretation, discovering “past lives,” and achieving altered states of consciousness.

Thousands have read of the much-publicized “spiritual” experiences of actress Shirley MacLain—who describes her spiritualistic journeys in her books, Out on a Limb and Dancing in the Light—and have attended her seminars on achieving enlightenment through New Age techniques. Doubtless, Ms. MacLain’s “enlightening” experiences have “inspired” many to set out on their own New Age adventures.

Who hasn’t heard of the well-known psychic Jeane Dixon, the crystal ball gazer who claims God as the source of her “gift of prophecy,” or the late Edgar Cayce, the so-called “sleeping prophet”? These and many others have helped pave the way to New Age “enlightenment” for thousands.

Even professing Christian ministers have gotten in on the act, and have actually advocated spiritualistic techniques. Bishop James Pike, for instance, wrote of his experiences with the spirit world in his book, The Other Side. Bishop Pike and medium Arthur Ford contributed to the popularity of spiritualism by going into a trance in a 1967 televised event.

Pike’s claim of having made contact with his dead son, Jim, is but one of many such claims. Undoubtedly, reports of such experiences have motivated many to attempt communication with their own deceased loved ones.

Many New Agers have made contact with the spirit world—and have paid dearly! To their dismay, the “spirit guides” they encountered were not the friendly “angels of light” they expected, but were evil spirits—the “rulers of the darkness of this world” (Ephesians 6:12). Some New Agers have renounced their practice, and now speak out against New Age spiritualism, warning of its danger. Nevertheless, interest in the “spirit world” is widespread—and growing!

But New Age mysticism is not the only modern manifestation of ancient pagan practice. The grisly sacrificial killings committed in Matamoros, Mexico, in 1989, along with hundreds of reports of ritualistic animal sacrifices, helped to heighten the public’s awareness of the practice of Satanism in the United States and other parts of the world.

The Devil’s Advocates

Tens of thousands of Americans and Europeans are involved in witchcraft and sorcery, and other forms of the occult. Scores of “practical guides” on these “crafts” have been published and sold, and are readily available to almost anyone; witches’ and sorcerers’ conventions are held in open, public facilities; witch covens and occult shops in America and Europe number in the thousands.

Witches and warlocks, with their potions, spells, and rituals, have been with us for years, and have generally been regarded as harmless, though peculiar, But, evidence of widespread Satanic activity—occultism in its most bizarre form—has surfaced in many areas of the United States.

“SATAN LIVES NOW”—a message painted on a blackboard in an abandoned school in New Galilee, Pennsylvania—was one of several signs of the practice of Satanism in the Beaver County area. According to an article appearing on the front page of the Beaver County Times (August 6, 1989), “Satanic activity has moved across Beaver County like a shadow on the landscape.”

The article reports that Satanic graffiti had been painted in the hallways, classrooms, and cafeteria of a former New Galilee school, and that “black mass” celebrations had been taking place for years in the New Brighton area. In addition, the bodies of small animals found in Allegheny County and cases of animal mutilation reported by the Humane Society of Western Pennsylvania have led some residents to wonder if the animals had been ritualistically killed.

This was only one of a flurry of newspaper articles on Satanic activity that appeared across the country in 1989. Dozens of reports on the occurrence of Satanic rituals, animal sacrifices, and Satanic graffiti found on walls, buildings, and overpasses throughout the United States have confirmed the existence of Satanic activity. But most chilling of all are the reports of Satanic-related cases of child sexual abuse, cannibalism, and ritualistic human sacrifice.

The May 17, 1989 edition of The Register-Guard (Eugene, Oregon), for instance, reported on the sentencing to death of Jason Wayne Rose, 21, for the May 1987 killing of nineteen-year-old Melissa Ann Meyer in a ritualistic human sacrifice. According to the report, Rose and a seventeen-year-old companion, John Ray Jones, “declared the killing a sacrifice to Arioch, an occult god of chaos and evil.”

To be continued......