Why does God Allow
Evil? Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Why Does God Allow Evil 0908.htm
Should God’s existence be
proven? /Apologeticshtml/Should the Bible and God Be Proven
Fideism vs WCG.htm
Does the Bible teach blind
faith? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Gospel of John Theory of Knowledge.htm
Should Christians Fear Demons? Should We Engage in Occult Practices?
Should
Christians play with Ouija boards?
Should believers be afraid of demons?
In general, if Christians are tempted to worry about demons, we should
leave them behind. God will protect Christians if we ask Him for help
against the fallen angels. For example, one of the signs of believers
would be power over evil spirits (Mark 16:17):
“And these signs will accompany those who have believed: In My name they
will cast out demons . . .” Of course,
not all believers will have that gift.
Having that power isn’t proof that a believe must have an overall good
relationship with God, as Jesus explained in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew
7:22): “Many will say to Me on that
day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out
demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?”
Some
demons can only be cast out after both prayer and fasting. Notice Jesus’ explanation to His disciples
who had failed to cast out a demon before He did so successfully (Matthew
17:21): “But this kind does not go out
except by prayer and fasting.” So you
may wish to not just pray, but also fast (i.e., go without food and water for a
day while focusing on the spiritual disciplines such as prayer, meditation, and
bible study) before trying to cast out the demons in your home. If you don’t feel confident that you have
this gift, then you may wish to ask for help from a senior respected long-time
member of your church, such as a minister, elder, or deacon, in the
process.
We should always remember, however, and take comfort
from the truth that God is far stronger than Satan and the demons. Jesus, while He was in the flesh, told Satan
to get lost after he tempted Him, and he complied (Matthew 4:10-11): “Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the
Lord your God, and serve Him only. Then
the devil left Him . . .” Only serious
believers should try to cast out demons by Jesus’ authority (or name), since
they would have a continuing personal relationship with God. The seven sons of Sceva, who weren’t
Christians, tried to use Jesus’ name almost like a lucky charm or talisman,
which badly backfired on them when they tried to cast out a demon (Acts
19:13-16).
Could
pets be influenced by demons any? The
Bible itself doesn't say much about animals being possessed compared to people
being possessed. Jesus cast out demons only out of people, not out of
animals. However, in one case, when Jesus cast demons out of one man, He let
them go into nearby pigs. Notice Mark 5:11-13: "Now there was
a big herd of swine feeding there on the mountain. And the demons
entreated Him, saying, "Send us into the swine so that we may enter
them. And He gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean
spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the
sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea."
Jesus, in this case, may have obliquely used the demons to enforce the kosher
dietary laws (see Deut. 14:6-8) since they quickly killed all the pigs they
went into.
Often
if a demon can't possess a human being, he may accept an animal
instead. For example, think of the old stereotype about a witch having a
cat for company. An animal can come to have a familiar spirit, and thus
be demon possessed, like a man or a woman. Biblically, by far the most
important case of this arises when Satan spoke through the serpent to
successfully tempt Eve to sin (see Genesis 3:1-7). It does
seem, however, that the demons prefer human beings over animals. After all, presumably, "Legion"
could have gone into the pigs instead at some point before Jesus encountered
"him." After Jesus encountered "him" (or
"them," as per verse 9), these demons were under His authority and
power, so they could only go to possess animals if He gave them permission to
do so. Although the text doesn't explicitly say so, Jesus may have let
them possess and kill these pigs because they were unclean animals that people
should have avoided eating.
Unfortunately, the fruit of the involvement in the occult can lead to problems
with poltergeists and other demonic activity.
In the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 18:9-14), we are told to avoid various
occultic practices: “When you come into the land which the Lord your God
is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those
nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or
his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a
soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures
spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For
all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these
abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. You shall
be blameless before the Lord your God. For these nations which you will
dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your
God has not appointed such for you.”
Why
did God tell Israel to avoid all these occultic practices? In the Bible’s
worldview, real spiritual power to do miracles that overturn natural scientific
laws comes from two sources only: 1. God (or His angels, at His
direction). 2. Satan and the demons. There is no third,
morally neutral “gray” source of occultic powers. So then, if we see
someone claiming to have unnatural powers over nature or other people, only
three explanations are possible: 1. He is a fraud, and tricks
people into believing he has such powers by the same kinds of tricks
professional magicians use to entertain audiences. 2. Satan and the
demons give him the power to do these acts of power (cf. Revelation 13:13-14;
16:14; Deut. 13:1; 2 Thess. 2:9). It’s a major mistake to think
“spiritual” powers come from only good or benevolent powers in the
universe. 3. He is a true prophet of God (cf. Rev. 11:5-6).
Since at this time explanations 1 and 2 are far more likely to be true than 3,
we must avoid them and not let our curiosity get the best of us. After
all, it’s easy to get fascinated by UFOs, psychic phenomena like poltergeists,
real ESP, clairvoyance, etc. We naturally seek after signs, even if they
are Satanic ones also.
If
we believe we shouldn’t engage in occult practices, should we watch TV shows,
go to movies, and listen to music with serious occultic themes? It’s fine
to say we wouldn’t play with tarot cards or with Ouija boards. But would
we avoid going to various haunted houses in tourist areas such as Niagara Falls
and Wisconsin Dells? Do we still hunt down our daily sun sign and
predictions in the astrology column in our daily newspaper? (They’re
inaccurate, since they are not based on the location, date, and time of our
births, according to professional astrologers anyway!) Strangely enough,
Nancy Reagan used an astrologer’s predictions for setting the timing of
appointments for her husband when he was president. Do we read novels with “magical” themes, such as about Harry
Potter or even Hobbits? Do we have
videos of horror movies that deal with demon possession, such as “The Exorcist”
or “Damien Omen”?
What
should we do if we own occultic books, videos, games, and items? Consider
what some repentant people did in the time of the Apostle Paul (Acts
19:18-19): “And many who had believed came confessing and telling their
deeds. And many who had practiced magic brought their books together and
burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them,
and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.” Why did they burn them
instead of selling them or giving them away? They didn’t want others to
be wrongly influenced by these books, so destroying them was better for the
welfare of others. So if an Ouija
board or tarot cards are lying around our houses, they should be thrown out.
“Soothsaying,"
which was condemned specifically in Deut. 18:10, is like prophesying or fortune
telling. It's in the same category as practicing the occult, engaging in
astrology, being a medium who talks to the dead, etc., which the Bible clearly
condemns. It involves using non-Godly spiritual forces to predict the
future. For example, Acts 16:16, in which a form of this term appears,
concerns someone who had the ability to predict the future, but only by the
power of Satan or demonic forces. All spiritual forces which aren’t of
God, are of the demonic world instead. There is no "gray" in
this regard in the ultimate spiritual reality. Satan can do miracles
also, much as God does, although the former is fundamentally far less powerful
than the Latter.
According
to Leviticus 20:6, we should avoid consulting with mediums: “And the
person who turns to mediums (ob) and familiar spirits (yiddeoni), to prostitute
himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from
his people.” The Hebrew words “wizard” and “medium” are translated from
the words “yiddeoni” and “ob,” respectively. “New Age” terminology
might call a “medium” a “channel” instead, but the updated relabeling doesn’t
disguise or change the activity being engaged in. So we should avoid ever
going to a séance. Furthermore, the famous professional magician Harry
Houdini spent 30 years exposing frauds in this area. (See his book,
“Miracle Mongers and Their Methods,” (1920), and “A Magician Among the
Spirits,” (1924)). So it’s likely that a purported medium could
simply be a con artist who preys on the emotions of people who recently lost
family members in order to get money out of them.
But
now, we have to consider a broader, related question that explains why God
doesn’t want His people involved in the occultic arts or “black magic”:
Can the dead actually speak to us at séances through mediums or
“channels”? The problem we face here is twofold: 1. Are the
dead alive? 2. Can other spirit beings besides God and the holy
angels visit people?
Now if the dead aren't conscious, then the dead can't be visiting anyone.
This points brings up the issue of the state of the dead and whether or
not they have an immortal soul. For if the dead are dead, then they can't
visit anyone, including in (for example) séances. Notice especially
Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 10: "For the living know that they will die, but
the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward; but the memory of them is
lost. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and
they have no more for ever any share in all that is done under the sun. . . . Whatever
your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or thought
or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol [the grave], to which you are going."
So now, if the dead aren't conscious until the resurrection, then family
members who “passed away” couldn't be leaving heaven to visit people. You may
wish to visit my church's Web site, http://www.ucg.org/booklets/index.htm, and
download the booklets "What Happens After Death?" and "Heaven
and Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach?" if you want to know
more about the dead being dead, not alive.
But then, let answer the other question above: Are there other spirit
beings who may be visiting the dead? And are they good spirit beings . .
. or evil ones? I maintain that in any case in which fakery isn't going
on (and the famous magician Houdini founds lots of that when investigating
mediums who held séances, early in the last century), but a real spirit force
is involved, it's an "angel" who is lying. That means it's an
evil angel, or demon, is pretending to be someone’s dead relative or friend.
For example, King Saul got a purported visit from the judge Samuel when
the former went to the "witch" (really, medium) at Endor in I Samuel
28:3-25. Notice that "Samuel" here told Saul in advance a true
prediction of his dreadful fate. So this means that not everything a
demon says has to be wrong or false in a séance. (Compare this demon's
way of operating to what God let Satan do in Job 1-2). However, no such
spiritual source or “channel” should be relied upon.
Most
importantly, if we ask God for protection against demons and Satan, we then
also would have the duty to avoid getting involved in the occult, such as using
tarot cards, Ouija boards, astrology, demonic horror movies, etc. By engaging in
these practices, we (knowingly or unknowingly) are trying to contact the very
evil spirits that are worrying us.
If someone has a serious problem in dealing with the influence of demons, he or
she should pray, fast, and then ask for the help of a non-skeptical senior,
respected member of the local (conservative) church who would have, if it is
known, the gift of casting out demons.
If at all possible, don’t ever do it alone.
Furthermore,
immediately get rid of all occultic items, videos, tapes, books, and other
paraphernalia, such as Ouija boards, tarot cards, Harry Potter novels,
etc.
Eric V. Snow
Click here to access
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Why does God Allow Evil?
Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Why
Does God Allow Evil 0908.htm
May Christians work on Saturdays?
Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Protestant
Rhetoric vs Sabbath Refuted.htm
Should Christians obey
the Old Testament law? /doctrinalhtml/Does
the New Covenant Abolish the OT Law.htm
Do you have an immortal
soul? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Here
and Hereafter.htm
Does the ministry have
authority? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Is
There an Ordained Ministry vs Edwards.html
Is the United States the
Beast? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Are
We the Beast vs Collins.htm
Should you give 10% of
your income to your church? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Does
the Argument from Silence Abolish the Old Testament Law of Tithing 0205 Mokarow
rebuttal.htm
Is Jesus God? Click
here: /doctrinalhtml/Is
Jesus God.htm
Will there be a third
resurrection? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Will
There Be a Third Resurrection.htm
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