In This Article we are going to be taking an in depth look at the enemy aka Satan & his minions. We will be going over a bunch of verse references on this subject so I just want to forewarn you ahead of time that this will be a pretty big post. As usual I will try to arrange each verse per category from earliest book in the bible to last with that said let's begin. (I apologize in advance for there not being anymore pics for this topic but I didn't think that it would be edifying to put up anymore pics of devils).
Who Is The Devil?
The first mention of Satan in scripture (who in this passage goes by the serpent) is found in Gen 3:1-6, here we have the serpent lying to eve which results in her eating the forbidden fruit. For the next passage that we will jump to that references satan is in 1Ch 21:1, it is here that we have Satan provoking David to number Israel. This results in David having to choose between three kinds of punishments for doing this.
In the book of Job we have Satan approaching the Lord, and he gets permission from God to afflict Job (Job 1:6-12, Job 2:1-7). In Isa 14:12 -17 we have a very popular name for the devil aka lucifer, who is cast down for his pride. Eze 28:12-19 is perhaps the most detailed description of Satan before he fell, he is described as the covering cherub, every precious stone was his covering, he had built in tabrets and pipes, and he was perfect in his ways until iniquity was found in him. His heart was lifted up because of his beauty.
We have the devil also called the tempter (a name that is also used in 1Th 3:5), tempting Jesus in the wilderness in Mat 4. Mat 12:24-28 & Mar 3:22-26 is about Jesus being accused of casting out devils by beelzebub, Jesus replies by basically saying if Satan cast out Satan how can his kingdom stand? This is the passage where we get a house divided against itself cannot stand. Mat 25:41 shows us that the everlasting fire was never intended for mankind, it was made for the devil and his angels. The point is you don't have to go there if you repent and trust alone in Jesus.
Mar 8:33 is the verse about Jesus rebuking Peter, saying, Get thee behind me Satan. In Luk 8:12 we learn that it is Satan that takes the word that was sown out of people's hearts and prevents them from being saved. We have Satan entering Judas in Luk 22:3 and find out that he desired to have Simon also in Luk 22:31. Joh 8:44 is the bible verse informs us that the Devil is the father of lies. We see this in Act 5:3 where Peter ask Ananias why satan has filled his heart to lie to the Holy Ghost. Elymas the sorcerer is called a child of the devil in Act 13:10.
1Co 5:5 is an example of tough love where a person is given over to satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved, 1Cor 7:5 is instructions to married people to not deprive each other of sex so that Satan does not tempt you for your incontinency.
2Co 2:11 states that we are not ignorant of his devices. The context is showing forgiveness lest Satan should get an advantage over us. Another title given to Satan in scripture is god of this world, he blinds the minds of those that believe not (2Cor 4:4). In 2 Cor 11:14 we learn that appearances can be deceiving as Satan can disguise "transformed" himself into an angel of light. We also know that the apostle Paul was given a thorn in the flesh by a messenger of Satan in order to buffet him so that he wouldn't be exalted above measure (2 Cor 12:7).
I believe that the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2) is a reference to Satan because it tells us that this spirit works in the children of disobedience. Eph 4:27 is a short verse with some good advice; don't give place to the devil. Why should we as Christians give Satan an opportunity to wreak havoc on our life?
Eph 6:11-12 instructs us to put on the whole armour of God so that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, and that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places.
We see that Satan has the ability to hinder Christians in 1Th 2:18,
1Ti 1:20 gives the account of two people delivered unto Satan to teach them not to blaspheme, 1Tim 3:6 -7 gives the qualifications of a bishop in order to prevent him from falling into the condemnation/snare of the devil, speaking of snare 2Ti 2:25-26 gives us instructions on instructing with meekness those that oppose themselves, if perhaps God will grant them repentance to acknowledging of the truth so that they may recover themselves from the snare of the devil.
Jas 4:7 gives a good reason not to fear the devil, because it shows us that if we resist him he will flee from us. In 1Pe 5:8 we have scripture warning us to be sober and vigilant "because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:". We have John writing to young men stating that they have overcome the "wicked one" (1Jn 2:13); I am assuming this is referring to the devil. 1Jn 3:8 teaches us that those that commit sin is of the devil and that Jesus was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil, this is a great passage in favour of repentance.
Jud 1:9 is an interested passage that shows that Michael the archangel disputed with the devil about Moses' body. See also: Psa 109:6, Zec 3:2, Mat 13:39, Luk 10:18, Joh 13:2, Act 10:38, Act 26:18, Rom 16:20, 1Tim 5:15, Heb 2:14,
Rev 2:9 , Rev 2:13
Verses on devils
Surprisingly the bible doesn't have alot of references to devils directly in the Old Testament, although idols and false gods are mentioned alot in the OT which are tied to devils. We see that God doesn't want people to sacrifice to devils in Lev 17:7, Deu 32:17 is a verse that ties devils with gods, Psa 106:36-39 is a passage about the wicked works of sacrificing one's children to idols/devils.
Devils are however mentioned more frequently in the gospels and we will cover some of those instances here.
Jesus heals those that are possessed with devils and diseases (Mat 4:24, Mar 1:34, Luk 4:40-41), professing christians that claimed to cast out devils being told to depart for working iniquity (Mat 7:22-23), instance of devils entering swine (Mat 8:31), dumb man able to speak after devil is cast out (Mat 9:32-33), Jesus sends his 12 apostles to the children of Israel to heal, cast out devils, etc (Mat 10:8, Mar 3:15, Luk 9:1), there's the instance of the woman's daughter being made whole for the saying of the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs (Mat 15:22-28, Mar 7:26-30), there's a certain verse that tells us that there is a certain kind of devil that can only be cast out by prayer and fasting (Mat 17:14-21).
From Mar 16:9 we see that Mary Magdalene once had seven devils, we also see that one of the signs that would follow those those that believe is that they would cast out devils in Jesus' name (Mar 16:17). Luk 10:17 is a powerful passage as it shows that even the devils are subject to the name of Jesus. We see that Judas (the one who betrayed Jesus) is referred to as a devil in Joh 6:70-71.
There's just a few more verses that I want to look at before finishing this section. There's 1Co 10:19-21 which shows us that the things that the gentiles sacrifice to are devils and not God and that we cannot partake of the Lord's table and the table of devils. We must choose one or the other! 1Ti 4:1 warns us that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. This is very vexing to hear, as I know a couple/few professing christians that have done this and I hope that they turn back to christ.
Jas 2:19 is a great verse to bring up when you encounter someone who claims to believe in God but their actions show otherwise; the devils also believe and tremble.
Rev 9:20 is yet another verse that speaks of idol/devil worship, and Rev 18:2 tells us that babylon will become the habitation of devils among other things.
See also: 2Ch 11:15, Mat 11:18, Luk 9:49-50, Luk 11:20, Joh 10:20-21
The Bible on Various Kinds of spirits.
Besides the use of the word devil or devils the bible also mentions certain other spirits that are malevolent or dark in nature. Whether or not these entities are always under the classification of devil or no is beyond the scope of this article. Let's take a look at these various types of dark spirits.
First we have the passage that instructed the Israelites to not regard those with familiar spirits (Lev 19:31), the punishment of going a whoring after such would result in being cut off from among his people (Lev 20:6). The Lord gave the death sentence for those that had familiar spirits in Lev 20:27. The sin of consulting with familiar spirits is so serious in fact that God calls those that do it an abomination (Deu 18:11-12).
Jdg 9:23 is a passage that tells us that God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of shechem. We also see than an evil spirit troubled king Saul in 1Sa 16:14 and 1Sam 18:10. When this evil spirit was upon him David would play the harp and the evil spirit would temporarily depart from him. We learn that king Manasseh wrought much wickedness in the sight of God by dealing with familiar spirits (2Ki 21:6). This is one of the reasons why king Saul was killed (1Ch 10:13). We have God telling us that he will cause the unclean spirit to pass out of the land in Zec 13:2.
Now we come into the new testament, if my memory serves me correctly I thought I saw a street preacher refusing to cast out devils from someone because he used Mat 12:43-45 as to why. His reasoning was if the possessed individual wasn't going to convert to christianity then casting the devil out would only result in the devil coming back with other devils and make the person worse off.
In Luk 6:17-19 we have Jesus healing people of disease and unclean spirits, Jesus also healed a woman who had a spirit of infirmity Luk 13:11-13; she was bowed together and could in no wise lift herself up.
We have Philip casting out unclean spirits in Act 8:7, and a damsel that was possessed by a spirit of divination had that spirit cast out of her in Act 16:16-18. In Act 19:13-16 we read on some vagabond jews, exorcist who try to expel an evil spirit by using the name Jesus but end up fleeing naked and wounded.
and finally we see some unclean spirits like frogs come from the mouth of the false prophet, beast, and dragon in Rev 16:13-14, it calls them the spirits of devils; is this where the saying frog in your throat comes from?
See also: Mar 3:11, Act 5:16
Belial References In Scripture
This is a small section about a particular name that I noticed in scripture, which is the name Belial. I don't know if this is just another name for Satan or one of his devils but either way given the context this is not a nice entity.
The first time that this name is mentioned, at least in what I will cover is in Deu 13:13-16. In this context is it warned that if certain men "the children of Belial" persuade men of that particular city to go after other gods then Israel must smite the inhabitants of that city and burn its stuff to the ground.
The next instance is in Jdg 19:22 these sons of Belial wanted to sodomize a man's guest. When Eli had supposed that Hannah was drunken she told him not to count her as a daughter of Belial but that she was a woman of a sorrowful spirit and that she didn't drink wine or strong drink (1Sa 1:14-16). We see in 1Sam 2:12 & 1Sam 2:22 that the sons of Eli were the sons of Belial; that they knew not the Lord. What evil deeds did they do? Well they layed with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle and given the context they abhorred the offering of the Lord.
When Saul became King there were children of Belial that despised him and brought him no presents (1Sam 10:27). Nabal is called a son/man of Belial by his servant and wife 1Sam 25:17,25. He was uncharitable to David's messengers and supposedly railed on them according to his own servant. Likewise the uncharitable of David's men were also referred to as men of Belial 1Sam 30:22.
Sheba was a man of belial, he rejected David as king (2Sam 20:1). In 2Sam 23:6-7 the sons of belial is compared to thorns that will be burned in fire, this reminds me of the lost in Heb 6:8. Jezebel's two witnesses were sons of belial 1Ki 21:10, they caused Naboth to be stoned, by the context I am assuming that they lied on him. Finally 2Co 6:15 shows how Christ is opposed to Belial.
See also: 2Sa 16:7, 2Ch 13:7
Can a Christian Be Possessed?
***Previous Belief***
I thought that it would be a convenient time to address this particular question the short answer is no a Christian cannot be possessed. This is because true christians have the Holy Spirit. Here are four passages that prove my point.
Matthew 7:18 A good tree cannot produce evil fruit and vice versa.
2 Cor 6:16 What agreement hath the temple of God with idols?
Gal 5:23 One of the fruits of the Spirit is temperance which some would consider to be self control.
2Tim 1:7 God doesn't give us the spirit of fear but power, love, and sound mind.
***Current Belief***
Today I'm unsure if a Christian can't have a demon. There seem to be some interesting points made by those who believe they can. Here is some bible verses used to support this belief....
Mark 1: 23, 1:39, Luk 4:33- Jesus Cast out devils in the synagogue.
Mat 15:26 Casting out a devil is referred to the children's bread.
Mat 10:1-6 Disciples charged with going to only God's people at the time (Israel), and do things like casting out devils.
Mat 12:43-45 If an uncleans spirit leaves a man and comes back that man becomes worse, so why would a Christian cast a devil out of a lost person unless that lost person gets saved?
Mar 8:33 Jesus rebukes Satan through Peter.
Luk 22:3 Satan enters Judas (an apostle).
Act 5:3 Satan fills Ananias (a believer) heart.
1Cor 12:10 Here's an interesting point, what is the point of having discerning of spirits if not to cast them off someone?
2Cor 11:4 "... if ye receive another spirit....ye might well bear with him"
Gal 3:1-5 Paul to the believing Galatians "who hath bewitched you"
1 Peter 5:8 A warning about Satan, why if he can't afflict/destroy you?
Plus there are deliverance ministries that supposedly cast demons off of believers.
Other Relevant Verses & Conclusion
Let's look at a few more passages before wrapping this article up. There's the account of Ahaziah becoming sick and sending messengers to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron to see if he would recover, big mistake! The prophet Elijah told him that he would die for this (2Ki 1:2-4). I believe that Leviathan is a reference to Satan. Think about it Leviathan is a king over all the children of pride (Job 41:34), multiheaded (Psa 74:14), like the devil the leviathan is called a serpent and dragon (Isa 27:1), seven heads (Rev 12:3), see also Rev 20:2.
Mar 5:8-9 & Luk 8:30 is the record of the man who was possessed by a legion of devils, it turns out devils and unclean spirits might just be synonymous when you compare these two passages. The evidence that he was possessed was that he was naked and cut himself with stones.
I thought that I should mention Joh 17:12 & 2Th 2:3 for this post simply because they mention the son of perdition; he's definitely in the lost person category. Jas 3:14-15 calls bitter envying and strife a kind of wisdom that is not from above but is earthly, sensual, and devilish. The last two passages that we will cover today is 2Pe 2:4 & Jud 1:6 which are interesting parallel verses that deal with fallen angels being under chains of darkness and reserved for judgment.
In conclusion we see that the Devil is a very wicked person that causes trouble and who goes by several names, likewise his followers aka devils cause insanity, self harm, misery and sickness.
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