The Devil, Satan And Demons

Debating Bible Basics Duncan Heaster

2.2

Demons A Biblical Discussion

2-2-1-1 The Devil, Satan And Demons

Preface

Too many people today think they can be Christians without worrying too much about exactly what they believe. Yet the Bible is God’s wholly inspired word to us. The issue of demons will be found somewhat controversial by many readers, yet I urge you to seriously try to have a truly open mind. Examine the Scriptures, and compare them with the statements made in this booklet. This booklet is a call to throw aside tradition and myth, and to face up to our own responsibility before God. None who hold the popular conception of demons will find this easy; this study by Duncan Heaster is a true spiritual challenge. You will almost certainly need to read it more than once.

I for one used to believe in the existence of demons, I grew up as a child in fear of their existence. Yet thanks be to God and the power of His word, I now see the Truth in this area. I have personally known the writer for a number of years and can commend to you his zeal for Bible Truth. But searching the Scriptures is the duty of every man; it is not only for the Pastor. It is your personal duty to fully commit yourself to the Almighty God of the Bible, and therefore to study His word for yourself. To that end “We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor. 4:5).

Stewart Gomeza, Harare, Zimbabwe

January 1994

Introduction

It has been explained elsewhere that the devil or satan is not a personal being or monster, but rather refers to the sinful tendencies innate within human nature. If we accept that there is no such being, then it surely follows that demons, who are held to be the servants of the devil, also do not exist. Many people seem to think that God gives us all the good things of life, and the devil and his demons give us the bad things, and take away the good things which God gives us.

The Bible clearly teaches that God is the source of all power, and that He is responsible for both the good things and the bad things in our lives:

“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things” (Isa. 45:7);

“Evil came down from the Lord unto the gate of Jerusalem”(Mic. 1:12);

“Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?” (Am. 3:6).

Therefore when we get trials, we should accept that they come from God, not blame them on a devil or demons. Job was a man who lost many of the good things which God blessed him with, but he did not say, “These demons have taken away all God gave me”. Listen to what he said:

“The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21);

“Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? (Job 2:10).

Once we understand that all things are from God, when we have problems in life we can pray to God for Him to take them away, and if He does not, we can be assured that He is giving them to us in order to develop our characters and for our good in the long run:

“My Son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him: for whom the Lord loveth He (not demons!) chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as sons; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all

are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons” (Heb. 12:5-8).

God: Source Of All Power

God is the source of all power:

“I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God (the Hebrew word for ‘god’ essentially means ‘power’) beside Me” (Isa. 45:5);

“Is there a God beside Me? Yea, there is no God; I know not any”, God says (Isa. 44: 8);

“The Lord He is God; there is none else beside Him” (Deut. 4:35).

Such verses occur time and again throughout the Bible. Because God is the source of all power and the only God, He is therefore a jealous God, as He often reminds us (e.g. Ex. 20:5; Deut. 4:24).

God gets jealous when His people start believing in other gods, if they say to Him, ‘You are a great God, a powerful God, but actually I believe there are still some other gods beside You, even if they are not as powerful as You’. This is why we cannot believe that there are demons or a devil in existence as well as the true God. This is just the mistake Israel made. Much of the Old Testament is spent showing how Israel displeased God by believing in other gods as well as in Him. We will see from the Bible that the “demons” people believe in today are just like those false gods Israel believed in.

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