“What is a Demon”
May Newsletter
Jess Parker TDS Ministries
A question I am asked from time to time is, “What is a demon?”
The mystery regarding the origin of demons has been debated among Bible scholars down through the centuries. There is no direct explanation found in scripture regarding their origin and rightly so. Seldom are the mysteries of God revealed to the casual reader of scriptures. God invites man to search out His mysteries like searching for treasure, He says in Proverbs 1:1,
“If you seek her as silver and search for her as hidden treasure”
He delights in His children who are inquisitive. He says in Jeremiah 33:3,
“Call unto Me and I will answer you and show you
great and mighty things you do not know.”
He wants to reveal the mysteries buried in His word to those who are willing to search them out. It requires not only digging for treasure in God’s word but a certain amount of wisdom and conjecture on the part of those who wish to suggest a theory. We are told in 2 Timothy 2:15,
“Study to show yourself approved of God,
rightly dividing (understanding) the Word”
And in Revelation 13:18,
“This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the
number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666.”
Before we examine the scripture to see what we can find there, let us first consider what the ancient philosophers of the culture from which the word demon originates, had to say on the subject.
The Greek wordtranslated ‘demon’ in English is daimon. Theliteral meaning is ‘divine power.’ The root word from which daimon is derived is ‘da’ meaning ‘to know.’ They were thus referred to as the ‘knowing ones.’ They were said to deliver the ‘genius,’ to the soul of man. In Greek mythology, daimons were inferior deities sent by the gods to mankind as ‘attendant spirits.’
Greek bards, poets and philosophers referred to them often in their writings, but held differing opinions as to their nature and purpose. The generally held belief of the Greek populous was that demons, like men, were both good and evil. However, many secretly looked upon demons with dread, seeing them as messengers of tragedy and misfortune.
We will now examine the Scriptures to see if they reveal the mystery of where demons originated. The term demonis used eighty times in Scripture, and always refers to something evil.
The word demon is used only twice in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word translated demon is ‘sed.’ It comes from the root word ‘sdd’ meaning to ‘destroy or devastate.’ It is used in Deuteronomy 32:17 andPsalms 106:37, as an evil entity.
In the New Testament, the word demon is used eighty times. In every instance it is referred to as something evil. The majority of the accounts of demons are found in the Gospels and in each account Jesus confronted them and cast them out.
There is another term found in the scriptures used synonymously with demon. The term is spirit and is either used with a prefix such as wicked, evil, unclean or foul or followed by a description of its work such as ‘spirit of infirmity.’ (Luke 13:11) The term spirit is used in the Old Testament seven times and in the New Testament twenty five times. Both demon and spirit are used in the same sense to denote an evil presence or influence.
The terms are used interchangeably in Luke 4:33-36,
“In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit.
He cried out at the top of his voice… ‘Be quiet’ Jesus said sternly. ‘Come out of him.’
Then the demon threw the man down without hurting him.
All the people were amazed and said to each other… ‘With authority and power He gives orders to evil spirits and they come out.”
In the passage above, the word demon (two times) and evil spirit (two times) were used interchangeably.
Bible Scholars down through the ages have been divided in their opinions regarding where demons come from. There are only three theories that have sufficient support from the Christian leaders, to be considered.
They are
- The fallen angels who rebelled with satan (Rev. 12:7-8)
- The offspring of immoral angels who took human wives (Gen. 6:1)
- The disembodied spirits of a pre-Adamic race (Jer. 4:23-28)
We will consider the strengths and weaknesses of each theory and then offer an opinion.
Theory #1. Demons are fallen angels who rebelled with satan.
This opinion is the one held by the majority of Christians who have not actually looked into the evidence. Their opinion is based on the process of elimination. They reason since there is no other possible solution, their ‘fallen angel’ opinion wins by default.
The Bible students who hold to this theory point out this is the only possible choice as there is solid Biblical evidence to prove there was indeed a rebellion of one third of the angels but insufficient evidence to prove the other two groups ever existed.
This has some merit, however let us examine some peculiarities of demons themselves which seem to question they could be fallen angels.
Jesus said in Matthew 12:43,
“When a demon goes out of man, he wanders in lonely places
seeking rest. Then he says, ‘I will return to the house I left..”
Different translation have rendered this word ‘lonely’ in various ways including, dry, desolate, waterless, desert, and arid.
These words depict, not only a place of misery, but a place in need of water.
This raises an immediate question. The angels were created spirit beings living in the spirit world. Although those who rebelled with satan became twisted and perverted in their minds and desires, they did not cease to be angels. Their nature as a spirit being remained intact. They were created righteous spirit beings and they became evil spirit beings.
Their abode is the heavens. Even if they were sent to dwell in mankind and were later cast out, there would be no reason for their eviction to cause them feelings of loneliness. Why would they wander thirsty and lonely? They would once again be in their original body in their original habitation. Would they not return to the heavens they lived in before? (Ephesians 6:12)
Yet demons are so consumed with having a body of flesh to call their home, they will choose to live in an animal if they have no other choice.
Matthew 8:31 says,
“The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”
Another noticeable peculiarity of demons is their desire to stay in a particular geographic location. Mark 5:9-10 says,
“My name is legion”, he replied,” for we are many,“ and he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of that region.”
Why would an angel, whose habitation is the spiritual universe, plead with Jesus to be allowed to stay in a geographical region on earth?
These peculiarities of demons cast doubt on them being fallen angels but lend great strength to the other two theories.
The other two theories have strengths and weaknesses as well. The brevity of this newsletter gives us barely time to mention the second two, but hopefully it will give you some brain candy (food for thought.)
Theory #2The offspring of immoral angels who took human wives
There are those who believe demons are the disembodied spirits of the offspring resulting from the marriages between the angels who fell to immorality and took human wives. They make a good case in proving their point out of Genesis 6:1-4.
Genesis 6:1-4 tells us the angels took humans wives and bore children who became ‘men of renown.’ In Numbers 13:33 we see the spies returning from the land of Canaan with a report to Moses that there are giants, (Nephillim) the descendants of Anak in the land.
Forty years later Moses fought and defeated Og, king of Bashan, one of the last descendants of the Rephaites (giants) (Joshua 12:4-6).
David and his mighty men killed the last five giants. (1 Sam. 17:4; 2 Sam. 21:15-22)
The Book of Enoch written around 200 B.C. gives a detailed account of 200 angels, under the leadership of the angel Semayaz, going to earth and taking human wives (I Enoch: chap. 6-15). The offspring born from those unions were all giants. This ancient book would have no credibility if Genesis 6:1 did not validate the story.
There are two difficulties to overcome in attributing the origin of demons to these disembodied spirits.
- The offspring were still half human and as such would go to sheol (the abode of the dead) to await the final judgment of God. Hebrews 9:27 says,
“It is appointed for all men to die once and after this the judgment.”
- The Scripture records the tribes resulting from these unions after the flood did not flourish, for when Moses came to the land of Canann, Og the king of Bashan was said to be the last of the giants. (Josh.12 :4-6)
There is no record of how many of Og’s relatives were still around, but David and his mighty men killed the last five including Goliath. (1 Sam. 17:4; 2 Sam. 21:15-22) It seems unlikely the numbers of demons in the world today could be the disembodied spirits of a dying race of giants that never flourished but rather dyed off in 2500 years.
Theory #3. The disembodied sprits of a pre-adamic race (Jeremiah 4:23-28)
Those who hold to this theory point out the “Gap Theory” between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 solves not only the mystery of where demons originated but other mysteries as well. Time does not allow us to discuss those.
The gap theory is as follows. Genesis 1:1 says,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
1 Corinthians 14:33 says, “God is not a God of disorder.”;
So how can we explain Genesis 1:2 that states,
“Now the earth was formless and empty.”
Another translation renders it,
“Now the earth was in a state of chaos.”
Baby brain cells could figure out something has happened between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. God did not create earth in a state of chaos. The big question is: What?
Isaiah 28:13 says truth is discovered.
“Line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little, there a little.”
Is there an explanation anywhere in Scripture to solve the mystery of what God originally created and the state of chaos we see one sentence later? There is.
In Jeremiah 4:23-28 we see a passage of scripture that begins with the prophet speaking of a local setting and springboards into prophetic picture of an event of greater importance.
I will now insert Jeremiah 4:23-28 between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 and you be the judge.
Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Jeremiah 4:23, “I beheld the earth and it was formless and empty. I beheld the heavens and their light was gone. I looked at the mountains and they were quaking; all the hills were swaying. I looked and there were no people; every bird in the sky had flown away. I looked and the fruitful land was a desert; all its towns lay in ruins before the Lord, before His fierce anger.
This is what the Lord says; The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely. Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above grow dark.”
Genesis 1:2, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep.”
I vote for door #3. I believe there was indeed a race on earth before Adam. Their ruler was Lucifer. When he rebelled, they rebelled with him. Lucifer and the angels who rebelled with him were expelled from heaven.
The civilization he ruled over on earth was very advanced in arts, science and technology. They had cities and advanced travel. The mysterious landing strips on top of the Andes in South America bear witness to this. God destroyed this civilization in His anger. He flooded not only the earth but the heavens themselves with dark water. A close examination of His restoration of earth in Genesis 1 will verify this truth.
I believe the reason a demon feels lonely when it is not inhabiting a person is because it was created to live in a flesh and blood body. Unlike the fallen angels, who have never needed a physical body, a demon is totally disoriented when it is out of its house. It feels its need intensely.
I have presented to you each theory and voted on my choice. Take your pick.
We are offering, “What is a spirit of Infirmity” as the monthly mp3 download. While it is not related to this subject, it is good teaching. It will help you get free and stay free.
A fellow warrior,
Jess
