The Bible and Demon Possession
by Sherri Langton
In the early seventies, people flocked to see a movie destined to be a blockbuster and multiple Oscar nominee: The Exorcist. The film was not your usual escape into imagination. Crowds saw images of a head spinning, a body levitating, a bed shaking, and other assorted horrors. Stories began circulating that people fainted and "ran screaming out of theaters." [1]
Based on the bestselling novel by William Peter Blatty, the story involves a twelve-year-old girl named Regan MacNeil whose decidedly strange behavior is diagnosed as demon possession. Regan becomes so violent, two priests are summoned to perform an exorcism. Though the demon eventually is freed from Regan, the priests die in the process.
The public loved what they saw. The Exorcist broke box office records in 1973, grossing $165 million. [2] It ranks 43rd on the all-time money list. [3] Though not as popular, two sequels were produced in later years. One Internet site says that Blatty plans a special edition re-release to theaters in 1998, with some scenes deleted.
Despite what some may think, Satan's ability to control human beings didn't originate in the mind of a writer nor in the machinery of Hollywood. Demon possession is as old as the Bible.
Jesus and Demons
Jesus himself came face-to-face with demon possessed people. The descriptions of them in the Gospels could read like a Warner Brothers script.
Jesus no sooner climbed out of the boat after crossing a lake than a man with an "evil spirit" saw Him (Mark 5:2). This man lived in a cemetery and was totally under demonic control. The Gospel writer says, "No one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him" (vv. 3, 4).
Mark goes on to say that this possessed man would roam the cemetery day and night, crying out and cutting himself with stones (v. 5).
Later in his book, Mark writes about a boy who had been possessed by a spirit since childhood. The spirit robbed the boy of his speech. When the boy's father brought him to Jesus, he described the spirit's influence: "Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. . . . It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him" (vv. 18, 22).
Demon-free
The Bible gives us more than just descriptions of demon possession; it gives us the freedom Christ has over demonic control.
When the possessed man in the cemetery saw Jesus, he ran to Him and fell on his knees. Jesus commanded the evil spirit to come out of him. At this, the spirit spoke directly to Jesus: "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!" (v. 7).
The evil spirit identified himself as "Legion . . . for we are many" (v. 9b). Jesus gave permission for the evil spirits to enter a herd of pigs grazing nearby. Still intent on destruction, the spirits drove the pigs into a lake, and the pigs drowned.
And what happened to the man? Mark says he ended up "dressed and in his right mind" (v. 15). The man was so grateful for his new freedom, he wanted to go with Jesus. Instead, he spread the word throughout his community of what Jesus did for him (vv. 18-20).
Dead or Alive?
Jesus also brought freedom to the possessed boy. After assuring the father, "Everything is possible for him who believes" (9:23), Jesus commanded the demon to come out. Mark describes what happened next: "The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, 'He's dead.' But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up" (vv. 26, 27).
A biblical scholar, Merrill F. Unger, provides insight on Jesus' encounters with demons:
It was impossible for the Son of God to be in the vicinity of evil power, and not expose it, and challenge it.
The Son of God . . . was manifested with the specific purpose "that he might destroy the works of the devil" (I John 3:8). It was this avowed intention to engage the enemy in order to defeat him, to challenge his power in order to destroy it. . . . [4]
Caught in the Act
The last story of demon possession in the Bible appears in Acts 19. God had been doing miraculous things through Paul, an early preacher and missionary of the gospel. The story says that "even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them" (v. 12).
In the city of Ephesus, Jewish exorcists attempted to cast out demons in the name of Jesus. On one occasion they focused their energies on a possessed man, but the demon inside him answered, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" (v. 15).
The Jewish exorcists weren't prepared for what came next: "Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding" (v. 16).
Good things happened as a result of this incident. The reputation of Jesus grew greater in Ephesus. Also "A number of people who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas" (v. 19). The story concludes, "In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power" (v. 20).
Conclusion
Demon possession still holds the public's interest today. (Author Blatty, in fact, has a new novel out: Demons Five, Exorcists Nothing.) Much of it is far more subtle than what Blatty and even the Bible portray. For example, many in the New Age practice channeling, allowing themselves to be possessed by other spirits. What may appear to be innocent and trendy is actually dangerous and demonic.
The good news, however, is that Jesus Christ still defeats the powers of darkness! As you begin to trust and obey Jesus, the Son of God, He will set you free indeed!
This article was based on an article written by Daniel Dávila that appeared in a past issue of the Bible Advocate magazine. For a free subscription, contact us at bibleadvocate@cog7.org. Scripture quotations were taken from the New International Version.
References
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© 1997 General Conference of the Church of God (Seventh Day)