Demons in the New Testament 

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Absolutely nothing in the Bible is an accident. Jesus did not choose this particular location by accident either. Caesarea Philippi is “a city built in upper Galilee near the sources of the Jordan River, at the foot of Mount Hermon, called Paneas because it was the center of the worship of the heathen god Pan.”^[1] Mount Hermon is the highest mountain in Israel. The meaning of Hermon is, “Anathema or abomination, devoted to destruction.”^[2] It has that name for a reason, it was in Mount Hermon that the fallen angels or, as Enoch calls them, the Watchers, planned the abomination of all abominations, to have sex with the women. 

And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto ² them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men ³ and beget us children.’ And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: ‘I fear ye will not ⁴ indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.’ And they all answered him and said: ‘Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations ⁵ not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.’ Then sware they all together and bound themselves ⁶ by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn ⁷ and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And these are the names of their leaders: Samlazaz, their leader, Araklba, Rameel, Kokablel, Tamlel, Ramlel, Danel, Ezeqeel, Baraqijal, ⁸ Asael, Armaros, Batarel, Ananel, Zaq1el, Samsapeel, Satarel, Turel, Jomjael, Sariel. These are their chiefs of tens^.[3]

In Matthew 17:1-8 the Bible tells of Jesus Transfiguration. The transfiguration of Jesus did not take place at the foot of Mount Hermon; he led three disciples up a high mountain. “And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. ² And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. ³ And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. ⁴ And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁵ He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” ⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. ⁷ But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” ⁸ And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.” (ESV) 

Again, this is no coincidence. Jesus builds the church and revealed himself to three of them right in the same place where the iniquities and all iniquities was planned; a place of abomination, devoted for destruction. I am sure that there was some serious demonic activity there. 

Jesus’ work is far greater and more complex that we can ever understand. Jesus did not only address our sin issue that started with Adam and Eve, he also addressed the iniquity of iniquities in Genesis 6 and the issue of the lost nations of the world (The Tower of Babel) and he left us in charge of fulfilling the Great Commission. In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus tells the disciples,

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

It is through the great commissions that people are change, not through political powers, not through Trump or the Republican Party, but through the Great Commission. Now, in this process of sharing the good news to the nations of the world we can’t be ignorant of demonic forces. Demons are causing all kinds of trouble around the world; they are following Satan’s agenda. That agenda can be clearly seen all through Scripture. Satan comes to kill, still and destroy (John 10:10) through the work of demons we see that agenda in action.

• Demons can cause physical sickness: (Luke 4:39 / 8::2)

• Demons can cause insanity:

And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. Mark 5:15 (ESV)

• Demons can make people do evil things:

And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. Luke 22:2-3 (ESV)

• Demons promote false doctrine:

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, First Timothy 4:1 (ESV)

• Demons perform signs to deceive humans:

And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. 14 For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. Revelation 16:14 (ESV)

• Demons can harass even believers: 

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 2 Corinthians 12:7 (ESV)

• Demons can cause muteness: 

As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. Matthew 9:32 (ESV)

• Demons can cause blindness:

Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. Matthew 12:22 (ESV)

• Demons can cause deafness: (Mark 9:17-29)

The next chapter is going to be dedicated to teaching how to properly engage in spiritual welfare.

To be continued…

^[1] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).

^[2] https://www.sheknows.com/baby-names/name/hermon/

^[3] https://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/260enoch.html