Do you believe that demons exist? When I was younger the idea of creepy monsters or evil aliens would make me unnerved. I remember as a teenager watching, of all things, Larry King on CNN. He was broadcasting his show from the middle of a cornfield at night. They had set up a stage with bright lights focused on him on this stage. He sat at his desk in the normal talk show format, but in the background was darkness and the outline of corn stalks. His topic was a special on aliens and I was completely unnerved and found the setting a little scary. I would not have been surprised if Aliens announced their presence to Larry King on that stage at that very moment.

Any look through history will find stories of demons, goblins, and monsters off all forms that kill and terrorize the population. In contemporary America one would not be hard pressed to find mainstream scientists or celebrities convinced that aliens exist. Yet from within these same groups one might be hard pressed to find public acknowledgment that demons and specifically Satan exist because we are now “civilized”. This is because contemporary America is a materialist society. Only the material world matters. Only the physical world is real. Ghosts, goblins, and demons are fun stories but Aliens are real because they exist in the material world. It is hard to believe in God let alone evil demons when one is cutoff and blind to the spiritual nature of humanity.

28 And when [Jesus] came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way.29 And behold [the demons] cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” Matthew 8:29 ESV

The gospel accounts make regular notice of Jesus encountering “demon possessed” people. All four gospels reference demonic encounters as if this was normal. In this instance the author uses the Greek word δαίμων (daimōn) which means inferior gods to describe that these men living in the cemetery were possessed by. While these so called gods were tormenting the people they possessed they also tormented anyone that came near. When they approached Jesus the demons cried out asking if he had come to torment them before the appointed time. It is an interesting exchange.

While all this talk of demons is normal in the New Testament one would think that demons would be spoken of in the Old Testament but that is not the case. Very few times do scholars translate any Hebrew texts using the word demon. The Hebrew word for demon שֵׁד (shed) only occurs twice and in both instances the author is referencing rampant idol worship making clear that the idols of wood, metal, and stone that the people worshiped were the retail front of evil demons.

37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; 38 they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters. whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. Psalms 106:37-38 ESV

Every generation deals with this spiritual reality in their own way. The ancient people worshiped demons by way of idols and false Gods and contemporary Americans worship demons by way of materialism. The contemporary culture ignores that we are more than our physical bodies. Most ignore any spiritual reality at all fooling themselves into thinking that the materialism or science they worship is somehow void of spiritual truth. Worshiping themselves they are influenced by the demonic without even being aware.

Demons hate God and want to destroy his image on earth. Since mankind was created in the image of God then we are all a target of their hate. It is no wonder that child sacrifice has always been a marker of their presence. Imagine God’s people sacrificing their own children to a demonic idol in the old testament. Is it not horrifying? How could they be so barbaric we think. Now realize that this same child sacrifice continues today but in a much more accepted way through abortion. Babies are sacrificed to the gods, demons, of materialism and convenience every day.  

They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded. 18 You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth. Deuteronomy 32:17-18 ESV

When I was younger the idea of occult or aliens caused me to fear. As an adult I recognize the demons that they represent and my fear of the unknown is no more. Jesus was not afraid of the demons in fact they were exposed from their hiding places and became afraid of Him. The four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) reference demons more than 40 times between them. This is far more than the rest of the Bible combined. Jesus deals with our physical needs but he primarily is concerned with our eternal spiritual state. Is it no surprise that the demonic was exposed and dealt with everywhere he went?

Where have demons set up shop in your life? What do you worship that is not the one true living God? Jesus came that we would have freedom and life restored to worship our maker.

Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Matthew 4:10 ESV