DEMONS AND EVIL SPIRITS; ARE THEY REALLY EVIL ANGELS?

INTRODUCTION

One of the common questions that comes in a study of evil angels concerns whether or not demons and evil spirits are simply evil angels. The answer is yes, they are evil or fallen angels. Let’s do a quick study of demons and demon possession to verify our conclusion.

DEMONS[i]

Our real battle in this world is against demons, Eph 6:12.

People can be possessed by demons, Matt 8:16, 17:18, Mark 9:25.

Evil spirits or the spirits of demons are the spirits of Satan and his followers, Rev 16:13-14.

Demons have the following features:

They knew Jesus, Mark 1:24,

They bow to Jesus, Mark 5:6,

They know who Jesus is, the Son of the Most High, Mark 5:7,

They obey Jesus when he commands them, Matt 8:16,

They corrupt sound doctrine, 1 Tim 4:1-5,

They try to conceal the truth about Jesus, 1 John 4:1-3,

They comprehend prophecy and their inevitable doom, Matt 8:29.

Demons have superhuman knowledge. Because of this they are consulted by spiritual mediums, who allow themselves to be under the control of evil spirits, 1 Sam 28:1-25, Acts 16:16.

The effects of demons on people include deranging them mentally, morally, physically and spiritually.

Demons are involved in the moral collapse of people who yield to carnality and sexual sin, 2 Tim 3:1-9.

Demons abide here on earth, Eph 2:2, 6:11-12, Col 1:13.

Satan is the king of demons, Mark 3:22-23, Matt 12:22-37.

Satan is a demon, Matt 12:22-37.

Demons tempt humans with unclean thoughts, Matt 10:1, Luke 8:27-29.

One of the purposes for Jesus’ earthly ministry was to defeat Satan, John 12:30-32.

DEMON POSSESSION[ii]

The Bible describes demons as being responsible for some but not all illness and deformity. This includes muteness, deafness, blindness, physical deformity, mental problems, etc.

Demons were cast out of people by Jesus and his followers as follows

Jesus: by his very command, Mark 1:25, 5:8, 9:25.

Jesus Disciples: by their command in the name of Jesus, Luke 10:17, Acts 16:18.

Other believers: By Jesus name, Luke 9:49, Acts 19:13, and through prayer, Mark 9:29.

Next, I would like to place our study and discussion of demons and evil spirits in contemporary terms. The Bible is not antiquated, but it did have to be written so that people of earlier ages could comprehend it in the context of the times. We can still understand it today, but we need to interpret it in a contemporary context so that we can better comprehend its message.

A MODEL OF HOW THE FORCES OF EVIL AND GOOD INFLUENCE US

INTRODUCTION

I have discovered in my studies that the architecture of man is described in the Bible and that it basically fits the design of a networked computer system. As you will see as we go on, we really should state this a little differently; the design of a networked computer system is a model of the architecture of man as described in the Bible. In this short paper I am attempting to summarize what I have found out about man’s basic design in the Bible and am using the design of a networked computer system to help us understand it. If we can grasp the concepts that I describe I believe that it can change the basic way that we see the universe that we live in. I believe that it can help us understand things that are otherwise incomprehensible to us; things like how either the Holy Spirit or evil spirits can inhabit us. Let’s start with a discussion of the architecture of a networked computer system.

THE ARCHITECTURE OF A NETWORKED COMPUTER SYSTEM

Let’s take a look at networked computer architecture and discuss it briefly. This will be greatly over simplified but will meet our purposes. The personal computer is composed of a hardware system (CPU, memory, storage, printers, drives, etc.) and software which is contained within the hardware system. There are two general levels of software, higher level programs (operating system, system programs, etc.) which direct the way everything works in the computer and are basically invisible to the user, and then the lower level working programs (application programs, etc.) that are accessible and used to accomplish our purposes. There is also firmware (instructions burned onto chips), which is essentially hybrid hardware/software. The personal computer has limitations in size and capability that can be overcome by linking it to a central computer that has much bigger size and much more capability. If several personal computers are linked to the same large central computer system, that central system is called a server, and the personal computers are said to be networked together. The personal computers can then basically have all of the capability of the larger computer and can also communicate with each other. Examples of networked computers go all the way from small home and office networks to the Internet, which can network literally millions of computers together.

Why are computers designed the way that they are? They must be designed in the general way that they are because they use and take advantage of the basic properties of matter. The better man understands the basic properties of matter the better the computer system that he can design.

I believe that matter was created in the way that it was to support God’s design of man (this is called the anthropic principal). It’s only natural then that as man begins to understand the basic properties of matter, he can create devices that work in much the same way that he does.

THE ARCHITECTURE OF MAN AS DESCRIBED IN THE BIBLE

I see all of the same characteristics attributed to a networked computer system as applying to the architecture of man. Man can be viewed as a personal computer system. He has hardware, software and firmware. Man’s hardware system is his body. His firmware is built into his cells in the form of DNA, RNA, etc. which is hardwired but contains extensive instructions that describe the way that his unique hardware/software system is to be constructed. Man also has two basic levels of software, higher level that is invisible to us and that we are unaware of, and lower lever which we are aware of and use to accomplish our cognizant tasks. Some of mans software is built in but much of the lower level software is continuously being loaded and modified as man interfaces with his environment and learns. Anytime we learn something new, how to play a game, how to knit, etc., we are essentially loading a new application software program into our personal computer system. We all have a somewhat different size personal computer that we refer to as ourselves. Again, like a personal computer we have limitations but we can overcome many of them by networking ourselves to a central universal server. There are two central servers that we can connect to and we have the choice of which one we want to use. More on that later.

The Bible uses terms that describe the functions that we have been talking about concerning man’s networked architecture. I’ll summarize the meaning of the terms below. The Bible frequently uses these terms soul and spirit and it is very helpful to understand what they are and the difference between them. I believe that they will help us greatly in understanding how we operate in the universe. In spite of the fact that many use the terms interchangeably, they are certainly not the same. We can see from Gen 2:7 and Job 34:14-15 that the thing called a soul by the Bible is a spirit temporarily living in a physical body.

Let’s now further define the terms body, mind, soul, spiritual body, heart and spirit, derived from the way that they are used in the Bible.

Body; mans hardware system that is used in this world. It will one day crash and die but it will be resurrected, refurbished into a glorified, everlasting body, and be reunited with its awakened mind and the spirit body. This will happen at the rapture for believers and at the final judgment for unbelievers, referred to in Revelation as the Great White Throne Judgment.

Mind; mans software system that is used in this world. It is the center of man’s cognizant thought in this world. It will go to sleep, or be turned off, when the body dies only to be reawakened or turned back on when the body is resurrected.

Soul; the Bible uses the term soul for living man. It is the combination of the body, the mind and the spirit. The body dies but the soul doesn’t in that the conscious mind is just asleep, which means in turn that the soul is asleep when the body dies. This was often referred to in the Old Testament (and also in Revelation).

Spirit body; the everlasting eternal hardware body of out spirit being. It never dies or goes to sleep. It is the residing place for our real operating system and personal software. We can’t see it, measure it or weigh it in our physical world but it is visible even now in the Higher Dimension, or spiritual dimension(s), in which God lives. The spirit body continues to live and immediately goes to heaven to be with God when our earthly body dies if we are believers (or to Hades to be with Satan if we are unbelievers). It is reunited with a new glorified body at the rapture so that we may spend the millennium with Jesus on a refurbished physical earth and participate in all that Jesus has planned for us at that time. Like our physical bodies, our spirit bodies grow as we feed them and grow stronger as we exercise them. The Bible tells us to feed them the “Bread of Life” and “Pure Spiritual Milk.”

Heart; the mind of the spirit body. This is also an everlasting eternal system that never goes off line. It is our higher dimensional software system and is the real center of our thought. In the physical world in which we now live it is the subconscious interface with both the physical and the higher dimensional world. It is the place where the Holy Spirit interfaces with us to instruct us and sanctify us. It is the home of our conscience and intuition.

Spirit; That part of man that can be separated from the soul and body and live forever. The inward, invisible, part of man where we commune with God. It parallels the soul in that it also has a mind (the heart) and a body, albeit both invisible in the physical world. Our spirit immediately goes to heaven to be with God upon our death. It currently only exists in higher dimensions but will become complete (one) when lower dimensions are added at the time we receive our glorified bodies.

Spirit world; the higher dimensional world in which we will one day live. It may be a unified heaven and earth or it may be hell; the choice is up to us. Our spirit already lives in or at least has an interface with the spirit world. I imagine that our spirit bodies are already visible in the higher dimensional or spiritual world but we are unaware of it. The Bible tells us that all children have guardian angels. It also tells us that we have guardian angels assigned to us as soon as we become believers. These are spiritual beings that God sends to assist us. Most important of all, we are told by the Bible that the Holy Spirit comes to indwell us as soon as we become believers. Thus we have a hard connection to God through his Holy Spirit as soon as we become believers in Jesus. The Spirit sets up a firewall and runs the equivalent of anti-virus software in our system. Satan is no longer welcome. The baud rate or speed of the connection to God varies according to how much we use it. We are told that we quench the Spirit if we don’t listen to him. This concept also explains how a person can have evil spirits in him. Satan and his angels have an open connection to us if we are accountable and have not accepted Jesus. The Bible also leads us to believe that evil spirits cannot indwell us if we have the Holy Spirit in us. If you are a believer, you need not worry about having evil spirits in you. However, even if we are believers we still have the influence of Satan on our lives through our interface with the physical world around us. Satan and his angels are everywhere and we have the choice of either letting them influence us or not. Still, Satan does not have a direct connection to us if we are believers, only indirect connections according to where we voluntarily go and what we voluntarily do.

We have the same types of things going on in the spirit world as we do in the physical world, except with much longer range consequences; the forces of good are trying to protect our systems from the forces of evil who are constantly trying to hack into our systems. The Bible refers to this as spiritual warfare in heaven. See the section titled Man’s basic nature; his soul and spirit for much more details on this.

A CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION OF DEMONS OR EVIL SPIRITS:

COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE IS ANALOGOUS TO HUMAN ARCHITECTURE

Belief in or discussion of demons or evil spirits is often thought of as antiquated thinking in our contemporary society. However, that doesn’t change the reality of demons or evil spirits. Some interpret Daniel 12 as indicating that there will be a knowledge explosion in the end times. This knowledge explosion will make it much easier to see and understand much of what the Bible tells us, particularly in prophecy, but also in other areas as well. I believe the invention of computers and computer networks in the last few years helps us understand the architecture of man as presented in the Bible, and also the reality of demons and how they operate in the confines of our architecture and our universe. Much of the following discussion will rely on these new understandings. The discussion relies upon comparisons of the architecture of man with the architecture of networked computer systems. My belief is that they are very analogous. The discussion of computer systems will be somewhat simplified to aid in understanding by those not particularly versed in computers.

The architecture of man seems to be very similar to that of a networked computer system in many ways. We have both hardware and software aspects to us, and each is digitally designed. I believe that we can conceptualize or analogize the way that demons attack us by thinking in these terms.

The latest technology computers seem to be possessing more and more of the characteristics of humans. They have a body (chassis), brains or a mind (CPU and memory), eyes (small video cameras and video processing capability), ears (microphones and voice recognition processors), speaking voices (speakers and synthesized voice generators), and some even have means for locomotion. Computers basically contain two levels of software. The first is higher level software that directs the basic operation of the computer and runs in the background. The Windows operating system is an example. The second or lower level software is the application programs that we use. Examples are a word processor or a game. The most complex computers with self-locomotion are used for roving security patrols in places where humans don’t want to go, etc. A person can sit at a remote console and control the actions of the robot, see what it sees, hears what it hears, etc.

“DEMON POSSESSED” COMPUTERS

What is the mechanism through which we are attacked or possessed by demons? Do they really take up residence in our bodies? Or have they just placed malicious code in our software so that they can sit at a remote console somewhere in their dimension and control our actions? Let’s discuss how computers can be “demon possessed,” so to speak, and see if we can develop an analogy to how humans might become “demon possessed.”

When a computer is connected to the Internet, there is one port or connection through which information flows into and out of the computer. There are ~66,000 internal ports opening into segmented areas inside a personal computer. Each acts like a door to a room that contains certain types of software and/or information. When we connect to an Internet site, that site then has access to the inside of our computer. Internet sites that we visit often install “cookies” inside of our computers through which they can obtain certain types of information about our computer usage. This is often done without our express permission. Most cookies are harmless and we need not worry about them. However there can also be malicious cookies as well. Using a computer requires great faith that someone won’t intentionally send us a batch of poison cookies.

If we have an open connection to the Internet, it is also possible for sites that we have not consciously connected with to get access to our computers. We call this “hacking.” Hacking can be random or targeted. Most hacking involves commercial or government sites, although individuals can also be targets. Once someone has hacked into our computer they can do a lot of potentially harmful things. They can steal information, create or delete files in our computer, or add malicious code that can seriously disrupt or shut down our computer. They can make our computer do things that we do not want it to do. We call this malicious code a “computer virus,” or a “bot,” short for robot.

However, someone does not have to hack into our computer in order to infect it with a virus. The easiest way for someone to infect our computer is to send us an email message with an attachment that contains the virus. Our computer won’t be infected with the virus unless we freely choose to open the attachment containing the virus. Again, we have the free will to either open or delete the attachment. If we open the attachment and “go there” we will get infected. Hacking is a “subconscious” act on our part in that we have not consciously done anything to allow ourselves to be infected with a computer virus, while opening an email attachment is a “conscious” act in that we have consciously and freely chosen to open the attachment, or “go there,” so to speak.

“DEMON POSSESSED” HUMANS

Now let’s discuss how humans can be “demon possessed” in ways analogous to what we have been discussing for computers. I expect that Satan’s most effective way of attacking us is through infecting our software. Again, in computer language we call these infections viruses, bots or malicious code. Let’s use the same language in discussing the ways that Satan attacks us. Satan’s viruses or robots can either be in our system software, which is in the mind of our spirit bodies (the heart or subconscious), or in our application software, which is in the mind of our physical body (our conscious). Satan’s demons are constantly trying to reprogram us in some way by inserting malicious code into our software, or inserting robots into us so to speak. The Bible refers to these robots or viruses as demons or evil spirits. We’ll discuss this and try to make it a little clearer as we go on with this discussion.

PROTECTION OF OUR SOFTWARE SYSTEMS

What is our protection from these attempts by Satan to insert malicious code into our software? In the computer world, we protect our computer systems from viruses by using anti-virus software and from hackers by installing a security “firewall.” The anti-virus software must be regularly updated since malicious people are constantly coming up with new viruses to attack our computer systems in new ways. We must either do this or else be very careful not to go places or do things with our computers that will result in exposure to viruses. It is the same with the security firewall; it must always be the latest edition and be full of the latest anti-hacker software. It is the same with people. Let’s next discuss how we can be protected from Satan’s viruses, robots and hacking schemes.

First, let’s look at our system software, which resides in the mind of our spirit body, which the Bible calls the heart (our subconscious). This is the place where the Holy Spirit resides in believers (or is connected to believers). If we are filled with the Spirit, He provides our anti-virus software and our security firewall (isn’t that an appropriate name for it?) and we can’t be infected by Satan’s attacks. We have received a vaccination, in effect. But what if we backslide and quench the Spirit within us? Let’s look at some scriptures and see what we can learn from them about reviving a quenched Spirit within us (Eph 6:10-17, 1 Thess 5:19-21, Mark 9:42-50). We see from these scriptures that Satan never gives up; he keeps firing various kinds of virus-laden darts at us to see if any might penetrate to our heart. Paul says in Eph 6:16 that we can dodge Satan’s attacks through faith, which is essentially belief in Jesus. Faith can be defined as follows: Faith in Jesus encompasses the following (1) placing complete trust in Jesus, followed by (2) conduct indicating a complete reliance upon Him, all based upon (3) hearing and reading about Jesus but not actually seeing or touching Him. Satan has no luck in attacking our hearts if we live by faith and are filled with the Spirit.

CAN BELIEVERS BE DEMON POSSESSED OR DEMON INFLUENCED?

(1) IN OUR HEARTS OR SUBCONSCIOUS; OUR SYSTEM SOFTWARE

Can we get viruses or robots (demons or evil spirits) in our heart if we are in a backslidden state? I suspect that we can but I’m not certain of it as yet. We do know that He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). If we are believers, we always have some level of protection. But does the Spirit fully protect us if we are not listening to him? If the Spirit is quenched within us, do we still have the latest version of anti-virus software in us to protect against Satan’s latest new malicious attack? I’m not sure, but I do feel certain that if we do what it says in Eph 6:10-17, we don’t have any worries; we will then be fully protected by the Holy Spirit. I have attached a table at the end of this lesson that analyzes this scripture. Let’s go there now and discuss the amazing result of the analysis. An incident described in Acts 5:1-11 seems to involve believers who are seriously influenced by Satan. Satan enters their hearts and influences them to lie to the Holy Spirit. Serious business! I suggest that you read and contemplate this incident.

Again, these virile infections or robots in our hearts are sent by Satan or his wicked angels, sometimes called demons or evil spirits. The infections can take on various forms and can cause us to do things that we normally wouldn’t do. The Bible gives many examples of the types of things that these viruses cause in humans.

The next logical question might be “Do demon spirits really physically inhabit human bodies or are these viral infections or robots in the heart what the Bible refers to as demon possession?” We obviously don’t have a conclusive answer to this, but the end result could be the same in either case. It’s just a lot easier for me to think in terms of viruses or robots in our software than to think in term of demons physically possessing our bodies. I can easily imagine Satan and his evil angels sitting at a console somewhere in the spiritual dimensions and controlling us through use of malicious code that they have been able to install in our software.

We mentioned earlier that the brains of a personal computer have thousands of “rooms,” each of which contains software and/or information. I suspect that our architecture is very similar, that our conscious and subconscious minds have the equivalent of thousands of rooms full of software and information. When we are filled with the Spirit, the door to each of our rooms is closed and Satan cannot enter any of the rooms. However, if we begin a pattern of sin in our lives the Spirit will be quenched in that area and the Spirit will leave that area since God cannot tolerate sin. A door or doors may then be left open for Satan to enter. The Holy Spirit will still remain in other areas of our lives.

When we first become believers we are not immediately “filled” with the Spirit. The Spirit does however immediately take up residence within us and begins a housecleaning job in each of our rooms. The Bible refers to this housecleaning process as “sanctification.” We must be a co-worker with the Spirit in this process. The Spirit does not work to cleanse us unless we are willing to work along with him. As our rooms become cleaner we become more and more like Jesus, as we are instructed to do in the Bible. We become more and more filled with the Spirit.

The knowledge explosion that we are undergoing makes it possible to now think in these terms, which couldn’t have been done in Bible times. I see and believe that every story and incident in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, had a contemporary application and meaning at the time of the writing, and also has a much further and deeper meaning and application in later times. Hosea 11:1 and Matt 2:15 provide a conclusive and easy to understand example of this.

(2) IN OUR CONSCIOUS MINDS; OUR APPLICATION SOFTWARE

Next, let’s look at our application software, which resides in the mind of our physical bodies (our conscious). If we are Spirit filled believers and Satan can’t get to our subconscious minds to control us, he’ll still attack our conscious minds. Satan and his demons are everywhere around us in the world. We can see them everywhere. Let’s look at a few examples:

In the loose morality portrayed in TV programs and movies,

In pornography presented in ever more creative and all-invasive ways; what we used to consider porn is now on free TV through Satan’s efforts, and

In the lies being accepted in our society; everyone is going to heaven (the one world religion), evolution (the idol of unbelievers that requires more faith than believing in God), pop psychology (me first, etc.).

Again, if Satan can’t successfully attack our subconscious mind, he’ll attack our conscious mind. How does he use the vehicles we mentioned above to get to us? Let’s think of a few other examples. How do we protect ourselves from these attacks? I believe that the answer is very similar to the answer given for protecting the subconscious. We must either have current anti-virus software that we get from following Eph 6:10-17 or we must be very careful in where we go and what we do. We must stay in the Word (the Bible is all about Jesus from cover to cover; he lived the word), the Truth (where the word and the deed became one: Jesus did exactly what he predicted that he would do), the Way (Jesus is the only way, there is no other; we must strive to live the way he did), the Life (Jesus gave his life for us in order to give us eternal life). We must always keep Jesus first and we can’t possibly do that without staying in his Word.

HOW WE ARE PROTECTED FROM SATAN’S SCHEMES: AN ANALYSIS OF EPH 6:10-18

Eph 6:11 says that we should put on the full armor of God in order to protect ourselves from Satan’s schemes. Verse 13 says this will enable us to stand our ground against evil. Verses 14-17 then tell us specifically how to do this. The following table is an analysis of these verses and attempts to determine the bottom line as to what

All six of these pieces of protective armor are provided through belief or faith in Jesus. So, we see that Jesus is the source of our protection. We receive protection from Satan’s schemes if we have faith and belief in Jesus. What happens the very moment that we truly express our faith in Jesus? We receive his Spirit. Isn’t this exciting? It certainly is rewarding to us. If you would like to receive this supernatural protection for yourself by becoming a believer in and follower of Jesus go to the following area of this site, How to become a believer.

THE ARCHITECURE OF MAN: We have mentioned the architecture of man rather extensively in this study. I have studied the way that the Bible describes our architecture rather extensively. What I have found is that we have two aspects to our being, physical and spiritual. THE SOUL is our physical dimensional being inhabited by our spirit; this is our current conscious being. THE SPIRIT is our spirit being and is composed of a spirit body and a mind, which the Bible refers to as the heart; this is our current subconscious being. The spirit lives in our physical bodies while our conscious existence is on this earth. When we die our spirits leave the physical bodies and world and immediately go to a more real conscious existence in the spirit world. I have written a rather comprehensive study on this with extensive scriptural references. It is available on this site at the architecture of man. Check it out!

[i] New International Dictionary of the Bible, 1987 Zondervan

[ii] Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1995 Thomas Nelson