We are God's plan and purpose. "He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight." The powers of evil will use every scheme, every trick, every lie possible to damage us, make us ineffective, embarrass us. That is how Satan tries to beat God -- by beating us. Let us put on the whole armor of God and fight back and "Stand firm!"

Demons: What are they?
Satan is the Devil. There is only one. However, the King James Version of the Bible speaks of "devils" in the plural. Who and what are they?

The Hebrew words translated "devils" are saiyr , and shed . Saiyr , is a "he-goat" used in the sense of a "satyr." Shed , is a malignant or a "devil." The Greek words are daimon , daimonion , daimonizoman , and daimoniodes . It speaks of a supernatural spirit of a bad nature.

The New International Version translates shed , and daimon , as "demon." The NIV translates saiyr , as "goat idols." "Demons" is a transliteration of daimonion . It leaves the word "Devil" alone for one Devil, Satan. It is the sole translation of diabolos .

Sayir , were idols made in the shape of goats. The ancient Egyptians practiced idol worship and passed the practice along to the children of Israel during their 40-year captivity in Egypt. God warned Israel to stop that practice after He freed them from captivity. "They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves." (Lev. 17:7)

Rehoboam, King of Judah following the death of his father, Solomon, reinstituted the worship of goat idols. "And he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat and calf idols he had made." (2 Chron. 11:15) That continued until King Asa destroyed the idols.

At issue with sayir , is not the physical idol but the evil power associated with it. The idol could be destroyed, but the power lived on.

One other term we need to know about is akathartos pneuma . It translates as "evil spirit." As we'll see, evil spirits act in a way similar, if not identical, to that of demons.

Where are they from?
There is no question in Scripture that demons are a part of Satan's Evil Empire. They do not act alone. They do as they are told. Satan is their master. However, their origination is a question.

My conclusion about demons is that they are angelic spirits. They fell from their original position of serving God to serving Satan. Some were imprisoned until the day of judgment (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6). Some were left free to serve Satan (Rom. 8:38; Rev. 1:7-9). They have special abilities and use them to fight against God and His chosen people. But, as we will see, their battle is futile; their end is defeat.

Demons in the Old Testament
Demons are mentioned twice in the Old Testament. The first is Deut. 32:17. Moses is speaking to the whole assembly of Israel. He reminds them that Israel angered God with "their detestable idols." In that context Moses introduces us to demons. "They sacrificed to demons, which are not God--gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your fathers did not fear."

Here we see that demons acted in ways that moved the worship of God's people away from God and towards the evil spirits. Demons are related to false gods throughout Scripture. Another example is Psalm 106:37. Again the context is Israel's rebellion against God and their worship of idols." "They worshipped their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood. They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves." (Psalm 106:36-39)

It is clear that idol worship is the same thing as demon worship. People who do it are worshipping Satan and his Evil Empire.

Demons in the New Testament
The first mention of demons in the New Testament is Matt. 4:24. The people of Israel heard about the incredible power Jesus Christ had to heal. "...people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and He healed them."

Here we see that demon possession is treated separately from people with physical maladies. Some critiques of the belief of demonic powers say that demon-possession is just a physical or mental illness. But God makes it clear that demon possession is separate from physical and mental pain. Demon possession can cause physical and mental suffering, but it is separate from those maladies we know from science and medicine. Demon possession is spiritual. It is part of the dark powers of Satan and his Evil Empire.

One of the most powerful proofs of the reality of demons is that Jesus conversed with them, commanded them and defeated them at every confrontation. Jesus knew them because He had created them. He created them perfect and for good purposes. However, they became imperfect through their own choice and dedicated themselves to evil. They chose to obey Satan rather than God.

We've already seen in the OT that demons were behind all idol worship. That's supported in the NT. Paul writes in 1 Cor. 10:20-21 --- "...the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons." John writes in Rev. 9:20 about the world during God's judgment on earth. "The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshipping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood--idols that cannot see or hear or walk." Demons continue to fool people to the very end.

Demons also enter into the bodies and minds of humans. The Bible calls it "demon possession." This continues to this day in many forms. The possession is sometimes evident in the insane behavior of people under the total control of demons. Other possessions are of a temporary nature where demons give people special physical and mental powers. Demons have lived for thousands of years and can fool people into thinking they were someone else in past lives. That leads people away from the Truth of God and the need for forgiveness and salvation in this life. The "channeling" of spirits is another demonic influence. (Deut. 18:10-12; Isaiah 8:19ff)

Demons possess human beings for the purpose of doing evil. They do no one permanent good. They lie to their victims and make them think they have some special gift or power. Some have even believed the power came from God. Biblical examples of demon possession show people who were violent, unusually powerful, unable to speak, blind, in great pain, inflicted cuts upon themselves, were naked, and lived in tombs with the dead. Not a pretty picture.

The major point of the Biblical evidence of demon possession is that Jesus Christ had power over demons and gave that power to His disciples. You may never come into contact with someone who is demon possessed, but if you do, remember the power that is greater than they.

 of this in the epithet “Kosmokrator” Koine Greek, kosmokratoras, which literally means cosmos-sovereign, or even cosmos-might, which is applied to Satan in Ephesians 6:12, as a possible further indication of the creatorship of Satan and his identity with the Demiurge. However, “Kosmokrator”—with cosmos ("kratia"), as in demokratik?s, or "democratic" does not mean to create but to rule, direct or influence. Koine Greek, which literally means "world-ruler" and is applied to Satan in Ephesians 6:12, would, by this Gnostic interpretation, lead to an indication of the power of Satan and his identity with the Demiurge. This usage would according to some vilify the logos as it was used by Heraclitus, meaning the ruling or guiding principle of the universe. This would also be a different understanding of St Paul's passage which was referring to men of power falling under the influence of evil as in the world-rulers (since the word Kosmokrators in Ephesians is plural meaning many rulers not one ruler) of the darkness of the age this then meaning many evil rulers not just one.