Silencing Satan: 13 Studies for Individuals and Groups: Handbook of Biblical Demonology

By Sharon Beekmann

The 13 lessons of this study guide help Christians develop an informed faith about supernatural evil and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each lesson refers the reader to significant teachings in Silencing Satan: Handbook of Biblical Demonology. In the book, the authors teach about the nature and strategies of Satan and the demons, and their defeat through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They advocate resisting the devil in his various guises--apparitions, voices, sensations, false doctrine, and immoral temptations--by reflexively turning to Jesus Christ and Scripture. The authors expose the half-truths and lies propagated by popular culture. They caution not to fill in gaps of understanding with extra-biblical sources.
Does the study of Satan and the demons increase fear or give him too much attention? In fact, when presented from a biblical perspective, such knowledge can increase faith in Jesus Christ and enable Christians to effectively serve God and his church. Believers are challenged to live a radical life of faith, expressed through love and obedience to Christ. Seminarians, pastors, Bible teachers, Christian counselors, and lay leaders will find this study useful in individual and small group situations. A leaders' guide is available in the appendix.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Release date: Feb 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9781621895602

Sharon Beekmann

Sharon Beekmann is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. She is author of Enticed by the Light. She preaches, teaches, and conducts seminars for churches through Sharon Beekmann Ministries.

Book preview

Section 1

Ancient Near East Demonology

1

Introduction

The ancient Near East is the area around the eastern Mediterranean Sea that corresponds roughly to the modern Middle East. Generations of people in these lands worshipped and spoke of the great gods and goddesses, lesser deities, and the demons until the myths became deeply embedded in their cultures and worldviews. The narratives and the beliefs they contained gave primitive people meaning to their lives and ways to think about supernatural phenomena and transcendent truths.

Many people in twenty-first century Western cultures tend to believe that the mythical gods and goddesses were products of primitive imaginations and that no spiritual source, good or evil, significantly inspired their origination or participated in the cultic rituals that honored and appeased them. Nevertheless, the people of antiquity believed that their deities were objective spiritual realities—that they existed independently of people’s belief in them. Ancient Near East people both feared and honored their gods and goddesses, and they had good reason. As the following entries reveal, the activity and character of their deities more resembled Satan and his minions, as described in the Bible, than the triune God the Father, the Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit and his holy angels. Several biblical texts even associate the ancient Near East deities with demons (Deut 32:17, Ps 106:37, 1 Cor 10:20, Eph 2:2, Rev 9:20, cf. John 12:31). (See 45. Demons and Idolatry)

Christians are protected from the demons because they have a relationship with Jesus Christ who through his life, death, and resurrection defeated the demons. A Christian mother once contacted me (Sharon) after her twelve-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son saw a demon. The girl was roused from a sound sleep, opened her eyes, and stared into a pair of red eyes staring back at her from her closet. Sensing evil, she bolted upright and said, I’m a child of God! Get out of here. Instantly the eyes disappeared, and she soon fell asleep. But the next night the red-eyed demon terrified her younger brother in a similar way, and he ran to his parents.

We talked in her bedroom the next day, and she said, The words just came out and he vanished. Do you think he’ll come back?

I smiled and said, Even if he does, you know what to do. That demon tried to bully you. What would your dad do if a kid bullied you at school?

She smiled and said, He’d be furious. I’d hate to be that kid!

God protects his kids. That demon tried to scare you and you told him that your Father was stronger and he had to leave. If he appears again, call out for Jesus. Soon her mother and brother joined us for prayer, and I encouraged her brother to call on Jesus if the red-eyed demon appeared again. The demon never reappeared.

The girl’s confidence in her Savior to remove the demon illustrates the profound differences between Christian faith and the demonology depicted in the ancient Near East. Because of our relationship with Jesus Christ, Christians need not fear the demons, wait for archangels to save them, recite carefully worded prayers, or perform rituals. Like the girl, we know the Savior Jesus Christ, who has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col 1:13–14). Christians need only call on Jesus Christ who has defeated the enemy of our soul. Pagan people living in the ancient Near East before the time of Christ had no defense against the Enemy’s schemes.

STB

2

Mesopotamia

The Mesopotamians had an animistic worldview, and they expended considerable effort and time contending with their deities and demons. They believed that spiritual beings possessed the will and capability to influence humanity and nature for good and evil by inhabiting inanimate objects, people, and natural phenomena. The people both honored and feared their great gods and goddesses, the lesser deities, and the spirits of the dead. Their mythical great gods and goddesses allegedly brought order out of the chaos produced by lesser deities. For example, when dangerous monsters stirred up unwieldy waters and the mighty good gods restored order, Mesopotamians believed that good had triumphed over evil.¹

In the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation story, the great agricultural god Marduk used the wind and huge nets to defeat Tiamat, goddess of the unruly waters of chaos. Marduk was son of Ea, head of the gods, and when Nebuchadnezzar I (1125–1104 BC) came to power, he named Marduk principal god of Babylon and head of the entire pantheon, the assembly of the great gods. Nebuchadnezzar built Marduk’s temple complex in the center of the city as a display of deference to him and as a declaration to the known world of Marduk’s power and prestige.² When the Persian Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon in the sixth century BC, he took the hand of Marduk to ingratiate himself to the Babylonians. The people honored Marduk at annual New Year’s festivals.

Spirits of deceased family members and other afflicting demons were of more immediate concern. In the cult of ancestors, the family patriarch transferred his authority and power to his eldest son, who then honored his deceased father by ritualistically offering food to him and other dead ancestors at meal time and during monthly celebrations. He invoked the dead by name, both to acknowledge that family identity included the dead and to show deference to them.³ An old Babylonian text reads, Come (dead ancestor), eat this, drink this, and bless . . . the king of Babylon.⁴ The dead acted as family guardians and also meted out punishment to anyone who disrespected family interests.

Additionally, the Mesopotamians had an elaborate demonology for afflicting spirits. There were demons of plagues, nightmares, headaches, windstorms, and every human ill. One demon specialized in attacking the head and others the neck, breast, stomach, hand, and so forth.⁵ Spirits of people who died violently or whose bodies were left above ground attacked the living. People called on magicians, sorcerers, conjurers, and necromancers to appease these troublesome spirits. It was well known that demons inspired the magical arts.⁶

The Mesopotamians developed elaborate rituals, wore amulets, and recited formulas to contend with the demons and divert pending disasters from omens. They placed figurines around the house, such as armed warriors and dogs, to protect themselves from evil. They used the great gods to rid themselves of afflicting demons. When exorcising a demon associated with a particular disease, the magicians said, In the name of the great god Ea . . . be ye exorcised, and invited a protective spirit back.⁷ An inscription on a figurine from Nineveh reads, Don’t stop to think, bite him [the demon].⁸

In another recorded incantation, Marduk himself spoke through an exorcist. He listed the demons’ activities and said, Be gone, depart, Evil that is in front of me, make off Enemy that is behind me! . . . I am (the god) who removes diseases, who destroys high mountains . . . who is merciful among mankind, Marduk.⁹ Even so, the Mesopotamians differentiated between demonic-induced diseases and those from natural causes or the anger of the gods. Physicians treated or quarantined patients with diseases and if angry gods caused the disease, people confessed personal wrongdoings and/or those of their family members. After treatments and confessions, people often transferred the disease to a substitute that they buried in the ground or otherwise disposed of, such as a figurine or an animal.¹⁰

STB

1. Nell, Conception of Evil,

1

–

3

.

2. Abusch, Marduk,

543

–

48

.

3. van der Toorn, Family Religion ,

52

.

4. Yamauchi, Life, Death, Afterlife,

30

.

5. Yamauchi, Magic or Miracle,

100

.

6. Nell, Conception of Evil,

2

; Yamauchi, Life, Death, Afterlife,

35

.

7. Yamauchi, Life, Death, Afterlife,

30

.

8. Yamauchi, Magic or Miracle,

100

.

9. Lambert, Marduk’s Address,

292

–

93

.

10. Yamauchi, Magic or Miracle,

101

–

3

.

3

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism originated in ancient Persia (modern Iran) sometime between 628 and 551 BC. The earliest known manuscript scrap of Zoroastrian scriptures was written at least fifteen hundred years later, which makes it impossible to separate the legend of Zoroaster from his actual life and teachings. The legendary Zarathustra, whom the Greeks called Zoroaster, had a visionary experience of standing before Ahura Mazda, the wise lord and alleged Supreme Being of the universe. Ahura Mazda instructed Zoroaster on what to teach, and his spiritual insights and moral imperatives laid the foundation of Zoroastrianism. In the religion, a lesser deity, Angra Mainyu, later known as Ahriman, opposed the good Ahura Mazda by perpetuating deceit, wickedness, and disorder, and denying the divine order and holy power. Angra Mainyu ruled over demons (daevas) that preyed on and destroyed human beings through hunger, thirst, old age, decay, wrath, envy, sloth, the wind, water, and the sun. Zoroaster called Ahura Mazda the Good and Angra Mainyu the Lie.¹¹

During the Achaemenid Period (558–330 BC), the Magi, who were priests, astrologers, and magicians, incorporated Zoroastrianism into their polytheistic, ritualistic religion and instituted animal sacrifice and magical practices, including rituals to ward off evil spirits. Such practices effectively elevated the power of evil Angra Mainyu and reduced the authority and power of good Ahura Mazda, and thus functional dualism replaced Zoroastrianism’s monotheistic leaning. In late Zoroastrianism (AD 226–637), adherents primarily fought evil and became righteous by maintaining ceremonial purity through elaborate purification rituals and complicated doctrine of clean and unclean.¹² In the afterlife, wicked and unclean souls went to hell at the center of the earth where they anguished with the demons in dreadful conditions of extreme heat and cold, filth, and gruesome punishments that fit their crimes. Angra Mainyu (Ahriman), the head evil deity, lived in a dark, subterranean kingdom and ruled over spirits of the dead who were excluded from heaven. At the end of time, he would be completely defeated, and all souls, whether in heaven or hell, would be purified.¹³

Scholars differ on the influence of Zoroastrianism on Jewish and Christian demonology; the crux of the debate centers on the dating of Zoroaster’s life. The Zoroastrian scriptures, called the Avestas, were orally transmitted until the fourth or fifth century AD when the Persians created the Avestan language and wrote the Zoroastrian Avestas. None of these manuscripts survived.¹⁴ The earliest existing manuscript page fragment is dated in the tenth century AD; and the second oldest known Avestan manuscript is dated AD 1323. The latter was written in both the original Avestan language and the Pahlavi language of Middle Persia (AD 224–651).

Based on internal linguistic evidence, Boyce argues that the affinity of these ancient manuscripts with the Indian Vedas of 1500 BC confirms that Zoroaster lived around 1000 BC or earlier. If so, Zoroastrianism was an established religion when the Israelites lived in Babylon, and Boyce and others argue that the Israelites borrowed or were highly influenced by Zoroastrian demonology.¹⁵

Corduan disagrees based on the following facts: (1) Pahlavi scriptures specifically state that Zoroaster appeared 258 years before the conquest of Alexander the Great in 330 BC, which would be 588 BC.¹⁶ (2) No evidence exists that Cyrus the Great recognized or accepted Zoroastrianism. At the end of the sixth century BC, ruler Darius professed devotion to the Zoroastrian Ahura Mazda and other gods. (3) Biblical postexilic books Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther do not mention or condemn Zoroastrianism. Corduan concludes that Zoroaster was a contemporary of biblical prophets Jeremiah and Daniel and that Zoroastrianism became an established religion after the Israelites returned to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple. This means that Zoroastrianism was simply part of the religious landscape during the intertestamental period (roughly the 400 years between the writing of the Old and New Testaments). Even so, the Israelites may have borrowed from or blended their conception of Satan with that of the Zoroastrians. In a general sense, Zoroastrian teaching regarding a head demon and evil spirits resembles biblical demonology, but there are marked differences in the doctrine, names, and angelology.¹⁷

STB

11. Corduan, Neighboring Faiths,

116

–

17

,

119

; Boyce, History Zoroastrianism,

194

–

201

; Yamauchi, Persia and Bible,

87

.

12. Corduan, Neighboring Faiths,

119

–

22

,

129

; Boyce, History Zoroastrianism,

294

–

324

; Fox, Darkness and Light,

133

.

13. Corduan, Neighboring Faiths,

123

; Boyce, History Zoroastrianism,

83

–

84

.

14. Boyce, "Zoroastrianism,"

236

.

15. Ibid.,

237

; Corduan, The Date of Zoroaster,

35

–

36

.

16. Corduan, Date of Zoroaster,

36

–

39

; Corduan, Neighboring Faiths,

120

.

17. Corduan, Date of Zoroaster,

40

–

41

; Corduan, Neighboring Faiths,

117

–

22

.

4

Chaldean Astrology

The Chaldeans in southern Mesopotamia introduced astrology to the known world in the ancient Near East, and Chaldean eventually became a synonym for astrologer (cf. Dan. 5:11). Ancient Near East astrologers believed that the earth was the center of the universe around which all heavenly bodies revolved on a single plane or ecliptic. The Chaldeans studied and charted the positions and patterns of movement of the stars, planets, moon, and sun. They believed that these lights in the sky were spiritual beings that, along with the gods and lesser deities, influenced human existence for good and evil. The Chaldeans divided the heavens into twelve sections called the Zodiac and identified each section or sign with a Babylonian deity and animal. The Romans and Greeks later renamed the signs to reflect their pantheons (gods)—for example, Venus (Aphrodite in Greek), Mars (Ares), and Mercury (Hermes). Modern astrologers use the Latin names for the signs of the Zodiac, such as Aries the ram, Taurus the bull, Scorpio the scorpion, and so forth.

Babylonian, Greek, Egyptian, and Roman astrologers charted the relationships of the heavenly bodies as they passed through signs of the Zodiac to determine their collective or synergistic influences on earth and human affairs. They used mathematical calculations to project future placements and relationships. Based on their calculations, astrologers believed, as they do today, that it was possible to predict the collective or synergistic effect of these heavenly bodies on personal and global affairs. Though ancient and modern astrologers called their practice a science, it is not a science in the modern sense. It is best classified as occult in that it claims to convey hidden spiritual influences.

The Bible condemns this practice as divination and star worship. The Israelites’ familiarity with and even participation in astrology was common enough for prophets to speak against it. The prophet Isaiah mocked Babylonian astrologers (Isa. 47:13); God forbade the worship of the stars or the starry hosts (Deut 4:19; Zeph 1:5); and Jeremiah commanded the Hebrews not to be terrified by patterns in the sky (Jer 10:2). In the New Testament, the wise men from the East who visited the infant Jesus might have been astrologers from the Persian Zoroastrian priestly caste (Matt 2:1). King Herod, like other ancient Near East kings, honored the learned, wise Magi who studied the stars and divined the future. God himself used their study of the stars to lead the wise men to the Savior of the