The account of the Gadarene demoniac is a gripping show of the power of Christ over Satan’s demons, it is found in only three of the four Gospels, Matthew chapter 8, Mark chapter 5, and Luke 8. While Matthew indicates that there were two men, all of the accounts for some reason concern themselves with only one of them.

“Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes [aka, Gergesenes and Gerasenes]. And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.’” Mark 5:1-7.

It soon becomes clear that the reason that the demons were asking Him not to torment them was that He was commanding them to come out of the man.

Their fear was that He would send them into the abyss (see Luke 8:26-39).

“And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.” Luke 8:31.

This will definitely happen at the end of the coming tribulation period.

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for al little while.” Revelation 20:1-3.

While casting these demons out of the man Jesus asked the name of the demon, and he replied.

“My name is legion; for we are many.” Mark 5:9b.

In the Roman army a legion is 3000 to 6000 men, it is no wonder that this man could break chains and shackles.

Now the demons begged Jesus not to send them out of the country but rather into a nearby herd of swine.

“And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.” Mark 5:13.

Those who kept the swine then went into town and reported this to the townspeople.

“Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.” Mark 5:15.

Their response to this miracle; they asked Jesus to leave. But the one who had been demon-possessed begged the Lord that he might go with Him.

He was told rather, to go home to his friends and tell them what great things the Lord had done for him and how He had compassion on him.

The question here is how this man became infested with thousands of demons (Scripture does not tell us).

There are two possibilities, either his parents or family were involved in some occult practices or he opened a door somewhere on his own. Demons are real and they can possess men and women.

The distressing thing about western society is the notion that a personal devil or demons is some sort of harmless superstitious fabrication.

Worse yet is the extent to which our civilization has come to accept the occult over Biblical knowledge of the demonic.

This is not a matter of a rabbit’s foot or the unlucky number 13; it goes far into the things that affect our lives in a truly unhealthy way.

These superstitions involve the occult, witchcraft, idol worship, and spiritism, to name a few. While the Bible is in nearly every household in America and it warns against these things, people, even Christians who should know better are sucked into this vortex of evil.

“There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.” Deuteronomy 18:10-11.

God speaks of being defiled by them.

“Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:31.

A person prostitutes himself with them when they consult with them.

“And the person who turns after mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set my face against that person and cut him off from his people.” Leviticus 20:6.

The Lord God said the following about idols and other religions.

“They [Israel] served their [Gentile] idols, which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.” Psalm 106:36-38.

“What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.” 1 Corinthians 10:19-20.

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons…” 1 Timothy 4:1.

“I am the Lord [Yahweh], and there is no other; there is no God besides Me.” Isaiah 45:5a.

“Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” Isaiah 45:22.

“Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me…” Isaiah 46:9.

This is just a handful of the warnings from the Lord to mankind, you will find many more.

Why does God warn us against dabbling in the occult, witchcraft, astrology, tarot cards, and the so-called great world religions? Well He does it for the same reason that your mother warned you against talking to strangers. We, like children, can be fooled by the insidious deception of strangers.

The word translated demon is the Greek word for an evil spirit; a devil and a devil has as much consideration for your welfare as a child molester has for his victim.

“And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.” Jeremiah 32:35.

Molech is an idol with its arms in a cradling position this hollow idol was filled with fire like a potbellied stove and heated red hot; and what it means to pass through the fire to Molech was to put your infant child into the arms of this idol.

Can you see can you conceive the horror these deceiving spirits bring to their victims?

These were not just isolated incidents, there are numerous, very wide 5 or 6 foot high mounds of infant bones scattered around these high places in Israel. Does this not remind you of a common modern day practice?

Another thing about the above verse, notice that these things did not even enter God’s mind. He is so holy that such things do not even enter His mind even though He is omniscient.

They did these things in spite of all the warnings that God gave them in His Word. God will not impose His will on you, you are free to choose to involve yourself in these things or not.

God sternly warns, He may even throw up some serious roadblocks to hold you back, but ultimately it will be up to you. But remember this when you choose.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress [hold down] the truth in unrighteousness…” Romans 1:18.

These evil parents who sacrificed their children to Molech will face the wrath of God some day. And yet there is an out for all who will receive it.

“He who believes in the Son [Jesus] has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36.

Salvation from wrath and judgment is, and always has been faith in a completed work by God.

People who become demonized with one or many demons generally become that way in one of three ways, they may open a door by dabbling in the occult, playing with a Ouija board, or practicing witchcraft or black magic or gathering occult objects such as charms and amulets (if you have these in your house, get rid of them).

Enslavement may come through generational curses or occult practices; the third item may come out of this, children in these homes are very vulnerable to demonic influences.

As an added precaution, illicit drugs are often used in occult practices; you would do well to stay away from them for this reason alone. The following verse is about a future event during the coming tribulation.

“And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries [drugs] or their sexual immorality or their thefts.” Revelation 9:21.

Drugs, poisons and potions are and have been used extensively in sorcery.

If I were to say that the ghosts that folks see are demonic manifestations and not real deceased persons, you might agree that this is occult.

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment…” Hebrews 9:27.

Real people who have died do not come back from the dead in the form of ghosts. Once a person dies they either enter heaven or hell and will remain there until they are called forth by the Lord Jesus Christ.

“As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, so he who goes down to the grave does not come up. He shall never return to his house, nor shall his place know him anymore.” Job 7:9-10.

There is only one genuine incident recorded where a real deceased person manifested himself to the living, see 1 Samuel 28:3-25.

The reason folks are not allowed to return from the dead is plainly given in Luke 16:19-31, in the account of Lazarus and the rich man.

If you see a ghost, it is a demon imitating a deceased person. And they will lie to you, do not believe them!

The following might be difficult for many to believe. UFO’s are also demonic manifestations. Before you turn in disgust and accuse me of having demons on the brain, please read a little further.

It seems that today even mainstream scientists are accepting the existence of UFO’s; it is likely that this stems from the belief that evolution is fact and not theory.

With the acceptance of this theory comes a loss of scientific certainty that the various laws governing the universe are immutable and that God is in control of His creation, if God exists at all.

When you start seeing the cosmos as something that is constantly evolving you lose the sound framework of scientific enquiry. If we evolved, why would they not have?

Even some secular UFO investigators are admitting that many of the incidents have overtones of the occult, citing such things as, abductions and sightings which are experienced almost exclusively by persons who have connections with the occult.

Many even having done nothing more than play with an Ouija board, the aliens messages often concern Satan himself, or have other religious connotations.

Whitley Strieber described his contact with beings of some sort in his book “Communion”, I have read excerpts of these incidents and they are creepy. In addition this man apparently had been around some occult teachings before these contacts.

In other cases the UFO’s violated the laws of physics, such as making 90 degree or even 180 degree turns at incredible speeds, enough to kill everyone on board.

These craft are capable of blinding speeds like the ones that flew over the White House one year with our fighter jets in pursuit, yet they could not catch them, while during World War l they were barely able to outrun bi-planes that were chasing them.

Couple this with an inconsistency of design (each craft looks different); even in Star Trek movies Klingon and Romulan ships are recognizable. Who manufactures these ships?

The book “Millennial Deception”, by Timothy J. Dailey, covers a lot of ground on this subject.

If you wish to see something now, there is a website that has an article on UFO’s that is very comprehensive, the address is jeffersonscott.com pull up the article titled “UFO’s and the Christian Worldview”. This should give you enough information to make a decision about this.

The intent here is not to compile a list of titillating anecdotes but rather to highlight the unnecessary ignorance of some serious subjects.

Just as you would want a poison label on the bottle of a deadly chemical, so these things need to be understood for safety’s sake.

How often have you been at a party or with a group sitting around a campfire and listened to speculation about UFO’s or the occult?

Yes, it is fun to be frightened by stuff like this, or by movies like “Independence Day” and “War of the Worlds” (first version).

But when people panic as they listen to a radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds” like they did in 1938, it is time to go back to the Bible.

Had they known their Scriptures they would have seen that such a scenario was unlikely and would not have been so quick to panic.

Even now some people believe that Christians will be beamed out of this world by spaceships so that that world can come into balance, thus the Rapture of the church will be explained away.

It cannot be emphasized enough, you must study the Bible for a balanced view of the world around you; Jesus would often call to his listeners, “He who has an ear, let him hear”.

What that means is that, yes, He knew that they could hear Him, but were they really listening? When you read Scripture are you really listening to God or just reading words, this is important.

“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” 2 Corinthians 4:3-4.

Will you continue to allow Satan and his demons to laugh at you behind your back while they con you in matters that are dear to you? Study your Bible, as they say, knowledge is power, never is that more true than now.

Witches, Ghosts and Goblins… Oh, My! taken from godisrevealed.com updated on 10-30-18, reposted on 1-26-22.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.