Demonology 101

When Pastor Ben told us we would be doing an in depth Bible study on Demonology (the study of demonic manifestations, the work of the devil, and how to cast out demons) I was very intrigued. I knew about spiritual warfare from previous Bible lessons, experiences on my mission trip to South Africa and from hearing multiple stories about demonic possession in various parts of the world, but I didn’t know as much as I needed to know to be a disciple on the front lines of the battle for Jesus. The devil wants us to be ignorant of his tricks, and most people refuse to even acknowledge his presence in this world, but the fact of the matter is that we are at war now, and the war is not of flesh but a spiritual battle between angels and demons, Satan and God the Father, disciples of Christ and the demonic manifestations we come across.

I found it completely fitting that the night before we started Demonology classes, a demon possessed woman came to the Sunday night church service and the evil spirit inside her began manifesting during the worship service. I found it even more appropriate that God chose for her to be sitting right next to me while this was going on. At first I noticed this woman singing the Spanish version of “Heart of Worship” but then she began to weep and wail like she was in some sort of pain. Trying to be respectful and not stare I just kept worshiping with my hands up and singing in English. Then I looked over and my eyes were shocked at the sight before me. This woman’s face that began contorting into something that was not of this world. Her eyes were a different color, her veins were popping out, and she was screaming out in pain. Before I had a chance to react, the Mi Reto church ministry staff pulled her out of the service and took her upstairs into Pastor Ben and Lily’s office to cast out the demon. After a short while the woman came back into the service, sat down next to me, and was able to listen to the sermon in her right mind, and devoid of any demons inside her. Welcome to the reality of the world I live in.

After five hour Bible studies on “Demonology: 101,” as I like to call it, we finished the week by taking a trip to the local witches cave, where people go to practice rituals of black magic including animal sacrifices and sometimes even human sacrifices. The cave is about a 15 minute drive from our ministry’s site so we got there in no time. After a short car drive, however, you have to make your decent down the hill of a mountain, for the cave is not an easy place to find, but a secret place hidden on the edge of the mountain overlooking the lake. Along the trail there were colorful threads that had been used for rituals, as well as dead animal carcasses that we could smell potently. We made it through the clearing and were stunned to see that there were three witches practicing their dark magic before us.

Their customers were there too; a younger couple in the back of the cave, a mother and her teenage daughter closest to us at the entrance, and an older couple near the side of the cave. These people believe that they are not worshiping the devil, but merely a deity named “Machimon” who is a Mayan god. It is by my understanding that the Guatemalans believe Machimon is another betrayer of Jesus, like Judas in the Bible. For a fee of 50 USD (which is more than poverty stricken people can afford) the witch will take you to the cave and light candles of all different colors, burn an animal sacrifice as well as different herbs and spices in the fire to appease the spirits and the god Machimon. There is a lot of incantations, and invoking of the spirits on the witches part, and I could feel the presence of the demons when the witch would began to chant.

The woman, Mercy that we live with said her friend took her first born a baby to the witches cave and had the witch through it into the fire as a living sacrifice to the gods. Mercy told us that this woman was hoping to receive money and blessing for doing this. WHAT?!!?!? Everyone was so overwhelmed with what as happening and all we could do was pray for God’s mercy to come on these people. There is so much ignorance that it is truly “the blind leading the blind” into these practices of witchcraft.

Alana began playing the guitar at the entrance of the cave and sang the words “there is power in the name of Jesus, to break every chain…” The Holy Spirit gave me multiple Biblical scriptures and told me to read them aloud with boldness of the Spirit. I read the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal, multiple verses in the book of Deuteronomy, and the story of Simon the sorcerer in the book of Acts. I read those scripture verses aloud and I prayed harder than I ever had for the people to come to a revelation that what they’re doing is evil and felt God’s compassion and mercy on them as I prayed. At the entrance of the cave a little boy was talking to Pastor Ben, and as soon as I saw that I began praying out loud that Ben would be able to minister to the boy in a way where he would understand and come to the Lord.

Pastor Ben read a lot of the same verses from the book of Deuteronomy in Spanish to the boy and after a while the little boy looked up and told Ben in Spanish, “All of this witchcraft is evil. I want a Bible. I can read, so can I have a Bible?” Everyone was overjoyed to see this boy come to the Lord in one of the darkest places in the world. It proves the point that Jesus’ light shines brighter in the darkest corners of the world, than anywhere else. I am so thankful to Pastor Ben and for pouring wisdom and scripture into us these past weeks. I am especially grateful for his wisdom on the subject of Demonology. The best defense is a strong offense, and with this Bible study I know we have an excellent offense against the devil and his demonic attacks.