Scripture records a number of cases of people who were severely afflicted:
(1) a king who was highly troubled (1 Sam. 16:14-15) and became so suspiciously jealous that he repeatedly tried to murder a loyal subject (1 Sam. 18:8-11; 19:10); (2) a very upright man who was severely afflicted with boils all over his body (Job 3:7); (3) a lunatic son who would often fall into the fire and often into the water (Matt. 17:15); (4) a daughter who was grievously vexed (Matt. 15:22); (5) a man who was constantly screaming night and day in the mountains and in the tombs and cutting himself with stones (Mark 5:5); and (6) a woman who had been sick for 18 years and was bent over and could not straighten herself up at all (Luke 13:11).
Every one of these people was seriously ill because of demonic affliction. In several of these cases, even ordinary people correctly knew what was causing these people to suffer so much:
(1) King Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold, now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee” (1 Sam. 16:15). They somehow knew that a demon was afflicting Saul.
(2) A man from a crowd said to Jesus, “Master I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; and wheresover he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away (Mk. 9:17-18; cf. Luke 9:39). Somehow, this man knew that his son was afflicted by a demon.
(3) A woman of Canaan, who was not even a Jew, cried unto Jesus, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil” (Matt. 15:22). This lost pagan woman somehow knew that a demon was cruelly afflicting her daughter.
If these situations were to happen in our day, however, and the same people would suffer the same problems, doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and other medical personnel would undoubtedly attribute their problems to various causes, but it is highly unlikely that any of them would accurately diagnose the true cause of their problems as affliction caused by demons! They would probably scoff at even the suggestion that demons were responsible for these people suffering in the way that they would be suffering.
Although it is understandable that secular authorities would reject such an explanation of their suffering and behavior, it seems to me that many of God’s people would also reject even the possibility that demonic affliction would be the cause of their problems.
Given what Scripture teaches in many passages about the destructive desires and activities of Satan and his demons, I find it disturbing that many of God’s people are reluctant to consider that demonic activity may be the cause of much illness in our day.
Are we overlooking a major cause of serious illness in our day?
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
