Day: October 6, 2025

Monday, October 6, 2025

“And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them” (Matthew 4:24 KJV).

What does the Bible say about devil possession?

In certain religious circles, there is an almost unhealthy obsession with exorcisms. Stories are told regarding evil spirits indwelling people and making them say and do strange, disturbing, and/or inappropriate things—levitate, scream or howl excessively, grow ill, use expletives and blasphemies, vomit, become paralytic or catatonic, exhibit various physical deformities, and so on. Prayers and “holy items” (crucifixes, “holy water,” pictures of “saints,” and the like) supposedly drive out such evil spirits. Are these real events, comparable to those of Bible days? If we could set aside all church tradition and superstition, all elements of popular culture (movies, books, and so on), all speculation and hysteria, and just look at the Holy Scriptures alone, we will be able to understand devil possession and evaluate the claims of modern exorcism.

Let us start here. One primary fact we must note about exorcism in the Bible is that devil possession is virtually absent from Genesis to Malachi. There is a brief mention of it pre-Flood, when fallen angels worked in lost men to corrupt the human bloodline (Genesis 6:1-4). We also read of the “familiar spirits” of necromancers, mediums, or fortune-tellers (Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:6,27; Deuteronomy 18:11; 1 Samuel 28:3,7-9; 2 Kings 21:6; 2 Kings 23:24; 1 Chronicles 10:13; 2 Chronicles 33:6; Isaiah 8:19; Isaiah 19:3; Isaiah 29:4). There are a few references to Old Testament worship of, and communion with, “devils” or evil spirits (Leviticus 17:7; Deuteronomy 32:17; 2 Chronicles 11:15; Psalm 106:37; cf. 1 Corinthians 10:20,21).

It is not until we reach Matthew to John that devil possession reaches an unprecedented high. Unfortunately, the significance of this is seldom recognized, but we will emphasize it here. Again, devil possession and exorcism peak during Christ’s earthly ministry. We will come to realize its importance later. Let us now search the Scriptures and set the record straight about devil possession….