Evil spirits; their hierarchy and types
Evil spirits operate in an organized force
of powers against the believers wrestle
The following
two verses explain more about the spiritual
hierarchy.
"For by Him
were all things created, that are in Heaven, and that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers: All things were created by Him, and for
Him." (Colossians 1:16)
"For we
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places."
(Ephesians 6:12)
From this, we can derive a 6-level evil spirit
hierarchy
1. Thrones - the top-level of evil
spirits.
These spirits
are the elohim that form God's council. They were appointed
by God to rule the gentile nations, whereas God took it upon
himself to rule Israel. The elohim were worshipped by the
gentile nations as gods beside God Almighty himself. Some of their
names are mentioned in the Bible, such as Baal, Marduk, Molech,
Astarte and Dagon. There are 70 thrones in all, including the good
spirits and the evil spirits. Satan himself is also reckoned in the
elohim.
"The Most
High assigned nations their lands; he determined where peoples
should live. He assigned to each nation a heavenly being, but
Jacob's descendants he chose for himself." (Deu 32:8-9
GNB)
Most of the
elohim are loyal to God, but a third of them are following
Satan.
2. Dominions
"Dominions are
the evil spirits ruling continents and/or ethnic groups.
Does "the spirit of Africa" ring a bell?"
3. Principalities
Principalities are the evil
spirits ruling countries or states. A principality is the territory
or jurisdiction of a prince. One example of a principality is the prince of Persia
mentioned in Daniel 10.
"The angel
said to me, "Daniel, God loves you. Stand up and listen carefully
to what I am going to say. I have been sent to you." When he had
said this, I stood up, still trembling. Then he said, "Daniel,
don't be afraid. God has heard your prayers ever since the first
day you decided to humble yourself in order to gain understanding.
I have come in answer to your prayer. The angel prince of the
kingdom of Persia opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one
of the chief angels, came to help me, because I had been left there
alone in Persia." (Dan 10:11-13 GNB)
4. Powers
The powers are
the evil spirits ruling provinces or counties. They infiltrate
provincial governments and influence legislation on that
level.
5. Rulers of darkness of this world
The rulers of
darkness are evil spirits ruling cities and towns. They would work
in municipalities and local churches, trying to make their
doctrines accepted by the city leaders.
6. Spiritual wickedness in high places
High places in
the Old Testament are were where worship was carried out.
These are the evil spirits targeting ordinary people with the aim
of tormenting or possessing them.
Different kinds of evil spirits
Foul or unclean spirits
Unclean
spirits afflict the mind and the soul of man. They are responsible
for unclean thoughts, immoral acts, depression, oppression and
possession. When Satan controls individuals with unclean spirits,
he can also operate in all spheres where those individuals are
active.
"And when He
had called to Him His twelve disciples, He gave them
authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all
kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease." (Mat 10:1
MKJV)
"When the
unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walks through dry places
seeking rest, and finds none." (Mat 12:43 MKJV)
"And in their
synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out,
saying, What is to us and to You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have
You come to destroy us? I know You, who You are, the Holy One of
God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be quiet, and come out of him.
And the unclean spirit, convulsing him, and crying with a loud
voice, he came out of him. They all were amazed, so as to question
among themselves, saying, What is this? What new doctrine is
this? For He even commands the unclean spirits with authority, and
they obey Him." (Mar 1:23-27 MKJV)
Lying spirits
"And now,
behold, Jehovah has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these
your prophets,
and Jehovah has spoken evil concerning you." (1Ki 22:23
MKJV)
Evil spirits of
deception
"And then the
lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the
breath of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His
coming, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all
power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of
unrighteousness in those who perish, because they did not receive
the love of the truth, so that they might be saved." (2Th 2:8-10
MKJV)
These evil
spirits actually work miracles which lead some to believe they are
of God.
"And I saw
three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of
the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth
of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, working
miracles, which go forth to the kings of the earth and of
the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that day, the
great day of God Almighty." (Rev 16:13-14 MKJV)
Deaf-and-dumb
spirits
"And seeing
that a crowd is running together, Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit,
saying to him, Dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him
and enter no more into him!" (Mar 9:25 MKJV)
Evil spirits of
infirmity
These evil spirits afflict the physical
body.
"And behold, there was a woman who had a
spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bowed together and
was not able to be completely erect." (Luk 13:11
MKJV)
"Then one who
had been demon-possessed was brought to Him, blind and dumb. And He
healed him, so much so that the blind and dumb one both spoke and
saw." (Mat 12:22 MKJV)
"and by the
surpassing revelations, lest I be made haughty, a thorn in the
flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be
made haughty." (2Co 12:7 MKJV)
Evil spirits of
oppression
"how God
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with
power, and He went about doing good, and healing all those who were
oppressed by the Devil, for God was with Him." (Act 10:38
MKJV)
Evil spirits of
seduction
Seducing spirits afflict the mind, soul,
and spirit of man, influencing him to believe false doctrines. They
are spirits of false doctrine, cults, false Christs, and false
teachers. These spirits induce people to believe lies and be damned
to eternal punishment.
"But the Spirit expressly says that in the
latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to
seducing spirits and teachings of demons," (1Ti 4:1
MKJV)
Evil seducing
spirits sear the conscience; they seduce, entice, tempt, allure,
excite, attract and arouse. Satan craves worship and he will take
it any way he can get it. Seducing spirits entice men and women to
worship idols and even Satan himself.
Evil spirits of divination (also called familiar
spirits)
"And as we went to prayer, it
happened that a certain girl possessed with a spirit of divination
met us, who brought her masters much gain by divining." (Act 16:16
MKJV)
Spirits of divination
operate in fortune tellers, witches, and in palm- crystal ball- and
tea leaf readers. Through these unscriptural methods the spirits of
divination foretell the future or reveal knowledge that is
naturally unknown.
God warns us against
spirits of divination.
"Do not go for advice to
people who consult the spirits of the dead. If you do, you will be
ritually unclean. I am the LORD your God." (Lev 19:31
GNB)
"If any of you go for advice
to people who consult the spirits of the dead, I will turn against
you and will no longer consider you one of my people." (Lev 20:6
GNB)
"Any man or woman who
consults the spirits of the dead shall be stoned to death; any of
you that do this are responsible for your own death." (Lev 20:27
GNB)
Spirits
and evil spirits are real, but if we are in Christ they offer us no
threat!
|
