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‘TIMES AND SEASONS’
Part 2
JEHOVAH has provided a place of security for those only who give heed to his Word and joyfully obey his commandments. This assurance from the Lord is of great comfort in these days of peril. All who have diligently sought to know the truth have learned during the past few months that the demons are besieging the minds of people and have taken possession of the mind of everyperson now on earth who does not turn himself to the Lord.
As any "good" JW knows, the idea is demon-possession continues unabated to this day (truncated quotation):
w66 12/15 pp. 739-744 Repelling the Attack of Wicked Spirits
Ensnaring spiritistic practices are found in every land. What can you do to protect yourself and loved ones?
TODAY it is more urgent than ever before to pray, "Deliver us from the wicked one"—the closing words to the model prayer Jesus Christ gave his disciples. (Matt. 6:13) They are a petition to Jehovah God for deliverance from wicked spirit forces. But who specifically is the "wicked one" whose attacks we need to repel?
MANY FORMS OF ATTACK AND HARASSMENT
Demon activity appears to be on the increase, varying in degree and form from place to place. The more prevalent that spiritistic practices are in a certain area, the more problems there are likely to be with demon afflictions and harassment.
The attack by wicked spirit forces can take many forms. From actual cases, we know there may be physical attack, as well as mental attack. There may be a bodily blow, a slap in the face, a throwing of one to the ground (Mark 9:17, 18), bodily illness and pain, doctors being unable to find a cause. (Luke 11:14; Mark 1:26; 9:25; Matt. 12:22) One may be disturbed while trying to sleep, due to the prevalence of abnormal noises in the house. There may be a tugging of bed covers, a shaking of the bed, an apparition such as a face or a pair of vicious eyes. Often a "voice" is heard that harasses and terrorizes. The voice usually suggests or commands a certain course of action, which, if followed, can lead to spiritual collapse, violence, insanity or suicide.
HOW THEY GET INVOLVED
But how does one get involved, so as to come under such demon attack? One may be dabbling in practices associated with spiritism, such as astrology, Yoga, extrasensory perception, water witching, hypnotism, using a ouija board or a pendulum device for divining. The Bible clearly condemns divination of any kind, magical arts, sorcery, binding others with a spell, fortune-telling, consulting a spirit medium or inquiring of the dead and ‘looking for omens.’ (Deut. 18:10, 11; Isa. 8:19) Hence, if one engages in these practices involving "uncanny power" or associates with persons who do, he is putting himself in a dangerous situation.—1 Sam. 15:23; 1 Cor. 15:33; Rev. 22:15.
Some may "look for omens" in their dreams and in other incidents in their lives and then endeavor to relate these to the future. This is highly dangerous. Also, by showing undue interest in occult matters and absorbing oneself in such books, one may come under demon attack.
Others become vulnerable to demonic thinking by filling their mind with this world’s spirit of violence. One may be regularly reading mystery or detective books or watching TV shows that feature violence and killing. One Christian woman made a hobby of reading such books despite the counsel at Philippians 4:8, and in time was so disastrously affected that she appealed for help, fearing she would kill her own beloved husband and children. Some do not seek help but yield to the compulsion to kill, as we so often read in the newspapers. For example, the New York Times of November 18, 1965, told about a youth who shot four persons, killing three in a bank robbery:
"He was driven, he said, by a compulsion that took visual form in his mind last May, a ‘picture’ of himself shooting four persons, including a woman, as they lay on a floor. In June, he said, ‘it seemed there was nothing else’ in his mind. . . . [He] said his pistol jammed with the first shot and ‘I wanted to run out of the bank.’ [But] ‘it seemed like someone was pulling on me,’ the youth responded. ‘I couldn’t go. I had to shoot them.’"
Others get in trouble by going to one who heals by spiritistic means. Consulting witch doctors, psychic healers, psychic diagnosticians, Spiritualists or one who uses any kind of therapy involving extrasensory perception can bring one into contact with the demons. The book EvidenceofSatanintheModernWorld tells of a woman who went to a magnetic healer for treatment, but when she resisted his advances, he cast a spell on her, causing many kinds of attacks by the demons.
Yet others unknowingly move into a house long haunted by demons and then, when they come under attack, instead of moving out, they try to defy the demons on their "home ground" or even dare them in some way or other, bringing trouble upon themselves.
It is very frequently found that one who is having difficulty with the demons has a relative or acquaintance engaged in spiritism. Further investigation usually reveals that such a one has received a gift from the one who is under influence by the demons. Soon after the object or article was brought into one’s house, trouble followed. Sometimes, after a spiritist dies, a surviving relative unwisely takes the household effects of the spiritist into his own home, with tragic consequences. False religious pictures and symbols have also been implicated.
DO NOT LISTEN TO DEMON VOICES, NOISES
One of the most common forms of demon attack is a mental one, the wicked spirit speaking out loud. One clearly hears a "voice." What if you hear such a voice? Should you panic or feel you are falling away from the Christian faith? By no means! The Devil has long used such verbal attacks, starting with Eve. But you do not need to heed a demon’s voice, as Eve did! (Gen. 3:1-6) Remember, the Lord Jesus Christ was spiritually the strongest person on earth, yet he came under attack. (Matt. 4:1-10) If Jesus was so attacked, are we to think that none of his followers would have a wicked spirit voice speak to them? By no means!—Matt. 10:24, 25.
The thing to do if one is harassed by a demon voice is to follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, who refused to consider the Devil’s suggestions for a moment. So do not heed anything the "voice" says. Do what God says. If the voice tells you to stay home from Christian meetings, obey God, who says go to such meetings.—Heb. 10:25.
The voice may pretend to be a good spirit, flattering one’s vanity, but it is a lying spirit. Reject demon suggestions or teachings! (1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Thess. 2:9, 10; John 8:44) God is not bypassing his own Holy Word and giving individuals special communication today.
Demon voices may try to break up Christian marriages. In one case, when the husband had to work late, he would phone his wife; afterward, a "voice" would stir up doubts in the wife’s mind by saying audibly to her: "You see, he is going away with some other woman; he has no love for you." Believing any demon voice will cause havoc in one’s marriage and spiritual life; believe God and you will have success.—Josh. 1:8; Eph. 5:21-33.
Sometimes a demon does not speak audibly but tries to force his wicked suggestions upon one’s mind. One may hear an authoritative statement in his mind. It is persistent and foreign to one’s Bible-based beliefs. The suggestions are always opposed to God’s truth.
If you hear voices or demon-caused noises, what can you do? Turn your attention to the things of God! Refuse to listen to the demons! Dull your ear to them, mentally speaking, and immediately appeal to Jehovah God in prayer for deliverance. Proverbs 18:10 says that the name of Jehovah "is a strong tower" and the righteous will run into it and be protected. So if demons make attacks upon you mentally, the thing to do is to exert yourself mentally in the oppositedirection and forcefully brush aside these demonized impressions and actively start one’s mind working with the things of God’s Word, even quoting scriptures out loud, or in a subdued tone. (Phil. 4:6-8, 13) Do not weaken in this course of action, but pray to God for strength to become more powerful as a Christian personality.
INVESTIGATING HOUSE AND HOUSEHOLD OBJECTS
One under demon attack should calmly, not in hysteria, investigate his house and household articles. In some few cases the house may be the cause of trouble and the best thing to do is move out. Some demons delight in haunting a place. So if you experience trouble shortly after moving into a house, investigate. Was the house unoccupied for a long time? Why? Did people frequently move in and out? Why? Does it have a history of being haunted? Neighbors usually know, though the seller of a house almost always keeps the fact concealed.
But if a house has a clean history, instead of moving out, investigate objects in the house. If you at one time practiced black magic, witchcraft or other form of spiritism, did you burn up all articles relating to demonism upon learning of God’s truth? Get rid of every vestige of demonism. What did the early Christians in Ephesus do? On learning true Christianity they burned up all their magic books, even though their value was an astounding 50,000 pieces of silver! (Acts 19:18, 19) It would have been exceedingly dangerous to keep such works on how to perform the magical arts; in fact, to keep any appendage of demonism is perilous. One must be absolutely free of any relics of spiritism, so as to allow the demons no beachhead.
A vital question to ask if one experiences trouble with the demons is: Have you accepted any gifts from relatives or persons who dabble in spiritism? Any kind of article from such a person can cause trouble. In some actual cases it has been a radio, a sewing machine, a pair of shoes, jewelry, a "good luck" charm, a bathrobe, a blanket, a book. One woman had her bed tipped up at night when she tried to sleep on a mattress given her by her Spiritualist mother. A young woman had a fever of 106 degrees when wearing a garment given her by a Spiritualist.
Another Christian woman kept a handbag given her by an aunt who was a fortune-teller. Using the handbag in the ministry, she experienced powerful thoughts of "Go home!" Bad thoughts rushed into her mind almost audibly, all of them anti-kingdom. She could not understand herself, as these negative thoughts entered her mind as if by telephone, so that she complained of "hearing herself think." Only after getting rid of the handbag did she get relief.
Sometimes keeping a letter from a spiritistic relative has brought trouble. Some persons have reported gaining relief by burning letters from relatives who dabble in spiritism. Even if an article from a spiritist is an expensive one, is keeping it worth the danger? One woman was tormented for years by the demons; finally she got rid of many household effects that came from a spiritistic relative. "The material loss," she wrote, "was worth the peaceful calm that came over our house and family."
That objects from spiritists are implicated is clearly evident because relief almost invariably follows getting rid of them. The principle is similar to that used in sorcery, in which the demonist wishing to cast a spell will transfer an object into the possession of the intended victim.
However, sometimes objects through which demons make contact resist burning, indicating demonic anger at efforts to destroy them. Some persons have found it difficult to burn up ouija boards or books on occultism. Others have reported experiences similar to that of the woman who had much distress at home after wearing a dress originally belonging to a witch. Learning of the source of trouble, she set out to burn it. "We poured gasoline on it, so it would burn quickly; but what amazed us very much was the fact that the dress did not want to burn." Persist in your efforts to get rid of suspicious objects and relief in some measure usually follows.
When investigating objects, be reasonable, however. Do not burn up everything in fearful panic. Pray for Jehovah’s direction in your investigation, and he will deliver you from the wicked one.
My Dad insists that he was involved in just such an experience with "demon-possessed" objects...to this day, I can stand on the bridge to which he drove to throw the jewelry into the river, and as it flew down into the water, he heard a demonic scream.