spiritual battle, Demons Fight Together (gospels)

After Jesus delivered a demon-possessed man, the Pharisees accused Jesus of being a team player with the demons, using the name "Beelzebul".

The name "Beelzebul" meaning "lord of the flies" was derived from a Philistine god, a guardian deity once worshiped in Ekron.  Some Abrahamic religions started using the name to describe a major demon.  Then in demonology, he became known as one of the seven princes of Hell, although because this designation was created by men, there is a very good chance this demon does not actually exist.  So the Jews used the term as an epithet for Satan.

Jesus explained that Satan would not fight against himself, so  how could someone cast out demons using other demons...

(Matthew 12:22-28)  Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw.23 All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

25 And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? 27 If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 

(Mark 3:22-27)  The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” 23 And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished! 27 But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.

There is a particular event where the disciples were not able to cast out a demon on their own.  This event is described in three of the four gospels.

From Luke's report on this event, we see a very brief description of the circumstances, and that we are required to be believers in order to cast out demons...

(Luke 9:37-42)  On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. 38 And a man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only boy, 39 and a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth; and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves. 40 I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.” 41 And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” 42 While he was still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.

From Matthew's report, we see that in order to cast out demons, we need to have faith...

(Matthew 17:14-30)  When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” 17 And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” 20 And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you."

From Mark's report on this event, we can see how some demons are more powerful than others, therefore in order to cast them out (or away) we will have to pray and ask God to do it for us...

(Mark 9:14-19)  When they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. 15 Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed and began running up to greet Him. 16 And He asked them, “What are you discussing with them?” 17 And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; 18 and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.” 19 And He answered them and said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” 20 They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. 21 And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again.” 26 After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up. 28 When He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not drive it out?” 29 And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”

From this we see:
- the name "Beelzebul" means "lord of the flies", derived from a Philistine god, a guardian deity of Ekron (2 Kings 1:2, 16).  Some Abrahamic religions used it to describe a major demon.  In demonology, he is known as one of the seven princes of Hell, but there's a very good chance this being does not actually exist.  The name became an epithet for Satan. (Matthew 12:24-27, Mark 3:22, Luke 11:15-18)
- Satan will not cast himself out, and will not have his kingdom fighting against each other (Matthew 12:26, Mark 3:23-26, Luke 11:15-18)
- demons can possess children (Mark 9:21)
- demons can make people mute (Mark 9:17)
- demons can make people very ill, and seem like a lunatic (Matthew 17:15)
- demons can cause people to have seizures (Luke 9:39-42)
- demons can cause people to have seizures, grind their teeth, and foam at the mouth (Mark 9:18, 20)
- demons can cause people to scream, foam at the mouth, mauling them in order to destroy them (Luke 9:39)
- demons can cause people to fall into fire or water trying to destroy them (Matthew 17:15, Mark 9:22)
- some demons are more violent and powerful than others (Mark 9:26, 29)
- to cast you demons, you must be a believer (Matthew 17:17, Mark 9:19, Luke 9:41)
- lack of faith will prevent someone from being able to cast out a demon (Matthew 17:19-20)
- because some demons are more powerful than others, some will require prayer, asking God to cast out that demon for them (Mark 9:29)
- Jesus cast out the demons by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:28)
- no matter how powerful a demon is, God is above and in control of all (Matthew 10:24-25)

Personal experience:  in my experiences, I have realized that there are demons which are more powerful than others.

I have already described the one experience where I found myself paralyzed, while a demon was trying to attack me.  Being unable to move or speak out loud, all I could do was pray in my head for God to help me!  It took a few minutes, but my prayer was answered, and the demon eventually left.  And even after it was gone, it took a few more minutes before I could move again.

Then, a few months after that, while I was in my room wrapping Christmas presents, I felt a distinct evil presence enter the room.  Without much thought I said out loud, "Get lost."  And it left immediately.  When it did, at the time, all I could think was, "huh.  Interesting."

Today's takeaway:  we do not have to worry or fear!  No matter how powerful a demon might be, God is above and in control of all.  As our faith in God grows, we are able to rely on more of God's strength and power.

My conclusion is this - no matter the size or strength - asking God to protect us is always the right answer!!!...

(Matthew 10:24-30)  “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!

26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.