HomeThe presence in the first three Gospels of so many references to people possessed by demons, or unclean spirits, alongside worship of the God of Israel is curious. Although such ideas were prevalent in the pagan nations surrounding Israel during Old Testament times, and although on numerous occasions the people of Israel turned away from the LORD to worship the pagan gods, there are no descriptions of Israelites being possessed in this way in the Old Testament.
There are a few occasions which are sometimes quoted as being parallel to the New Testament incidents, such as the "distressing spirit" which troubled king Saul (e.g. 1 Samuel 16:14-23) and Micaiah's reference to a "lying spirit" in the mouths of Ahab's prophets (1 Kings 22:19-23), but these do not in fact correspond with the NT cases. Indeed, in the two incidents mentioned, both spirits are said to be from the LORD which, in itself, sets them apart from the NT cases. Micaiah made use of irony in his answers to Ahab, and the reference to the lying spirit from the LORD reads like an ironic parable. The distressing spirit which troubled Saul seems to be a black mood which came upon him from time to time, a view supported by the fact that David was able to soothe it away by his playing on the lyre; "then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him (1 Samuel 16:23). It is hard to imagine that, if it were a supernatural demonic spirit inhabiting Saul, it would be influenced in this way.
How was it then, that possession by demons appeared to be so prevalent among those to whom Jesus ministered? It is instructive to go back and examine two particular periods of Israel's history.
Around the year 730 BC, the northern part of Israel, "the cities of Samaria" (2 Kings 17:24), was invaded by the armies of Assyria. A large part of the population was carried away into captivity. As described in 2 Kings 17, this fate came upon them because they turned away from the LORD to the worship of the gods of Canaan, the Baals, Ashteroth and many more, with all the immoral practices associated with these vanities.
In accordance with Assyrian policy, these captives were then dispersed all over the Assyrian empire in order to reduce the risk of an uprising. Likewise, small numbers of captives from various other nations were transported to live in Canaan, among the remnant of the Israelites left behind by the Assyrians. These aliens brought with them their own culture and the worship of their own gods, and for a time, there prevailed a kind of hybrid worship; "They feared the LORD yet served their own gods" (verse 33). However, over the centuries, through intermarriage particularly, the ethnic differences between the various races became indistinct and these mixed peoples became known as the Samaritans.
One of the gods worshipped by the displaced persons whom the Assyrians moved into the north of Israel was Nergal, the Babylonian god of the underworld (see Chapter 7). With him were the lesser gods, the evil genii, who, amongst other things, were thought to be able to inhabit people and to be responsible for diseases of various kinds. Similar ideas were widespread among the nations from which the captives came.
By the time of Jesus, the Samaritans had adopted a form of worship of the God of Israel. This had largely replaced the worship of the pagan gods which their foreign ancestors had brought with them. But it should not surprise us if there were remnants of the pagan ideas still present. Evidence of this can be found in John 8:48, where the charge made against Jesus points to an association between the Samaritans and these pagan superstitions: "Do we not say rightly that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?" Also in Acts 8:7, when Philip was preaching the Gospel in Samaria, there is a reference to "many who were possessed" by "demons". Before Philip came to the town, the people of the town were "astonished" by a "certain man called Simon who previously practised sorcery ... to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest" (v. 9-11).
Around 586 BC, the south of the land, Judah (from which the word "Jew" derives), was invaded by the armies of Babylon. Its inhabitants suffered a similar fate, and for similar reasons, to their kinsmen in the north. Most of them were carried captive to the land of Babylon. However, these Israelites, the Jews, managed to maintain their distinctive identity in the land of captivity. Then, after Babylon had been conquered by Persia, they were given the opportunity to return to their land by Cyrus, the ruler of Persia, in 538 BC, and many did so (2 Chron. 36:15-23, Ezra 1)
It is a remarkable thing that when the Jews returned to the land from Babylon, they had largely abandoned worshipping the pagan gods. However, again, it would be too much to expect all traces of paganism to disappear. Some superstitions would linger on. The Jewish captives, who returned from Babylon, would, like the aliens in the north, be acquainted with myths of Nergal and the genii. But they would also be acquainted with the Persian religion of Zoroaster, the god Ahriman and his evil deavas. So, again, as with the Samaritans, we should not be surprised to find traces of these ideas present among them, and so it is. Here and there, legends akin to those of the pagan nations are found in Jewish literature produced in the time between the Old and New Testaments. (In particular the Pseudepigraphia, books attributed to a person other than the author. The "Book of Enoch" is an example, probably written around 130 BC, but attributed to a patriarch who lived over 2000 years earlier.)
Although much of the literature was written in Greek, the Hebrew word for adversary, satan, was adopted as the name of a supernatural being, corresponding with the gods of evil found in the pagan religions. The Greek word diabolos, from which the English word "devil" is derived, was also used. The writers also added to and reinterpreted various passages of scripture to blend in with their ideas.
There was, however, a wide range of views among the scholars. According to the Interpreters' Dictionary of the Bible, within the "orthodox" tradition of Judaism there was a theory that "substituted for the distinct and rival hosts of Satan a special order of 'angels of destruction' who were themselves the emissaries of Yahweh, appointed by him to execute condign punishment on sinners and the heathen'". There were also the Sadducees who only regarded the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, as Scripture. They did not believe in spirits or angels (Acts 23:8) regarding all such ideas as contrary to the monotheism taught in such passages as Deuteronomy 6:4.
In addition to the competing views of the various sects, the common people would be open to many other influences; local pagan legends passed down over centuries (of which belief in Beelzebub may have been one), the beliefs of resident foreigners and of passing traders. As we have seen in relation to the girl at Philippi, belief in possession by spirits of the gods was widespread among the Greeks and Romans. Following the conquests of Alexander the Great (336-332 BC), many Greeks had come to live in the region, especially in Decapolis, east of the Sea of Galilee. Greek language and culture had dominated Decapolis for some 160 years. In the days of Jesus, the whole area was a part of the Roman Empire, with a large contingent of the Roman army in occupation.
With all these historical and contemporary influences present, it would indeed have been surprising if belief in a god of evil and possession by demons had not been found among the Jews in the days of Jesus. What is perhaps surprising is that it does not seem to have been associated with worship of pagan gods, but largely confined to being an explanation of what were regarded as evil circumstances in human life. In particular, as considered in Chapter 2, possession by demons was the language used in relation to people who manifested markedly abnormal behaviour and who, as a result, were thought to be intermittently or continuously insane.
Support for the view that belief in supernatural demons originated in the pagan influences, as set out above, is to be found incidentally in the Gospels when the locations of the major incidents relating to demons are identified. These all lie in the north of the land, from Samaria northwards, in areas either dominated by Gentiles or with large Gentile elements in the population.
Although there are references to people from further south, from Judea and Jerusalem, being among the crowds in the north when people with unclean spirits were healed, there are no descriptions in the Gospels of such miracles occurring in these more Jewish regions. It would be surprising if no one in the south had been influenced by these superstitions. Apparently some were, as evidenced by one reference in the Acts (5:16). However, the overall impression gained is that it was predominantly in the north, where, for historical reasons, pagan influences were stronger, that belief in demon possession was most prevalent.
The accusation that Jesus was himself possessed by Beelzebub appears to have been made in the region of Galilee (Mark 3:22 and 3:7 respectively). This incident is examined in more detail in the next chapter, and itself provides further support for the pagan roots of belief in demon possession.
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