ICS Daily Devotions
Understanding the Origin and Hierarchy of Demons
Isaiah 14:12,14 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! …. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
Demons are fallen angels and not spirits of departed humans because the latter can never return to earth. Lucifer or Satan is the chief of the fallen angels. He was involved in worship of God before he fell from heaven because of pride and the desire to be like God.
Revelation 12:4,9 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth…. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Satan took one third of the angels with him when he was thrown into Earth. Their job is to deceive the world. They cannot contact the world except through possessing a body. When a person’s heart is empty without God, the demon can enter especially when they have fear, worship other idols, listen to heavy rock music, take drugs or have anything to do with darkness. Demons possess human bodies also to strike back at God.
Demons have lived for a long time and can be familiar spirits who have loitered around us from the time we were born and know our past. So, when mediums or those involved in occult practices consult these spirits, they allow the spirits to use their bodies to communicate with those who seek information and the spirits deceive and hold them in bondage as they listen to the instructions and the possible bad outcomes that could happen if they were not followed.
There is also hierarchy in the kingdom of darkness. Therefore, some religious heads say that they cannot exorcise a person because the demon spirit in that person is of a higher order than them.
Ephesians 1:21,2:2 Far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come…. in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience
Hierarchy exists as principality, power, might and dominion. Dominions over countries influence the people. In Daniel 10:12-14, the angel was sent to minister to Daniel but was stopped by the prince of the kingdom of Persia, which is a demon standing over Persia. Archangel Michael helped this angel so that he could go minister to Daniel. If the people of a nation predominantly worship a certain idol or have a certain religion, that demonic realm will have authority over it because the country as a whole will bow down to it and give it the authority to operate. So, if a person is spiritually sensitive, they may feel more oppressed in some countries more than others. But remember that it has no power over us because we belong to God.
We need to understand the demonic realm but we should also know the positional truth we have in Christ Jesus who is seated at the right hand of God and us with Him (Ephesians 1:20-23, 2:6) which is far above all principality, power, might and dominion. The demons are under Jesus’ feet and therefore are also under our feet for we are the body of Christ.
Sermon Series: CG Campaign – Spiritual Gifts Can Help Your Church Grow
