CHAPTER 10
Jesus’ Power Over the Demons
DO YOU remember why one of God’s angels became Satan the Devil?— It was his selfish desire to be worshiped that caused him to turn against God. Did other angels become followers of Satan?— Yes, they did. The Bible calls them ‘Satan’s angels,’ or demons.
Do these bad angels, or demons, believe in God?— ‘The demons believe God exists,’ the Bible says. (James 2:19) But now they are afraid. This is because they know that God will punish them for the bad things they have done. What have they done wrong?—
The Bible says that those angels left their own proper home in heaven and came to earth to live as men. They did this because they wanted to have sex relations with the pretty women on earth. (Genesis 6:1, 2; Jude 6) What do you know about sex relations?—
Sex relations are when a man and a woman become close in a very special way. Afterward, a baby can grow inside the mother. But for angels to have sex relations is wrong. God wants only a man and a woman who are married to each other to have sex relations. That way if a baby is born, the husband and wife can take care of it.
What did these angels do that was bad?
When angels took human bodies and had sex with women on earth, their babies grew up to become giants. They were very mean, and they would hurt people. So God brought a great flood to destroy the giants and all the bad people. But he had Noah build an ark, or big boat, to save the few people who did what was right. The Great Teacher said that what happened at the Flood is important to remember.
When the Flood came, do you know what happened to the bad angels?— They stopped using the human bodies they had made, and they went back to heaven. But they could no longer be God’s angels, so they
became angels of Satan, or demons. And what happened to their children, the giants?— They died in the Flood. And so did all the other people who did not obey God.Why is there more trouble on earth now than ever before?
Since the time of the Flood, God has not let the demons become like humans anymore. But even though we cannot see them, the demons still try to get people to do very bad things. They are causing more trouble than ever before. This is because they have been thrown out of heaven down to the earth.
Do you know why we cannot see the demons?— It is because they are invisible. But we can be sure that they are alive. The Bible says that Satan is ‘misleading people in all the world,’ and his demons are helping him.
Can the Devil and his demons mislead, or fool, us too?— Yes, they can if we are not careful. But we do not need to be afraid. The Great Teacher said: ‘The Devil has no hold on me.’ If we keep close to God, he will protect us from the Devil and his demons.
It is important that we know what bad things the demons will try to get us to do. So think about it. What bad things did the demons do when they came to earth?— Before the Flood, they had sex relations with women, something that was not right for angels to do. Today the demons like it when people do not obey God’s law about sex relations. Let me ask you, Who only should have sex relations?— You are right, only married people.
Today some young boys and girls have sex relations, but this is wrong for them. The Bible talks about the male “genital organ,” or penis. (Leviticus 15:1-3) The female genital parts are called the vulva. Jehovah created these parts of the body for a special purpose that should be enjoyed only by married people. It makes the demons happy when people do things that are forbidden by Jehovah. For example, the demons like it when a boy and a girl play with each other’s penis or vulva. We don’t want to make the demons happy, do we?—
There is something else that the demons like but Jehovah hates. Do you know what it is?— Violence. (Psalm 11:5) Violence is when people are mean and hurt others. Remember, that is what the giants, the sons of the demons, did.
The demons also like to scare people. Sometimes they pretend to be people who have died. They may even imitate voices of those who have died. In this way the demons fool many into believing that dead people are alive and can talk with the living. Yes, the demons cause many people to believe in ghosts.
2 Corinthians 11:14, 15) But, really, the demons are bad. Let’s see how they may try to get us to be like them.
So we must be on guard that Satan and his demons do not fool us. The Bible warns: ‘Satan tries to make himself look like a good angel, and his servants do the same.’ (Where do people learn a lot about violence and improper sex and spirits and ghosts?— Isn’t it from watching certain television shows and movies, playing computer and video games, going on the Internet, and reading comic books? Does doing these things bring us closer to God or closer to the Devil and his demons? What do you think?—
What can happen if we watch violence?
Who do you think wants us to listen to and watch bad things?— Yes, Satan and his demons do. So, what do you and I need to do?— We need to read, listen to, and watch things that are good for us and that will help us to serve Jehovah. Can you think of some of these good things that we can do?—
What is it good for us to do?
If we do what is good, there is no reason to be afraid of the demons. Jesus is stronger than they are, and they are afraid of him. One day the demons cried out to Jesus: “Did you come to destroy us?” (Mark 1:24) Won’t we be happy when the time comes for Jesus to destroy Satan and his demons?— In the meantime, we can be sure that Jesus will protect us from the demons if we keep close to him and his heavenly Father.
Let’s read about what we need to do, at 1 Peter 5:8, 9 and James 4:7, 8.