“Is Satan able to possess bodies today as in biblical times when some were possessed with devils? He is not omniscient, but what are his limitations in influencing people today? Can Satan know our thoughts, can he physically hurt us, does he change his form? After he’s bound 1,000-yrs, he’s set free for a season. Why?

Devil or Demon Possession – Some ask, “Is Satan able to possess bodies today as in biblical times when some were possessed with devils and Jesus cast them out?

If you’ve read through the Bible you will notice that there was a spike in devil possessions beginning with Jesus’ earthly ministry. Though Satan was active, little is said about devils (evil fallen spirits) operating in and through people in the Old Testament. The realm of the dead was the realm of the demonic, which probably explains why the Old Testament condemns communication with the dead (Deut. 18:10-11), an activity considered to be an attempt to contact the impure and demonic. But it is in the ‘four Gospel’ accounts that we read of several instances of devil possession and exorcism. Jesus had announced that “the Kingdom of heaven” was “at hand” and with that outlook, Satan was actively opposing the establishment of God’s earthly kingdom.

One prophecy associated with Jesus Christ’s earthly kingdom is that there will be no evil spirits in “the land” of Israel or on Earth, but particularly in the Holy Land. Zech. 13:1-2 says:

“In that day (of the Lord’s 2^nd coming to earth) there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. ²And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause The (false) Prophets and The Unclean Spirit to Pass Out of THE LAND (of Israel).”

We know that Satan, the chief evil Spirit, and all his evil spirits, will be confined in the “bottomless pit” during that 1,000-yr Reign of Jesus Christ in the Kingdom (Rev. 20:1-6). More on this later.

Jesus of Nazareth had come only to minister only to the circumcision (Israel) (Rom. 15:8), “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mat. 15:24), so each person who was possessed of devils during that time was an Israelite, not a Gentile. The Devil discriminated, knowing that so long as he possessed and controlled any Jews, the Land would be defiled and Israel couldn’t be God’s people in the earth as prophesied. God could not use Israel for His purposes in establishing His earthly kingdom through them.

The way that Jesus Christ demonstrated that He was The Messiah/The Christ, was to cast out devils, as a confirmation of the kingdom being at hand. This validated the message of “the gospel of the Kingdom” that He was preaching, the same Gospel He commanded His apostles to preach (Mat. 10:5-8). Luke 8:1 says, “it came to pass afterward, that [Jesus] went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him….” Jesus said in Mat. 12:28, “… If I Cast Out Devils By The Spirit Of God, Then (you now) The Kingdom Of God Is Come Unto You.”

Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 8:26-39 involves the so called ‘Mad-Gadarene,’ a devil-possessed Jew who lived a most bizarre lifestyle. Please read these passages on your own; I can only briefly summarize those verses here. The Gadarene lived among tombs, he howled, cut himself with stones, wore no clothes, and had bursts of amazing strength that enabled him to break chains. Notice how Jesus addressed the unclean spirit in the Gadarene, “What is thy name?” and how the spirit responded, “My name is Legion: for we are many” (Mark 5:9). There were actually many unclean spirits within this man, so his condition was very serious. Verse 10 is particularly noteworthy: “And he [the unclean spirit] besought him [Jesus] much that he would not send them [all the unclean spirits possessing the Gadarene] away Out of the Country (of Israel).” Again, the unclean spirit admitted that they preferred to stay in the land of Israel. If Jesus was to cast them out of the man, they at least wanted to possess the swine of the land. Those unclean spirits knew the torments of hell, and they did not want to be thrown into it! In the companion verse, we read: “And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep (waters)” (Luke 8:31).

Understandably, these evil spirits didn’t want to go into hell, but why do they want to stay in Israel’s land? Why did not want to be sent “Out of the Country (Israel)?” Pay attention to how that chief evil spirit, the Devil, addressed Jesus as “thou Son of God most high” (Luke 8:28) and “thou Son of the most high God” (Mark 5:7). The title “most High God” implies “possessor of heaven and earth” (Gen. 14:19, 22). Satan in Isa. 14:14 desired to be “like the most High”; the Devil still wants to rule the heaven and the earth. In order to prevent Jesus Christ’s kingdom from being established on earth, Satan had possessed the nation Israel, which was to become God’s chief nation on the earth, for eternity; (Ex. 19:5,6; Deut. 7:6,7; Isa. 2:1-4; etc.).

Why did these unclean spirits not want to leave the land of Israel? As per Satan’s command, these devils knew that their job was to maintain “strong holds” (cf. 2Cor 10:4) or footholds in Israel, such that God’s earthly kingdom could not be set up. Hence, Jesus Christ told apostate Israel, “if I with the finger (Spirit) of God Cast Out Devils, no doubt the Kingdom of God is come upon you” (Lk 11:20). The Gadarene was as a symbol of the nation Israel in satanic bondage, and Messiah Jesus was proving to Israel that he could deliver them from Satan’s spiritual sin-bondage.

Today God is forming “the Church, the Body of Christ,” a people to use for His glory “in the heavens.” Satan knew absolutely nothing of Paul’s “mystery” of “the body of Christ” yet to come, which is destined to co-rule with Christ “eternal in the heavens” (cf. 2Tim 2:12, 2Cor 5:1). Paul said it had been “kept secret” (Rom 16:25).  

God is not yet reclaiming the Earth and has not yet restored His earthly nation of Israel to right standing. He did offer the Kingdom once in the past, before our “dispensation of the grace of God,” and He will later establish His Kingdom on earth, after our dispensation.

Satan knows that the battle today is not really focused on the earth, but on God’s purpose and plan for the heavens. Thus, Satan has adjusted his tactics; to attack “the body of Christ” instead of Israel. The Apostle Paul never talks about devil possession in his epistles, and the Holy Spirit through him never instructs us to exorcise anyone, but he does warn about satanic deception, more on this later. Paul wrote; (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of (spiritual) strong holds;) (2 Cor 10:4)

Can Satan change his form? Can he turn himself into a human, an animal, or an object, etc.?

When Satan appeared to Eve back in Genesis 3, he likely took on a form of a handsome man, someone who physically and verbally captivated her. To cause her to eat the forbidden fruit, Satan used enticing words and placed Eve under some kind of spell, for 1Tim. 2:14 says Eve was deceived. “Bewitched” is used to describe Satan utilizing false religion to deceive the Galatians (cf. Gal. 3:1). Paul wrote that Satan was a “serpent” in the sense of subtlety, sneakiness, trickery (2Cor. 11:3-4; cf. Rev. 12:9). So when Scripture refers to Satan as a “serpent” (Gen. 3:1), it describes his nature, not his physical appearance; Eve having a conversation with a literal reptile-snake seems unlikely. Even today, we use the metaphor “a snake in the grass” to describe a treacherous or deceitful person.

I can recall only few other accounts in Scripture where Satan personally appeared before somebody; these are in Job 1, 2, and Matt. 4 with its companion passages in Luke 4, Jude 9, and Rev. 12:7-10. Scripture doesn’t give us any description of how Satan physically looked in these passages. What we should know is that Satan is a spirit creature; he was seen only when he wanted himself to be seen, as with Eve, or with Christ. I know of no others where Satan physically appeared to them.