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When you hear a preacher on TV or YouTube or read an online article listing a dozen characteristics of 'the Jezebel spirit' or the 'spirit of religion' or some other spirit that isn't mentioned in the Bible, what do you think of that? Do you think it's spot on? Does it seem a little weird to you?When you hear 'spirit of religion' or 'religious spirit' do you think that means a demon or a set of characteristics only? What about a 'Jezebel spirit'? Do you think that is an actual demon or principality, or just a set of characteristics.

Personally, NO I do not. but that doesn't mean I am right. But that is still my opinion. I always thought it was weird having demons of tobacco and sex, that plagued people. When that trend started it bothered me, still does. THANKS for mentioning it. Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]/

I definitely think it's weird, extrabiblical, unhelpful, and unfruitful.It's also irritating when people accuse you of minimizing or not believing in the working of demonic forces because you don't accept the legitimacy of these extrabiblical named spirits.I think it would be far more helpful to God's people for us to talk about these sets of characteristics in biblical terms, as works of the flesh that the enemy promotes and encourages as he is able.

I'm trying to think of all of the passages that could be stretched to try to teach this stuff.The most obvious -- perhaps because of Jentezen Franklin's sermon on the topic -- is the spirit of python in Acts 16:16. Of course the Bible never says anything about a spirit of python, it calls it a spirit of divination. But the Greek word for divination is pythōna which is where this teaching comes from. Of course, sound exegesis and teaching reveals that Paul is using this word to associate the spirit with region of Pytho and more specifically the oracle of Delphi.Associating this spirit with demonic oracle-like activity makes sense in light of what the slave girl in Acts 16was doing. Franklin's twisting of this passage to make this spirit one that squeezes the life, joy, and goodness out of believers is especially unbiblical in this context.---The other that jumps to mind is the reference to Jezebel in Revelation 2:20. Clearly there are some similarities between this woman in the Thyatiran church and Ahab's wife, so it makes sense that the writer (and the Lord!) would use the reference. But again, sound exegesis seems to clearly indicate that Christ is referring to a specific, living individual in the church, rather than a demon who is animating or inspiring one or more individuals.This seems evident based on Christ's description of having given her time to repent, and His promise to judge and punish her for not having done so (v. 21-23). It's possible that 'Jezebel' here is literally her name, but it's hard to imagine anyone naming their daughter Jezebel. The language here also calls to mind John's reference to the elect lady in 2 John 1, which could suggest the reference here is to a group of false prophetesses that were encouraging sexual immorality in the church.Either way, the passage is talking about people and the works of their flesh, not a demon named Jezebel.---

Thought of another one on my drive to work -- Mark 5

Since Jesus said that that woman Jezebel taught the people to fornicate and to eat meat offered to idols, that might be the similarity with the ancient Jezebel. Those were aspects of Canaanite religion. Revelation 2does not mention her controlling her husband or killing prophets. And there is no reference to her being a 'spirit.'It kind of reminds me of Lilith, a woman from a legend about Adam's first wife before Eve who was rejected because she wanted to be on top. Later Lilith was thought to be an evil spirit that killed babies

demon of tobacco made me LOL. I was talking about this the other day, how the COG would demonize it yet they were perfectly fine letting people grow and sell it.

Do we suppose that the Bible tells us EVERYTHING about demons? No. But it does tell us all we NEED to know (namely, that they have to go in the Name of Jesus, etc.). For instance, wouldn't you like to know more about why the demons wanted to go into the swine? What we have is mainly conjecture.Wouldn't you like to know where demons come from? Some say they are fallen angels, etc. But to the best of my knowledge, that it nothing but conjecture, too.However, when someone speaks of a Jezebel spirit, I do not take this to be a particular DEMON, but rather a set of behaviors that can enable us to be more watchful with people exhibiting those behaviors. Just as the FBI has profilers that can tell us the traits of certain serial killers (believe it or not, cruelty to animals, bed-wetting, and fire starting are three things that show up in many or most serial killer profiles!), we would be foolish to ignore behaviors that often reveal darker things.The same with the Jezebel spirit. Like I said, I have never considered that a particular demon, but rather someone who is acting in a way that we believe Jezebel acted. Just as we can see people that are controlling, or insecure, or narcissistic--and can divine from that certain elements that we would be wise to regard in the future with other people/situations--so, too, can we see both negative and positive traits in Biblical characters and draw some conclusions.For instance, do you recall how Jesus told the disciples (who wanted to call down fire from heaven) that they didn't know what spirit they were of? He is letting them know that they were acting in a manner that was contrary to the pattern/spirit they should have been following.Now, sometimes, it does indeed get weird. And perhaps this is something that can only be detected by discernment, but, yeah, sometimes people go to some wild places in their teaching, and in such cases, we must take care. I tend to take many things with a grain of salt, not giving exceptional weight to it until I can better study it or confirm it, etc.Most of us preach sermons that are based on these principles. For instance, we may not call it the spirit of Esau, we might very well preach a sermon about people who trade their birthright for some bauble, relatively speaking. Demas? I think we could EASILY come up with a spirit of Demas. But I think the use of the word spirit can get problematic, making people think it is a specific spirit with a specific name, rather than a profile that often accompanies people who turn back to the world.In our mid-week Bible Study, going through the stories of the Bible, we spoke of Jezebel. And I simply pointed out some key things that Jezebel exhibited and warned against such things. I might have used the term Jezebel spirit, but I think it was clear that I meant actions associated very strongly with Jezebel.

I don't know any named demonic spirits.I've only seen the spirit of DOOFUS displayed. I don't believe it is a demonic spirit - but shows up often on Actscelerate.I consider Aaron to be the expert - so I will defer to his expertise with the DOOFUS spirit

Seems to me that the biblical recipe for deliverance is the same in every single instance, regardless of any type or classification the demon may have, and regardless of how few or many there may be. One's closeness to God may be relevant to the exercise of one's faith in this matter, if Matthew 17:21is authentic (there are textual issues with this verse).But otherwise... do I want to seek information outside the Bible about demons and the spirit world, step away from my one authoritative source for verifying information as true, and open myself to whatever spiritual entity wants to try to tell me something?