In Ephesians 6:12, St. Paul issued a warning: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
As Christians, we know we’re in the midst of a spiritual battle between good and evil or light and darkness. The Bible provides numerous insights into the demonic world and the way Jesus and His disciples cast out demons. In the process of casting out demons from a deranged man, Jesus asked for the demons’ name.
Mark 5: 6-10, “And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.’ For he was saying to him, ‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!’ And Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘My name is Legion, for we are many.’
The Bible names specific demons, such as Lilith the night monster (Isiaah 34:14), Leviathan the serpent monster of the sea (Psalms 74:14; 104:26; Isaiah 27:1; and Job 41:1-34), Asmodeus the evil spirit (Tobit 3:8), and Baal, the enemy, to whom ancient people burned their children as sacrifices for better crops (Jeremiah 7:9; 11:13; 19:4-6; Romans 11:4; 1 Kings 18:18-22; Numbers 25:3; 2 Kings 1:16; 1 Samuel 7:14; Judges 2:8-11; 8:13; Zephaniah 1:4-6).
Father Chad Ripperger
Father Chad Ripperger has been an active exorcist for the Catholic Church since 2007. He’s encountered numerous demons in possessed people. Signs of these possessions include the ability to speak ancient languages the possessed never knew, the ability to perform miraculous feats such as walking on walls, and the ability to drastically contort one’s body. He says there are five “generals of hell,” which include the aforementioned four plus Baphomet. The demon Baphomet was first named by the Knights Templar around the 13th century. Father Ripperger has noticed the influence of these five demons on our culture today as follows:
Baal
Baal is the demon of impurity. His image includes the head of a bull and the body of a man who’s holding a child prior to the child’s sacrifice. The Bible has condemned these sacrifices, which are called “passing a child through the fire.”
Jeremiah 7:31-33, “And they have built the high places of Topheth [ancient infant burial grounds], which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere.”
Modern scholars have attempted to deny these massive infant sacrifices, but recent scholarship has debunked them. “But when you pull together all the evidence – archaeological, epigraphic and literary – it is overwhelming and, we believe, conclusive: they did kill their children, and on the evidence of the inscriptions, not just as an offering for future favors but fulfilling a promise that had already been made” – Study author Josephine Quinn (Reed, 2014).
Baphomet
Baphomet is the demon of child sacrifice and induced abortions. Symbols of Baphomet such as a goat’s head, male and female anatomy, and an upside-down pentagram have been adopted by occultists and the Satanic Temple. Some also believe Baphomet is associated with freemasonry.
Asmodeus, Leviathan, and Lilith
The next three demons represent several types of homosexuality. Asmodeus is the demon of sodomy; Leviathan is the demon of female homosexuality of the masculine kind; and Lilith is the demon of female lesbianism of the feminine kind.
In conclusion, Western societies have opened the doors to Satan’s five generals, so we need to pray to our Lord to usher them back out. PRAY (praise, repent, ask, yield) daily.
References
Reed, B. (2014). Carthaginians sacrificed own children, archaeologists say. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jan/21/carthaginians-sacrificed-own-children-study
Christian Apologist 