The Bible makes it very clear that demons and illness are connected. Modern Christian apologists, who are in denial about the existence of demons, have strenuously tried to 'underplay' demonic involvement and explain biblical accounts of sickness as being explicable by purely scientific means alone. This includes mental illnesses in particular. The result, in such attempts to be 'modern', is to question the inspiration of Holy Writ.

Interestingly enough, it is the New Testament which, more than either of the two major divisions of the Bible, links illness to demon affliction. The major scourge of Biblical times was, of course, leprosy which is caused by a bacterial infection and we read of Yah'shua's (Jesus') instantaneous cures of those made outcasts by this disease. Torah provided that those with infectious diseases should be isolated from the Congregation of Israel, warned against touching dead bodies, and so forth, all which which makes practical sense with our knowledge of bacteriology and hygiene. It was for this reason that during the Middle Ages in Europe when plagues cut down millions of lives, the community that suffered the least were the Jews because of their observance of Yahweh's Torah. Had Christianity not apostacised and discarded Torah millions more lives would conceivably have been saved on the basis of Torah hygiene rules alone. Ironically, the Catholics, observing how the Jews seemed to come through better than the 'gentiles', were quick to point an accusing finger and blame the Jews for witchcraft, instead of repenting of casting away Yahweh's Law.

I do not want to spend too much time looking at the basis of suffering as this would occupy a whole article in itself, but rather to summarise the main biblical points. The Bible tells us that suffering, including disease and recognised demonic affliction, has diverse causes and is one of the results of sin. So when dealing with illness of all kinds, and possible demonic roots, we are at ground level dealing with sin, that is, the breaking of Yahweh's Torah or commandments. In the case of suffering from disease, the direct connection is not usually obvious, though sometimes the illness is directly connected. We know that following the Fall it was not long after that man began to experience insecurity, fear and pain (Heb. issabôn) (Gen.3:16-17). The direct connection between sin and suffering becomes rapidly more complex, but nations which obey Yahweh were, in general, promised freedom from disease (Ex.25:25-26; Lev.26:14-16; Dt.7:12-16 - especially 22,27,58-61). Pestilence is one of the three sore judgments on the people of Yahweh (Jer.24:10; 32:24; Ezek.14:21) and on other nations, e.g. the Philistines (1 Sam.5:6) and Assyrians (2 Ki.19:35). There are passages such as Psalm 119:67 where the sinner himself is involved, and the case of the impotent man healed (Jn.5:1-16), where his own fault is perhaps implied (v.14). David's sin involved the afflictions of others (2 Sa.24:15-17) which suggests the involvement of generational curses (where his own family was afflicted) as well as territorial demons (where the nation suffered for the monarch's sins). Thus we can say that human suffering, from disease or any other cause, is the effect on the individual of the spiritual malaise of the human society of which he is an integral part. This we see both the individual origins of sin as well as the collective, and with them the demonic element. Christians often fail to take the collective into consideration when dealing with healing, because the Covenant - whether New, Mosaic, Noahic or Patriarchal - is a collective affair. The sins of one segment of society affects all the rest. We remember the sin of Aachan after the fall of Jericho in particular and how the sin of one man (his hoarding loot consecrated to Yahweh) resulted in military defeat for the whole nation. The only way Israel's health was restored was after the culprit had been punished. A key to mental, spiritual, emotional and physical health is therefore the faithfulness with which each local assembly, and the Body of Christ as a whole, keeps itself clean. This means, in effect, that those churches which do not deal with sin issues and take drastic steps are bringing about curses upon the whole congregation.

We will see, in a moment, that Yahweh Himself often 'sends' demons to afflict those who are in violation of covenant, which means in effect that He does not prevent Satan and his legions - who are constantly accusing and demanding rights to afflict those who break Torah - from causing illness and mental suffering. But before we look at that, let us remind ourselves of another kind of illness, namely that which Yahweh permits to bring glory to Himself and His angels and to disgrace Satan and his demons.

The Book of Job shows us the activity of Satan on an innocent man who was mentally and physically tortured. This is a case of affliction by demons and illness as a part of redemptive witness for the angels (who you will remember had been defecting in their drones to Satan) as well as to the living and to posterity (us). In this we see an echo of the suffering of Christ and our call to suffer in order to draw people to Yah'shua (Jesus). There are other parallels too in the New Testament. In Acts 10:38 we see that it is the sick who are "oppressed by the devil" (Acts 10:38, NKJV), showing a cause-and-effect relationship between illness and the demonic. The parable of the 'wheat and the tares' ("An enemy has done this" - Mt.13:28) suggests the same relationship. And again, Yah'shua (Jesus) spoke of the woman who had a "spirit of infirmity" who was a cripple, bend over and haggered. He laid His hands on her and she stood up straight, being healed. What was the cause of her illness? "... this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound" (Luke 13:16, NKJV).

Suffering can either be individual or national (collective). Cases of individual sickness include Moses (Ex.4:24), Mirian (Num.12:10), Uzziah (2 Chr.26:16-21), Jeroboam (2 Chr.13:20), Gehazi (2 Ki.5:25-27), Ananias and Saphira (Ac.5:5,10), Herod (Ac.12:21-23) and Elymas (Ac.13:11). The scriptures go into more detail when suffering is used construictively and redemptively (Heb.12:6-11), as in the case of Jacob, who, after real physical injury miraculously afflicted, learned to depend upon Yahweh, and matured spiritually to fulfil his new name of Israel (Gen.32:24-32). Hezekiah's illness demonstrated his faith in Yahweh, and is probably in this category (2 Ki.20:1-7). The book of Job shows that the real issue is a man's relationship to Yahweh rather than his own attitude to his own suffering. It is the principal refutation of the view, put forward with great skill by Job's 'comforters', that there is an inevitable link between individual sin and individual suffering (an essentially occult view with ties in supposed karma and reincarnation to 'explain' suffering). After disposing of this view, which is only partially true, that the reason for the existence of suffering is disciplinary, it leads to the sublime picture of Job both comforted, vindicated, and blessed. It is important to realise that that the biblical picture is not a mere dualism, as certain charismatic 'health-and-wealth' or 'prosperity' Christians, who take the position of one of Job's 'comforters', often try to persude us to believe. Rather, suffering is presented in the light of eternity and in relation to a God who is sovereign, but who is nevertheless forebearing in His dealings with the world because of His love for men and women (2 Pet.3:9). Conscious of the sorrow and pain around them, the new Testament writers look forward to the final consummation when suffering shall be no more (Rom.8:18; Rev.21:4).

Now I have spent some time looking at the reasons behind illness so that we do not fall into the trap of seeking over-simplistic explanations and necessarily blaming 'Satan' all the time. Healing is not, at ground level, about simply 'casting out demons' but the sovereignty of Yahweh. As we have seen, there can be greater purposes behind illness and demon oppression that are not as traight forward as we might like to believe. When we are suffering from illness and/or demon oppression, our first though is simply to be 'quit' of it - and so we seek out those who can help us be 'quit' (like healing and deliverance ministers). But it's rarely that simple. I have ministered to hundreds of clients and very rarely does the dualist principle hold (a simple cause-effect relationship that means isolating a sin area, repenting, and casting a demon out). Yahweh has a bigger purpose in our suffering and often (but not always) permits us to continue to suffer for a greater redemptive purpose. Sometimes that suffering can be for the individual, for a family line (in the case of SRA, for example), or even for a whole nation. We are parts of a bigger plan.

Which brings me to King Saul and the Apostle Paul. Both of these men were demonised, but one was evil and the other righteous. Saul was a willfull Torah-breaker and his sins brought woe and catastrophe upon the whole (collective) nation of Israel - yet Israel was to blame, because Israel had rejected the system of Judges ordained by Yahweh to govern the nation and had instead chosen an absolute monarch after the patterning of the heathen nations.

Saul was demon-oppressed, but from whom did the demons come? We read: "But the Spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit (ruach raa'ah) from Yahweh troubled him" (1 Sam 16:14-15, NKJV). The NKJV rendition here is a little unfortunate because ruach raa'ah literally translates "evil spirit" or "demon". In other words, Yahweh gave the demon permission to afflict Saul on legalistic grounds ... which is the most common cause of demon affliction people have. In this case, it was mental illness.

Now with Paul, who after his conversion was a righteous man, we see another situation, for we read: "And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure" (2 Cor.12:7, NKJV). Upsetting though this may be to those who insist believers can't have demons, the fact of the matter is that Paul was demon oppressed and that Yahweh was behind it. We are not sure what the form of the oppression was, and many have speculated, but quite possibly it was an illness. Whether the demon had legal grounds as Saul's did, it is hard to say, though we can say there was a major difference in terms of degree for Paul was not a wicked commandment-breaker as Saul was. It would seem that Paul had a tendency to self-exaltation or pride because of the revelations he had received (he write more epistles than all the other apostles combined) and the demon was sent to keep him humble. Possibly it was physical infirmity that kept him so. One thing that is clear, though, is that Paul's request to have the demon removed was not granted. Yahweh had a higher purpose for this affliction.

We see, then, the picture is not as clear as we would sometimes like it to be, forcing us into the kind of dependency on Yahweh that Job had which required absolute faith. And absolute faith means, amongst other things, not getting the answers we want, if any answers at all. Job got none. He was simply required to trust.

So long as we have this scriptural mindframe we will not go far wrong in deliverance ministry and in our Gospel walk generally. We are not supposed to have all the answers (for then we could not be able to walk by the faith which saves) and neither are we necessarily to have all demon issues fixed, at least not minor ones that are not related to sin. For all sin-based demons are to be expelled, of that there can be no doubt, for we are all called to holiness.

In ancient Israel the Priest and the Physician were one and the same. It was only the Greeks who separated ministers from doctors much as in the West governments are trying to separate church from state. Various physical remedies are mentioned for sickness in the Old Testament (e.g. Pr.17:22; Jer.46:11; Is.1:6; Jer.8:22; 51:8; Is.38:21, etc.). The good Samaritan used wine and oil (Lk.10:34 - cp. Mk.5:26). Some diseases were incurable (2 Sam.4:4) and we note some despair about illnesses in Dt.28:27. Alcoholic wine is mentioned as a medication for certain stomach ailments (Pr.31:6; 1 Tim.5:23).

Bone-setting is mentioned in Ezekiel 30:21 and midwifery was left entirely in the hands of women who had probably considerable experience (Gen.38:27-30; Ex.1:15-21; Ezek.16:4-5). Clearly the story of the Good Samaritan is supposed to inspire us with selfless thoughts of care for the sick, in this case, for the wounded. Psychiatry is not needed in a Torah-observant community; when Torah is broken, what is needed is deliverance, because mental illness is, as this website shows, demonic in origin. Deliverance ministers, and in particular pastors and other Elders, do need to have pastoral skills and understand human nature and the demonic roots of mental disturbance. Biblically, 'health' means far more than physical wellness but denotes the harmony of the whole person - mind, spirit, emotions and body, translating the word sôtéria (Ac.27:37) which literally means 'salvation' or 'deliverance'. We therefore need to get out of the evangelical mindframe of exclusively seeing Salvation as something spiritual because scripturally it embraces the whole person.

The Bible is full of stories of supernatural healing which we don't have time to go into here. The biblical cases of demonisation are covered extensively in my article, Are Demons Psychological Projections? The Biblical View and in other materials. Since healing dominates the New Testament more than the Old, it is the latter I would like to briefly now comment on.

The first thing we must observe about the supernatural healing miracles performed by Yah'shua (Jesus) and His apostles is that their significance is not fundamentally different from that of other miracles. Both display the power of Yahweh over evil and its effects. But the most important feature of miracles is their connection with revelation. B.B.Warfield comments: "Miracles do not appear on the pages of Scriptures vagrantly, here, there, and elsewhere indifferently, without assignable reason. They belong to revelation periods ... " (Miracles: Yesterday and Today, True and False, 1954, p.191). Matthew connects Yah'shua's (Jesus') healing miracles with the prophecy of Isaiah 53:4 (Mt.8:17) and Yah'shua (Jesus) Himself to them as validity of His claims to be Messiah (Lk.7:22; Jn.10:37-38). They are spoken of as attesting Him (apodeiknymi, lit. 'point away to') in Acts 2:22, in their threefold nature as wonders (terata), signs (sémeia) and mighty works (dymameis). This explains, at least in part, why even Yah'shua's (Jesus') miracles of healing were not indiscriminate and universal. Yah'shua's (Jesus') reference to the "greater works" which the apostles were to do (Jn.14:12) must, of course, refer to the scope of the influence of their work, not its actual nature, for even when men were raised from the dead, these were not greater works than His.

The highlighted part of what I have written above is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! So many of the false charismata, which are demon-mediated (like Toronto and Pensacola), with their rolling around on the floor, gold appearing in teeth and hands, and such, are not "greater works" but satanic counterfeits. The great charismatic crusades where people are indiscriminately healed but who return to sinful lifestyles are not "greater works" but satanic counterfeits. The indiscriminate 'casting out of demons', sometimes done on stage before audiences, are not "greater works" but satanic counterfeits, because these do not follow the New Testament pattern at all. They are an "adding to" and do not fulfil the three-fold nature of signs which always lead to a forgiveness of sins, or in other words, spiritual healing first and foremost:

"Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven" (James 5:13-15, NKJV).

Shallow and superficial Christians (who usually refuse to observe Torah or obey the commandments) are looking for showy, MacDonalds-type quick or instant healing. The kind of healing work done by Yah'shua (Jesus) and the apostles is most definitely for our day too but they are not indiscriminate BECAUSE THEY ARE FULFILLING WIDER (NATIONAL OR COSMIC) PURPOSES. We must therefore make a clear distinction between these kinds of miracles, which are not every day occurences (and were not designed to be) and the more general (and in some way, revelent) process-miracles that take place every day as we disciple people and lead them through process-deliverance such as the Theophostic method. Lasting changes in people only come about through the daily plodding type of deliverance and ministry. This does not mean that from time to time, as a special witness, Yah'shua (Jesus) does not intervene in a dramatic way and simply heal someone without process, for He most assuredly does. However, the danger comes when we expect this kind of miracle for all occasions, because then we open ourselves up to deception and counterfeit spirits. As Bible-believing and Torah-obedient Christians, the only expectation we have is that Yahweh's will be done, and that He accomplish it by whatever means He can. Healing of every kind of illness or demon oppression instantly is no more evidence of true Christianity as other heresies which say that we must speak in tongues (babble) as evidence of Spirit-infilling because God does not work this way.

In short we have to get our theology right, renounce the theatrics of the charismatics (with all their false spirits) and simply get on with THE work of the Kingdom, which is discipling. By employing deliverance as part of the process of discipling, we are able to deal with demonic issues and make sure they do not reoccur. Simply casting demons out is useless unless you are dealing with the lie-based issues that bring them in in the first place because they'll simply come back and the soul will be under constant siege and in constant warfare. This is not victory in Christ. Victory occurs when you can rest in Him because you have dealt with the sin issues in your life. Once you have victory (and I don't mean verbal suggestion or repeating mantra-like prayers and songs in the hope you can will it) you can live the full Christian life. And the only way you can do this is in Torah. Why do you think Yah'shua (Jesus) said these words:

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness (Torahlessness)!'" (Matt.7:21-23, NKJV).

What I am saying is, needless to say, not popular in the bulk of Christendom which is lawless. They want to do things their way. They want a cheap and easy salvation and don't care what spirit is behind it so long as there are tangible results. But are 'results' enough? Aren't casting our demons and doing wonders 'results'? They are tangible, for everyone to see. They are supernatural, so people conclude, without proper testing, that they are from Yahweh. Yah'shua (Jesus) says greatly beware! for such is lawlessness and leads souls to hell. Just because people are casting out demons doesn't mean Yah'shua (Jesus) is behind it, even if they are using His Name (or the Greek version of it), because demons love and will happily put on a show, leaving and then coming back again later. You have been warned. Don't trust everything you see, and make sure the 'fruits' of a ministry are actually Biblical. If they're not - if they're lawless - they are from the devil.

Gospel faith is not blind but intelligent. It is based on sound promises and manifests true fruits when it moves along the railway line of obedience:

Yahweh is not indiscriminate, as we have seen. Very often what results when a false path is followed is that you get super-evangelists who become cult figures to whom people turn for healing and miracles. Yahweh does not work like that. Whilst He has apostles and evangelists, healing and deliverance can be done by anyone, thus avoiding the cult of personality that plagues major sections of Christendom. The Gospel is not ostentatious and showy but humble and local. The heart of the Gospel is not the giant crusade (whose results are actually abysmal, which many super-evangelists even encouraging people to remain Catholics, for instance) but the local assembly. The real workers of Yahweh are the Deacons, Elders and Pastors who are discipling their people and bringing them step by step to wholeness through teaching, preaching, deliverance and witness. The end-time church is, in any case, not a behomoth, but a small remnant. So says Yah'shua (Jesus) (Mt.24:37ff).

As I mentioned earlier, Yahweh showed me a vision of fly-like demons behind 'flu. I cast them out and I saw them descend into the pit. But I knew that they would return because I had not addressed the grounds for their being there. I conclude with what I discovered.

Plagues and widespread illnesses are caused both by individuals and by nations. As I write this, the world is being swept by Asian Bird 'Flu which is killing many. The reason pestilence sweeps nations is because they are in rebellion against Yahweh. Each time they break commandments, such as the laws of chastity, Torah tells us that the land is defiled, and territorial demons gain first a foothold - and then, as people sin more - a stronghold. The nation as a whole come under bondage. If the governments of countries enact laws legalising murder of the unborn (abortion), adultery, sodomy, and the like, they bring curses upon their nations, which includes sickness, epidemics and (now) pandemics. These curses effect everyone living in that nation unless they take certain steps. These steps include getting out of Babylon - and especially the cities where the curses are worst, because sinners are more concentrated there - and out into small communities separated from the world. These communities need to be places of holiness and purity, saturated in prayer, rebuking and rolling away the territorial spirits on the land they occupy. Because the land is a part of a nation (since we cannot form an indpendent Israelite nation yet [not the Israeli Republic]) we have to do daily deliverance against territorials. Because satanic covens are constantly cursing such gatherings, this often means going beyond the parcel of land where souls are gathered and storming the local community by force on the invisible. As the group of believers get stronger, so they can extend the radius if their intercession. Finally, however, they will have to withdraw into very isolated settlements for the Tribulation Period. We cannot ward off thbe demonic consequences the sins of the vast majority for ever. Like Abraham, we must choose the countryside, and not follow the way of Lot. For both at the end of the Tribulation (when there will be global judgment) and before, there will be much interession both on earth and from heaven.

The Book of Revelation prophesies much pestilence in the last days as men become more wicked and the world fills with demons. We are in such times now, and so special measures need to be taken. For if we do not take them, we will be overwhelmed by the territorial demons and be deestroyed in the plagues along with the wicked. A third of the earth's population will be destroyed.

But there really isn't a lot you can do on the territorial level until you have settled accounts with your own personal demons, so we must begin with self. That means getting down to lie-based sin-issues in our lives.

So why, I asked myself, was I still picking up 'flu? Well, partly it was the territorial problem. That was clear, but it didn't explain everything. So I went into prayer again. One of the symptoms of this epidemic is a constant, dry throat, so dry, in fact, that you have to drink copious quantities of water, which doesn't actually help much except to stop you dehydrating. It gets so bad that sometimes the walls of one's throat stick together!

As I was praying about this, Yahweh opened up a vision to me, and I saw that around my throat was an elastic band. Strung on the band like beads on a necklace were pitch black geometric objects of different shapes - cubes, spheres, pyramids, and so on - all tightly packed together. Dangling from the circular band from a point on my throat was a string that extended all the way down to my rib cage, where the oesophagus and wind passages disappear. And strung on this string were more of these geometric objects, only these were silver. It look like a piece of New Age jewellry.

I at once understood that this was some sort of demon-mediated curse corresponding to one of the symptoms of the 'flu. But how did it get there? What were the legal grounds? I rebuked the demonic, bound it, set it aside, and asked Yahweh to flood my system with light and speak truth to me. I immediately sank into sleep and had a most revealing dream.

I dreamed I was in my last place of employment, and as it happened my employer had been a woman with a very matriarchal controlling and manipulating bearing. As an employee I was forced to be subject to her, of course, and in the process had admitted demons because I had submitted to the spirit of Jezebel/Hecate. In the dream my boss had given me a key, and on the keyring was a red heart object. The key was to the cellar. She was giving me authority under the illusion of 'love' to manage the 'basement' of my place of employment. Now basements and cellars invariably represent the carnal and/or the unconscious self. I was being authorised, in the name of false love, to be carnal, which is what my job virtually forced me to be. It was almost impossible to be a Christian there. Then Yahweh showed me a room with what looked like magazine racks, and on the racks were various women in my life, from childhood to adulthood, who had exercised 'authority' over me and forced me to operate in their 'spirit'. They were all 'masculine' inasmuch as they were operating within a male sphere of authority, which they had no right to. I could see the spirit of Jezebel/Hecate in all of them. The moment my eyes were opened (I had always known this intellectually but never in my spirit), I at once cut all cords with them, renounced the authority they had claimed and exercised over me, and dismissed them from my life.

The result was astonishing. When I woke up, 95% of the 'flu symptoms had gone! The basis of my 'infectivity' was a remaining Jezebel spirit in me that made me submit to women who had no right to exercise authority over me, but assumed it nonetheless because their men were too cowardly or in bondage themselves to other things to assume the leadership responsibility that Yahweh had given them. Many of these women had blaphemously assumed a 'father' rôle over me which I had submitted to, either because I dodn't know better, or because I had figured this was the only way I could earn an income and feed my family. What a lie!

As it happens, my wife had had parallel experiences for herself whilst I was seeing the vision and later dreaming which confirmed what I had understood.

There is no possibility for freedom and complete deliverance from sickness and demons until we are walking in truth. This means summarily rejecting the "philosophies of men (and women)" which is full of "empty deceit" (Col.2:8), however nice-sounding they may appear, and doing things Yahweh's way - in short, living Torah. We will remain under bondage so long as we compromise with the world and assume that we know better than the Almighty.

Ultra-patriarchy and feminism are without doubt the twin devils of the world. They are controlled by the demons and demoness Python and Hecate (Jezebel), respectively. I have spoken much about Hecate and Jezebel already, and have some more to say yet. In a short while I shall be making a study of Python, a sexual demon that resides along the spinal column like a snake from the genital area all the way up to the head - a demon that crushes the life out of you by causing you to abuse your sexuality and which is invited in through fornication, adultery, sodomy and (especially today) ritual occultic sex. Its life force is known as kundalini in occult circles.

There is no doubt in my mind that illness are tied closely up with demons. Their spiritual causes can be various (and not just like mine) but all are lie-based: demons on the outside get us to believe in lies about Yahweh, ourselves or others and by this means induce us into sin and so gain entrance, to attack our mind, heart, and biological functions which make us physically weak and open to infection and other disorders arising from imbalance. For the origin of parasites, see a revelation I had on this some years ago.

As we obtain more insights and revelation on illness, we shall add to this and other articles on the same subject.