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Demons want to and can possess people. It is apparent from Scripture that evil spirits want to possess bodies through which they can carry out their wicked activities.
Bible scholars have categorized two levels of demonic impact upon people:
- Demonic oppression: mild to severe harassment by one or more evil spirits as a result of the opening of some of the gateways to satanic influence.
- Demonic possession: The condition in which one or more evil spirits actually inhabit the body of a person, taking control of it at will and expressing his (or their) evil personality through the faculties of that human body.
- Matthew 12:43-45, as quoted previously, is a classic description of demonic possession: note especially the phrase “they enter in and dwell there.”
- Other Scriptures that describe such possession: Matthew 10:1: “And when (Jesus) had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out.”
Demons possessing the Gadarene demoniac of Mark 5 did not want to be disembodied. They begged to be allowed by Jesus to enter a herd of swine. Other activities that are characteristic of demons include: