When I first started ministering deliverance and exorcism it was a steep learning curve. There was no internet to share experiences and information. There were few books on the topic, and no communication portals to know who else was doing deliverance. I was the first person to use the web to demonstrate deliverance. Now there are hundreds, and the number is growing.
Things have drastically changed. This phenomenon is mostly good. But I have concerns that some seeking deliverance from demons are being confused and sometimes mislead.
Certainly, there will be different approaches and methods; different styles of ministry and calling. But if a deliverance is to be successful there are constants that should not change. An important factor is where you tell demons to go. I see people telling demons, “Up and out,” or “Go, go, go!” That’s OK, but up and out to where? Go where? Matthew 8:12, 22:13, and 25:30 speak of “outer darkness” as the destination of demons. This is just another term for hell, since it’s described as a place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
There are about 25 cases in the Gospels of Jesus casting out demons, and it’s not clear how His exorcisms ended and with what specific language. But here are five arguments in favor of casting them to the Pit, the Abyss.”
#1 — Hell, the Bottomless Pit, the Abyss, is the eternal destination of all demons. Some are there already as spoken of in Jude 1:6. (“And the angels who did not keep their proper domain [“first estate” KJV] but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.”) Demons possessing people can and should be sent to the Pit.
#2 — Isaiah 15:14 speaks of “the Pit” as Lucifer’s destination. Revelation has many references to the Pit of Hell: Rev. 9:2, 9:11, 11:7, 17:8, 20:3. According to Matthew 8:29, demons were fearful of being sent to “torment before the time” of their final judgment, which is in Hell. Lucifer is there. Send his minions back where they belong. (It’s not clear in Scripture if demons can ever escape temporarily and enter a willing human vessel on earth. I suspect that some can and do, but I can’t quote chapter and verse.)
#3 — Some Bible teachers argue that there is no indication Christ told the demons that He cast out to go to a particular place. In Mark 5:12-13 they are “sent away.” Mark 1:24 says “judgment.” But would Jesus send a demon to anything less than maximum anguish? “Sent away” is another way of commanding demons to go where they belong, the Pit, Hell.
#4 — Those against precision in deliverance language regarding the Pit argue that Jesus allowed demons to go into a herd of pigs (Matthew 8:30-32); however, that was a unique situation. It was an object lesson to the Gadarene Jews who weren’t supposed to eat pork, let alone raise swine. Anyway, the pigs ran off a cliff, were all killed, and the demons went back to Hell.
#5 — Jesus spoke of unclean spirits going to “dry places” [KJV] [“arid” NIV] (Matthew 12:43; Luke 11:24) seeking “rest.” I have sometimes commanded marine spirits to enter dry places on their way to the Pit. They love moisture and scream in torment at this judgment. Dry places are temporary locations of vexation for “water demons” on their way to the Abyss.
As I have previous pointed our blogs, books, and the International School of Exorcism, we do not have in Scripture a single, complete formula for the precise verbal command expelling a demon. But like many things in church life for which there is no exact biblical pattern, we use biblical wisdom and practical knowledge to guide our faith. It is the same with exorcism. The original 1614 Roman Catholic Ritual of Exorcism, The Rituale Romanum, states as follows: Now He is driving you back into the everlasting fire, He who at the end of time will say to the wicked: Depart from me, you accursed, into the everlasting fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.” For you, O evil one, and for your followers there will be worms that never die. An unquenchable fire stands ready for you and for your minions, you prince of accursed murderers, father of lechery, instigator of sacrileges, model of vileness, promoter of heresies, inventor of every obscenity.
As we less pedantically state in our School of Exorcism, demand the demon to say these words: I go now to the Pit. Demons don’t want to say it. They fight to avoid it. So, I make them do it. It seals the deal and ensures that demon won’t be back. To have certitude during deliverance, command to the demon to declare his doom — everlasting torment IN THE PIT!
