Demonic possession manifests itself in many ways:
1. can’t speak, can’t hear, self harming, (Mark 9:17, Mark 9:18, 25; Matt. 9:32).
2. can’t speak or see (Matt. 12:22).
3. epilepsy, self harming, attempted suicide (Matt. 17:15, 18).
4. great strength, insanity, cutting, self destruction, attempted suicide, screaming, going naked - inappropriate behavior, living in tombs or other inappropriate places, isolating, violent, (Matt 8:28–34; Mark 5:1–20; Luke 8:26–39) .
5. convulsions, screaming, self harming, (Mark 1:26; 9:20).
6. paralysis, screaming, cripples (like from a stroke) (Acts 8:7).
7. high fever, Demons often manifest symptoms of diseases.. (Luke 4:38). However, not all physical problems are of demonic origin. In the Gospels illness and possession are often differentiated (cf. Mark 1:32, 34; 6:13; Matt. 4:24; 10:8; Luke 4:40–41; 9:1; 13:32).
8. harming others, (Acts 19:15–16).
Also from the Old Testament:
9. attempted murder, violence (1 Samuel 19:9–10 and many others).
10. acting treacherously, (Judges 9:23).
11. depression, (1 Samuel 16:14-16).
12. prostitution, orgies, idolatry, murdering children, are all things that the people who worshipped idols (which are demons) did. When you worship a demon, they have a hold on you and cause you to do all these things and more. This is spoken about all though the OT, but I’m only going to list a couple that speak about it. (Deuteronomy 32:17, Ezekiel 16:15–21).
Finally, back in the New Testament in Romans 1:21–32 we see a lot more of what demons cause in humans:
13. adultery, fornication, homosexuality and other perverted sexual acts, transvestites, trans genders, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful, disobedient to parents, senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless, and finally filled with every kind of evil and wickedness.
I'm sure you noticed as you read through this list that many things are repeated over and over. This whole list, and especially the last part may have made you think of another passage like it did for me, as it's very similar. This is the passage that speaks about what people will be like in the last days... the very times we're currently living in: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” (2 Timothy 3:1–5)
So does this mean that we can blame all the horrible things that are happening today on demons and say it's not the fault of the persons themselves? Absolutely not! Demons can't influence or possess anyone who's not willing to allow it. Do you think that if we told people that these things could be caused by demons that the people would be horrified and quit doing them? No, they'd just say we're crazy and continue, because they like their sins, and they like not being held accountable for them. That's why they pushed so hard for them to be normalized. I think the most we can say "in general" is that these things can be caused by demons, but also by our sin nature. How can we tell the difference? I honestly don't know for sure as I haven't tried to study that. What I do know though is that it doesn't matter what's causing it. If we have a loved one that is described by these things, all we need to do is pray to our loving, and merciful God that He would save them and free them from Satan's clutches. Another thing we can do is tell them to flee from sin like Joseph did (Genesis 39:10–12), resist it and draw near to God instead (James 4:7–8) and He will draw near to you. So we don't have to worry about figuring out whether it's demons, sin, or the world we live in that's causing these things to happen to people. I just think it's good to know that demons are often involved when these things manifest. Another way we could add to this study would be to look up the scriptures that speak about Satan and how he operates. That could give us more insight into what's going on today too.
Knowing all this, especially in the times we're living in, shows us that Satan and his demons are alive and well, and working as hard as they can to harm and kill as many people as they can, prevent people from being saved, and make as many who are saved as useless to God as they can. Mainly it reminds us that we are at war and need to stand firm in our faith and not fall prey to Satan's schemes. We can fight back by making sure we read and study God's Word daily, and so allow it to keep renewing our minds, apply the scriptures we read to our lives and pray constantly for the salvation of our loved ones and for ourselves to become more like Jesus daily. Most of all, don't allow this to cause you to fear. We have a friend who is much stronger than any demon or Satan, so we have no reason to fear as long as we know Him!
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13).
