Do Demons Die?
I was recently asked by someone if demons die. Specifically, "When Jesus cast
the demons in the swine & the swine went into the sea, did the demons die?"
I think this is a great question,
and one that the Bible clearly addresses for us. Demons are actually fallen
angels (Revelation 12:7-9), who were created by God (Colossians 1:16; John 1:3)
as spiritual beings (Ephesians 6:12; Hebrews 1:14) and therefore are not
subject to death, at least in earthly terms.
It might be helpful to
remember that before the particular demons in question possessed the pigs, they
possessed the man from Gadarene (Mark 5:7-9). When Jesus came near, they
confronted Him and asked if He was there to “torment” them before the time
(Matthew 8:29). After this they begged and pleaded for Jesus not to send them
out of that particular “country” (Mark 5:10), or into “the abyss” (Luke 8:35),
but into the herd of swine (Mark 5:12). Jesus consented (Matthew 8:32), and
they went into the swine, causing them to go hog-wild, and run “violently down
the steep place into the sea” to their death (Mark 5:13). However, the demons
did not die an earthly death along with the pigs, but instead would have
continued wandering about in the general area looking for someone or something
else to steal, kill, or destroy (cf. John 10:10).
The reason we know this, is
because Jesus explains in the Gospel of Luke, “When an unclean spirit goes out
of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says,
‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it
swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits
more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of
that man is worse than the first” (Luke 11:24-26). What Jesus is telling us
here, is that when a demon (or demons), leave a place they have occupied, they
roam around searching for a new vessel to take up residence in until they find
one. This is why we can be confident, that demons do not die earthly deaths,
nor do they disappear into oblivion, unless of course, Jesus sends them into “the
abyss” (Luke 8:35).
Though fallen angels do not
experience an earthly death, they most certainly will experience spiritual
death. The death demons will experience is known as “the second death”
(Revelation 20:14), located in “the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and
his angels” (Matthew 25:41), where they will not perish but experience,
“everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46), in “the Lake of fire” (Revelation
20:14-15).
