Convulsions: Divine or Demonic?

Matthew 6:5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.”

In this section, we will discuss the phenomenon of people experiencing convulsions when encountering supernatural power. There is a significant difference between trembling and being convulsed. As with all the phenomena discussed in this section, there are potentially different types of manifestations that can occur in this area:

• People pretending to be convulsed by the power of God.

• People being convulsed by demonic power.

However, unlike other phenomena discussed thus far, this manifestation has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. There is no biblical evidence attributing this type of manifestation to the Holy Spirit; in fact, all biblical evidence clearly reveals that the Holy Spirit is not responsible for convulsing people. So, what does it mean when Scripture describes individuals as being convulsed? The word "convulse" means to shake uncontrollably or violently, to go into spasms, to shudder, to jerk, or to thrash about. When we discuss demonic manifestations in this area, we will see that this is exactly what unclean spirits make people do—they cause people to shake uncontrollably or violently, go into spasms, shudder, jerk, and thrash about.

Firstly, we will discuss the manifestation that can and sadly does occur in this area: people pretending to be convulsed by the power of God. Why would anyone want to pretend to behave in such a manner? They do so because they are deceived into thinking that this sort of behaviour is evidence of the Holy Spirit’s anointing on a person. This sort of evidence is not found in Scripture, however, so where do these people get the idea that the Holy Spirit is the One who makes people behave like this? The answer to that question lies in the doctrines of demons that have found their way into some parts of the church (1 Timothy 4:1). Let me explain. There are numerous false prophets in the church today. These false prophets often have unclean spirits attached to them, and when they minister, the demon manifests itself through them in these various ways. The manifestation is obviously visible to all, and the false prophet then attributes it to the anointing of the Holy Spirit being upon them. Because these false prophets often have a substantial following in the church among believers who lack discernment, those same believers then view this type of behaviour as a sign of God’s anointing. Wanting to make others believe that God’s anointing is upon them, immature believers then mimic the convulsive behaviour of the various false prophets. In the passage of Scripture mentioned, our Lord describes those who love to appear spiritual in front of others by praying in public so as to be seen by them. In the same manner, immature believers display convulsive behaviour to appear spiritual in front of others.

Mark 1:23-26 “Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, (24) saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!"  (25)  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"  (26) And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.”

 Luke 9:42 “And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.”

This now brings us to the more serious aspect, which is the actual demonic manifestation in this area. All of the demonic manifestations discussed in this area are forced upon the individual, i.e., the person loses all self-control, which in itself is a clear indication of the type of spirit being manifested. We looked at both of the above passages earlier to show that demons are the ones who throw people to the ground. Nevertheless, these same passages also describe how demons are the ones that convulse people.

Firstly, we will discuss the scenario where the person being prayed for already has a demon. As we saw earlier, some people, even Christians, can have demons that are oppressing them in some way, and those same people are unaware that it is, in fact, a demon that is afflicting them. And so, when believers filled with the Holy Spirit lay hands on them, very often the demon manifests by convulsing the person in some way. It can also happen that the demon manifests without anyone laying hands on them, purely because the person is in a Christian gathering.

The more common manifestations in this area are people shaking uncontrollably or violently and people thrashing about on the floor. Again, if we look at the ministry of Jesus as our example, every time this type of manifestation happened in His ministry, Jesus cast the demon out of the individual. And so, it is incumbent upon either the person laying hands or the leaders of the meeting to discern that an unclean spirit is manifesting and cast the demon out of the individual. But unless either the person laying hands or the leaders recognizes that it is a demon manifesting, nothing will be done to deliver that individual, and they will remain oppressed. And so, sadly, many are never delivered because both those laying hands and the meeting leaders have no discernment and attribute the manifestation to the work of the Holy Spirit.

And then there is the even more disturbing aspect of this type of demonic manifestation, which is when the person laying hands on the individual is the one who themselves has a demon. And so, when that person lays their hands on the individual being prayed for, they impart a similar spirit to that individual, and that spirit then causes the individual to begin convulsing. In these instances, the person laying hands will obviously do nothing about it because they are convinced that this is the work of the Holy Spirit. And so, the individual who is prayed for leaves the meeting with a demon that they didn’t have before.

Some of the more common demonic displays of convulsions in this area are involuntary spasms of doubling over accompanied by some sort of groaning sound, involuntary jerking of the head with some sort of exclamation sound, and also violent shaking of the head. This type of unclean spirit is relatively sophisticated and has an agenda to deceive believers, and so all of these convulsive displays are normally only manifested in Christian meetings to give the impression to those who are undiscerning that this is the anointing of the Holy Spirit being made manifest. Hence it is, as we discussed earlier, that many false prophets display these types of manifestations when they minister in their meetings. False prophets very often endorse the ministries of other false prophets, but it does not end there, for sadly many genuine ministers of the gospel are undiscerning in these areas and are themselves deluded by these manifestations, even endorsing them and the false prophets that display them. Sadly, because of the endorsement of various ministers, many immature believers flock to the meetings of these false prophets, desiring to have those lay hands on them, and thus come away from their meetings having received a similar unclean spirit. I personally know of believers, even some ministers, who display some of these manifestations and are convinced that it is a display of the anointing of the Holy Spirit that is upon them, and they would be offended if you tried to show them otherwise. In all instances, I have observed those same people over time straying further and further away from sound doctrine, as the demon is able to exert more and more influence on their thinking.

Michael E.B. Maher

Holy Spirit Encounters

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