The demonic realm hungers for blood. We’ve all heard about satanic rituals where blood is shed or even drank, so there’s certainly enough information and proof that adherents of darkness who follow Satan and his minions perform abhorrent practices. Have you ever wondered why, or to what end?
First, it’s important to understand there are spiritual entities which aspire to power, even to the extent of replacing God Himself. We’re shown this in the Bible right from the beginning of Genesis with the serpent tempting Eve. He convinced her that she could be like God and know all that He was withholding from her. It was a lie, of course, but one that she believed. Adam in his naivety went right along with it, and here we are today, their descendants who have inherited their sinful nature from of old.
The serpent – probably Satan – to have seduced Eve with this fallacy, had to have had the notion in the first place that God could be taken down or replaced in some manner. It was actually his initial rebellion and sin that began the descent into darkness which we’re experiencing today. There’s also plenty of Scriptural evidence that many other inhabitants of the heavenly host rebelled as well – likely at the instigation of Satan. We have only to look at the accounts of Genesis 6 (sons of God producing Nephilim with human women) and Genesis 11 (Tower of Babel with God’s sons placed over resulting nations and becoming their gods) to see that foolish ambition isn’t limited to us humans. It’s been part of the nature of many spiritual beings since their creation as well.
Secondly, one truth we’re shown Biblically is that only by the shedding of blood is sin forgiven. In the Old Testament theocracy of Israel this came about through animal sacrifice. These animals had to be first-born and without blemish, foreshadowing the coming of Jesus. Through the shedding of these many beasts, the sins of the people were covered, and they became acceptable to come before Yahweh and worship. When Jesus came, He became the perfect sacrifice for all time, doing away with the necessity of killing animals for their blood covering.
In this we see that there is power in the blood; so much so that because Jesus died and shed His blood for us, we who believe now have right-standing with God and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. This miraculous act both empowers us today and gives us the assurance that we will rise from the dead and be with the Lord forever.
Given the efficacy of blood in doing all this from a righteous and Godly perspective, is it any wonder that Satan appropriated this act to use it for his own devious means? If blood has this much power for good, then it likewise has much potential for evil. In the same manner, we’re shown how much miraculous power that angels have when sent by God to do His bidding. Rebellious angels have this same power. They haven’t lost it; it’s just that they use it for dark deeds rather than good ones.
Satanic rituals use lots of blood. Followers of the dark arts sacrifice animals and perform black masses. They drink the blood that is sacrificed. All this empowers the demonic entities urging these people onward. There’s also much evidence that when people drink blood, this creates an even greater demonic stronghold on these individuals that is extremely difficult to break, even when they turn from these dark practices, renounce them, and declare Jesus as their Savior. They may no longer be possessed, but they can certainly continue to be oppressed and harassed until they walk completely in God’s righteousness and shut the door that remains open in their life to their past.
What is some of the power that comes from the unrighteous shedding of blood? In 2 Kings 3:27 we see an example. The kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom had joined together to fight against Moab. God intervened and gave them an initial victory. However, only Jehoshaphat of Judah was a righteous king; this likely contributed to what happened next. The other two kings weren’t Godly and didn’t have His favor. When the king of Moab saw that he was losing the battle, he performed an extreme act:
Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.
In obeisance to his god, he offered the human sacrifice of his oldest son. The king shed this young man’s blood in order to gain the demonic power he sought. Because of the situation, i.e. that only one of the three kings who opposed him was Godly, there was apparently enough unrighteousness in the other two kings that God allowed the Moabite king to prevail through his actions.
This king’s dark deed empowered the demonic minions so that there came great wrath against Israel.
We must understand that this only occurred because God sanctioned it. In His doing so, this allowed the gods this evil king served to have the necessary power to strengthen their human followers and defeat the Israelite army.
It’s an illustration that we do well to realize gives us insight today as to the spiritual battle in which we’re engaged. It brings to life Paul’s description in Ephesians 6:12:
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
The three kings coming against Moab weren’t fighting on the natural human level; they were part of this spiritual war. Because only one of them was righteous, God allowed Israel with its ungodly king , Jehoram, to be defeated. As usual, Yahweh was trying to teach His people a lesson. With Him, all things were possible; without Him, they were lost.
If we walk in the power of God through our salvation in Jesus Christ, we have the only means of victory against the dark forces we face everyday. In Christ we have life, and that more abundantly. He alone enables us to triumph over all forces arrayed against us. Hallelujah!