Demonic culture refers to the existence of many godless pagan cultures which are based upon false religions inspired by demons.

1 Timothy 4:1 (NASB)

¹ But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,

This scripture speaks of how demons inspire false religions and they are the inventors of doctrines of demons which govern the lives of millions of people in bondage of false religions on earth.

These demons demand sacrifice and the adherents of false religions must pay and pay with sacrifice to appease demon spirits. These demons have doctrines and these doctrines become a law which adherents of false religions are required to obey.

Ezekiel 20:25 (NIV)

²⁵ I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and laws they could not live by;

There are many misinformed people who have imagined that this scripture above speaks of the Mosaic law of God given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. But this misconception could not be farther from the truth! The statutes that were not good and the laws that they could not live by in fact refer to doctrines of demons incorporated by false religions of pagan people which result in great human suffering and anguish of soul for their adherents.

Romans 7:12 (NIV)

¹² So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

The law of Moses is holy and the command of God is holy and it is righteous and a good thing that brings benefit to all humanity who choose to live by God's laws. This is in direct contrast to the doctrines of demons that cause great human suffering and misery in demon-culture nations of idolatry and curse.

Ezekiel 20:23-25 (NIV)

²³ Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the desert that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries,

²⁴ because they had not obeyed my laws but had rejected my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes [lusted] after their fathers' idols.

²⁵ I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and laws they could not live by;

God's people did not keep his laws therefore God swore to them that they would be dispersed among the pagan nations and be scattered through the various countries of earth. These countries were godless and pagan and did not have the knowledge of God (as the Jewish people had). Therefore, it was a curse to the Jews to be dispersed among the godless nations of the Goyim (Gentiles) because at that time these godless people all followed demonic-culture based upon doctrines of demons.

While living in dispersion among the godless nations the Jews were forced to obey the demonic laws of these wicked people who had no knowledge of God. This is what it means when the scripture says that they were given over to statutes that were not good and laws that they could not live by! It was these doctrines of demons that were the basis of pagan culture and caused trouble and misery and heartache to those in bondage to live under such demonic-culture.

Ezekiel 20:26 (NIV)

²⁶ I let them become defiled through their gifts--the sacrifice of every firstborn--that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the LORD.'

The Jewish people were defiled through their gifts and the sacrifice of every firstborn but this is not referring to the firstborn livestock but rather the firstborn of their own children! This is what defiled them when they followed demonic-culture and offered their own children as sacrifices to demons! This practice filled them with horror and it made them know that the Lord was not like demons because God forbid such an evil practice!

Leviticus 20:1-5 (NIV)

¹ The LORD said to Moses,

² "Say to the Israelites: 'Any Israelite or any alien living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the community are to stone him.

³ I will set my face against that man and I will cut him off from his people; for by giving his children to Molech, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name.

⁴ If the people of the community close their eyes when that man gives one of his children to Molech and they fail to put him to death,

⁵ I will set my face against that man and his family and will cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molech.

Any Israelite who sacrificed their children to the false god Molech was to be executed for that crime. If anyone was silent about this practice and silently tolerated this demonic idol worship culture then those people were also to be put to death! The death sentence shows the gravity of the sin of offering human sacrifice to demons and to be silent about if if they know what is going on.

1 Kings 11:7 (NASB)

⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.

Molech was the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon and the doctrines of demons which governed Molech worship demanded human sacrifice. Demons desire to cause pain and suffering for humans so any demon-doctrine which governs false pagan religions will typically involve things that cause suffering or heartache for the adherents who follow these demonic false religions.

Judges 11:1-2 (NIV)

¹ Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute.

² Gilead's wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. "You are not going to get any inheritance in our family," they said, "because you are the son of another woman."

Jephthah had a Jewish father who was from Gilead but his mother was a prostitute so this indicates his mother was probably an Canaanite. This would make Jephthah half-Canaanite and having a Canaanite mother also influenced his upbringing and his religious views about God.

Judges 11:3 (NIV)

³ So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where a group of adventurers gathered around him and followed him.

Jephthah went to live in the land of Tob which was probably just north of the land of Ammon (the founders of the false demon-culture of human sacrifice and the worship of the idol Molech).

While living in the land of Tob, Jephthah was among the pagans who were obviously influenced by the demon-culture of the nearby Ammonites. This is reflected in the mindset of Jephthah which was twisted and perverted by demon-culture to view the God of Israel as if God was a demon who demanded human sacrifice. Such demon-doctrines result in human suffering and anguish and heartache.

Judges 11:4-10 (NIV)

⁴ Some time later, when the Ammonites made war on Israel,

⁵ the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob.

⁶ "Come," they said, "be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites."

⁷ Jephthah said to them, "Didn't you hate me and drive me from my father's house? Why do you come to me now, when you're in trouble?"

⁸ The elders of Gilead said to him, "Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be our head over all who live in Gilead."

⁹ Jephthah answered, "Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me--will I really be your head?"

¹⁰ The elders of Gilead replied, "The LORD is our witness; we will certainly do as you say."

When the Ammonite people declared war on Israel, Jephthah was needed for military leadership so the elders of Gilead (who were aware of the military and leadership ability of Jephthah) went to call for his help in the war against the Ammonites. They promised him the role of king if he could defeat their enemies in battle.

Judges 11:11 (NIV)

¹¹ So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And he repeated all his words before the LORD in Mizpah.

Jephthah made a covenant with God in Mizpah pouring his heart out before the Lord in faith concerning the upcoming war with the nation of Ammon.

Judges 11:29-33 (NIV)

²⁹ Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites.

³⁰ And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD: "If you give the Ammonites into my hands,

³¹ whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering."

³² Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into his hands.

³³ He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.

The pagan influence of living among those who practice demon-culture had an effect upon Jephthah and therefore he falsely assumed that the God of Israel would be pleased if he would offer the greatest thing he owned. He was influenced by the demon-culture of the Ammonites who sacrificed their children to the idol Molech as human sacrifices. Jephthah therefore made a promise to God to sacrifice the first person who came out his door to greet him when he came home in victory! This of course would be his only daughter who would typically run to greet her father every time he came home!

Judges 11:34-40 (NIV)

³⁴ When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter.

³⁵ When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, "Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break."

³⁶ "My father," she replied, "you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites.

³⁷ But grant me this one request," she said. "Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry."

³⁸ "You may go," he said. And he let her go for two months. She and the girls went into the hills and wept because she would never marry.

³⁹ After the two months, she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin. From this comes the Israelite custom

⁴⁰ that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

So, Jephthah sacrificed his only child to God as a burnt offering supposing that God would be pleased with his great sacrifice just as the idol Molech demanded that parents would offer their firstborn as part of the demon-culture of these pagan people.

Jeremiah 32:35 (NASB)

³⁵ "They built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

The God of Israel spoke to the prophet Jeremiah and said that it never entered his mind that anyone should do such an abomination as sacrificing their children in the fire as a burnt offering! If Jephthah would have studied the Torah of Moses he could have discovered that God was not pleased with human sacrifice and God even commanded a death penalty for those those engaged in this abomination and to those who remained silent when such evil deeds were committed in the land!

Leviticus 18:21 (NIV)

²¹ "'Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.

God commanded that his people should never follow the demon-culture of the pagan godless tribes who sacrificed their own children to demons. They were not to profane the name of the Lord God by presuming evil of God that He held the same characteristics of demons and desired to have human sacrifice.

Deuteronomy 18:9-12 (NIV)

⁹ When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.

¹⁰ Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,

¹¹ or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.

¹² Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you.

God's people were forbidden to imitate the detestable ways of the heathen nations around them. They were not to worship the God of Israel in the manner that the pagans worshiped the demons using human sacrifice. Anyone who burned their children in the fire as human sacrifices were doing that which was detestable in God's sight. It was because of such demon-inspired culture that God would drive out and completely destroy all of these godless nations that occupied the Promised Land.

2 Kings 17:16-18 (KJV)

¹⁶ And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.

¹⁷ And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

¹⁸ Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.

The northern nation of Israel followed pagan ways and sacrificed their own children as burnt offerings to demons and followed they ways of the heathens and provoked God to anger by their wickedness!

2 Kings 16:2-3 (NIV)

² Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God.

³ He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, following the detestable ways of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

Even Ahaz the king of Judah ended up following the detestable ways of the godless nations God drove out before the Israelites and he sacrificed his own son in the fire like a pagan! This shows the godless influence that the heathen people and their demon-culture had upon the Israelites.

2 Kings 21:1 (KJV)

¹ Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah.

2 Kings 21:6 (KJV)

⁶ And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

Manasseh (the son of Hezekiah) become totally godless in behavior and he also sacrificed his own son as a burnt offering to the demons. This behavior was wicked in God's sight and resulted in the total destruction of the nation under God's judgment for this sin of shedding innocent blood to demons.

When God Commanded Human Sacrifice

Genesis 22:1-2 (NIV)

¹ Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.

² Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

The only instance that God ever commanded that someone offer human sacrifice was the instance of God asking Abraham to offer his only son Isaac as a burnt offering on one of the mountains God would show him in the region of Moriah. But it should be noted here that this was a type and a shadow of God offering his own Son Jesus as a offering for the sins of all humanity. God even directed Abraham to the very location where the temple of God was later built upon the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite near Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 24:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ On that day Gad went to David and said to him, "Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite."

This was the same location where Jesus was later sacrificed for the sins of all mankind!

Genesis 22:9-13 (NIV)

⁹ When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

¹¹ But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.

¹² "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

It should also be noted that Isaac was not killed and he was not burned as a sacrifice because God stopped this before it occurred. Instead Abraham took a ram that was caught by its horns in a thicket and offered this animal in place of his only son Isaac. Thus this speaks of the substitutionary death and sacrifice of Jesus the only Son of God who was died in place of wicked humanity (the innocent dying for the guilty) in a substitutionary death.

The only time that God ever commanded a human sacrifice and burnt offering was that of Abraham willingly offering his only son Isaac. But in this case Isaac was never killed or burned in the fire. Even God's Son Jesus was later raised from the dead so no one was harmed in these two human sacrifices made to God.

This however is in great contrast to demon-culture because the devil tries to imitate everything God does but only in a perverted and demonic manner! Abraham offered his son Isaac to God but was stopped before Isaac was harmed. Demons however demand that pagan people offer their own children as burn offerings and these children all die gruesome deaths!

The devil only apes that which God has done but no blessing comes out of the human sacrifices demanded by demons! Demon-culture only causes pain and heartache and suffering for those in bondage to these evil religions that are inspired by demons!

Ezekiel 20:31-32 (NIV)

³¹ When you offer your gifts--the sacrifice of your sons in the fire--you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. Am I to let you inquire of me, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I will not let you inquire of me.

³² "'You say, "We want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone." But what you have in mind will never happen.

The Israelites became defiled by following the demon-culture of the pagans around them. They imitated the pagans in sacrificing their own children in the fire as human sacrifices. They wanted to forsake the living God of truth and serve demons and join the demon-inspired cultures of the heathen nations around them. God said that they would never inquire of him for anything because God will not speak to those who are evil and wicked and offer their children as burnt offerings to demons.

Again, it should be noted that the only two human sacrifices that were authorized by God was the command of Abraham to sacrifice his own son Isaac and the human sacrifice of God offering His own Son Jesus as an offering for the sins of all humanity! But in both cases no one was harmed because the sacrifice of Abraham was stopped before the blood of Isaac was shed and Jesus was raised from the death and now lives eternally!

All other human sacrifices are those inspired by demons which want to inflict pain and heartache and misery upon humans by their demon-inspired culture of evil!

Ezekiel 20:25-26 (NIV)

²⁵ I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and laws they could not live by;

²⁶ I let them become defiled through their gifts--the sacrifice of every firstborn--that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the LORD.'

When God gave the Israelites over to statutes that were not good and laws that they could not live by this refers to the demon-culture of the pagan nations where the Israelites were dispersed because of breaking God's laws. They soon discovered that serving God was a good thing compared to serving demons who demand sacrifice and suffering and caused them to pay and pay until their lives were a drudgery and misery and filled with heartache and grief!

Ezekiel 20:26 (NIV)

²⁶ I let them become defiled through their gifts--the sacrifice of every firstborn--that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the LORD.'

Again, this is a demonic perversion of God's requirement of the firstborn of livestock when the demon cultures of the heathen nations demanded the sacrifice of their firstborn children to the demons.

Satan lusts for the place of standing (in the role of God) and wants to be equal with God and worshiped as God. Demon-inspired false religions will typically demand that their adherents sacrifice and pay and pay as a means of worship of the demons. Throughout world history there have been numerous false religions inspired by demons which required human sacrifice. This was true during biblical times when Joshua entered the Promised Land and it was true of primitive cultures like the Sawi tribe in Indonesia who were still engaged in human sacrifice when Don Richardson arrived in 1962.

I have met Filipino people who speak of human sacrifices still being made secretly by native tribes in places in northern Luzon. All of this type of behavior is part of demon-culture which was followed for thousands of years by pagan peoples who existed without the knowledge of the living God.

The gospel has the effect of cleaning up all heathen cultures by removing from them those things that are detrimental to the people. If the people are teachable and willing to receive truth they can learn the ways of the God of Israel and have their demon-culture purified to remove those things which are bad for them.

Micah 6:7 (NIV)

⁷ Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

Humans cannot pay for their own sins by offering their fruit of their body (their own children) as a burnt offering for the Lord. Only God was able to offer his own Son Jesus as an atonement for the sin of all humanity. But God raised his Son from the dead and this is something that the demons cannot do. Demons only demand human sacrifice to cause heartache and human suffering but this type of sacrifices cannot accomplish anything beneficial. Only the sacrifice of Jesus was able to pay for the sins of all humanity with one sacrifice once and for all. There is no more need for anyone to try to pay for their sins with human sacrifice.

If people falsely presume God desires human sacrifice then they are ignorant of God's word which forbids such practices. Jephthah was of this nature and supposed that God was like a demon and would be pleased if he offered his only child as a burn offering. But this is not something God desires and God expressly forbid such activity even condemning it with the threat of the death penalty.

God gave Jephthah victory (not because God wanted to have human sacrifice) but because Jephthah displayed faith in going forward and attacking the godless enemies of Israel. But then Jephthah committed the same sin of the Ammonites (that he just destroyed) by offering his own child as a burn offering. This shows that his mind had been perverted by demon-culture and twisted thinking so that his reasoning processes were perverted to make him think like a pagan!

Never did God want anyone to offer their children as a human sacrifice. Again this was only commanded of Abraham but it was stopped before Isaac was harmed. It was only a type and a shadow to explain that just as Abraham offered his only son Isaac so God would also offer his only Son Jesus as an atonement for the sins of all humanity. The ram that was a substitute for Isaac speaks of Jesus being a substitute for all sinful humanity. Other than than these two human sacrifices (of Isaac and Jesus) no other human sacrifice was ever demanded by God!

People must not become like Jephthah and presume God is evil and is like a demon that demands constant sacrifice. God is a loving God and does not cause human suffering and pain (which is the task of Satan). God is the healer and God can reverse the curse for those who once were in bondage to demon-culture and living in misery and sin.

The gospel has the good-effect of purifying any culture of people who come to faith in Jesus Christ.

Ezekiel 20:23-26 (NIV)

²³ Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the desert that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries,

²⁴ because they had not obeyed my laws but had rejected my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes [lusted] after their fathers' idols.

²⁵ I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and laws they could not live by;

²⁶ I let them become defiled through their gifts--the sacrifice of every firstborn--that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the LORD.'

Again, this scripture is not referring to the laws of God given by Moses on Mount Sinai but rather this speaks of the demon-culture of pagan nations in which the sinning Israelites were dispersed. This evil demon-culture demanded human sacrifice of every firstborn child. These statutes and laws were dictated by demons and followed by superstitious people who put them into effect. The end result was living in horror and misery and continual sacrifice trying to appease demons that can never be appeased. It was a great contrast from serving a loving God who cared for the people rather than serving demons who hate humans and seek their suffering and pain and destruction!

Ezekiel 16:20-21 (NIV)

²⁰ "'And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough?

²¹ You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols.

When God's people became like the pagans and practiced the demon-culture of human sacrifice then this brought about judgment of God that resulted in the complete destruction of the nation of Israel and the deportation of those who survived the war and famine and plagues. Demon-culture always brings a curse and can destroy any nation of people who engage in such abominations before God!