Where Do Demons Come From? What I Found After the Camera Stopped

Hey! Ever since I became a believer, I've had one question in the back of my mind: where do demons actually come from? I've never gotten a straight answer. So when I came across Timothy Alberino (the "rogue archaeologist") on the Michael Knowles Show saying demons are the spirits of giants, I had to react.

What he's claiming

It starts with one of the strangest passages in the Bible:

In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilim lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times.Genesis 6:4 (NLT)

Alberino believes the "sons of God" were fallen angels, and their children were the Nephilim giants. When those giants died, he says, their spirits were cursed to wander the earth, hungry and thirsty, with all the desires of the flesh but no body to satisfy them. That, according to him, is what a demon is. It's why they want to get inside a person.

He even used Pirates of the Caribbean to explain it: Barbossa can't taste the apple because he's cursed. Honestly? It's a good illustration.

Where that idea comes from

After the camera stopped, I looked it up. The idea that demons are the spirits of the giants comes from the Book of Enoch, an ancient Jewish book that isn't in our Bible. Alberino says that himself in the video.

To be fair, the early church knew Enoch well. Jude even quotes it (Jude 14–15). But quoting a book doesn't make it Scripture. Paul quoted Greek poets too (Acts 17:28), and nobody puts those poems in the Bible.

The Bible itself never tells us exactly where demons come from. What it does do is connect them closely to Satan and his angels:

Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, "Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons."Matthew 25:41 (NLT)

The part that stopped me

The strongest moment in the video was when Jesus meets the man full of demons on the shore. Listen to what they scream:

They began screaming at him, "Why are you interfering with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before God's appointed time?"Matthew 8:29 (NLT)

Whatever demons are, they know judgment is coming. They know there's an appointed time. And they know exactly who the Judge is: Jesus. They're not fighting Him. They're begging Him.

Do I need to know where they came from?

Here's where I landed. I still don't fully understand it, and you know what? I don't have to.

The LORD our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we are accountable for what he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.Deuteronomy 29:29 (NLT)

Do I need to know demons are evil? Yes. Do I need to know their whole origin story? No. Being informed is one thing. Playing with this stuff is a whole different story. If you play with fire, you're going to get burned.

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.James 4:7 (NLT)

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.1 John 4:4 (NLT)