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Somewhere in my studies in the truth dating back to 1974, I learned that Satan can not read the mind. He can put things into our minds but he can't get anything out of it as long as there's no outward indication. I've searched the CD Rom looking for the support for that but can't find anything. Can someone help please?

Thanks!!

Hey Heather! :clap:


Hows it going mate? :thumbsup:


I dont think that Satan needs to be able to read our minds -- humans are far too predictable anyway. We are so full of "stuff" that he doesnt even need to do ANYTHING! All of "his" sinful information is already locked up inside us. We just got to choose to keep on forgiving ourselves, and move on.


Cheers buddy! :giverose::thumbsup:

Hi dig...Satan is roaming around the earth seeking to devour someone. He observes and then "pounces" on our weaknesses which are perceived through how we react, what we say, and do. If we are able to restrain any outward indication of our weaknesses we "oppose Satan and he flees." I have experienced the benefits of not indicating certain reactions to things that he could use. Since he is reading what I'm writing I think I'll not give an instance. Suffice it to say that he has the power to put things in my mind and then sit back and see how I react. I choose not to react.

There is scripture that, if reasoned on, would lead us to understand that he can not read minds. I'm trying to find that scriptural support since I opened my big mouth and witnessed to someone that this was so and, of course, she wants scriptures to support. I suspect that it has something to do with the demons being confined to "dense darkness" after Noah's flood. That confinement (which also includes the demons' leader Satan) kept them from materializing as humans but also includes no further access to the powers of God's angelic beings. That seems to be as far as I can get with it. I need more.

Thanks for your thoughts. Nice to hear from you!!

Love, Heather

Hi jammin4,

I had a quick run through and what you said "There is scripture that, if reasoned on, would lead us to understand that he can not read minds. I'm trying to find that scriptural support..."

If it helps wt62 7/1 Question from readers asks if Satan can read minds.


Tessa

*** w62 7/1 p. 415 Questions From Readers ***

• Can Satan and his demons read our minds?—M. C., United States.

There is nothing in the Scriptures to indicate that Satan and his demons can read our minds or thoughts. Rather, the implication of the Scriptures is that only God can read the mind of man: “Mere man sees what appears to the eyes; but as for Jehovah, he sees what the heart is.” Further we are told regarding God: “There is not a creation that is not manifest to his sight, but all things are naked and openly exposed to the eyes of him with whom we have an accounting.”—1 Sam. 16:7; Heb. 4:13.

However, most likely the demons can, because of higher intelligence and better powers of observation, note what is in the mind of man because of his actions and facial expressions. Thus when a man goes contrary to Matthew 5:28 it may be apparent on his face, and so one could tell what is in his mind even though being unable to read it. So they may take advantage of weaknesses that one makes evident and tempt him to sin.

This underscores the importance of right thinking and dependence upon Jehovah. When wrong thoughts enter the mind they should be rejected at once; they should not be entertained, opening the way to sin. (Jas. 1:14, 15) Rather, draw close to God through prayer and meditation on his Word, because in this will be found protection against wrong desires and against the temptations of the Devil and his demons.—Jas. 4:7, 8; Phil. 4:8, 9.

Warm Christian Love
Bangalore

*** w03 6/15 p. 30 Questions From Readers ***

Questions From Readers

Does Satan the Devil have the ability to read the human mind?

Although we cannot be dogmatic, it would appear that neither Satan nor his demons have the ability to read our thoughts.

Consider the descriptive names ascribed to Satan. He is called Satan (Resister), Devil (Slanderer), Serpent (synonymous with Deceiver), Tempter, and Liar. (Job 1:6; Matthew 4:3; John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 11:3; Revelation 12:9) None of these descriptive names imply that Satan has the ability to read minds.

By way of contrast, however, Jehovah God is described as “the examiner of hearts.” (Proverbs 17:3; 1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Chronicles 29:17) “There is not a creation that is not manifest to his [Jehovah’s] sight,” declares Hebrews 4:13, “but all things are naked and openly exposed to the eyes of him with whom we have an accounting.” Not surprisingly, Jehovah has granted the ability to examine hearts to his Son, Jesus. The resurrected Jesus declared: “I am he who searches the kidneys and hearts, and I will give to you individually according to your deeds.”—Revelation 2:23.

The Bible does not say that Satan is able to search men’s hearts and minds. This is significant, inasmuch as the apostle Paul assures us that Christians “are not ignorant of [Satan’s] designs.” (2 Corinthians 2:11) So we need not fear that Satan has some extraordinary ability of which we are entirely unaware.

Nevertheless, this is not to say that our Adversary cannot discern our weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Satan has had centuries to study human behavior. He does not need to be able to read minds to discern what patterns of behavior we set, to observe what entertainment we pursue, or to listen to what things we talk about, and so forth. Our facial expressions and posture may also give clues as to what we are thinking or feeling.

By and large, though, Satan uses the same devices that he used in the garden of Eden—lies, deception, and misinformation. (Genesis 3:1-5) While Christians need not fear that Satan will read their minds, they do have reason to be concerned about what thoughts Satan might try to put into their minds. He wants Christians to become “corrupted in mind and despoiled of the truth.” (1 Timothy 6:5) Little wonder that Satan’s world has unleashed a flood of corrupting information and entertainment. To withstand this onslaught, Christians must protect their minds by wearing “the helmet of salvation.” (Ephesians 6:17) They do this by filling their minds with Bible truths and avoiding unnecessary contact with the unsavory elements of Satan’s world.

Satan is a formidable foe. But we need not have a morbid fear of him or his demons. James 4:7 assures us: “Oppose the Devil, and he will flee from you.” If we follow this counsel, we will be able to declare, like Jesus, that Satan has no hold on us.—John 14:30.

Warm Christian Love
Bangalore

Personally I don't see what difference it makes, but it must be a common concern to merit a QFR article.

Satan's powers are limited - they are limited to whatever Almighty God allows. The book of Job is insightful in this regard in that the devil is given permission to bring calamity upon Job. Also Jesus had give the go ahead to Satan to have him executed.

We don't need to fear the devil - instead fear God and give him glory. Almighty God is in control; he never fell off the throne.

Bangalore and Tessa, perfect!!! Thank you very much!! I'll take these back to my return visit for further consideration. Justin, I believe that the more we understand Satan and his machinations, the more well equipped we become to oppose him!! Thanks to everyone for assistance with this one!!

Going by anecdotal evidence it might indicate that the devil/spiritual forces can read minds. Those who investigate the paranormal often report such phenomena from a variety of sources in that area. I agree with Justin however that it doesnt matter. What could a human know that the devil wouldn't anyway. The bible would seem to indicate that whatever spirits were put under chains of dense darkness certainly didn't affect Satan's ability to enter before God himself in heaven in order to take his station. So a reasonable view might be that some spirits were chained up but others are not. Also we are told that the demons became such by a simple thing like sex. It doesnt seem reasonable that no others have rebelled since that time, particularly as Satan still had access to heaven up to at least Jesus` time.

Luk 4:5 And the Devil, having brought Him into a high mountain, showed to Him all the kingdoms of the inhabited earth in a moment of time.
Luk 4:6 And the Devil said to Him, "I will give to You all this authority and their glory, because it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I shall be desiring.

In this scripture it seems that Satan had been given, presumably by God, all authority on the earth at that time. Seems unlikely that he wouldn't be able to know what his subjects were thinking and doing. Somehow if Jesus had taken up the offer, Satan would have needed a way to make good his promise otherwise Jesus would have contradicted his claim.

I think also the biblical evidence that the demons cannot materialize fleshly body's is also very weak. Other paranormal phenomena would also lead away from such a black and white conclusion.

Good morning brother:

Thank you for this info and another fine example of "the light getting brighter" coz in this second version, 41years later, "the faithful and discreet slave" managed to mention Jesus and Christians a couple of times!!!

Thank you sis jammin for your question "nudging" me to go searching beyond what is normal, for me, coz i even dusted off my "Insight" book :D

If anyone still has a copy of "You can Live Forever in Paradise" book, chapter 10 helped me with recognizing the many ways satan uses to mislead us especially in these high tech wicked last days, i.e. dangerous hand held, crash causing "gadgets" that divert our attention physically and spiritually. It Does Matter! imo

Praise Jah and Jesus We People!!! Keep on the Watch Everybody!!! :cheer:

Much Christian Love and Prayers to ALL :grouphug::heartbeat:
sis

With all due respect for your beliefs, Seraphim, I avoid the "paranormal" since I understand that it is a demonic mechanism meant to deceive and mislead. I feel, also, that to know for a certainty that Satan can not read my mind gives me another way of opposing him. Through practice I have proven he can not read my mind to be a fact. Sis Lee referred to an excellent reference, The Live Forever book, Chapter 10:

Chapter 10
Wicked Spirits Are Powerful
OFTEN PEOPLE say they have talked with the dead. The late James A. Pike, a prominent Episcopalian bishop, said he talked with his dead son, Jim. According to Pike, his son told him: “I have masses of people around me, and hands lifting me up, as it were . . . I was so unhappy until I could make you know.”
2 Since such experiences are so common, it is evident that many people have spoken with someone from the spirit world. But they have not talked with the dead. The Bible is very clear when it says: “As for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) So if it is not the dead who are speaking from the spirit world, who are speaking? Who are pretending to be dead persons?
3 Wicked spirits are. These spirits, or demons, are the angels who joined Satan in rebellion against God. Why do they pretend to be persons who have died? It is to advance the idea that the dead are still living. Wicked spirits have also led many to believe the lie that death is only a change to another life. To spread this lie, wicked spirits provide spirit mediums, fortune-tellers and sorcerers with special knowledge that only seems to come from persons who have died.
PRETENDING TO BE DEAD SAMUEL
4 There is an example in the Bible of a wicked spirit who pretended to be a dead prophet of God, Samuel. This was in the 40th year of King Saul’s reign. A powerful army of Philistines had come up against Saul’s Israelite army, and he was very much afraid. Saul knew God’s law: “Do not turn yourselves to the spirit mediums, and do not consult professional foretellers of events, so as to become unclean by them.” (Leviticus 19:31) In time, however, Saul turned away from Jehovah. Therefore Samuel, who at the time was alive, refused any longer to see Saul. (1 Samuel 15:35) And now, in this time of trouble, King Saul was desperate because Jehovah would not listen to his calls for help.
5 Saul was so eager to learn about what was going to happen that he went to a spirit medium in En-dor. She was able to bring forth the form of a person that she could see. By her description of the form, Saul identified him as “Samuel.” At this the spirit person, pretending to be Samuel, spoke: “Why have you disturbed me by having me brought up?” Saul answered: “I am in very sore straits, as the Philistines are fighting against me.” The spirit person replied: “Why, then, do you inquire of me, when Jehovah himself has departed from you and proves to be your adversary?” The wicked spirit person, who was pretending to be the dead Samuel, then went on to tell Saul that he would be killed in the battle with the Philistines.—1 Samuel 28:3-19.
6 Obviously, it was not really Samuel that the spirit medium had contacted. Samuel was dead, and at death a person “goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.” (Psalm 146:4) A little thinking on the matter further shows that the voice was not really that of dead Samuel. Samuel was God’s prophet. So he had opposed spirit mediums. And, as we have seen, while he was alive he had refused to speak any more with disobedient Saul. So, then, if Samuel were still alive, would he allow a spirit medium to arrange for him to meet Saul? Think too: Jehovah had refused to give Saul any information. Could a spirit medium force Jehovah to give Saul a message through dead Samuel? And if the living could actually talk with dead loved ones, surely a God of love would not say that they had become “unclean” because of turning to a spirit medium.
7 The fact is that wicked spirits are out to harm humans, so Jehovah gives warnings to protect his servants. Read the following warning to the nation of Israel. It gives you an idea of methods that the demons use to mislead people. The Bible says: “There should not be found in you . . . anyone who employs divination, a practicer of magic or anyone who looks for omens or a sorcerer, or one who binds others with a spell or anyone who consults a spirit medium or a professional foreteller of events or anyone who inquires of the dead. For everybody doing these things is something detestable to Jehovah.” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12) We should want to find out what wicked spirits are doing to harm people today and how we can protect ourselves from them. But before we learn about this, let us consider when and how the wicked spirits got their start.
ANGELS THAT BECAME WICKED SPIRITS
8 By lying to Eve in the garden of Eden, a certain angelic creature made himself the wicked spirit Satan the Devil. Afterward he began trying to get other angels also to turn against God. In time he succeeded. Some angels stopped the work that God had given them to do in heaven, and they came down to earth and made for themselves fleshly bodies like those of humans. The Christian disciple Jude wrote about them when he mentioned “the angels that did not keep their original position but forsook their own proper dwelling place.” (Jude 6) Why did they come to the earth? What wrong desire did Satan put in their heart to get them to leave the fine positions they had in heaven?
9 The Bible lets us know when it says: “The sons of the true God began to notice the daughters of men, that they were good-looking; and they went taking wives for themselves, namely, all whom they chose.” (Genesis 6:2) Yes, the angels put on fleshly bodies, and they came to earth to have sexual relations with beautiful women. But such love affairs were wrong for angels. This was an act of disobedience. The Bible indicates that what they did was just as wrong as the homosexual acts of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Jude 6, 7) What resulted?
10 Well, babies were born to these angels and their wives. But the babies were different. They kept growing bigger until they became giants, yes, wicked giants. The Bible calls them “mighty ones who were of old, the men of fame.” These giants tried to force everyone to be bad as they were. As a result, the Bible says that “the badness of man was abundant in the earth and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only bad all the time.” (Genesis 6:4, 5) So Jehovah brought the Flood. The giants, or “Nephilim,” and all the wicked people were drowned. But what happened to the angels that had come to earth?
11 They did not drown. They put aside their fleshly bodies and returned to heaven as spirit persons. But they were not allowed to become part of God’s organization of holy angels again. Instead, the Bible says that “God did not hold back from punishing the angels that sinned, but, by throwing them into Tartarus, delivered them to pits of dense darkness to be reserved for judgment.”—2 Peter 2:4.
12 These wicked angels were not thrown into a literal place called Tartarus. Rather, Tartarus, which is mistranslated “hell” in some Bibles, refers to the abased or fallen condition of these angels. They were cut off from the spiritual light of God’s organization, and they have only everlasting destruction awaiting them. (James 2:19; Jude 6) Since the time of the Flood, God has not permitted these demon angels to take on fleshly bodies, so they cannot directly satisfy their unnatural sexual desires. Yet they can still exercise dangerous power over men and women. In fact, with the help of these demons Satan is “misleading the entire inhabited earth.” (Revelation 12:9) The great increase today in sexual crimes, violence and other wrongdoing shows our need to be on guard against being misled by them.
HOW WICKED SPIRITS MISLEAD
13 We learned earlier that Satan, as “the god of this system of things,” uses worldly governments and false religion to blind people to Bible truths. (2 Corinthians 4:4) Another important way that wicked spirits mislead men and women is through spiritism. What is spiritism? It is the getting in touch with wicked spirits, either directly or through a human medium. Spiritism brings a person under the influence of the demons. The Bible warns us to keep free from every practice connected with spiritism.—Galatians 5:19-21; Revelation 21:8.
14 Divination is a very common form of spiritism. It is the practice of trying to find out about the future, or about something unknown, with the help of unseen spirits. This is shown by what the Christian disciple Luke wrote: “A certain servant girl with a spirit, a demon of divination, met us. She used to furnish her masters with much gain by practicing the art of prediction.” The apostle Paul was able to free the girl from the power of this wicked spirit, and no longer was she able to foretell the future.—Acts 16:16-19.
15 Many persons are interested in spiritism because it is mysterious and strange. It fascinates them. So they become involved with witchcraft, voodooism, hypnotism, magic, astrology, Ouija boards or something else connected with spiritism. They may read books about these things, or go to movies, or watch television programs about them. They may even go to a meeting where a medium seeks to contact the spirit world. But all of this is unwise for a person who wants to serve the true God. It is also dangerous. It can lead to real trouble now. Also, God will judge and cast away from him all practicers of spiritism.—Revelation 22:15.
16 Even when a person does all he can to keep free from spiritism, he may still come under attack by wicked spirits. Recall that the voice of the Devil himself was heard by Jesus Christ, tempting him to break God’s law. (Matthew 4:8, 9) Other servants of God have had such attacks. The apostle Paul said: “We have a wrestling . . . against the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places.” This means that every servant of God must “take up the complete suit of armor from God, that [he] may be able to resist.”—Ephesians 6:11-13.
RESISTING WICKED SPIRIT ATTACKS
17 What should you do if a “voice” from the spirit world speaks to you? What if the “voice” pretends to be a dead relative or a good spirit? Well, what did Jesus do when the “ruler of the demons” spoke to him? (Matthew 9:34) He said: “Go away, Satan!” (Matthew 4:10) You can do that too. Also, you can call on Jehovah for help. Pray out loud and use God’s name. Remember that he is more powerful than are wicked spirits. Follow this wise course. Do not listen to such voices from the spirit world. (Proverbs 18:10; James 4:7) This does not mean that everyone who hears “voices” is being spoken to by demons. At times the hearing of voices can be traced to certain physical or mental illnesses.
18 Maybe at one time you shared in some practice of spiritism and you now want to break free. What can you do? Well, consider the example of early Christians at Ephesus. After they had accepted the “word of Jehovah” preached by the apostle Paul, the Bible says: “Quite a number of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them up before everybody.” And these books were worth 50,000 pieces of silver! (Acts 19:19, 20) In imitation of those who became Christ’s followers at Ephesus, if you have objects in your possession that are directly related to spiritism the wise course is to destroy them no matter how costly they are.
19 Since there is so much interest today in the strange and mysterious, more and more persons are becoming involved in spiritism. Most of these persons, however, do not know that they are actually becoming involved with wicked spirits. This is not innocent fun. Wicked spirits have power to hurt and harm. They are vicious. And, before Christ jails them in destruction forever, they are doing all they can to bring humans under their wicked power. (Matthew 8:28, 29) So if you want to live forever in happiness on earth after all wickedness is removed, you need to keep free from demon power by keeping away from every kind of spiritism.

Hi jammin4.

Ive read the live forever book. It was the book I studied before I got baptized. I used to have the same beliefs. The problem I have is that the bible says that it was Samuel who spoke. Nowhere does it say that it wasn't him. Also Samuels prophesy comes true with the death of Saul and his son Jonathan. Prophesy coming true is supposed to be the mark of a prophesy coming from Jehovah as opposed to another source.

Deu 18:21 And if you say in your hearts, How are we to be certain that the word does not come from the Lord?
Deu 18:22 When a prophet makes a statement in the name of the Lord, if what he says does not take place and his words do not come true, then his word is not the word of the Lord: the words of the prophet were said in the pride of his heart, and you are to have no fear of him.

Also the LF book uses Ecclesiastes 9:5 in order to try and prove that the dead are not conscious of anything. This is not a good idea as Solomon in his aged years of depression says allot of things we would not now agree with.

For example:

Ecc 6:2 God may give you everything you want--money, property, and wealth. Then God doesn't let you enjoy it, and someone you don't even know gets it all. That's senseless and terribly unfair!
Ecc 6:3 You may live a long time and have a hundred children. But a child born dead is better off than you, unless you enjoy life and have a decent burial.
Ecc 6:4 That child will never live to see the sun or to have a name, and it will go straight to the world of darkness. But it will still find more rest than you,

And this one:

Ecc 3:19 For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.
Ecc 3:20 All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.
Ecc 3:21 Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth?
Ecc 3:22 So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?

For one thing Solomon talks about not knowing what happens to the spirit of man and beast.

The Watchtower would point blankly say that we have no invisible spirit. They would not even be open to alternative views or the idea of progressive revelation throughout the scriptures unless it is reveled to them.

Luk 23:46 And having called out with a loud voice, Jesus said, "Father, into Your hands I will commit [or, will entrust] My spirit." And having said these [things], He breathed His last.

Act 7:59 And they kept on stoning Stephen as he [was] calling on [the Lord] and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"

Jesus and Stephen seem to be of the view that the spirit of man goes upwards.

1Pe 3:18 Why, even Christ died once for all time concerning sins, a righteous [person] for unrighteous ones, that he might lead YOU to God, he being put to death in the flesh, but being made alive in the spirit.
1Pe 3:19 In this [state] also he went his way and preached to the spirits in prison,
1Pe 3:20 who had once been disobedient when the patience of God was waiting in Noah's days, while the ark was being constructed, in which a few people, that is, eight souls, were carried safely through the water.

Eph 4:8 Wherefore he says: "When he ascended on high he carried away captives; he gave gifts [in] men."
Eph 4:9 Now the expression "he ascended," what does it mean but that he also descended into the lower regions, that is, the earth?
Eph 4:10 The very one that descended is also the one that ascended far above all the heavens, that he might give fullness to all things.

A reasonable view might be that Jesus spirit was not dead during the three days before his resurrection. When Jesus used the parables of the rich man and Lazarus he was using the Greek concept of hades with its underworld, and that didn't seem to bother Jesus despite it being a common belief with the people. I cannot imagine a similar story being used even to get over a point at the kingdom hall. Where did the Sadducee`s get the idea there was no resurrection? Probably from solomon.

I think the WT is far too dogmatic on matters that really we don`t know the answer to. Paul says quite clearly we have incomplete knowledge and see through a glass darkly, yet the WT can pronounce on things like weather the demons can read minds or not when the bible is not even clear on such matters. Something is wrong in this picture.

What biblical evidence are you talking about Brian? I always wondered why they had to 'possess' others' bodies - even a herd of swine. 'Materializing' a body is a whole 'nother thing, isn't it? The ethereal embodiment of a ghostly appearance doesn't, to me, qualify as an actual "materialized fleshly body". Is there any biblical evidence of that except the pre-flood account of the Nephilim?

One superstitious belief the WT holds is that demons can inhabit inanimate objects like clothing and other things one might buy at a garage/rummage sale. 'There's a demon in my Tupperware!' Lol. I don't see biblical evidence of that... :no:

I've been thinking on the Luke 4 quote and it occurred to me... why would Satan tell Yeshua that he had control of all the kingdoms on earth and that the authority had "been handed over" to him - what do you think the purpose of that statement was? And why did Yeshua answer the way he did? 4:8 Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'"
Remember that above all things, Satan is a liar and a tempter to do evil - and he's a faker!

And so Luke 4 is called 'the temptation of the Christ'. I think it should be 'the attempt to tempt the Christ'. ;)
I say that Satan was indeed lying about his "authority" and trying to tempt Yeshua to unrighteous jealousy and anger. It didn't work. Yeshua didn't need to debate on it or contradict Satan's statement, he simply wasn't even 'tempted' to believe him. So Satan actually handing over his so-called 'authority' for one act of Yashua's worship wasn't even an issue. The negotiable "IF"! That's something we all do when we read into the words something that's not there by seeming ommission.

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, " All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Mat. 28:18

So... who're we gonna believe - is it Satan or Yeshua who has "all authority"? Or do they share authority? That would severely redefine the word "all"...

Our beliefs hold us captive in ways, good and not so good - if one believes Satan is active in their lives then he's around every corner in a myriad of fear-inducing disguises. But if one doesn't believe that and they effectively 'turn away from him', well then, he's just not there - he flees.

I do NOT believe he can read human minds - he does NOT have that authority. But, he doesn't have to, does he? It's plain to 'see' what and who we are, if anyone is 'watching'. :pray:

Just some thoughts...
Love to you Brian and to all - :grouphug:
:peace:

satan is about as powerful as bad breath!

just get some toothpaste and wash "it" out!!! :P