“Poltergeist” (German for “noisy ghost” or “noisy spirit”) is a type of “ghost” or “spirit” that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as the movement or levitation of objects, as with furniture and knives, or noises such as knocking on doors. Poltergeist may also be involved with bad foul smells, cold rooms, “thick” or “oppressive” air, malevolent voices, apparitions, spontaneous fires, strange markings on furniture or people, headaches and other physical symptoms, etc. Poltergeists seem to have been plaguing the human race since the dawn of time. They exist in the jungles as they are in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Poltergeists are not the roaming spirits of dead people, nor the human manifestation of alleged psychokinetic powers. The Bible is clear it is appointed a man to die once and after the judgment (Heb. 9:27), and humans having innate psychic powers is a myth. Poltergeist are demons acting out their evil agenda. The Bible is clear we don’t wrestle with flesh and blood, but with satan and his kingdom (Eph. 6:12). Poltergeist activity seems to almost always have an occult connection. It usually has something to do with the sorcery practiced by the forebears or during the life of the present occupants of a house. Deliverance of a house means that the people who are the cause of these poltergeist manifestations must come to the Lord and God Jesus Christ to be freed from occult oppression. Jesus has all authority over the enemy, and He gives that authority to believers in Him(Lk. 10:19).”

Researchers have connected the poltergeist to mediumism, witchcraft, spiritism, and other forms of the occult throughout history, right up to the present. There are many cases recorded or investigated by Dr. Kurt Koch (1913-1987), who was a leading Christian authority on the occult, wrote that in every case “occult practices lay at the root of the [poltergeist] phenomena” (Christian Counseling and Occultism, p. 181). 

Engaging in necromancy, witchcraft, etc., is strongly associated with poltergeist activity. The use of ouija boards, which is one of the easiest ways to open doors to the enemy, is often associated with the poltergeist. Once poltergeist disturbances are experienced or observed in a person’s home, often the Ouija board is brought out of a closet in an attempt, whether in seriousness or jest, to establish contact with the “troubled ghost.” But the scriptures are clear the human dead do not roam around on Earth. Such spirits are really demons masquerading as dead people (Heb. 9:27). The Bible condemns trying to contact the supposed dead (Isaiah 8:19).

The following are examples of poltergeist activity written in Kurt Koch’s book Occult ABC:

“In Hawaii, a native woman came to a missionary named Birkey. The woman complained not only of depression and anxiety, but also of poltergeists during the night. Her husband had died several months previously as an unbeliever. The missionary counseled the woman and then visited her a few days later in her home. She noticed a little hut for the spirits up on the proof. The missionary asked her to take it down at once. She did so. Only then did this troubled and oppressed woman find freedom” (pg. 289).

“Poltergeists were manifesting themselves in the house of a West German burgomaster. The newspaper reported the case. Professor Bender went to the village and asked the burgomaster about all the details. In the Burgomaster’s house there were, among other things, objects appearing and disappearing in rooms with shut doors. Sometimes these objects were hot: a glass marble flew into the kitchen while the door was shut; and when it was picked up, it was hot. Professor Bender measured the temperature. He established that the decrease in the temperature of the kitchen was equivalent to the increase to the increase in temperature of the marble. In other words, the energy balance was what one might expect. But this did not explain the cause of these poltergeist phenomenon. Professor Bender also established that the poltergeist was only active when the burgomaster’s fourteen-year old son was in the house or in the yard outside. There was no question of fraud. In the course of six weeks, the burgomaster recorded 136 flying objects. The professor did not succeed in solving the mystery.

When I spoke to the burgomaster, I asked him if his parents, grandparents, or members of his family, had ever practiced spiritism or magic. The burgomaster admitted that from time immemorial the cows and horses on his estate had been charmed when they were sick. He had also had this done himself. The boy had been present on nearly every occasion when the animals were charmed.

I have recorded thousands of instances like this. In every case some occult connection is found, and it is, therefore, legitimate to conclude that the poltergeist has something to do with the sorcery practiced by the forebears or during the life of the present occupants of the house. Deliverance of a house means that the people who are the cause of these poltergeist manifestations must come to Christ to be freed from occult oppression” (p. 161-162).

“I have many examples of flying objects behind closed doors. In the Philippines, an evangelist came to me for counseling. He had heard my lectures both at the Theological Seminary and at the University of Manila. He thought that I might be able to help him. He told me that every time his sister was in the house, hot stones would fly down from the ceiling. Sometimes his small children had picked up the stones and burned their fingers. The stones fell even when the doors and windows were closed. When the sister was not there, the shower of stones did not take place. He wanted to know what he could do about it. I asked him to send his sister to me for counseling. I further advised him, when the stones began to fall, to place himself and his family under the protection of Jesus Christ and to forbid the stones to fall, in the name of Jesus. The evangelist did as I suggested. Not long afterward, he told me the stones were not as bad as they had been. His sister, however, did not come for counseling” (p. 162).

“One day I received a telephone call from a village in the vicinity of Permasens. They wanted me to come at once to help the owner of a farmhouse. There were hot stones falling both on the house and on the barn. I told them that I did not have time to come. Several days later there was report in the paper to the effect that this farm had been set on fire by the host stones.

The so-called spirit stones are a poltergeist phenomenon which occurs only in connection with a person under mediumistic oppression. It can also happen that a sorcerer with strong psychic powers can bring a shower of stones like this upon an enemy….

The difference between the parapsychologist and the Christian counselor is that the parapsychologist is only able to study the phenomena but not to give help. The counselor, who is a disciple of Jesus Christ, equipped with His power, can show a person who is endangered by these things the way to deliverance. Sorcery, oppression, and poltergeists can be brought to an end by spiritual authority. This authority does not however drive from the personality of the counselor, but from Jesus Christ alone” (p. 163-164).

“I was told of the following incident by a very well-known Christian worker in Germany. Years ago he lived in a house in which a terrible din was heard during the night. It sounded as if all the crockery and glass were being smashed together. Heavy footsteps were heard, scratching noises on the walls, and a whistling of a wind as if there was a great storm raging even when the air outside was still. All the people in the house could hear the din. The same phenomena were observed in the house next door. There, too, the occupants heard this dreadful din in the middle of the night. The person who told me of this was a Christian, and he and his whole family prayed about it. As they prayed, they consciously placed themselves, in faith, under the protection of Jesus’ blood. From that day on, there was complete peace in both houses.

In this case, the cause of the manifestations was not discovered, but the Christian worker did the right thing. He claimed the victory of Christ over these dark powers. This act is unknown to parapsychology, and indeed unacceptable. My father’s friend, Dr. Alfred Lechler, who died some years ago, once said: ‘there is not only such a thing as possession of people, there is also possession of houses; and it is much easier to cleanse a house which has come under occult oppression than it is to free a possessed person.’ I would point out that Dr. Lechler was well known in Germany, both as a psychiatrist and as a Christian of clear convictions” (p. 164-165).

“Finally an example from England. While I was on a lecture tour in England, a young married couple came to me for counseling. They had bought a house which had previously housed the well-known English spiritist, Harry Edwards. As soon as they moved in, the couple noticed something uncanny about the house. During the night they heard all sorts of rumbling, banging, rattling of chains, heavy footsteps, and so on. They had sadly resolved to sell the house. They advertised it. A South African came to look at it. He looked the house over and cried enthusiastically: ‘ Yes, I will buy this house. The heavenly beings, the ones from the other side, live here!’ The couple saw that this South African was a spiritist and refused to sell it to him. They sold it to someone else.

Harry Edwards had practiced his spiritism in this house for years, and that was the reason for the poltergeists. The problem could have been solved in a different way. If this young couple had formed a prayer group in the house, and if possible met together with them for one-half hour every evening, they would have been able to drive the spirit out. Unfortunately, the fact is that among Christians there are so few men and women with strong faith in the power of prayer. There are many Christian churches which have no real prayer meeting at all. Of course the minister would say that they meet once a week or once a month for prayer. I have sometimes been present at such prayer meetings and have been shocked at the sleepiness and lukewarm prayer life of these so-called prayer groups. Prayer is not always a quiet matter. Prayer can also mean a battle. By this I do not mean that we should shout, go wild, scream, and clap our hands, as is done in some extreme circles, but that in all soberness, under the control of the Holy Spirit, we should claim the promises we are given in the Bible and drive out these powers of darkness.” (Pg. 165).

The following is found in another book by Kurt Koch:

“A friend of mine, a Christian worker, told me of an experience he had had as a young man at his parent’s home. One day quite suddenly and inexplicably the house began to be haunted. Knocking was heard in the walls and at night they would hear heavy footsteps about the house and other sounds. As the poltergeists persisted in their game the father called in a Christian man to help them. The man prayed in each room of the house commanding the spirits in the name of Jesus to leave. The haunting immediately ceased.

However, this was paralleled by another remarkable event. Almost immediately after the exorcism two of the pigs owned by the family developed a kind of rabies. They started running around their sties making a terrible noise. After watching them behave in this mad way for a couple of hours the father had no alternative but to have them both killed.” (source)

You may also want to check out Demonic Doorways and Signs of Demonization and Spiritual Cleansing Your Home [Includes Prayer].

---

Need someone to talk to about this issue or prayer? Then feel free to contact me.

---

If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you can receive Him into your heart, and He can deliver you from darkness and sin and have your name written in His Book of Life.

If you are sincere, you can say this simple prayer to the Father (it doesn’t have to be word for word):

“God, I recognize that I have not lived my life for You up until now. I have been living for myself and that is wrong. Please forgive me of all of my sins just as I forgive others. I need You in my life; I want You in my life. I acknowledge the completed work of Your only begotten Son Jesus Christ in giving His life for me on the cross, I believe in my heart Jesus is Lord and was raised from the dead and I long to receive the forgiveness you have made freely available to me through this sacrifice. Come into my life now, Lord. Take up residence in my heart and be my king, my Lord, and my Savior. From this day forward, I will no longer be controlled by sin, or the desire to please myself, but I will follow You all the days of my life. Those days are in Your hands. I ask this in the Lord and GOD Jesus’ precious and holy name. Amen.”