Are the ancient gods returning to the modern world? Not carved in stone or worshiped in temples of marble, but reemerging through cultural decay, spiritual deception and a growing fascination with the supernatural. What once seemed confined to the pages of the Old Testament now appears to be resurfacing in Western civilization.
Pastor Jack Hibbs believes the evidence is no longer subtle.
“The demons are back,” Hibbs said plainly. “These are not new demons. These are not manufactured demons. These are the old gods of the ancient pagan world.”
According to Hibbs, what Scripture warned about is unfolding in real time. The diminishing influence of biblical Christianity in the West has created a vacuum, and that vacuum is being filled. As the light of the gospel weakens in America and Europe, darkness advances. He described this moment as the “return of the gods,” referring to the same demonic forces that operated in Babylon and throughout the pagan world.
The Bible never presented idols as harmless symbols. The apostle Paul warned in 1 Corinthians 10 that what pagans sacrifice “they sacrifice to demons and not to God.” Hibbs emphasized that idols can serve as points of demonic activity, not because the object has power in itself, but because spirits operate behind it. “To deny the existence of the demonic world is to deny the words of Jesus Christ Himself,” he said.
Jesus Himself affirmed the reality of demons. In Matthew 12, Christ described unclean spirits seeking embodiment and returning if a person remains spiritually empty. Hibbs underscored that this is not allegory. It is instruction. The spiritual realm is real, active and engaged.
Throughout his message, Hibbs returned to Revelation 13 and the coming Antichrist system. He suggested that the image of the beast may involve advanced technology and artificial intelligence, yet ultimately be animated by spiritual forces. “Is it possible that the image of the beast becomes possessed by a demon spirit?” he asked, arguing that such a scenario aligns with Scripture’s warnings.
Hibbs also noted the ongoing congressional hearings on unidentified aerial phenomena and raised the possibility that some unexplained manifestations could involve fallen angelic deception. He cautioned against sensationalism but insisted believers must view world events through a biblical lens.
The message was not theoretical. Hibbs recounted a ministry encounter involving occult objects that he believes served as entry points for demonic activity in a family’s home. After those items were destroyed, the disturbances ceased. The experience reinforced his conviction that the demonic realm operates behind seemingly ordinary objects and practices.
His warning echoes themes explored in detail by Jonathan Cahn in his New York Times best-selling book Return of the Gods. Cahn traces how the ancient deities that once led Israel into rebellion against God have reemerged in modern America through cultural movements and moral collapse. From a biblical perspective, the spiritual forces that demanded child sacrifice and sexual immorality in antiquity have resurfaced in new forms across society. Hibbs’ declaration that “the demons are back” aligns with that same conclusion. The gods of old have not disappeared. They have returned.
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Hibbs stressed that the answer is not fear but fidelity. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil and to give life more abundantly. The solution is repentance, biblical conviction and unwavering belief in the authority of Scripture.
“Do you really believe in all of the Bible?” Hibbs asked. That question now confronts the modern church. If Scripture is true, then the battle described within its pages is not ancient history. It is present reality.
The return of the old gods is not mythology. It is the spiritual backdrop of a culture that has exchanged truth for deception.
And as Hibbs warned, believers must recognize the hour, stand firm in the Word of God and refuse to be spiritually passive in a time of growing darkness.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a background in journalism from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
