Televangelist Candice Smithyman says coronavirus is ‘demonic force’ from ancient Egypt
Televangelist Candice Smithyman, who also serves a pastor at Freedom Destiny Church in Orange Park, Florida, where her husband, Adam, is senior pastor, says the new coronavirus is a “demonic force” from ancient Egypt that will require repentance and unity in the church to be defeated.
Smithyman, who has made frequent appearances on Christian television and hosts her own show “Glory Road" that can be viewed at candicesmithyman.com, said God gave her a revelation about the virus after she was attacked by the spirit behind it.
“On Saturday, April 4, at 4 a.m., I was abruptly awoken by God after an encounter with a strong demonic force that came into my bedroom and tried to put a sickness upon me on my chest. I cried out in my sleep three times as I rebuked this demon,” Smithyman began in an op-ed for Charisma News.
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The televangelist said she sensed the demonic attack was connected to the coronavirus and the following morning she realized the attack was a warning.
“This dream was not because I was receiving the coronavirus; it was a warning dream, to tell the people that this virus is a demonic force and there is a way to deal with it spiritually, as well as biologically,” she wrote.
“When I woke after the dream I continued to pray and God revealed to me that He wanted people in the body of Christ to unify and to confess where they have been in disunity with their brothers and sisters in Christ. Some have allowed judgment of others and self-righteousness to step in and open them up for disunity and discord in their own souls, families, churches, states and so forth,” she said, noting that repentance from the church is “a shield against this enemy.”
Smithyman later explained why she believes the new coronavirus, which has infected more than 2 million people globally and killed at least 137,000 as of Thursday, is a “demonic stronghold from ancient Egypt.”
“The book of Exodus shows how, through the lives of the Hebrew people, God came to rescue His people who were under bondage to the gods of the Egyptians. So are we under bondage today to the gods of the Egyptians? I say yes, from ancient strongholds that have dominion over certain regions and principalities of our world,” she argued. “I believe this virus is a demonic stronghold from ancient Egypt still in existence today.”
She then went on to explain her theory further before reiterating her call to the church to repent and unite.
“If we want to see deliverance from sickness, we must allow God to do battle for His people, but we must cooperate with Him. We must pray for unity and to cut off the head of this corona-enemy who wears his crown in arrogance, by determining to keep a heart before the Lord that is humble, repentant and willing to change,” she said.
While many churches have been responding to the advice of public health experts and other government official to keep their churches closed to prevent the spread of the virus through social distancing, others have opposed those calls, citing First Amendment rights. There is no unified position, however, on how the nation’s many churches should respond.
