Much confusion exists today in the body of Christ regarding the subject of demonic influence and demon possession. This need not be the case. The Bible is pretty clear on those matters, and The Covering helps us understand what the Bible says. The author attempts to answer the question of how Christians can be protected from evil. And he succeeds in communicating those answers.

In Chapter 1, entitled The Devil Made Me Do It, Hanegraaff describes some false reports of demonic activity by those who would name the name of Christ, and how excessive attention to the devil only hurts the Christian’s walk. He also reminds us that instead of blaming the devil for our sins, we should look at the sinfulness of our own hearts. He also asks and answers the important question, “Can a Christian be demon-possessed?”. (He cannot!)

In the remainder of the book, the author does a nice job of walking us through the Christian’s armor, as described in Ephesians 6:12-18.

In chapter 4 (The Covering of Righteousness), Hanegraaff rightly recognizes that chapter 3’s topic (The Covering of Truth) cannot stand alone. Practical righteousness for the Christian is not optional. He wrote

Truth without righteousness is abhorrent. No matter how correct our worldview, or resplendent our orthodoxy, if it is not coupled with righteousness, we forfeit the moral authority to speak. In the words of Puritan writer William Gurnall, “An orthodox judgment coming from an unholy heart and an ungodly life is as ugly as a man’s head would be on a beast’s shoulders. The wretch who knows the truth but practices evil is worse than the man who is ignorant.”

Hanegraaff goes on to contrast deliverance and discipleship, and the necessity of holiness. He wrote

To neglect discipleship and spiritual disciplines for deliverance and sensual distractions is to give birth to an unholy church. Such a church [and here he quotes Spurgeon] “is of no use to the world and of no esteem among men… It is an abomination, hell’s laughter, heaven’s abhorrence. And the larger the church, the more influential, the worse nuisance it becomes when it becomes unholy. The worst evils which have ever come upon the world have been brought upon her by an unholy church.”

There is one small part of the book that caused me to pause. The author shares a very personal account of a family tragedy in chapter 7, and in that very emotional account, a few words are used a bit loosely. Described is a “vision” where his wife “saw an image”. Use of terms such as this can tend to blur the distinction between direct revelation from God and our current human experiences. I make no judgment on her experience, only on the terminology used to describe the experience. Mankind no longer receives direct revelation like the Bible writers and prophets of old did; God’s revelation is complete, and the Scriptures are closed. Whatever the exact nature of the experience, though, God’s grace was evident in this difficult time in the life of the author and his family.

Later in the book, Hanegraaff discusses the painful predicament that Job found himself in. He rightly recognizes that

The solution to our disappointments is never found in answering the question why – it is found in trusting God in the midst of our whys.

Oh, if only more Christians would understand that! I wouldn’t say that we never should ask “why?” – perhaps it is OK to ask, if done in a spirit of humility and submission – but “why?” isn’t as important as we might like to think. For some things in this life, we won’t know the “why” on this side of heaven – and that is OK. Instead of asking “why?”, we would do much better to simply rest in the sovereignty and faithfulness and love of God. If we completely trust Him, we really don’t need to know why. He knows why, and He will tell us if He sees fit.

We could almost summarize the entire book in these few sentences by the author:

The tragedy today is that multitudes suppose that righteousness can be achieved through deliverance, rather than through discipleship. … The key to supernatural protection in the invisible war is not found in exorcising demons, but in exercising spiritual disciplines. Ultimately, only as we “put on the full armor of God” can we take our “stand against the devil’s schemes” (Ephesians 6:11).

The Covering is a small book, but its small size should not be confused with small content. It is a worthwhile read. And as one brother said, it is worth reading twice.