Mike,

Jer 14:14 Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a FALSE VISION and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
Zec 10:2 For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.

I want to know what you think of those who claim to have seen a literal hell. I know that many make it up for the money, but do you think demons can influence people to have a real dream about a hell of torture?

J____

Hi J____,
Thank you for your question.

The answer is, yes indeed, God sends evil spirits to answer us “according to the idols of our hearts”.
If the idol of our heart is eternal torment, then that is what we will see in scripture.

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
Eze 14:9  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Eze 14:10  And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh [ unto him];

Christ demonstrates the truth of this statement in this parable.

Mat 25:14  For [ the kingdom of heaven is] as a man travelling into a far country, [ who] called his own servants,and delivered unto them his goods.
Mat 25:15  And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
Mat 25:16  Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made [ them] other five talents.
Mat 25:17  And likewise he that [ had received] two, he also gained other two.
Mat 25:18  But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.
Mat 25:19  After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
Mat 25:20  And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
Mat 25:21  His lord said unto him, Well done, [ thou] good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Mat 25:22  He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
Mat 25:23  His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Mat 25:24  Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
Mat 25:25  And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, [ there] thou hast [ that is] thine.
Mat 25:26  His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
Mat 25:27  Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and [ then] at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
Mat 25:28  Take therefore the talent from him, and give [ it] unto him which hath ten talents.
Mat 25:29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Mat 25:30  And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Verse 14 tells us up front that “He delivered unto them HIS goods”. God gives us life and the very air we breathe. He is a loving, merciful and generous heavenly Father to those who see Him as such. So when verse 26 says “You knew that I reap where I sowed not”, the Lord is answering this “wicked and slothful servant… after the multitude of his idols of his heart.” He sees His Lord as “a hard man…” and so the Lord shows Himself as such to this wicked servant whose heart’s idols see him as “a hard man.”

2Sa 22:26  With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright.
2Sa 22:27  With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury.

So the billions of Christians who see God as a God who will torture people for all eternity in literal flames of fire will have dreams and visions of such things. The fact of the matter is that they will even be raised from among the dead with these very same “idols of the heart” intact in their hearts. It is then that they will realize that they are not yet in the heaven they had thought they would see, and they will be tormented with the very “heart’s idol” they died with. That sort of thing is the ‘fire’ of the lake of fire, and this is what it will accomplish.

Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that [ it is] an evil [ thing] and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear [ is] not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

It is wickedness to think of God as “a hard man…” and that very wicked thought will have to be burned out of all in whom it has taken up its abode.
I hope this helps you to see that God does indeed send evil spirits to trouble us when He is preparing us as vessels for destruction who are defiling the temple of God.

1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
1Sa 16:15  And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

All false doctrines are evil spirits from the Lord which trouble us.

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets [with many false doctrines] are gone out into the world.

I also hope you see that we are all vessels of destruction before we are brought to be vessels of honor.

1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. [ The “lake of fire”]
1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [ that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

We have all “defiled the temple of God, both physically, with immoral activities, and spiritually with our false doctrines. But life comes only through death and the destruction of our old man.

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike