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[Numbers]

Does the bible say that demons trick people with visions of God / Jesus?

So I just saw what I thought was a great video of a British millionaire who died for 2 minutes after drug overdose and had a vision of Jesus. He claims to have dedicated his life to serving Jesus ever since. Most of the YT comments were positive.

However, one comment said this is a lie, Jesus doesn’t appear to everyone who does like some circus performance. And that this is a demonic trick to make people believe that everyone will go to heaven. Commentator said read your Bible to see what I’m saying.

This echoes something I’ve heard a few times, namely that “the light”, visions of Jesus etc when you have a near death experience are just demons pretending to be the real deal.

Is there anything in the Bible to back these claims up? I’m aware that English Bibles after KJV have had certain references to Satan taken out. Is there any chance the KJV still refers to such occurrences while the other bibles dont?

[jimwalton]

You'll notice in the Gospels and Acts that the demons only ever tell the truth (they don't deceive). They never cause anyone to sin, but instead cause physical and mental problems. I would be quite confident in saying that demons do not trick people with visions of God/Jesus, not even in NDEs.

[Scape211]

This is an interesting topic as we know Satan to be called the father of lies so its almost assumed he and the demons lie. I know I would often think the same myself, but dont have any direct biblical reference to back that up.

[jimwalton]

It's true that Satan is the father of lies (Jn. 8.44), but check out the Gospels and Acts, as I mentioned. Every word demons speak is true. Let me know if you find anything different.

[Numbers]

Quite interesting. Are you familiar with anything demons say in the OT? Are they honest too? I’ve only just started on OT

[jimwalton]

It is questionable whether demons appear AT ALL in the OT. There is a small handful of passages that translate certain Hebrew words as "demon," but linguistics shows that there are better translations. In any case, in none of those passages do the demons speak.

[Scape211]

I also wonder when we speak of demons where their specific allegiance lies. As I believe you have said before Jim that some demonic encounters in the bible could be neutral parties like the encounter of the legion in Mark 5. If that is the case, I could see why those demons would not lie. But is it impossible for them to lie? especially if they are working with Satan and lying could be beneficial?

Again, I would agree that I haven't found a passage that they do, but it's not always clear if they are direct enemies of God or the Apostles. An example of a possible 'enemy' could be the demon-possessed fortune teller in Acts 16 that Paul drives out. This one does not appear to lie either, but might be using a mocking tone to disrupt Paul's ministry. He eventually drives it out based on it being annoying to him (or at least this is the common interpretation). It makes me wonder if this demon was an enemy, but could not lie and resorted to this tactic.

[jimwalton]

> But is it impossible for them to lie?

How can we know the answer to that if in every instance we see them telling the truth?

> especially if they are working with Satan

Are they working with Satan? Do you have a text that says that?

About the only possibility is 1 Timothy 4.1:

"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons."

"Demons" here seems to be a metaphor for false teachers (vv. 2-3).

> but it's not always clear if they are direct enemies of God or the Apostles

In the Gospels, they don't seem to oppose Jesus, but they don't like him, either. They never try to hurt Jesus, and they never try to hurt His followers. But they do try to hurt people at random—whoever they happen to come across. The Gospels treat them more like non-moral chaos creatures than enemies of Jesus or the apostles. But check it out for yourself.

> Acts 16

The text doesn't mention "demon," but rather that she possessed a spirit by which she could predict the future. That could be different. We shouldn't automatically connect the two.

She didn't present herself as Paul's enemy. She actually told the truth (Acts 16.17). He was more annoyed than threatened (v. 18). Recognition and endorsement by a fortune-teller was not desirable for his reputation or his message.

[Scape211]

Good stuff Jim. Thanks!

[Awesome]

Umm what? Try every Christian cult ever led by a “prophet” with visions from “god”?