These are portions of email and phone inquiries that I have received concerning visions of hell with demons tormenting the wicked. The temptation is to throw the baby out with the bathwater but we must learn to rightly divide the Word if we want to be mature. The background is that they were told that Mary Baxter’s book, A Divine Revelation of Hell, and another testimony of many children receiving visions of hell were false.  I read Mary’s book but have not heard the latter testimony.

 

Question: We were told that Lk.16 proves that no one can go to hell and come back from there.

 

Answer: {Lk. 16:24} And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame. {25} But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things: but now here he is comforted and thou art in anguish. {26} And besides all this, between us and you (between Abrahams Bosom and Hell, which were both in Hades) there is a great gulf fixed, that they that would pass from hence to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from thence to us. This only restrained those before the resurrection from crossing back and forth from Abraham’s bosom and Hell. This says nothing about God not showing the living hell in a vision or going there and coming back to tell about it. Jesus went there Himself.

 

{27} And he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house; {28} for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. {29} But Abraham saith, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. {30} And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one go to them from the dead, they will repent. {31} And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, if one rise from the dead.  Abraham pointed out that those who don’t believe Moses and the prophets would not be convinced today because someone comes back from the dead.  They have to be granted repentance and have a gift of faith from God to believe and be drawn of the Father.  The rich man was deceived about that.  Some use this verse and also {Heb.9:27}, "And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this [cometh] judgment" to say people cannot come back from the dead.  Obviously this is a faulty interpretation or else Jesus was in error for bringing back Lazarus and the widow's son.  Peter would be in error for bringing back Dorcas.  And God Who did this through them would be in error.  Obviously this verse means that no one is guaranteed a second chance but God can give it if He wants to.

 

Question: Is it true that there is no proof that there are demons in hell tormenting the wicked? 

 

Answer: From hell demons war against the earth but the true Church will not be conquered.  {Mt.16:18} And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  In Jesus’ day Hades was the Sheol of the Old Testament and was the place of the dead.  This was divided into hell and Abraham’s Bosom, which Jesus took to heaven when He arose. {Lk.16:23} And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.  Notice that hell is called the place of “torments” (Gr: Basanos).  The “tormentors” (Basanistes) are ordained of God to torment the wicked here and in hell.  {Mt.18:34} And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due. {35} So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts. They also persecute and perfect the righteous as is clear in Job.

 

The pit is full of demons who torment there as well as on earth. Mt.25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels:  They are held there to judge the wicked both there and on earth.  {2 Pet.2:4} For if God spared not angels when they sinned, but cast them down to hell (Gr: Tartarus, a place in hell), and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment…  The tormentors have been released to judge the wicked many times as in Exodus 12 when the Destroyer and his demons passed over the Israelites and killed the first-born Egyptians. Probably judgments like Krakatoa, the Bubonic plague, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, etc. that have killed so many people were also orchestrated by a large release of them.  Also, the Destroyer is loosed during the tribulation in Revelation 9 when Satan is cast down to open the pit and the saints on earth are protected as in the Passover. {Rev.9:1} And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth: and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss. {2} And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. {3} And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. {4} And it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads. {5} And it was given them that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when it striketh a man. {6} And in those days men shall seek death, and shall in no wise find it; … (11) They have over them as king the angel of the abyss: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek [tongue] he hath the name Apollyon (Gr: Destroyer).  Some particularly perverse demons are reserved for judging the earth after this in the Day of the Lord.  {Jude 1:6} And angels that kept not their own principality, but left their proper habitation, he hath kept in everlasting bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

 

Notice that the “tormentors” are fallen angels or demons who are released from the place of torment to torment those on earth.  Since the "tormentors" are in the place of "torments" with the tormented, what else could this mean?  Are they being nice to them there?  The Greek name for tormentors means that they are the ones who torment.  If for some reason you may not want to believe the evidence, are you saying that contrary to what the scripture says the demons are only permitted to torment on earth and not in hell?  What proof have you? 

 

The great World ruling empires of history, including the last one, in Daniel 7 were called “Beasts”.  In Daniel 2 and 3 all these empires together are seen to be the image of the Beast.  Today the seed of all these empires is still the image of the beast. In Revelation 13 the last beast has seven heads and ten horns.  That is the seed of seven world ruling empires that rules over God’s people and the latter ten kingdoms that rule this empire.  In Revelation 17 we see the beast coming out of the pit. {Rev.17:7} And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns. {8} The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go into perdition. Since the woman and the beast are corporate bodies of lost men who live on earth, they are born from beneath and this spirit of the beast is also a corporate spirit.  Satan’s spirits are not omnipresent.  The principality of the Roman Empire will once again lead the demons from the Abyss to inhabit and rule over mankind.  Once again we see the demon tormentors coming from the pit to torment the earth.

 

My Apostle friend Bolivar, a man who had more knowledge of the Word than anyone I have known, was sent to hell and there repented for arguing with another brother over his doctrine.  He went behind the gates of Hell and saw demons tormenting the wicked.  They came to torment him but Jesus came and took him out.  Multitudes of committed Christians have been to hell and their description of happenings there agrees and it cannot be proven to be unscriptural.  Therefore, no one has a right to judge them.  Anyone who does this with no evidence is wicked.  The devil would discredit torments in hell to take away the fear of that place.

 

Some say that being cut off from God is the only torment.  The cults have said this for as long as I can remember.  It's an opinion we have no evidence to have.  If for some reason you do not want to believe that there is more than just separation from God, consider your motives suspect.  The devil wants everyone to believe that hell is not so bad.

If you chose to believe what you have no proof for in order to judge people without proof, that is up to you.  If I were to judge you for believing something you have no evidence for, it would not be as bad as you judging me for believing something that you think my evidence is not strong enough for. 

Question: It was shared that in one revelation many children spoke of their revelations of going to hell where they saw the lost tormented by demons.  However, one of them prophesied that hell is filled with people who weren't faithful tithers.  I was told this made the whole thing wrong because the Bible doesn’t teach that they are tormented by demons there.

 

Answer: The fact that one child among them, who may have had a religious spirit, falsely prophesied of the tithe does not make the rest of their witnesses of hell false any more than one person's false prophesy in any assembly makes everyone else’s prophecy false. The devil often tries to sneak his lies in.  And sometimes he does this to discredit the truth too. We must rightly divide the Word everywhere and not condemn the righteous.

 

Question: Could any leaven in these visions be attributed to prophesying in part? 

 

Answer: At the very least it would have to be prophesying in part, at the worst they are satanic delusions.  Paul said that everything is prophecy in part until that which is perfect or mature is come.  The deception is that there are no tormentors in hell.  Satan does his level best to convince people to believe there is no hell, and if there is it is not so bad, and if they go there they won’t be there forever. Why would he scare people with torment visions for 2000 years, which motivates them to stop sinning so as not to go there?  Why would he teach people the great need for evangelism so others don’t go there?  I have seen nothing but good fruit from the visitations to hell which thousands, if not millions, have received.  Everyone who comes back is a changed person.  Those who read the books or listen to the testimonies are too.  Bill Wiese gave his testimony of 23 minutes in hell and many people have told me that they got saved or repented from listening to that.

 

Question: … and if I remember correctly, Mary Baxter hints at a pre-trib rapture.

 

Answer: With all her faults, Mary Baxter has truth from God.  Not believing in demons tormenting people in hell is a personal opinion that is used to divide the body here.  The fact that she still believes in pre-trib doesn’t surprise me. God often leaves people to overcome false doctrines even though he appeared to them with other purposes.  Everyone who receives truth does it while they still have false doctrine.  I saw a couple of things in her book that I thought came from her but mostly I saw a good revelation of hell and demons.

 

Question: What's also disturbing is how Mary Baxter is herself a preacher with a religious degree.

 

Answer: She is a Pentecostal from the Church of God and they believe there is nothing wrong with that.  I agree; Jesus didn’t give it all to her. She was promoted after her book made her famous, I believe. Like you and I, she has truth and things that are hidden to her.  We are commanded in Romans 14 not to judge such. 

 

Question: Jesus told Mary Baxter that the Antichrist is going to rule over the earth.

 

Answer: First of all, antichrist is going to rule over all of the wicked. {1 Jn.4:1} Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world. {2} Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: {3} and every spirit that confesseth not Jesus is not of God: and this is the [spirit] of the antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it cometh; and now it is in the world already.  Much of what Mary saw was in the form of visions which many times are symbolic as dreams are and are misinterpreted.  I read her book and her visions of the beast and his rule on earth were symbolic and right on.  Those who only see the letter there would falsely judge her.  Jesus said there are only two men on earth -- they are Christ and Antichrist.  It shouldn’t surprise us that He would still represent them this way.  She made little attempt to interpret her own visions.  God hid these things once again in parables.

 

To judge someone who has the signs of a believer and is ordained of God concerning something like this is wrong.  Since in Rom.14 we are forbidden to judge others over things the Bible does say, can you judge someone over things you believe the Bible doesn't say?  The Bible does not say there are no demons in hell tormenting people so you cannot say this is wrong. That would be adding to the Word.  Furthermore, many things are not written in the Bible:  {Jn.20:30} Many other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book: {31} but these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in his name. ... {21:25} And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that should be written.  Visions and actual experiences that are not against scriptures are many.  Those who want to do away with the torments in hell would end up throwing them all out.  With this method they would have to throw all prophecy out concerning contemporary happenings that are not written of in scripture.  I have received many dreams and visions that have come to pass and are not seen in Scripture.

 

For the false doctrine that hell is not eternal, see Ultimate Reconciliation of All.

Please also listen to Hell and Demons.