IT SEEMED SO SWEET, BUT NO!

IT SEEMED SO SWEET, BUT NO

Jane had a hard time sleeping and was awakened many times during the night, sweating and fearful. She blamed doctors who filled her with so much fear about dying in her sleep, that she tried to stay awake to fight off the fear. But the real problem was something else. It was a household idol: a framed picture of a female angel watching over two children walking over a bridge. Why do I call it a household idol? You would be surprised at how many people have this image in their homes. Somehow, we thought it was a sweet and innocent picture of a guardian angel that protects children. But that’s not it at all. Many images carry devil spirits with them, and we don’t even know it.

First of all, the angel is female, and that’s not accurate. Then there’s the bridge. Everyone knows that the image of a bridge is a symbol for crossing over from this world into the next. So, the message of this image is one of death. The real message of this picture is that a beautiful female angel is going to escort you to heaven. But the subliminal message is that you have to die first.

I’m not saying that everyone who has been under the influence of this picture, has a demon lurking in the bedroom. But enough people have night fears and trouble sleeping, that it’s worth considering the presence of spiritual entities.

Other cultures around the world know more about spirits occupying physical images and objects than we Americans do. It’s time to wake up.

Jane remembers that before she was 8-years old, the angel picture hung above the head of the bed where she and her younger sister slept in their Chicago home. She remembers that the prominent subject of adult conversation all around her was about who’s dying, who’s in the hospital, who’s deathly sick.

Jane’s mother got multiple sclerosis when she was 4-years old. She was frightfully conscious of the fact that her mother could pass away while she slept. Like the two children in the picture, she thought that maybe the angel would watch over them too. But Jane remembers that in spite of the picture, she was so scared that the next morning her mother would be dead. A few years later, the fear of death included her father, who started bleeding from his stomach ulcers. All this time the angel picture was supposed to protect the two sisters, but instead, the fear and dread mounted.

As Jane grew into adulthood, the guardian angel image stayed near to her and so did the fear of death, sickness, and hypochondria. Why? The demon stayed, and when she found the same kind of framed angel picture in an antique store, she bought it and hung it up in her bedroom across from where she sleeps. She’s not been able the sleep well for years, and it was only last week when we discovered the real problem was coming from the demon attached to the picture.

In the Bible, there are many records of the evil effects of spirits occupying images and objects.

In the book of Joshua, we see the record of Achan. He took some of the idols of another culture and hid them in his possessions. Because Achan was part of a group of soldiers that were to take down an enemy, the effect of having the idols with him, influenced the whole group. Before Achan stole the idols occupied by demons, the soldiers were full of courage, and they were so convinced of their strength that they lessened their troops. But since the demons were now in their possession, instead of winning the battle against their enemy, fear swarmed them, and they ran and were defeated.

Joshua was devastated. He didn’t know what the heck was going on. He prayed, and God told him:

“Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.

“Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you” (Joshua 7:11-12).

In another record, Rachel took household image idols from her father, Laban, when she left his home and went with her husband Jacob: “And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's” (Gen. 31:19). Laban came after them and questioned Jacob. Jacob didn’t know that Rachel had taken them, so he told Laban: “With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live” (Gen. 31:32). Laban looked in everyone’s tent to find his idols, but Rachel sat on them and told her father she was menstruating so she couldn’t get up, and Laban left empty-handed.

Rachel was not killed, but the images occupied by demons had their effect: They orchestrated a complete severance of the family’s relationships. Neither Rachel nor her sister Leah ever got to spend any time with family again. Demons split families apart.

The best way to get rid of the demons is to get rid of the images and objects they occupy. In the book of Acts, we see that Paul visited Ephesus and taught about Jesus. There were a lot of people who were into witchcraft, sorcery, and other magical arts. There were some who even pretended to cast out demons in the name of Jesus Christ, but since they didn’t believe in Jesus Christ themselves, when seven of these wizards tried to cast a demon out of one man, the possessed man jump on all seven, stripping their clothes off and chasing all seven wizards away! It’s a pretty funny story (Acts 19:13-16).

Many people in Ephesus were learning wizardry and witchcraft and had books on how to do it (i.e., Harry Potter and other such books these days). But when they saw that their teachers were false teachers, they saw the truth that Paul was teaching, and they learned that it was demons that occupied those “how to” books:

“And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.  Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

“So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed” (Acts 19:18-20).

Achan in the Old Testament was killed because of the destructive nature of the demons who he brought into the camp. Rachel ruined her family relationships because of some images she took with her. Jane couldn’t sleep well and was tormented with fear at night because she took that childhood angel picture into her bedroom with her.

The people of Ephesus burned the demon-occupied books, and Jane took that angel picture, broke the glass and threw the whole picture in the trash.

Are you being blinded or blocked from God’s deliverance because of an old demon whose home you’re still carrying with you? A key? A photograph? A St. Christopher necklace? A self-help book?

Let’s take another good look at what’s in our immediate environment. It doesn’t matter how beautiful or valuable it is; it’s not more valuable than your life! Destroy it. And unless the Lord tells you otherwise, don’t give it to the thrift store so someone else can get hurt by its devil.

Love, Carolyn