Voices from the realm of the dead? What do I do with them?

Some time ago, I spoke with someone (or distantly, through a Christian platform) who said that she had died in 2006 and now felt her body burning, heard screams, and felt how she was being tormented. She also mentioned that she was a Christian.

Now, there are a few directions we could go with this, but let’s start with two Bible verses:

The living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything, and they have no further reward, for their memory is forgotten. (Ecclesiastes 9:5)

But a man dies and lies prostrate; a man expires, and where is he? … So a man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be aroused from their sleep. (Job 14:10, 12)

In other words, the dead cannot speak. Why not? We find something about this in the story of Lazarus in the Bible, where the following is stated in the story of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus:

But Abraham said, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’ (Luke 16:31)

In other words, God does not allow the dead to speak to people (because it serves no purpose), and the dead cannot speak. So, I am not afraid of such conversations because they are not dead. Something else is going on.

Let’s look at the first option:

A person can indeed have voices in their head. The brain is an incredibly complex organ where many things can go wrong, and hearing voices in your head is something that absolutely can happen. For that person, those voices are very real (even though they do not exist in reality). So simply cutting someone off and saying ‘that’s nonsense, you’re not hearing anything,’ and ending the conversation is too simplistic and not kind. The Bible clearly states what you should do, and just cutting things off is not part of that description:

And the Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 2:24-25)

Someone can be so mentally ill that they genuinely believe they are Napoleon (or anything else), so for that person, it’s a reality—even though it is not true in reality. Therefore, you need to handle such a situation with care, because if someone is so ‘disturbed,’ you certainly don’t want to make the situation worse with a blunt dismissive comment. If someone is that confused, they need to get professional help as soon as possible (mental health services, psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist), and you need to ask yourself if you are the right person to do something about it. Referring them to someone else is often the best solution, because a coach, average missionary, pastor, or spiritual caregiver is not the right person with the necessary knowledge to handle this issue, let alone the medical resources to deal with it.

The second option:

The Bible contains examples of the devil or demonic forces sometimes speaking through a human voice, both to deceive and to exert influence. For example, consider the following examples:

• The Temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13): In these verses, the devil speaks directly to Jesus, but his words seem to come through a human voice. This is a direct example of how the devil uses a human voice to tempt and deceive.
• Peter’s Rejection of Jesus (Matthew 16:21-23): In this story, Jesus tells His disciples that He will suffer and die, but Peter responds by saying that this should never happen. Jesus then says to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan!’ (Matthew 16:23). Here, the devil uses Peter’s words, a human voice, to try to distract Jesus from His mission.
• The Possession of the Evil Spirit (Mark 5:1-20): In this story, Jesus encounters a man who is possessed by a legion of demons. The demons speak through the man, and this is an example of how evil spirits can use a human voice to express their will.

“If that’s the case, it becomes a lot more frightening, but there is still no reason to panic. However, remain vigilant and stay calm under it all:

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world. (1 Peter 5:8-9)

You are not talking to a person, not even to a dead person, but to the adversary, the devil/demon/the roaring lion who seeks to devour. (And you are the target…) And you do not want to engage with, argue with, or do anything with that. Period. As a human, you are not capable of resisting those forces (you are truly WAY too weak for that). If Christ Himself, in Matthew 16:23, doesn’t engage in conversation but clearly says, ‘Get behind Me, Satan!’ why would you think you should engage in that conversation? Something to think about.

And thankfully, the Bible clearly shows what you should do instead:

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

But how do you resist that ‘voice’? Pay attention, then we turn back to the spiritual armor that God has given us, where in Ephesians 6:11-18 five things are listed to defend yourself (helmet, belt, breastplate, shield, and sandals) and only one thing to fight with (if that is even necessary, because those sandals are also for running away! ‘Get behind Me, Satan!’). And that one thing with which you could even enter into a battle (offensively) is:

The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:17b)

So, what do I put in when faced with these situations? God’s word = the Bible. In this case, my response was also: ‘It’s troubling to hear that you’re struggling with that. Would you be open to looking at some Bible verses about it and how we should handle it according to God’s word?’

And in 99% of the cases: click and the voice/questioner is gone. Because the devil doesn’t want to hear anything from God, let alone hear His words, so he does exactly what James 4:7 says: flee. If the person still wants to continue the conversation (1%), it always turns into a good conversation because then they are open to God, and where God is, no evil can be. That’s where the salvation for that person lies. Beautiful! Those are the conversations that are really worth having, and I’m happy to invest time in them!

The third option is that someone is trolling. In other words, someone who tries to rile you up with nonsense, or someone who wants to waste your time. (Or a combination). For that, I have a ‘washing machine’ that works as follows:

The first question is ‘Who is God to you?’ In many of these cases, the answer is a jumbled mess, even complete nonsense. Then you quickly know enough whether this person is really a Christian (because they know the answer) or if they are trolling. But okay, if someone says, ‘God created the world,’ you have a correct answer. I can smell something is off, though, because a real Christian would give a different answer. Then comes the next question:

‘Who is Christ to you in this time, with these problems?’ In 99% of the cases, you can quickly tell whether they are ‘genuine’ or not. Because a troll not only has no answer to this, but they absolutely do not want a deeper conversation about God and Christ. On the contrary, they want to ‘score’ quickly and have a lot of ‘fun,’ but they do not want to have a real conversation. But let’s say… even that answer sounds reasonable (Jesus is my Savior, but they don’t say anything more), then the next step is:

Because of the nature of your conversation topic, I feel that before we begin/resume talking about this, we should invite our Almighty God(!) into the conversation by saying a prayer. Could you begin with a prayer (in your own words) and end with the holy ‘amen’ when you are finished?

And almost always, it’s immediate, without hearing another word—click. And the conversation is over.

A true Christian is eager to pray to our Holy God. But someone who is deceiving or even the voice of the devil wants to stay FAR away from God, because they know very well that God will condemn their ‘funny’ or worse behavior.

And so, in this case, the ‘washing machine’ did its job. Click, and the conversation was over, and the person left the conversation on their own. Nothing wrong with that. Why don’t I mind when such a person walks away? Then, let’s go back one last time to 2 Timothy 2, and this time we’ll start at verse 23 and continue through verse 26:

But avoid foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:23-26)

The washing machine. A great way to filter out the pearls where you’d gladly invest your time for God’s glory. Because that one percent, those conversations, are of eternal value.