Angels are real, but so are demons. And of greatest concern to me is that "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14)

Todd Bentley has been raising a lot of eyebrows over the years with his talk of angels and spiritual encounters--especially surrounding the meetings going on right now in Lakeland.

I must admit, I'm personally getting a little weary with writing about Todd Bentley, but this is clearly an important topic at the present time. Just as Bentley has said that he'll stay in Florida for "as long as the revival lasts," I have a feeling I'll be writing heart-felt warnings for equally as long.

I recently received an e-mail from a concerned reader asking my thoughts about Bentley's fascination with angels. In particular, there is a spirit that Todd says is named "Emma," which Todd wrote about. This reader asked,

I read some of your blog about Todd Bentley and I wanted to ask you a few questions. What do you think about Todd's angel 'Emma'? This seems strange to me as I have never heard of female angels in the Bible, yet Todd says she's like the Proverbs 31 woman. How could she be? Does she have a family she takes care of like the Proverbs 31 woman? Angels don't procreate, so how can she be like this woman? Angels neither marry or are given in marriage....My other concern is, have you heard that Emma-o is a major Satanic entity worshipped in Japan as the King of Hell. Just google it. This wouldn't concern me normally except that Todd has a lot of Japanese writing tatooed on his body! Thanks for your time and God bless you.

This person also shared this excerpt from an article by Todd Bentley (feel free to skip it if you just want to read my reply to this reader's e-mail):

“Now let me talk about an angelic experience with Emma. Twice Bob Jones asked me about this angel that was in Kansas City in 1980: “Todd, have you ever seen the angel by the name of Emma?” He asked me as if he expected that this angel was appearing to me. Surprised, I said, “Bob, who is Emma?” He told me that Emma was the angel that helped birth and start the whole prophetic movement in Kansas City in the 1980s. She was a mothering-type angel that helped nurture the prophetic as it broke out. Within a few weeks of Bob asking me about Emma, I was in a service in Beulah, North Dakota. In the middle of the service I was in conversation with Ivan and another person when in walks Emma. As I stared at the angel with open eyes, the Lord said, “Here’s Emma.” I’m not kidding. She floated a couple of inches off the floor. It was almost like Kathryn Khulman in those old videos when she wore a white dress and looked like she was gliding across the platform. Emma appeared beautiful and young-about 22 years old-but she was old at the same time. She seemed to carry the wisdom, virtue and grace of Proverbs 31 on her life.

She glided into the room, emitting brilliant light and colors. Emma carried these bags and began pulling gold out of them. Then, as she walked up and down the aisles of the church, she began putting gold dust on people. “God, what is happening?” I asked. The Lord answered: “She is releasing the gold, which is both the revelation and the financial breakthrough that I am bringing into this church. I want you to prophecy that Emma showed up in this service-the same angel that appeared in Kansas city-as a sign that I am endorsing and releasing a prophetic spirit in the church.” See, when angels come, they always come for a reason; we need to actually ask God what the purpose is. Within three weeks of that visitation, the church had given me the biggest offering I had ever received to that point in my ministry. Thousands of dollars! Thousands! Even though the entire community consisted of only three thousand people, weeks after I left the church the pastor testified that the church offerings had either doubled or tripled.

During this visitation the pastor’s wife (it was an AOG church) got totally whacked by the Holy Ghost - she began running around barking like a dog or squawking like a chicken as a powerful prophetic spirit came on her. Also, as this prophetic anointing came on her, she started getting phone numbers of complete strangers and calling them up on the telephone and prophesying over them. She would tell them that God gave her their telephone number and then would give them words of knowledge. Complete strangers. Then angels started showing up in the church.

I believe Emma released a financial and prophetic anointing in that place. That was the first angel that I have ever seen in the form of a woman. Some angels I’ve seen seemed like they were neither male nor female. However, Emma appeared as a woman who was like a Deborah, like a mother in Zion. When she came, she began to mentor, nurture and opened up a prophetic well. The people in the church began having trances and visions and the pastor began getting words of knowledge and moving in healing. That congregation also saw more financial breakthrough than they had ever seen before.

I was at another meeting in Atlanta when my wife, Shonnah, saw two financial angels walk into the service and pour oil out on the pastor. Shonnah then knew there was financial breakthrough coming. That night two people wrote the pastor cheques for $16,000 and $17,000 and others also wrote cheques to Fresh Fire for thousands of dollars, which we used for missions to the nations. In addition, many people experienced great financial blessing as well. The day after this angelic visitation one guy had millions of dollars released to him-he had been waiting for about 10 years for this breakthrough. All this financial release came because my wife saw two financial angels walk up and stand on the platform. Can you imagine? We need to pray for the Father to give us financial angels for our lives, our church and region. With this angelic assistance, we will prevail and overcome the warfare trying to hold back our financial breakthrough. Some of you don’t know how to use the angels in intercession like this. You don’t even know whether it’s OK or not….”

And here is the reply I sent in response to this woman's questions:

I should start by saying that I have some reservations in my spirit about Todd’s “Emma” angel that really concern me—I believe this and many of the other angels Todd talks about are actually demons. But I believe I should offer a little more of an answer because we all need to learn to enhance our discernment in Christ.

My concerns regarding this spirit are not based on the fact that it appears female. I’ve personally never encountered a female-looking angel. Typically, they don’t look either male or female, but because of their stature and intensity, they are often thought to be males by many people. Look through Scripture, and you’ll find that many times angels were referred to as “men” by those telling the account; but as you pointed out, they don’t marry. We also see in Hebrews that by showing hospitality to strangers, some have entertained angels without knowing it. To assume that an angel would never appear in a female form would imply that only male strangers could be angels. Maybe that’s true; maybe not--I really don’t know. What I do know, however, is that angels can take any form they like. If a true angel appears as a woman, it may very well have some sort of prophetic meaning (nurturing? birthing? Just thoughts). If a demon can appear like a female, then so can an angel. Whether or not that would happen, I don’t know, but I am certain that it’s possible. Again, I’ve never run across this, I just don’t see enough biblical grounds to write it off as impossible.

In regard to the Proverbs 31 woman reference, Todd didn’t say that she was that woman, he only said that she seemed to carry the wisdom, virtue, and grace of that woman. I’m not saying that makes it true--I just don’t want to waste time disproving something he didn’t actually say.

I wasn’t aware of the Japanese spirit bearing the similar name. It’s possible that there’s a connection here, but I don’t have a feeling one way or another. I try to be careful not to pass judgments based on speculation when I don’t have a clear word from the Lord. Thanks for bringing it up though--it’s worth being aware of.

Also, I have previously read the article you shared. One of the things that concerned me was the pastor’s wife who "began running around barking like a dog [and] squawking like a chicken"--this was said to be from a "powerful prophetic spirit." I sharply disagree with this being a "prophetic" spirit. Paul was clear in 1 Corinthians 14 that what makes prophecy unique is that it’s intelligible (in contrast with tongues, unless someone interprets). I am particularly thinking of verses 23 through 25: "So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, 'God is really among you!'" In the case of barking like a dog or squawking like a chicken, an unbeliever’s response would be more like verse 23: "They’re out of their mind!" This is not by any means prophetic. The only time I see someone behaving like an animal in Scripture is when King Nebuchadnezzar was judged by God and wandered the wilderness like a wild beast for a few years. That’s not a prophetic spirit. Furthermore, manifestations like this have been documented over and over again in the foreign mission field, and the missionaries write about casting demons out of such people (Derek Prince wrote about this extensively).

Based on the article alone, I would say that if "Emma" made the pastor’s wife bark like a dog and squawk like a chicken, then either it was the judgment of God or a demonic manifestation. I would argue the latter. It grieves me that such things are attributed to the Holy Spirit!

The main reason I don’t feel right about "Emma," though, is that this spirit is constantly stealing glory from Jesus Christ. A true angel would do no such thing. I’ve watched Todd Bentley at these meetings get so distracted talking about the healing angel (named "winds of change") that Jesus doesn’t even get mentioned for nearly an hour. Read through that article about Emma again and you’ll find that Jesus is never mentioned even once--but money is brought up quite a bit. The impression one might get from the article is "seek Emma and get rich." It does not point people to Christ in the least way. As Jesus said, "You cannot serve both God and money."

Thanks for asking the great questions! Let me know if you have other thoughts or if there’s more that concerns you.

God bless!
--Art--

Friends, we need to be very cautious with Todd Bentley. I've written a lot already about this and my convictions have only been solidified over the past couple weeks. As a matter of fact, I've noticed that the more time that passes, the more grieved I sense the Holy Spirit is with the Lakeland meetings. There is a flurry of spiritual activity happening in Lakeland, Florida, right now. Yes, some people are truly being healed, but they are becomming harder and harder to find. I see more and more demons gaining influence in these meetings, and the manifestations are following.

We MUST have discernment in these matters. As much as I hate to say it, most of what we are discerning now in Lakeland is between evil spirits and flesh--there's not nearly as much of God's genuine activity going on. I've tried to remain positive about the Lakeland meetings for as long as possible, but I'm afraid that they've been overrun with evil spirits, and the leaders are none the wiser. We DEFINITELY need to be in prayer crying out for God's mercy. Continue to be discerning and don't write the entire thing off because there are still some things being done by the Lord (scarce as they may be)--but I admonish you to be even more cautious than ever with Todd Bentley and the "Lakeland Healing Outpouring."

Keep the eyes of your heart fixed on Jesus Christ!

--Art--

Angels, Demons, and the Supernatural

I recently read a short article that impressed me on one point (even though the rest of it was a little weird). The person said that angels and demons are not supernatural. The word "supernatural" implies something that is "above and beyond" creation, but angels and demons are created beings. In other words, the only being who is truly "supernatural" is God Himself!

Angels and demons are natural, created beings, completely spiritual in nature (with no physical bodies, although they can sometimes appear physically). Humans are created both physical and spiritual in nature; but just because we have a spirit doesn't make us supernatural either. We were created, and so were the angels and demons that war for our souls. Only God is truly supernatural.

Why is this important? Because it puts things into right perspective! To quote the words of one of my favorite songs, "In Christ Alone," "No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand!" HE IS SUPER-NATURAL! My God is ABOVE nature! He is ABOVE all created things!

As children of a supernatural God, we need not fear ANYTHING natural--He created it all and can intervene at any moment! His power and love are above and beyond EVERYTHING that has been made!

Romans 8:38-39--For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (NIV).

---

ABOVE ALL

Above all powers, above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began

Above all kingdoms, above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There's no way to measure what you're worth

Crucified
Laid behind a stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all

© 1999 Integrity's Hosanna! Music/LenSongs Publishing