Four Things that Open Gates of Hell

We concluded our foray into the concept of spiritual gates this past Wednesday. Over the past four episodes, we have established the following facts about spiritual gates:

1. For spiritual beings to pass between our realm and the spiritual realm, there has to be a way made through: a gate (or portal)

2. There are gates of heaven and gates of hell

3. The gates are tied to physical locations on the earth

4. These locations are altars; devices that are anointed/activated to create the spiritual gate

5. Once the gates open, they remain open based on the altar

6. The altars/gates can be tainted or closed, as we observed in the story of Bethel

7. Jesus has given us authority to close the gates of hell and combat the evil forces who would enter our world through them

That’s a lot to swallow, and that’s why I spent so many episodes covering this. And there is more that we could dig into regarding gates in the future, but that is the long and short of it.

If you missed any of the parts of this study, you can catch up with episodes:

61: Portals into the Spirit Realm

62: Bethel: The Corrupted Portal to Heaven

63: Altars, Idols and Spiritual Gates

64: Closing the Gates of Hell

So that’s a recap of where we’ve been. But now let’s get into what you’re really here for today:

Rabbit trails: 4 Ways to Open a Gate of Hell

As I discussed in my latest episode, I don’t go into these things to take our minds to dark places. I’m telling you what you, as a Christian, need to avoid. Here are four things that “polluted the land” by bringing forth demons, or “unclean spirits,” in the Bible. Getting rid of the altars would cleanse the land; but how was it made unclean in the first place?

I share this information so that you will (1) have a greater spiritual awareness of practices to avoid because of the demonic activity around them, and (2) understand where gates of hell have been created in the physical world so that you know where to direct your prayers.

Here are four ways that land was defiled or made unclean in the Scriptures:

1. Sexual perversion

2. Idolatry

3. Broken covenants

4. Bloodshed

And then here are four scriptural citations for each of those, in respective order.

1. Leviticus 18:22-28 - ²²  You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. ²³  And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion. ²⁴  “Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean,²⁵  and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. ²⁶  But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you ²⁷  (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), ²⁸  lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.

2. Jeremiah 16:18 - But first I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.

3. Isaiah 24:5-6 - ⁵ The earth lies defiled
    under its inhabitants;
   for they have transgressed the laws,
    violated the statutes,
     broken the everlasting covenant.
   ⁶ Therefore a curse devours the earth,
    and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;
   therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,
    and few men are left.

4. Numbers 35:33-34 - ³³ You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.³⁴ You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.

Something interesting on that last point: I was just reading Numbers 35 a couple days ago as I journey through the Bible for this year, and I stopped at that verse. It said no one’s blood can atone for the murder except the blood of the murderer himself. So I thought, “Then Lord, how can the curse be lifted?” If you want the answer to that question, see Genesis 4:10, Hebrews 11:24 and Galatians 3:13.

I’ll also note that witchcraft- attempting to summon demons and evil spirits- often combines several of these practices: cutting yourself or sacrificing something, sexual perversion, idolatrous chants and prayers.

So as I was encouraging you in the latest episode, you might just keep your “spiritual eyes open” as you journey this world. Locations where you find out a covenant or agreement was broken, or an innocent was slain, or was a hotbed of sexual immorality, or where idolatry/witchcraft took place- all have a strong potential for a gate of hell being in place right there.

Again, don’t let that intimidate you. Apply this knowledge in spiritual warfare. Make your prayers more strategic and targeted. Instead of saying, “God, please protect my city from evil spirits,” say, “God, if there are any demonic forces at X location, I pray that you would bind them. I pray that they would not advance into our territory anymore but would go back. And I pray that you would shut any gates that the enemy is using to access this location.” And keep praying until you feel the Lord giving you peace or until you no longer feel prompted to pray there. Again: strategic and targeted prayers.

We may feel ill-equipped to engage in this kind of battle because we can’t see the battlefield. But we’re relying on the Holy Spirit to point us in the right direction. You might say, “how am I supposed to know if bloodshed or broken covenants, etc., ever took place at X location?” But He has a way of bringing these truths to light if there is something you need to know.

The Perfect World to Come

Revelation 22 is the last chapter of the Bible, and it describes the New Heavens and the New Earth. This is after the thousand-year reign of Christ in Revelation 20. This is the eternal state: everything is made sinless and perfect.

And yet Revelation 22 includes the following words that have always stood out because they’re particularly negative in a chapter that’s full of some pretty good vibes.

Revelation 22:15 - Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

So let’s look at each of these groups who will not spend eternity in the perfect state of the New Heavens/New Earth:

1. dogs

2. sorcerers

3. sexually immoral

4. murderers

5. idolaters

6. liars

What stood out to me as I was studying this is that these six things are all connected with the sins that defile the land.

1. dogs- I’ll come back to this one at the end

2. sorcerers- those who practice witchcraft

3. sexually immoral- those who engage in perverse sexual practices

4. murderers- bloodshed

5. idolaters- by definition, those who commit idolatry, especially the creation of altars, pillars and physical idols which open spiritual gates

6. liars- those who would break covenants or agreements

So I always wondered: why these sins? Why are these particular sins highlighted here as we wind down the Bible in talking about the New Heavens and New Earth?

I now realize that it’s kind of like the Bible is saying: the recreated world will be perfect, and we won’t have anyone in it that would attempt to pollute the land.

Now what about those dogs?

And by the way: what does it mean by dogs? Despite the popular Disney movie, the Bible says all dogs won’t go to heaven after all.

In all seriousness, though, the word “dogs” here doesn’t refer to my beloved pug. Dogs in the Bible are those who believe in religious pluralism: multiple gods or multiple pathways to heaven.

Of course, Jesus is the one and only way (John 14:6). Jesus is the gate of heaven (John 1:51 and John 10:7-9). It’s the “dogs” who want to make their own way; their own gate to heaven. It’s pretty much idolatry, sorcery, and a way of saying “all of the above” in that sin list.

I once created a video in my beardless youth pastor days explaining the meaning of “dogs” in this verse. But I’m warning you, the audio is horrible.

However, if you’d like a little extra Bible study this week, my Sunday night livestream teaching (2/16) was about earning rewards for time that we’re ruling and reigning with Christ in His kingdom. And if you’d like to learn what things we can do to lose our rewards- because the Bible has quite a bit to say about that as well- I’ll have a teaching airing tonight (2/23) about that.

Hope you all have a wonderful week! I look forward to jumping into a totally new topic with this Wednesday’s episode.

-Luke