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Can
We
Talk
to the
Dead?
Can We
Communicate
with the spirits of the dead?
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Is it possible to conjure up a dead person's
spirit and talk to them?
The answer is
"Yes!"
and I am going to show you the scriptures that
prove it. After all, the purpose of my website is
to find out what the bible really says.
But, before I do that, I would like to address
another question:
Should
we
talk to the dead?
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The answer is, absolutely, positively,
"No!!!"
Talking to the dead is a pagan practice that is closely
associated to witchcraft. Conjuring up spirits of the dead
is called
necromancy. It
is also called
divination. Among the
pagan practices associated with witchcraft are fortune
telling, channeling (having the spirit of the dead speak
through a living person), divination and necromancing. These
practices take on many forms, such as séances, ouiji
boards, tarot cards, and palm reading, among others.
There seems to be increasingly more interest in these
practices lately with the availability of psychics on
telephone hotlines, and new television shows. Recently, on
national news (FOX, CNN, and others) it was reported that
Hillary Clinton had a spiritual adviser help her talk to
Eleanor Roosevelt and Mahatma Gandhi. Mrs. Clinton used
psychic advisers to "help her be a more effective First
Lady." Likewise, while First Lady, Nancy Reagan reportedly
consulted psychics for similar reasons.
The problem with these and similar practices is that they
are strictly forbidden by
God! For
those of us interested in seeking bible truths, we need to
understand that it is clearly an
abomination against God
to speak to the dead. The law of God in the Old Testament
soundly condemns all such pagan practices.
Leviticus 19:26 and 31 Ye
shall not ... use enchantment... Regard not them that
have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards,
to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 18:9-12 ...thou
shalt not learn to do after the abominations of
those nations. There shall not be found among you any one
that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the
fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of
times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a
consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a
necromancer. For all that do these things are an
abomination unto the LORD: and because of
these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out
from before thee.
Of course, there are many charlatans in the world who
claim to have psychic powers, and assert that they can speak
to the dead. Some are frauds who take advantage of people
for monetary gain. However, what I am discussing here is the
"real" thing. These experiences MUST be real because there
are clear examples of them in the bible. Not only that, if
it is NOT "real," then why is it so strongly
denounced as an abomination against God?
The following story is about Saul conjuring up Samuel's
spirit from the dead. The story is commonly referred to as
Saul and the Witch of
Endor.
1 Samuel 28: 3-21 Now
Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him,
and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city.
This verse is very clear that Samuel was indeed "dead" as
the whole city lamented his death and his body had been
buried.
And Saul
(the
king) had put
away those that had familiar spirits, and the
wizards, out of the land.
This scripture is very clear that pagan practices were
not tolerated by God's people. Witches, wizards, and
necromancers were shunned and they were not allowed to live
within the city gates.
And the Philistines
(enemies of Israel)
gathered themselves
together, and came ...And when Saul saw the host of the
Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly
trembled. And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD
answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by
prophets.
Saul was afraid of the Philistines, so he sought help
from God. Prior to this event, Saul had been disobedient to
God. God was displeased with Saul. Therefore God did not
answer his prayer, so Saul decided to consult with a
spiritualist (another act of disobedience)....
Then said Saul unto his
servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar
spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And
his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that
hath a familiar spirit at Endor. And Saul disguised
himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and
two men with him, and they came to the woman by
night...
He disguised himself because he knew it was
wrong to consult a spiritualist. He
went to her a night, in secret.
and he said, I pray thee,
divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me
him up, whom I shall name unto thee.
And the woman said unto him,
Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut
off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards,
out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for
my life, to cause me to die?
The witch knew that her craft was punishable by death, so
she thought that Saul was laying a trap to ensnare her.
And Saul sware to her by
the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no
punishment happen to thee for this thing.
Then said the woman, Whom shall
I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a
loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast
thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.
When she saw Samuel (a man of God and high priest), she
realized that Saul was the King in disguise.
And the king said unto
her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman
said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
And he said unto her, What form
is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is
covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was
Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and
bowed himself.
And Samuel said to Saul,
Why hast thou disquieted me, to
bring me
up? And Saul
answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make
war against me, and God is departed from me, and
answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams:
therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known
unto me what I shall do.
Then said Samuel,
Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is
departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?
The end result of this story is that because of Saul's
continued disobedience against God, his two son's were
killed in battle the next day and Saul committed
suicide.
Now, in my previous study on Are the Dead
Asleep, I discussed the soul-sleepers. The
soul-sleepers assert that in the story you just read, Samuel
was NOT conjured
up from the dead. Since the soul-sleepers believe that the
dead are totally unconscious, they have to
change this story all around -
bible gymnastics again - and
they proclaim that Samuel's spirit was NOT Samuel at all,
rather a demonic spirit. There
is one big problem with that, soul-sleepers, and that is
the scriptures do not say that Saul
conjured up a demon! It says, "then
said Samuel" not "then said the
demonic spirit masquerading as Samuel!" It says
what it says. Saul and the witch of Endor conjured up the
spirit of Samuel who was dead and buried. They communicated
with Samuel. Saul asked a questions and Samuel answered.
They had a two-way conversation. If it was a demon who
communicated with Saul, then it would say that - plain and
simple!
If you are reading books on spiritualism, consulting
psychics or necromancers, engaging in seances, or any such
thing, my advice to you is
"Stop!"
There is nothing that a dead person has to say to
you that is more important than you being obedient to
God.
Furthermore, how do you know that you are not consulting
with someone who is under the influence of
demonic spirits? That is what a
"familiar spirit" is anyway!
The necromancer/psychic uses a demonic spirit to conjure up
the dead. Even a psychic who believes in God and proclaims
the gospel is to be avoided. Why? Because even the demons
believe in God! The demons know who and what Jesus is.
James 2:19 Thou believest
that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also
believe, and tremble.
There is an example of this in the New Testament. In this
case, a young girl had psychic abilities which made her
masters allot of money. However, her powers came from a
spirit possessing her
body. She went through the city streets proclaiming that
people should listen to the apostles who teach the way of
salvation...
Acts 16:16
And it came to pass, as we
went to prayer, a certain damsel (girl) possessed with
a spirit of divination met us, which brought her
masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed Paul
and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of
the most high God, which shew unto us the way of
salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being
grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in
the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And
he came out the same hour. And when her masters saw that
the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and
Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the
rulers...
They were angry when the apostles
cast out the demonic spirit from the girl, because when the
spirit left, her psychic powers followed. They were
interested in making money using these powers. Even though
the girl proclaimed that the apostles show the way of
salvation, she was possessed by an evil spirit.
Well, enough said on this subject.
I hope these examples demonstrate that
you should never
consult psychics,
fortune-tellers, or
necromancers.
You should
never
attempt to communicate
with the dead. Not only are these practices an
abomination to God, you just may be in cahoots with demonic
spirits.
The next study is Does
Anyone Go Directly to Heaven?
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