CALL UP THE DEAD? For those believing that the soul is immortal and does not die, the practice of necromancy and ancestral worship can be enticing, especially for those who missed their deceased loved ones. How does Satan use this desire as a means of deception?
This series addresses the concerns we all have: the concern for sin, evil, death, dying, and what happens after we die. Is there hope after death? When God created us, humans, he intended for us to live forever in a loving, peaceful relationship with him. But this relationship has been broken by sin.
Here, we address the origin of sin and look more closely at death and dying.
But, instead of looking at death negatively, we look at it in the context of hope, the promised hope based on what Jesus did for us when he died and came back to life again.
From the Sabbath School Adult Bible Study Guide 2022 Quarter 4: Sabbath.School (See also Hope Sabbath School and 3ABN Sabbath School)
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Inviting God’s Presence
Holy Father, we understand that Satan transforms himself into an angel of light to deceive your people. Secure our minds so that we may not be deceived by his deceptive practices. In Jesus’ Name Amen
Necromancy is an ancient practice that is currently on the rise in our modern society. It is derived from the Greek word nekros meaning dead, and manteia (maneia), meaning divination or fortunetelling.
Thus, necromancy is the practice of calling up or summoning up supposed dead spirits to obtain information about future events.
This practice is a deceptive tool of Satan, who also introduced the idea of ancestor worship which has become prevalent in our contemporary culture. In ancestor worship, it is the belief that one should pray for dead family members.
Those that practice ancestor worship are of the idea that the supposed spirits of the dead are still considered family. Thus, as spirits, they believe that they can influence the affairs of the living.
Both necromancy and ancestor worship are pagan practices. These pagan practices can be very attractive to those who believe that the soul lives on after death. It becomes a special tool of Satan, for those who miss their deceased loved ones and believe that this is a means of communicating with them.
But what does the Bible say about the living seeking to communicate with the dead? Read about Saul’s experience with the witch of Endor in 1 Samuel 28:3–25. What does this story teach us about why we shouldn’t try to communicate with “dead” spirits?
The Bible lets of know that such practice is an abomination to God. He hates it, and he warns his people against interacting with witches, wizards, magicians, fortunetellers, mediums, necromancers, or evil spirits.
As a matter of fact, in the ancient Israelite system of government, God forbade such activity and sentenced those in Israel who practiced such things to death, as expressed in the following texts:
Leviticus 19:31
31 ‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:31)
Leviticus 20:6
6 ‘And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. (Leviticus 20:6)
Leviticus 20:27
27 ‘A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.’ ” (Leviticus 20:27)
Deuteronomy 18:9-14
9 “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations.
10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,
11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you.
13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. (Split)
14 For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you. (Deuteronomy 18:9-14) (Split)
Therefore, in accordance with this law, King Saul had all mediums and spiritists from Israel put to death as expressed in 1 Samuel 28:3, 9).
3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.
9 Then the woman said to him, “Look, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?” (I Samuel 28:3, 9)
But then, as time passed, Saul became disobedient, and because of his disobedience, God rejected him. God rejected him because of his own evil doings.
Therefore, he received no more communications from God. So, Saul himself went to the Canaanite city of Endor to inquire of a woman medium according to 1 Samuel 28:6, 7, 15
6 And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.
7 Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at En Dor.”
15 Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” And Saul answered, “I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.” (I Samuel 28:6-7, 15)
Saul asked the witch to wake up the prophet Samuel from the dead. A prophet is a special messenger from God.
The witch, however, “called up” an evil spirit. The deceiving spirit pretended to be Samuel. This evil spirit talks to Saul according to 1 Samuel 28:13–19).
I Samuel 28:13-19
13 And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What did you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth.”
14 So he said to her, “What is his form?” And she said, “An old man is coming 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 down.
15 Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” And Saul answered, “I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.”
16 Then Samuel said: “So why do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy?
17 And the Lord has done for Himself as He spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David.
18 Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day.
19 Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.” (I Samuel 28:13-19)
Understanding that Samuel was resting in the grave and not conscious of the activities around him, who was this spirit that represented Samuel? It was Satan, he had transformed himself into an angel of light.
The spirit, pretending to be Samuel, told Saul, “ ‘Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me’ ” (1 Samuel 28:19, NKJV)
While predicting Saul’s death, the deceiving spirit, assuming the form of Samuel, was a powerful deception. However, Saul should have known better than to become involved with what he had previously condemned. Thus, the evil spirit told a compelling lie that made Saul think that the spirit of the dead remains alive even though the body is resting in the grave.
More than 200 years later, Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 8:19-20 about people who communicate with the dead in secret and ask them for advice.
19 And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?
20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (Isaiah 8:19-20)
Also, the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 19:3 predicts future practices like these.
3 The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst; I will destroy their counsel, And they will consult the idols and the charmers, The mediums and the sorcerers. (Isaiah 19:3)
It says in Patriarchs and Prophets that “By the prediction of Saul’s doom, given through the woman of Endor, Satan planned to ensnare the people of Israel. He hoped that they would be inspired with confidence in the sorceress, and would be led to consult her. Thus they would turn from God as their counselor and would place themselves under the guidance of Satan. The lure by which spiritualism attracts the multitudes is its pretended power to draw aside the veil from the future and reveal to men what God has hidden. God has in His word opened before us the great events of the future—all that it is essential for us to know—and He has given us a safe guide for our feet amid all its perils; but it is Satan’s purpose to destroy men’s confidence in God, to make them dissatisfied with their condition in life, and to lead them to seek a knowledge of what God has wisely veiled from them, and to despise what He has revealed in His Holy Word”.—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 686.
How often do we, in hast and under stress make bad decisions, as King Saul did? Because of his own disobedience, he heard no word from God; therefore, he sought to obtain answers from a medium prohibited by God. This is why faith, prayer, and obedience to the Word of God are necessary. They are our only secure defenses against ourselves and evil.
There are circumstances, however, in which individuals have received visits from those who appear to be in the form of a deceased family member. If the dead are unconsciously resting in the grave and cannot interact with the living, then who are these visitors? Find out tomorrow Day 6: Personations and Other Appearances
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