So Why Does The Bible Talk About Ghosts
Despite the Bibles clear teachings that the dead know nothing once they die and have no contact with the living, there are a few passages in the Bible that, at first glance, seem to be saying something else.
One perplexing story, for example, takes place in the book of 1 Samuel. It involves King Saul, the first king of Israel, and a medium sometimes referred to as the witch of Endor.
The story goes like this. When Saul first began his kingship, he followed Gods commands and took the counsel of the wise prophet Samuel, the man who had first anointed him to become king. But, over time, Saul started disobeying Gods commands and making bad decisions, ignoring the counsel of Samuel. Eventually, Samuel died.
A couple years later, King Saul was engaged in a fierce war and he wanted Gods guidance to know what to do. But, after ignoring Gods word for so long, Saul was struggling to reconnect with Him. Saul was desperate for guidance, so he turned to the one person who had counseled him in the past: Samuel.
In the dark of night, King Saul and two of his men snuck out of the camp and went to the town of Endor to see a medium, a woman who claimed to be able to communicate with the dead.
Then the woman said, Whom shall I bring up for you?
And he said, Bring up Samuel for me.
When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!
So he said to her, What is his form?
The New Testament Teaches Mans Endless Conscious Existence
The citation of a few New Testament verses make it clear that mans conscious existence is endless.
And the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints which slept arose .
Please notice how the Holy Spirit says that the bodies slept. Jesus said:
Our friend Lazarus sleepeth but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep . . . Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead .
Death to our Lord was never anything more than sleep. It is a figure of speech that the Bible applies, for there is never a pause in our consciousness. It was the body of Lazarus that was dead. It was his body that Martha said stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. When Jesus said plainly that Lazarus was dead, He could mean only his body, for when He added: I go, that I may awake Him out of sleep, He did this by raising the body of Lazarus from death and the grave. We read in verse forty-four: And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes. The part of Lazarus that was dead was that part of him that was bound hand and foot, and his face.
The Apostle Paul gives us a glimpse into his inner life in an experience that appears only once in all of his writings.
In Christs account of the rich man and Lazarus we have the matter summed up and settled that the soul is conscious after death. Both men died and were buried. Though their bodies were in the graves, each of them was alive and conscious. The rich man in Hell could see, hear, speak, and feel .
Whats After Death Why Do We Need To Sleep
The death that humanity experiences at the end of their earthly lives is not the end of humanitys story. The dead may not be in heaven looking down at us, but they will rise again when Jesus returns to earth at His Second Coming.
Until then, everyone sleeps.
Death has been addressed many times throughout the Bible, and always with a sense of assurance. Solomon had no doubts about what happened after death when he wrote the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing .
The writers who chronicled the books of 1 and 2 Kings never doubted that the rulers of Israel rested with their ancestors after they died. The teachings of Scripture were clear to them.
But the Bible talks about another sort of assurance as well. An assurance of something after death.
Job knew about it . So did the prophet Daniel . Its the same assurance Jesus gave to Martha before they went to Lazarus tomb. He told her that her brother would rise again.
Yes, said Martha. I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.
And Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.
That is the assurance that Christ gives us, the promise of life beyond the power of death. A life we can only reach through him. As he said to the Jews during his ministry:
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
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What Causes A Phobia Of Death And Dying
The definition of thanatophobia is a fear of the dying process and ones passing. At Be in Health, we teach that the suffix -phobia is a class of fear spirits with a specific assignment. Depression, PTSD, and anxiety disorders may feed into this phobia. These may stem from life circumstances, trauma, cultural perspectives of death, and even repetitive media and movie exposure, all giving rise to this spirits influence.
Keep in mind that the spirit of death and spirits of fear of death are your enemy they are no different from bitterness or a deaf and dumb spirit. All evil spirits have already gone into death they are in a constant state of spiritual death. What a horrible existence! But their activities dont stop. They tempt anyone physically living to experience their torment with them. They have been in this torment ever since they vehemently rebelled against God, which was in a time before Adam and Eve.
Verses For When Afraid Of Pain And Death
Deuteronomy 31:6: Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.
Psalm 23:4: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Luke 1:38: And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her.
2 Corinthians 12:9: But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
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Is There Life After Death
Though we may die, Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live . We will receive immortality when Jesus comes again . The Bible says that all those who have diedboth righteous and wickedwill be raised to life in one of two resurrections. The righteous will be raised to life at Jesus second coming. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first . According to this verse, the righteous do not go to heaven when they die. They remain asleep in the grave until Jesus returns and raises them to immortal life .
The wicked are raised to life in a separate resurrectionthe resurrection of condemnation. Jesus said, Do not marvel at this for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forththose who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation .
When He returns, our loved ones asleep in Christ will awake from their tombs. No matter how long the time has passed, be it long or short, will seem but a moment to them. By the voice of Jesus, they are called forth from their deep slumber they will begin to think just where they ceased, awakening to a glorious immortality.
Death is swallowed up in victory .
O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? .
We Dont Have To Die Alone
Once we trust in Christ for salvation, our relationship with Him is restored, never to be broken again. He makes His home within us, surrounds us, walks beside us, and we become one with Him. Therefore, from that moment on, we are never and will never be alone. In Christ, Gods presence surrounds us completely.
This was the message Jesus was trying to convey to His disciples on the night before He died. will give you another advocate to help you and be with you foreverthe Spirit of truth which is the Holy Spirit. You know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans I will come to you. On that day, you will realize that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you .
Though others, perhaps even those closest to us, may abandon or reject us, Christ never will. When our time on earth ends, Hell usher us into paradise where well experience His love and presence at a depth unimaginable to our finite minds.
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Man Is Created To Endless Existence
Every human being enters the world possessed with endless existence. It is true that at death the soul is separated from the body. It is not consistent with the teaching of the Bible to say that at death the soul lapses into a state of complete unconsciousness or even into a deep sleep. If at first glance it would seem that the Bible teaches this, then we will do well to examine those passages where death is referred to as sleep. The few texts that mendacious scholars have dislodged from their context in order to prove that physical death is the cessation of all consciousness can be easily and understandingly explained when interpreted in the light of the many other passages that deal with this subject.
In Ecclesiastes we read The dead know not anything . Certainly we all agree that a dead and deteriorating body has absolutely no consciousness of anything past, present, or future. But are the advocates of soul-sleep justified in using the above text as evidence of the unconscious state of the soul after death? We believe that this method using a text to support a false theory that elsewhere is denied in Scripture, proves that those who stoop to such methods either are untruthful or deficient. Those who teach soul-sleep will find it quite difficult to harmonize their views with other statements that are made by the same writer of Ecclesiastes:
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God Who gave it .
Spiritual Death Is Separation From God
Its easy to read modern definitions for words and situations into biblical text. This often occurs when someone thinks of death. To our way of thinking, death means the end of something and the complete cessation of life. In Scripture, however, death primarily means separationseparation of mans spirit from his body and of man from God.
For example, Scripture reveals our physical bodies will eventually cease to function and will begin to decay. Our souls, however, are eternal. Therefore, once brain death occurs, our bodies and souls separate. Similarly, spiritual death, caused by sin, separates man from His Creator. When we receive eternal life, our relationship with God is restored. Those who dont trust in God for salvation, however, remain in deatheternally separated from Him and therefore all the love and goodness and righteousness that stems from Him. This is hell.
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Paradise
Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good .
Warning
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for when you eat of it you shall surely die’ .
Be As God
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? . . . For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’ .
Paradise Lost
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate .
On Womanhood
To the woman He said: I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception in pain you shall bring forth children your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you .
On Manhood
Cursed is the ground for your sake in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field .
Death Is The Result
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken for dust you are, and to dust you shall return .
For since by man came death. . . For as Adam all die .
All JudgedSpread Of Death
Spirits Of Dead People Can Stay On Earth
- Ecclesiastes 12:8Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.
Vengeful ghosts, a kind ghost who helps the people they left behind, and many more stories have been around since ancient times. Some even believe that it takes a certain number of days for a soul to go where its supposed to go. However, it is clearly stated that after our body dies, our spirits return to God. It is not left to wander alone nor wait until tit finishes its unfinished business.
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What Does The Bible Say About Communicating With The Dead
In 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, we read about all the deception the devil will cause in this world. Consider that, if we seek to connect with anyone who has died, we are risking a connection with the devil instead.
And 2 Corinthians 11:14 tells us that the devil even masquerades as an angel of light.
In Galatians 5:20 and Revelation 22:15 we see that Gods people, and those who will be in heaven do not include sorcerers, those involved in witchcraft or magic, or spiritual mediums.
The devil has always wished to lead others astray. And because God knows this, He gave instruction to His people in the Old Testament. When they were preparing to occupy the promised land, God warned them of the heathens who occupied it.
He instructed Israel saying:
When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.
Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God .
Like the Israelites, we are advised to stay away from detestable ways of the ungodly and cling to God instead.
Other Scriptures Broaden Understanding
In addition to gentle euphemisms and descriptions of different types of death, the Bible represents death in a few other ways that connote its nature and how it affects humans. Separately, these concepts give a better glimpse of death, but together they widen the horizon of the understanding of its effect.
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The Story Of The Rich Man And Lazarus
Apart from Sauls encounter with the medium at Endor, theres one other story in the Bible that causes a bit of confusion about whether the dead really can communicate with the living. And this story comes straight from the mouth of Jesus.
During Jesus time on earth, he spent a good deal of time traveling around the countryside, teaching the people. Most of the lessons he taught were illustrated through parables, or analogical stories that illustrate a moral.
One day, Jesus sat down and gathered the people around Him for another lesson through story:
There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich mans table.
Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abrahams side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.
The rich man goes on and begs that, if Lazarus cannot help him, that Lazarus ghost be sent to the rich mans brothers so they can be warned and avoid ending up forever lost like he did. But Abraham again refuses.