This blog is a follow-up to my original blog, Paranormal Activity, where I addressed the existence of ghosts.
After teaching on this topic a few years back, I allowed time for some Q & A. One person – a young Christian – was distraught because, in their words, “I talk to my [deceased] husband all the time! How can that be a sin??”
Searching the Scriptures during the class, we learned there is no biblical evidence and/or support for necromancy (communicating with the dead).
NOTE: We did address the “calling up of Samuel” when Saul visited the medium at Endor (I Samuel 28), acknowledging that, not unlike other unique, one-of-a-kind acts of God in scripture, this was an isolated case enacted by God, for God’s own mysterious purposes. In short, it is biblically irresponsible to create a doctrine of necromancy based on an isolated, out-of-greater-context passage of Scripture. The greater testimony of scripture is that it is impossible for us on planet earth to communicate with the dead.
We also learned that God calls necromancy a sin (cf. Leviticus 20:6; Deuteronomy 18:10-12; additionally, the New Testament teaches that when our loved ones exit life on planet earth they go immediately into eternity. cf. Luke 16:19-31, Luke 23:42-43) Hence, communicating with the dead is not at all, according to the Bible, communicating with the dead, but rather communicating with demons impersonating the dead. And this, among other reasons, is why God strongly warns us to stay away from this practice.
So, let me differentiate between “talking to our loved ones” and attempting to actually “communicate with our loved ones.”
My son died in 2013. I “talk” to my son, Jordan, every single day. “Jordan, I miss you so much,” “I love you, son…I can’t wait to see you…I wonder what you’re up to today,”…etc.
This type of “talking” to our deceased loved ones is not only normal, it’s completely healthy. But, it’s for our benefit, not theirs. They are in Paradise – in the very presence of the risen Christ, enveloped in a level of joy and peace that we cannot begin to comprehend using mere human logic, reason and intellect.
What is sin is an attempt to connect with the spirits of the dead via a medium, seance, Ouija Board, or any other means or “conduit from the physical to the metaphysical” so that you not only talk to them, but they also talk to you. This is what we find is prohibited in Scripture.
One may counter, “But the spirit of my loved one knew things that only they could know!” It would do us all well to consider the brilliance and skills in deception Satan possesses. Paul described Satan as one who “masquerades as an angel of light.” Deception is Satan’s most effective weapon.
What About Dreams?
A friend asked about the meaning of dreams that involve our deceased loved ones. My response was as follows:
“I’ve dreamed of my son twice since he passed. It’s something I long for. But, unfortunately, we can’t control what we dream about. In my opinion, since dreaming is an involuntary response, it is completely different from voluntarily and deliberately attempting to intelligently communicate with the dead. Certainly, the thoughts & images that dominate our minds while we’re awake can – and often do – influence our dreams. And sometimes those dreams can be quite mysterious or even nightmarish. When that happens always weigh the images and messages received in dreams against the Word of God, which is our sole source of truth.”
As I shared during my lesson, no one more longs to have the ability to communicate with our deceased loved ones than me. In other words, I get it.
As I stated above, the clear testimony of Scripture is that genuine necromancy is impossible due to the clear biblical truth that our loved ones are “absent from the body and, thus, present with the Lord.”
Soli Deo Gloria, Nick