Familiar spirits

This text is dealing with the topic of one of Satan's great deceptions, the immortality of the soul and how this unbiblical belief is opening up the possibility to fallen angels to interact with us under the guise of deceased loved ones.

Familiar spirits, spiritual events and the communication with the dead – Who is trying to get in touch with us?

For thousand of years, humanity has been fascinated by the spiritual world and great importance has been given to the communication and influence of spirits on the lives of the living in past and current cultures. To get in touch with the spiritual world, rituals were performed, sacrifices made and people appointed to elevated societal positions like the shamans, druids and witch doctors. These guides of the supernatural were seen by their societies and tribes as the medium between the spirit world and our world and sought for their capability to build the bridge towards the unseen world. To connect with the spirit world, the spiritual guides and those that partake with them are transferred into a trance through rhythmic music, hypnosis or mind altering substances with the aim to exit the conscious state, empty the mind of thought and enable spirits from the spirit world to communicate, interact or even possess the person contacting them.

These practices were very prominent in pagan belief systems, often in combination with pantheism were spirits of nature were to be appeased and worshipped for good fortune, rich harvests and protection. Seeing that the worship of spirits has its origins in pagan and pantheistic religions, is it something that Christians should belief in or practice? How can spiritual events and appearances be explained within the Christian belief system and what do we have to be careful of when experimenting with the spiritual realm?

In this document we will take a brief look into the biblical position on spiritual beings, spiritual events and appearances, the state of the dead and why all of this is of great importance for us.

The spiritual world - fact of pagan fiction?

Many people attest to the fact that they have seen or experienced spiritual events. Either through appearances, or dreams, but also interactions with physical objects. Are these reports only due to a vivid imagination, or are they based on true events? The Bible, even though a physical book, is the living Word of God and Jesus clarifies that His words are spirit (John 6:63). Through real world events and examples, the Bible is illustrating spiritual truths and the teaching of Jesus are all orientated towards the spirit. The Bible also clearly states, that God is a spirit (John 4:24) and the name of the Holy Spirit implies that this person is also a spirit. The Bible therefore confirms the existence of spirits and a spiritual world, a world unseen by our eyes, but real nevertheless. Within this spiritual world, there are heavenly beings, the angels of God, that are restlessly communicating between heaven and earth and are protecting, guiding and supporting humans as instructed by God. However, heavenly spiritual beings are not the only ones that inhabit the spiritual realm. There are also those angels that fell together with Lucifer (Satan) when he was thrown out of heaven due to his rebellion against the law and character of God. The Bible states that one third of all heavenly angels were deceived by Lucifer and were thrown out of heaven with him (Revelation 12:4). There are therefore two types of spiritual beings in the spiritual realm. Heavenly beings, and fallen beings, also referred to as unclean spirits or evil spirits in the Bible and commonly referred to as fallen angels or demons. The Bible does not deny the existence of a spiritual realm but confirms it while at the same time warning us that evil spirits are present. The Bible also confirms that humans can get in touch with both sides of the spiritual world. We can get in contact with God through prayer but also with evil spirits through spiritual seances and rituals, as well as through practicing sin and living a sinful life.

In the old testament, God repeatedly warns of communication with evil spirits, directly or through mediums (Leviticus 19:31, 20:6; Isaiah 8:19) because the spirits that are contacted by those mediums are exclusively evil spirits. God can only be contacted by prayer and not trough rituals, spiritual exercises or any medium.

Seeing therefore, that the Bible confirms that the spiritual realm is true and is inhabited by spiritual beings, what are some misconceptions about it?

Is it true that spiritual beings can communicate with us?

Yes, spiritual beings can communicate with us. There are many examples in the Bible where angels appeared to man to communicate and guide them. Lot for example was guided out of Sodom before it was destroyed (Genesis 19). Daniel was visited by an angel to give him understanding about the visions that he had previously received (Daniel 8). Angels were guiding the shepherds on the day of Jesus’ birth to the stable in which He laid (Luke 2). Seeing therefore that heavenly angels can communicate and interact with humans, is the same true for fallen angels? Yes, fallen angels can interact with humans as well. A prominent example is King Saul when he went to see a woman with familiar spirits (a medium) in order to communicate with the deceased prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 28). The medium created contact with the spirit world, but the spirit that was contacted was a fallen angel that impersonated the prophet Samuel. It is therefore confirmed that both, heavenly angels and fallen angels can communicate with us.

Looking at reports of such interactions, visions, appearances and supernatural phenomena cannot be swept away as mere fairy tales but have to be regarded without ridicule. What is of greatest importance for us is to be able to discern the nature of the spiritual being that is communicating with us. How can we discern between heavenly and fallen angels? To be able to tell this, we first have to understand what the Bible teaches on the state of the dead.

The state of the dead – can I communicate with my ancestors?

Often, spiritual events are related to the appearance of dead loved ones, of relatives and ancestors that are getting in touch with individuals with important messages. What does the Bible say about these appearances? Can we have discernment about the nature of the spiritual beings and are claiming to be coming forth from heaven as a comforting and guiding hand?

The Bible clearly describes what happens after we die. In fact, it is of such great importance, that Jesus during His ministry addressed the topic Himself in John 11: 11-14 (as well as in Matthew 9:24, Luke 8:52). Here, even though Lazarus, a close friend of Jesus, has died and is buried, Jesus is referring to him as being asleep. Surprised by this statement, His disciples then mention that if he is only asleep then he shall be well and that the grieving relatives have no reason to be sad. However, Jesus is then clarifying to them that when He is referring to Lazarus being asleep, that Lazarus is in fact dead. The Bible therefore compares death with a sleep. Those that die do not go into heaven or hell, but are resting in the grave (therefore the term “Rest in peace”) in a state as if they were sleeping. Similar to us when we are sleeping, we do not experience time passing, we have no conscious experiences and we cannot be communicated with. In short, we have no idea what is going on around us and the moment we awake and open our eyes, we know that time has passed, but it feels like we just fell asleep. This is because the time that passed, passed for us in an unconscious state. As such, it is not surprising that the Bible states, that the dead know nothing (Ecclesiastes 9:5) and have nothing anymore to do with anything that happens under the sun (Ecclesiastes 9:6). This unconscious sleep of the dead will continue until the second coming of Christ, when He will come with the shout of the archangel and the dead will rise (wake up) (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

To summarise, the Bible states that death is like a sleep. An unconscious state in which we are until the second coming of Jesus when He will wake us up. Until then, the dead do not know anything, do not interact with anything and are therefore not able to appear to us in order to guide us, communicate with us and deliver us messages, this includes supposedly holy figures like those that have been declared saints by the Roman Catholic Church.

How do I know if I had an experience with a heavenly angel or a demon?

Since the Bible clearly excludes the possibility of being contacted by deceased loved ones, relatives and ancestors or any other deceased human, but it also states that spiritual beings can communicate with us, what are the spiritual beings that are interacting with us? As described before, these beings can be heavenly angels, or fallen angels, nothing else. How can we therefore discern what type of angel is interacting with us?

The Bible is giving some guidelines on how to discern between good and evil spirits. Messages from good spirits are always in harmony with the Word of God, will never deny, alter, or abase the law of God and will never deny Jesus Christ to be the Son of God and the only Saviour and mediator between humanity and the heavenly Father. The Bible says that we will know them by their fruits (Matthew 7:20). The fruits is referring to the consequences and outcomes of thoughts, words and actions. We should therefore very carefully consider any message given to us if it is in harmony with the above and if by communicating or acting on this message we are violating God’s law and character and the position of Jesus Christ. Further, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit will never create or confirm fear (2 Timothy 1:7), unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, envy, murder, deceit, strive, hatred, evil thoughts and evil passions, unmerciful (Romans 1:29-31) but will bring forth mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, forbearance, forgiveness, charity, peace, and gratitude (Colossians 3: 12-15).

On the other side, evil spirits will deliver messages that are opposed to the above criteria. These evil intentions are hidden in within a message of false love and comfort, a message of great importance and supposing to deliver new light and new truth. However, when carefully analysing the core of the message and the fruits that this message will bring forth, it will always be in contradiction to one or multiple points of the above listed criteria.

Sometimes, when spirits are contacted, their presence is manifested through the interaction with physical objects. Reports of objects being thrown through the room or other phenomena like people becoming sick are reported. What are the fruits of such manifestations? Are they creating fear and evil, or are they producing good fruits? Heavenly angels will never manifest themselves in obscure, mysterious ways, creating fear and disorder.

The appearance of Mary/Madonna

Many reports of spiritual manifestations are describing the appearance of a woman, often identified as Mary/Madonna. Does the Bible say anything about this specific topic?

There is no mention in the Bible where a heavenly angel appeared in the form of a woman. Appearances of heavenly angels are always described to be adult males, neither woman, not kids. It is therefore clear, that heavenly angels will not appear as woman but only as men and the appearance of a spiritual being as a woman is the workings of evil spirits.

The only reason why many people believe that Mary/Madonna appeared to them, representing a heavenly messenger is due to a false teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. The uplifting of Mary/Madonna, the mother of Jesus, to the position of queen of heaven, co-redemptrix, or mediatrix is in direct contradiction to the teachings of the Bible. The Bible even directly refers to these false teachings of Mary being the queen of heaven and being able to receive prayer and worship in Jeremiah 7:18 and 44:17. Here, the Bible states that those that worship and pray to the queen of heaven are provoking God to anger. The Bible further states that there is only one name by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12), there is only one Saviour and Mediator, Jesus Christ.

What does the Bible say about spiritual beings and miracles?

The Bible is describing that spiritual and supernatural phenomena (miracles) even though they can be performed by God, can also be counterfeited by Satan and his fallen angels. The Bible warns that as time progresses and we are getting closer to the second coming of Jesus Christ, that such spiritual phenomena will increase and reports will be heard from all over the world about the appearance of spiritual beings and people working miracles. Part of such spiritual manifestations will be the impersonation of Jesus Christ by fallen angels (Matthew 24:26). Here evil spirits will pretend to be Christ, appearing to people around the world and delivering them supposedly new truth, which, however, is at the core contrary to the Bible. The Bible warns us to avoid such spiritual manifestations and reminds us that when Jesus Christ will come the second time, that every eye shall see Him, and not only a group of people (Matthew 24:27, Revelation 1:7). The Bible also says that Satan and his evil angels will pretend to work miracles through their agencies (Revelation 13:14, 16:14, 19:20) by healing people from their sickness and infirmities or making fire come down from heaven (Revelation 13:13). However, here Satan will use a perverse scheme where he will make people sick beforehand, only to remove the sickness from them in the eyes of witnesses in the attempt to convince them that they performed a miracle and that the fruits if their works are good fruit. Finally, in a great act of deception, Satan himself will appear to the world as an angel of light, imitating and pretending to be Christ (2 Corinthians 11:14). This will be the ultimate deception of the evil spirits in order to deceive us into obeying false doctrines and truths that are contrary to the Bible.

The dangers of basing ones faith on spiritual manifestations and miracles and not on the truth presented in the Bible should therefore not be underestimated.

What can I do when I am contacted by an evil spirit?

Normally, evil spirits cannot get in touch with us, unless we allow it, unless we look to get in touch with them, unless we live a sinful live that is inviting these spiritual beings by opposing the lew of God. However, sometimes, evil spirits interact with us and the world around us, especially when someone that used to live a sinful life and had given themselves to evil is turning around their life and starts to look to be saved by Jesus Christ. Then those spirits can, in a desperate attempt to discourage the soul looking for saving. We can also become victims of evil spirits by associating with people that are in contact with them and we should therefore be very careful who we do associate with.

If you are plagued by spirits, if you have fear, because you suspect that an evil spirit is in your environment and is acting on you or the people around you, then there is only one solution to it. You have to ask the help and the saving grace of Jesus Christ. In the Bible, the unclean spirits that were possessing and torturing humans could only be cast out by Jesus Christ Himself (Matthew 4:24, 8:16), or by His name by true believers (Luke 10:17). It is, however, of great importance to ask Jesus in all earnestness and with a humble heart, believing on Him, as otherwise, if we are not known by Him, the unclean spirits will not be removed (acts 19:13-17).

The only protection against evil spirits and the devil can be found in Jesus Christ and through a true relationship with Him.

For more information about how the devil will deceive the world through the lie of the immortality of the soul and extraterestrial beings refer to the links below:

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