Why?
A lot of verses regarding the supernatural are being translated out of the scripture. When you examine the scripture and Hebrew and Greek on sites, like the Blue Letter Bible, you'll see where the translator of your favorite translation used an artistic license. In many cases, theologians are starting to interject their own belief rather than maintaining an accurate translation. This is especially true when it comes to the supernatural in the Bible. As an exercise for yourself look up the first couple of verses I cited in this article and see for yourself. I just wanted to give you a heads up of why I suddenly switched translations on you. Sometimes we have to dig really deep - down in the translations in scripture, to get a true feel of what is really going on. For consistency, I will use the New King James Version of translation in this article. Now, let's get back into the article series, Curse Breaking - Ghost Hunting and Spiritism, Part II.
King Saul Consults The Long Island Medium
The common scriptural argument used by Christian paranormal investigators is in 1 Samuel 28. The Christian spiritualists argument is that Saul communicated with the ghost of Samuel through the medium at En-Dor.
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.” (1 Samuel 28:13-15)
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.” (1 Samuel 28:13-15)
In verse 14, Saul perceived it was Samuel. Saul never saw Samuel in this encounter. It was the medium acting through her familiar spirit. If it were Samuel, the medium would have had to pull him from paradise, then in Sheol. It would be impossible to summon a deceased spirit from Sheol. Two possible scenarios here, one, the medium summoned a demon, or God allowed the medium to summon Samuel to mock Saul. I firmly believe the evidence is in the scripture for the medium summoning a demon through her familiar spirit. We know about paradise from Luke 16, verses 19-31, of Lazarus and the rich man. Lazarus was on the good side of paradise and the rich man was in torment. Neither Lazarus, nor the rich man, were permitted to leave the confines of their spiritual reality. The spirit of Samuel could not have been pulled from paradise. So what spirit did the medium conjure up? It was most likely a demon impersonating Samuel.
Scripture in 1 Chronicles identifies the ghost of Samuel as a familiar spirit.
13 So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it; 14 And enquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse. (1 Chronicles 10:13-14)
A human spirit, or a ghost (which technically, is the combination of soul and spirit), as a spiritualist would call it, is not a familiar spirit! A familiar spirit is an elohim, a lower case god, a demon. In this verse, we see that Saul died for his transgression, that is, his unrepented sin against God, and against the word of God. When you rebel against God you are opening yourself to being cursed. Saul violated the law of God by using a medium and consulting the dead. These two things, witchcraft and necromancy, are abominations to God. Why would God grant the spirit of Samuel to leave paradise and go against His own word?
Ghost hunters like to use the word debunked, when one arrives at a normal explanation to a paranormal problem. The spiritualist theology of Saul seeing the ghost of Samuel has been debunked right here!
Paranormal investigation and Christian beliefs don't mix. It's like adding oil to water. Spiritualists believe you can communicate with the dead. Our scripture tells us that communication with the dead is impossible. Furthermore, contacting the dead is an abomination to God. He wouldn't grant it in the first place and go against His own law. Christians involved in ghost hunting are convoluting their own beliefs with spiritualism. They're mixing two religions. The scripture warns us of borrowing from other faiths in 1 Timothy.
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; (1 Timothy 4:1)
When a Christian ghost hunter is out on paranormal investigations and talking to spirits, they're giving heed to seducing spirits and they're listening to the doctrines of demons. If you're a ghost hunter you need to cease paranormal investigations immediately and repent for acting against the word of God.
Paranormal Clergies
False doctrines of spiritualism have entered the church through paranormal clergies. Paranormal clergies cross the isles of denominations and have infiltrated many pulpits. Some members of paranormal clergies now include a few Roman Catholic priest who are NOT exorcists. They protray themselves as exorcists - but they are not! This deception is not limited to the Catholic church. We rarely use the word exorcist. But we do have a lot of deliverance ministers in the same sinking boat of deception. The paranormal clergy believes that deceased people can become stuck between our world and their eternity. This anomaly is proof of ghosts. Is it really? These are church pastors and clergy that are embracing teachings of spiritualism through their own paranormal involvement and presenting it as godly. It is good that church pastors are assisting people with their supernatural problems. Many church pastors don't understand the supernatural and choose to ignore it or avoid it all together. The church should be the center of handling supernatural problems. The bad part of this is the clergy is allowing their beliefs to be tainted with spiritualism. Their experiences from their investigations introduce doctrines contrary to the word of God. For instance, a negative spirit can be a human spirit with demonic characteristics, called a wraith or it can simply be a demon. This is not biblical teaching it is spiritualism demonology. This is the warning in scripture from 1 Timothy 4:1. The paranormal clergy is listening to evil spirits and bringing the false doctrine into church. The religious spirit has moved into many pulpits, across many denominations. I have also heard a false doctrine stating if demons asked God for forgiveness He might forgive them. These pastors and clergy have opened themselves up to religious spirits and the Jezebel spirit. This is a dangerous position to be in for church leadership. If your priest or pastor is a ghost hunter or a paranormal clergy member, you have to make some tough choices about where you're getting yourself spiritually fed. These guys may love Jesus and be really nice people -but they're being deceived and they're preaching their deception to you. God didn't grant Saul the consultation of the medium. He cursed Saul! Similarly, God won't bless words from the pulpit that He is opposed to.
Spiritism Entering into Church Deliverance Ministry
Sadly, I have been seeing a lot of New Age beliefs enter the church. One such teaching is in regards to deliverance, that a person can be possessed by a deceased rogue human spirit. I have seen a lot of crazy supernatural things in my ministry - especially through exorcisms and house blessings. I am talking a lot of weird things! I have encountered a lot of spirits identifying themselves as deceased spirits looking for help. When you pull the mask of it's a demon. Don't be fooled by these false teachings. Especially, this one. Put up a big red warning flag when you see this. A popular Christian ministry is publishing media on this lie. And lot's of other ministries are blindly getting on the band wagon - of deception.
What does scripture say about lingering spirits?
28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and
come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and
those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. (John 5:28-29)
The Gospel of John is referring to the deceased in Sheol, the netherworld of the dead. Before the resurrection of Jesus Christ all deceased spirits went to Sheol - the grave. The deceased waited there for their judgement until Jesus completed the miracle of the cross and defeated death. The scripture doesn't say, "and also the deceased human spirits who were lingering around". Because they weren't. We know from 1 Samuel 28:13, that only the little "gods", elohim, can go back and forth between death. The little "gods" are demons. Human spirits are subjugated to some pretty specific rules at the time the human body expires. As we are living in the End Times church, Jesus has completed the work on the cross and all human spirits go to heaven or hell when the body expires. The spirit has an automatic retrieval system on board.
6 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed,
Or the golden bowl is broken,
Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,
Or the wheel broken at the well.
7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,And the spirit will return to God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:6-7)
Or the golden bowl is broken,
Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,
Or the wheel broken at the well.
7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,And the spirit will return to God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:6-7)
The biggest issue I see with deliverance and exorcism ministry is that people are blindly jumping into them to pick fights with spirits. If you don't know you're spiritual authority, the dominion of your authority, are lacking a strong discernment of spirits, and you don't have an inkling as to how dark abyss of evil really is, you shouldn't be in this ministry. I don't know how many times discernment and the Holy Spirit has steered me in one direction and popular conference speakers on deliverance have led the general Christian populus off in another direction. A lot of deception is entering the church in deliverance ministry. Satan has counter measures and intelligence. And he is going to use someone who has a pulpit to perpetuate these false ideas. Always test the spirit!!!!
1 Beloved, do not believe
every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because
many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)
As I write this, a lot of popular and misguided deliverance ministers are instructing their students to sharpen their iron in the second heaven. You don't increase your authority by battling in the second heaven, but as John Paul Jackson accurately puts it, you do become an unnecessary casualty of war! Because you cleaned your loaded shotgun pointed at yourself! If you're a student of one these deliverance ministries I strongly suggest you take the time and repent for operating out of your jurisdiction and ask God for forgiveness. Then run in the opposite direction away from that misguided and dangerous deliverance ministry. The deception of deceased spirits, and battling in the second heaven are two key red flags for identifying a deceived deliverance ministry.
Conclusion
From our experience in deliverance, exorcism, and all sorts of crazy battles with the demonic, ghosts are demons masquerading as human spirits. The more we worked with oppressing spirits on individuals and casting them out, the more we started seeing the same behavior in bodiless spirits -apparitions. For instance, when a person commits suicide in a home, it isn't their soul that lingers, it's the spirit of suicide. The spirit of suicide is looking for a new victim. The house has to be cleansed, and the family must be cleansed from the spirit of suicide as well. These are demonic spirits masquerading as deceased humans. When you have done hundreds of deliverance sessions and have seen many manifestations you start to understand what is going on with people and a haunting. The paranormal clergy isn't regularly involved with curse breaking and demonic oppression to see the veil has been pulled over their eyes.
If you are a pastor or a clergy member that has convoluted the word of God with spiritualism from the pulpit you need to repent and ask forgiveness. Then you need to fix the damage you have done.
If you are Roman Catholic and in need of an exorcist. Contact your local diocese! They will direct you to a credible, authentic Roman Catholic exorcist.
My ministry also does exorcisms. Keep in mind, we must evaluate whether an exorcism is necessary. Many times people just need to stand in their own authority and need a deeper understanding in their own faith to shut down demonic activity.
Enjoy!
Rev. Mike
For further reading on the topic of spiritual warfare get your copy of,
A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare - the Power to PULL the IMPOSSIBLE from the HEAVENLY REALMS
Also, please help support our ministry!!!
©2014 Michael J. Norton
Rev. Mike
For further reading on the topic of spiritual warfare get your copy of,
A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare - the Power to PULL the IMPOSSIBLE from the HEAVENLY REALMS
Also, please help support our ministry!!!
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