Ghosts: Are They for Real?
http://www.kidsbibleinfo.com/lessons/ghosts_are_they_for_real.html
Under the bed covers that hid her from head to toe, nine year old
Heather shook like a leaf. Outside her window were eerie sounds. Was
that scratching noise a spirit raking its jagged nails across the
window, or was it a bare branch swaying in the autumn wind? Was that
squeak the fence swinging on its hinges or was it a ghost wailing out
its sorrows or some weird chant to summon other evil spirits?
That night before going to bed, Heather had seen a movie full of
Halloween horrors. The images it left in her mind swirled like rustling
leaves in a dark valley. She wished now that she hadn't seen the
movie. Her pastor had mentioned that such shows gave Satan an open
channel to the human mind for teaching his lies.
Are ghosts real, or are they a complete fiction? Heather wondered. She
wished that she knew her Bible better, and understood what God's word
has to say about this subject.
Would you like to see what God's word says about ghosts and beings
from the spirit world - and how to keep safe no matter what the devil
does? Keep reading.
God has good spirits. They are called angels. They don't haunt or
trick anyone or do weird things to frighten people. Instead, they
protect and guide us. It's in the Bible: "And of the angels He
says: 'Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of
fire.' . . . Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to
minister for those who will inherit salvation." Hebrews 1:7,14.
"Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High
God . . . your habitation, no evil shall befall you. . . For He shall
give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. They
shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a
stone." Psalm 91:9-11, NKJV.
God's angels are heavenly beings, not spirits of dead humans, but
have existed before humans were created. It's in the Bible: "What
is man that You [Lord] are mindful of him, and the son of man, that You
visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and
You have crowned him with glory and honor." Psalm 8:4,5. See also
Luke 22:27-36, where Jesus makes it clear that humans and angels are
two separate categories of being. In other words, people don't become
angels and angels don't become people.
After our first parents, Adam and Eve, sinned, God placed cherubim
[angels] as guards at the gate to the Garden of Eden. It's in the
Bible: "So He drove out man; and He placed cherubim [angels] at the
east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way,
to guard the way to the tree of life." Genesis 3:24, NKJV.
Satan is a fallen angel. In order to deceive people, he and his other
angels who rebelled against God long ago, impersonate the dead. In
other words Satan can appear as the ghost of a person who once lived.
He has done this for many centuries. Read 1 Samuel 28:7-16, and compare
with 1 Chronicles 10:13. "And no wonder, for even Satan disguises
himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his
servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness; whose
end shall be according to their deeds." 2 Corinthians 11:14,15, NASB.
Long ago God warned against consulting spiritualist mediums, those who
commune with the spirits who pretend to be the ghosts of people who
once lived. "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, NKJV. "And the person who turns after 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,
NKJV. "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or
daughter pass through fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a
soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who
conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the
dead. 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. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God."
Deuteronomy 18:10-13, NKJV.
"Familiar spirits" pretend to be spirits of dead people. 1
Chronicles 10:13, see 1 Samuel 28:8,11. "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 inquire of it; and inquired not of the
Lord." 1 Chronicles 10:13,14 see also 1 Samuel 28:8,11.
We do not have to be frightened of Satan and his impersonations of the
living and the dead, if we give our hearts to Jesus and stay away from
all satanic activities, like s=E9ances, ouija boards, and other games
that presumably are a means of inviting spirits to come into our
presence. It's in the Bible: "Beloved, believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits whether they are of God. . . Ye are of God little
children, and have overcome them, because greater is He that is in you,
than he that is in the world." 1 John 4:1,4. "Therefore submit to
God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and
He will draw near to you." James 4:7,8.
When asked to consult with familiar spirits, turn to God's law and
testimony. It's in the Bible: "And when they say to you, 'Consult
the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter.' Should not a
people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the
living?" "To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not
according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."
Isaiah 8:19(NASB),20 (KJV).
There is no point in trying to talk to the dead because they don't
know anything. It's in the Bible: "For the living know that they
will die; but the dead know nothing. . . . for there is no work or
device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going."
Ecclesiastes. 9:5,10, NKJV. "For in death there is no remembrance of
You; in the grave who will give You thanks." Psalm 6:5, NKJV
When people die, they remain asleep in their graves until Jesus wakes
them up in the resurrection. He alone has control of when the dead
awaken to life. Satan cannot do this, nor can spirit mediums. Jesus
said: "Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is,
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear
will live. . . for the hour is coming in which all who are in the
graves will hear His voice and come forth - those who have done good,
to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the
resurrection of condemnation." "I am the resurrection and the
life." John 5:25,28,29; 11:25; "For as in Adam all die, even so in
Christ shall all be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ
the firstfruits, afterward those that are Christ's at His coming."
1 Corinthians 15:22,23, compare with 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17.
It is im****tant to understand this subject because Satan is increasing
his spiritualistic activity in these last days just before Jesus comes
back. "The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall
away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and
doctrines of demons." 1 Timothy 4:1, NASB; "After these things I
saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and
the earth was illumined with his glory. And he cried out with a mighty
voice, saying, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! And she has
become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean
spirit.'" Revelation 18:1,2, NASB
Unclean spirits will speak through great powers of the earth in the
last days shortly before Jesus comes. It's in the Bible: "And I saw
three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon,
and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false
prophet. For they are the spirits of demons performing signs, which go
out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to
the battle of that great day of God almighty." Revelation 16:13,14
But God also speaks through His Word and His Holy Spirit. If we listen
to the truth from these two sources, we will never be deceived, but
will be fortified against all of Satan's deceptions. "But we are
bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the
Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation, through
sanctification by the Spirit and belief of the truth, to which He
called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ." 2 Thessalonians 2:13,14. "I have written to you. . .
because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have
overcome the wicked one." 1 John 2:14, NKJV.
If we are true to Jesus, and obey Him by faith, then we do not need to
be afraid of Satan's power. Jesus said, "Behold, I have given you
authority . . . over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by
any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the
spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are
written in heaven." Luke 10:19,20, NKJV. "If God be for us, who can
be against us?" Romans 8:31, NKJV
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