Posted on : 08 Apr, 2006
Subject : Communication With the Dead?
 Can We Communicate With the Dead?
Can a rational person have contact with the spirits of the dead? There are individuals who claim they can do exactly that. Many books and a few television programs are centered around that precise notion. It seems to be a widely-held belief in our culture that the living and the dead can communicate. Is it really possible?
Can the living and the spirits of the dead communicate? Do the Scriptures say it is possible? And if it is possible, to have communication with the spirits of the dead, is it permissible?
What do the Scriptures have to say? The Word of Elohim guides believers. Many churches and preachers say that speaking with the dead is either impossible or evil. But what do the Scriptures have to say on the matter?
The Scriptures in fact do indicate that it is possible for the living to communicate with the spirits of the deceased. There are examples in Scripture that are both positive and negative – meaning that there are instances in which this phenomenon as a good thing, and other examples that are forbidden. Worshipping the dead, for example, is forbidden, but speaking with the dead is not.
The Spirit Without the Body
In Zechariah 12:1 we read, “Yahweh[1] forms the spirit within.” The word that is translated as ‘forms’ or ‘formed’ is yatsar, which literally means ‘squeezes into’. In other words, our spirits are placed into or squeezed into our physical body.
Before we are born, our spirits existed independently of our body. We had a spiritual existence before our physical birth, and we will continue to have a spiritual existence once our flesh dies. During this mortal life, our spirits and our body are joined together – they simultaneously exist in the same space. When we die, our spirits leave our bodies. Between our physical death and the resurrection, out spirits continue to live as distinct, recognizable entities.
Jesus, Moses & Elijah
Seeing the spirits of the dead and having communication from them was not forbidden by Yahweh, either before or after the coming of the Messiah in the flesh. Yahshua [Jesus] spoke with the spirits of Moses and Elijah. The visitation of those two spirits with the Redeemer was observed by the apostles Peter, James and John. [Luke 9:28-36]
“Suddenly there were two men talking to Him. They were Moses and Elijah appearing in glory, and they were speaking of His passing that He was to accomplish in Jerusalem.” [NJB]
“Suddenly, both Moses and Elijah were talking with Him. They appeared in heavenly glory, and were discussing Jesus’ approaching death and what He was about to fulfill in Jerusalem.” [GWTN]
“Then two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus, They were glorious to see, and they were speaking of how He was about to fulfill God’s plan by dying in Jerusalem.” [NLB]
Moses was born in around 1500 BCE and Elijah had been born around 800 BCE. This means they appeared to the Messiah [and the apostles] in about 30 CE as spirits.
Samuel & Saul
Although the medium at Endor used a method of contacting the dead that was forbidden in Yahweh’s Law, the spirit of the dead prophet, Samuel did, nevertheless, appear to her and King Saul. Samuel’s spirit spoke with Saul, and gave him a prophecy. [1st Samuel 28:3-24]
“Saul knew it was Samuel,” the text tells us, indicating that the spirit was recognizable.
Obviously, Scripture indicates that it is possible to have communication between the spirits of the dead and the living. Whether that contact is good of evil depend upon the intent and upon the means used to initiate the spiritual connection
Shades
When the spirits of the dead appear, they are usually identifiable. Saul recognized Samuel. The Messiah and apostles recognized Moses and Elijah.
One meaning of rephaim, the Hebrew word that is often translated as ‘the dead’ or ‘spirits of the dead’, is shades or shadows. In other words, the spirits of the dead have the general shape and recognizable appearance of the deceased.
Spirits look like the physical body they are connected with. When the Messiah appeared to Moriancumer [the brother of Jared] He explained that what Moriancumer was “the body of [His] spirit.” He continued and said “Even as I appear unto to thee to be in the spirit, so will I appear unto My people in the flesh.” [Ether 6:7]
The spirits of the dead are manifested in such a way that the person to whom they appear can discern who they are – if not specifically, at least in a general way. They have a recognizable identity – like a shadow or like a semi-transparent shade. They have identifiable mannerisms, or perhaps appear to be wearing recognizable clothing, and speak with a familiar voice. so that the person to whom they appear knows who they are.
Scripture tells us we ought to “test the spirits”, and be sure they are not sent to deceive us. [1st John 4:1] It seems that one purpose of the spirit appearing in a recognizable manner is to confirm their identity to the living.
Necromancy
Necromancy is specifically forbidden by the Scripture. Exactly what is necromancy? Necromancy means invoking the dead for the purposes of fortune-telling or divination. Necromancy involves conjuring the spirits of the dead, or worshipping or praying to the dead. Some necromancers exhumed the bodies of the dead, and used their bones and other body parts in the practice of divination.
The spirits of the dead are just that – the spirits of the dead. They are not gods, nor angels to be venerated. We are not to pray to them.
The dead are not to be disturbed, but allowed to remain in peace. Samuel’s spirit complained to Saul, “Why do you disturb me by conjuring me up?” [1st Samuel 28:15]
All Around Us
Where are the spirits of the dead? Hebrews 12:1 speaks of “so many witnesses in a great cloud all around us.” Later in that same chapter, the author wrote of “the spirits of the upright who have been made perfect”, with whom the living members of the congregation of believers have a spiritual connection. [verse 23]
The dead have limited awareness of what the living are doing. They are at rest, and generally not involved with the affairs of this mundane world.
It is as though there is a veil or partition that separates this mortal life from the realm of the spirits. The spirits of the dead are, as it were, in another dimension. They are not far from us, yet are normally invisible and undiscernable to our natural senses.
Summary
A person ought not solicit encounters with the sprits of the deceased. The Scriptures are plain and consistent in denouncing the active invocation of the spirits of the dead.
We also ought not to worship or pray to the spirits of the dead, whether they be our own ancestors or any other persons. The spirits of the dead are not objects of awe, nor are they angels or gods.
The spontaneous appearance or presence of a spirit is generally for the purpose of giving some helpful communication, or to convey a sense of comfort, or to help establish a finality to their passing.
In that sense, the spirits of the dead MAY serve as ministering spirits to an individual. The Scriptures tell us that ONE of the gifts of the spirit is the “beholding of ministering spirits”. [Moroni 10:14]
The unseen world is relatively unfamiliar turf to us. Just as in the realm of the physically alive, so it is in the realm of spirits – meaning that there are some who are good, and others who are evil and malicious. There is no Scripture that encourages the living to seek after the dead. In fact, we are specifically instructed not to try to invoke the spirits of the dead.
For some people, at some time, the spirits of the dead DO break through the veil to communicate with them. The neshamah spirit of the dead sometimes does communicate with the living. They may come to give a personal message, words of consolation and comfort, or to act as messengers of Elohim to direct an individual.
David Bruce Clark
Lion of God Ministries
PO Box 33
Oak Grove MO 64075
[1] Yahweh is the Name of God the Father.
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