Ghost Story: Levels of Hell

[Biblican]

23 hours ago, OneLight said:

Hebrews 9:27

"And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment"

2 Corinthians 5:8

"We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord."

I've found nothing in scripture to indicate the souls of the dead wander the earth.  Even in the parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) we see that the souls of the deal are restricted to either Hades or Abraham's Bosom, never free to wander around.  It's just another lie from the father of lies.

The believing dead were in Paradise with Lazarus. Paradise is not longer there. So when a person dies that is not evil though all have sinned, and is not a believer, where would they go if Paradise is not there? The only explanation we have in scripture is the sea in Rev. 20:13. Which would be this dimension.

[Biblican]

20 hours ago, other one said:

From the perspective of a deep research of the Occult many years ago and actually walking among the dark ones for nearly ten years, I can say that paranormal activity is all from the spirit world and virtually all from demonic activity.   I've lived with demons and studied and witnessed all kinds of rituals and pretty much know for sure that there are no ghosts.   They are all demonic activity and occasionally in serious circumstances a fallen angel.

The reason you don't read a lot about them in the bible is because the bible was not penned to teach one about the dark side.   It was penned to introduce us to the Lord and how to be with him.   There are books and places to learn of the dark ones, but I  really would not recommend it.

Interesting. But from my experience, demons don't tend to stay in one place where there are no people. There has been paranormal activity in abandoned houses which to me doesn't fit the demons mode of operation. Your thoughts?

[Biblican]

20 hours ago, Vipergts said:

Whatever people see, or think that they see, it was never human. 

10 But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

11 As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

12 So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

  Job 14:10-12

 

For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

    ECCLESIASTES 9:5

Death does not grant the ability to do anything. Even if they were not asleep, which they seem to be, they can not interact with the living, or be seen by the living. If previous generations could pop up, they would not be forgotten. 

 

But we know from Jesus and the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich man that the dead are conscious and can communicate. Jesus told the theif on the cross that He would be with Him in Paradise.

Job 14 seems to negate the resurrection.

[Neighbor]

Sounds familiar;

 

"Lucy Muir insists on moving into the very cheap Gull Cottage in the quaint seaside village of Whitecliff, despite multiple warnings that the house is haunted. Upon discovering the rumors to be true, the young widow ends up forming a special companionship with the ghost of handsome former sea captain Daniel Gregg. "

 "The Ghost And Mrs.Muir"  Book, Movie, and tv series.

[Ocean]

nope

[tim_from_pa]

On 1/30/2023 at 1:19 PM, Biblican said:

Some friends of mine rented a house in New England. It wasn’t long before they discovered that the house was haunted, possibly by one of the former occupants.

My friend’s first indication that they were not the only residents came when Trudy decided to move the vase that was on a cabinet to the center of the dining room table. Pleased with the new arrangement, she left the room, only to return later to find that the vase had been returned to the cabinet.

It wasn’t long after that when the ghost actually appeared to them which it did on multiple occasions. It was a woman and they nicknamed her “Honey.”

My friends were Christians and they were never afraid of the apparition. They just felt sorry for her. Her soul was trapped. She had never accepted Jesus in her lifetime and without the Holy Spirit she was unable to ascend to heaven when her body had died and her soul was released. She was imprisoned in another level of hell.

The scriptures show us that at the last judgment and the second resurrection of the dead, which occurs after the second coming and Jesus’ millennial reign; the souls who have not repented and received the gospel in their lifetimes are retrieved from two locations. –

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).

We can see from verse thirteen that some souls are gathered from the “sea” and the rest from hell. These are two distinct locations and we are shown from this example that not all souls are in “hell.”

The “sea” symbolically represents the world, our dimension. Hell is another dimension and from the example given in Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31), it is a place of extreme torment.

The prophet David praises God for saving him from “the lowest hell” in Psalm 86:13, which indicates that there are levels of hell and the place of the most extreme torment is the “lowest.”

We can conclude from these examples in scripture, that the souls who die without Christ are imprisoned in one of these two locations and we can also conclude that the souls who are trapped in this dimension, “the sea,” are the ghosts, and the source of paranormal activity.

There are multitudes of recorded examples of genuine hauntings around the world. For example, there is a lighthouse in Long Island sound, New York, that is so haunted that the Coast Guardsman refuse to stay there. That location is also where there have been many shipwrecks and the lighthouse has become a refuge for souls whose bodies perished in that vicinity.

There are many in this day and age that want to eliminate the Biblical concept of hell, even though Jesus assures us of its existence (Matthew 5:22,29, 10:28, 23:33). But these same people that are opposed to the concept of hell, ignore the fact that the paranormal does exist and that it is the evidence of another level of hell that cannot be erased that easily from the blackboard of mental reasoning.

We have been shown from the Bible where the dead are housed after the judgment. Who ends up where is God’s decision, which is based on the choices the souls have made for themselves in their lifetimes. All these souls have one thing in common; none of them have received the Gospel. –

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life - John 3:16.

Repentance and Faith in Jesus’ atonement for our sins, removes them and clothes us with the righteousness that can only come from God. This is turn enables us to receive the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of eternal life. The Holy Spirit is the lifeline that is secured to our souls that enables us to rise into heaven and live eternally in the freedom of God’s holy, loving presence.

You can make the decision now to repent of your sins and receive Jesus, the only one God has ordained to keep your soul out of every level of hell’s prisons. I guarantee that if you refuse God’s offer to save your soul, it will be a decision that will haunt you for the rest of your life - and beyond.

Interesting story, and this would make a good movie, but sorry to say this is not Biblical at all.  And while I do not deny spirits such as poltergeists, we have to realize what they are:  demonic entities and should not be given any sympathy or attention.

For the rest of the Christians reading this, the unbiblical concept of the "immortal soul" fosters stories like these even if inadvertently.  We sleep until the resurrection, otherwise if there is a disembodied soul floating around, whether on earth or in heaven, then a fully conscious being like that would not need a resurrection. It would be pointless as the soul in spirit form is then merely a transition devoid of any body. "The soul that sins will die"  Ezekiel 18:20.

[grahampaul]

1 hour ago, Biblican said:

The word for spirits in the Hebrew is also used for souls.

Do you know what a soul is? there is nothing immortal about the soul. when a man dies his soul no more.

[OneLight]

7 minutes ago, grahampaul said:

Do you know what a soul is? there is nothing immortal about the soul. when a man dies his soul no more.

Allow me to ask for clarification.  If the spirit, upon death, goes to be with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6-8), and the flesh returns to dust (Genesis 3:19), and the soul (as you say) ceases to exist, what raises from the grave or is caught up at the rapture?

[HAZARD]

54 minutes ago, grahampaul said:

Do you know what a soul is? there is nothing immortal about the soul. when a man dies his soul no more.

Every living thing has a soul and spirit. The soul is that which feels and the spirit is that which knows. Animals have both feelings and knowledge although somewhat limited and on a much lower scale than that of man. Animals were not created in the likeness of God as men are. They are a lower type of life and they have souls and spirits in the sense of feelings, emotions, appetites, desires, passions, and a low form of knowledge, as can be seen in may Scriptures. If there are horses in Heaven as the Scriptures teach then there must be all kinds of animals there for Heaven is called a better place, and therefore it is sure to be as good as the Earth (Hebrews 11:10-16).

Scriptures teach that there is a difference between the natural spirit of man and the spirit of beasts (Eccl. 3:21); that there is a difference between "breath" and "spirit" (Job 34:15; Ps. 19:7; Luke 12:19; 1 Cor. 5:5; 2 Cor. 7:1) ; and that each creature has a separate spirit which is not a part of God (Num. 16:22; 27:17; Eccl. 3:21 ; Ezek. 21:7; Dan. 2:1-3; Mal. 2:15-16; Prov. 16:2; 1 Cor. 2:10-12; 14:32; Heb. 12:9, 23; 1 Thess. 5:23).

Eccl. 3:21 states this; "Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?"

This suggests to me that animals which are on the Earth, not those in Heaven, that die on the Earth, their spirit remains or returns to the earth.

[OneLight]

2 hours ago, Biblican said:

The believing dead were in Paradise with Lazarus. Paradise is not longer there. So when a person dies that is not evil though all have sinned, and is not a believer, where would they go if Paradise is not there? The only explanation we have in scripture is the sea in Rev. 20:13. Which would be this dimension.

First, scripture does not say Paradise is no longer there.  Man does.  When Jesus spoke the parable, He was painting a picture so that we would have an understanding of what happens when a person dies.  When Jesus rose and led captivity captive, there is no scripture telling us He destroyed, or closed paradise.  It shows His authority as He has the keys to Hades and death.  Don't forget to take what you have been told and hold it up to scripture to see if what you heard is scriptural or of man.

Second, if you are implying with your theory that those who died before Jesus rose from the dead were captive in paradise, then where did the disciples get the idea that when they saw Jesus walking on water that He was a ghost? 

Keep studying and discover the difference between scriptural truth and the doctrine and stories of men.