Can we communicate with the dead?

[Guest Xan]

There could simply be a third explanation in that it is your own mind's wishful thinking.  But as to which one it is, no one here can really say.  

Last year I had a dream about my grandfather who has been dead for 12 years.  Grandpa was a self-educated Bible scholar and a Southern Baptist preacher.  He used to have discussions for hours on various topics concerning G-d's word. Since he died before I was old enough to truly appreciate that aspect of him, I had sincerely wished I had the opportunity to participate in the discussions with him.  In my dream, he showed up with a bag of food.  I kept trying to have a Biblical discussion with him, but he politely refused, insisting instead on just being with me.  I couldn't understand it.  There is so much I want to learn, probe, investigate.  Grandpa was content on just being with me, and I was frustrated.  Finally he got up from the table, and said he must leave, but he wanted me to eat the food he brought, and told me at the bottom of the bag are all his notes from his ministry, but he insisted that I eat first.  I found out later the meaning of my dream is G-d wants to spend time with me, to sup with me, and despite my never-ending quest for knowledge, that can wait as it is secondary to a relationship with G-d.  G-d used a dream about Grandpa to convey a personal message to me, but in no way did Grandpa show himself to me.

[WISDOM]

Quote: from Xan on 11:59 am on Feb. 25, 2002

[Teri Mc]

It's interesting you all have brought this up. I have a friend who's husband died right before christmas. He was a very Christ like man but I often dispaired during his life that my friend was not getting it because she was just going along with the church thing to please her husband. Since his death her faith has grown mostly out of neccessity to believe her husband is with God. The distressing thing about it is she insists on praying to her husband and encourages her children to speak to their father in this manner. My gut was telling me (or possibly the Holy Spirit) that God did not want her to be dependant on her husband any longer, but to put that dependance on Him. So I would like to thank everyone for unwittingly being involved in God answering one of my prayers. Now instead of going to her with what she will see as my opinion I can talk to her and show her scripture. Another interesting thing about this is usually when I pray about such matters the Holy Spirit shows me the scripture. What I mean by that is I open the book and I'm right at the answer. I take this answer as God's pleasure in us sharing his word together. God bless you all.

Love in Christ

Teri

[GreenEyedLady]

Teri-

It is common for those who have lost loved ones to "talk" to their loved ones.  We talk to ourselves every day in our heads.  That is not an unchristian thing.  It is a theaputic thing.  I think that maybe you could tell her to PRAY to God and talk to her husband.  Even writing letters to your loved ones that have died can help you.  What she is doing is ok....just make sure you ask her that you need to understand that she is talking and NOT praying.  This should also be told to her children.  God is ALWAYS there to comfort us however HE feels we need it.  I hope this helps you.  

GEL

[angels4u]

The Old Testament term for communicating with the dead is "necromancy." (Deuteronomy 18:11, also read verse 10) It is forbidden by God: "There shall not be found among you... For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord" (an "abomination," KJV).

Also see: 1 Samuel 28:3-20; 2 Chronicles 10:13, 14; Isaiah 8:19-22. The punishment for contacting the dead is very severe, if not repented of.

This must also include what Roman Catholicism claims is praying to the "saints" -- the deceased who have been beatified, canonized, or placed in a position of spiritual superiority by the hierarchy. (Scripture refers to all believers as "saints.") The real force at work in such "apparitions" (appearances of the deceased) is deception: demonic activity, evil spirits. Satan disguises himself as "an angel of light," it says in 2 Corinthians 11:14.  (He doesn't approach us saying, "Boo!" or we'd run & hide.)

When prophecies or visions fail to come to pass, we know they're not of God (Deuteronomy 18:21-22). But even if a vision or prophecy does come to pass, scripture says, we are still instructed to examine or discern the source: if it doesn't glorify Jesus -- if it glorifies any other person, living or dead -- it's not of God.

When someone claims to have received a "vision" of the dead, it's really a deception of the enemy -- demon forces at work. Luke chapter 16 contains excellent instruction on the state of the dead, referring to an impassable separation between the after-life and this world. Those in the next world, saved or otherwise, simply do not return to deliver messages to the living:

"[Lazarus] died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom," and the rich man died and suffered torment in Hades. A "great gulf" separated the two and was "fixed:  so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence." (Luke 16:19-31)

Another example is the instance in which, at the death of his son, David testified: "I shall go to him, but he shall not return unto me." (2 Samuel 12:15-23)

Not all miracles are of God. Satan performs lying signs and wonders (Exodus 7:9-12; 8:7, 17-19; Deuteronomy 13:1-5; Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22; 2 Thessalonians 2:9; Revelation 13:13-14, 16:14; 19:20) The magicians in the times of Moses and Daniel could perform some magic (Exodus 7:9-12; 8:7; Daniel 1:20) ... but their power is limited (Exodus 8:17-19; Daniel 2:2, 10, 27; 4:7; 5:7-8, 15).

Many Roman Catholics and others, lacking discernment* and knowledge of the Scriptures ("My people perish for lack of knowledge") -- and trusting the hierarchy of man -- fail to "test the spirits and see whether they be of God" (1 John 4:1). They assume the priests do that for them! Some of the primary points relative to this issue include:

If a sign or wonder predicted comes to pass, but the person is enticed to follow after another god, we are to reject it. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5) Also, if the message delivered is contrary to Scripture, it's not from God (Isaiah 8:20; 2 Timothy 3:16). Some religious messages don't glorify Jesus at all; rather, the "vision" is glorified and, repeated again and again, perpetuated by tradition.

The Roman Catholic practice of praying to and for the dead can be traced in part to the Old Testament apocryphal books (2 Maccabees 12:46 "It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead.") These books, rejected from the canon ("rule," or "standard") of Scripture, contain historical and geographical errors, and many teachings inconsistent with the rest of scripture:  salvation by almsgiving; suicide; magic; angelic intercession; etc. Definitely nothing sturdy upon which to base one's eternal destiny.    

* discernment is learned by experience (Hebrews 5:14), through knowledge of the Bible (Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:15, 6; Ezekiel 44;23)

How about the Catholices praying to Saints and Mary, they are praying to the dead all the time....

[Guest]

Gel & Xan,

[Guest Xan]

As long as you understand that it was not your grandfather, but his image.  To state otherwise would be to deny the word of G-d.  But I do agree, He can use the images of people we are familiar with to tell us things.

[Guest]

Very true Xan... Good Point!

[Guest leejosepho]

The original question here was, "Can we communicate with the dead?"

As has been eloquently and otherwise stated and explained above: No, we cannot -- and we are commanded to not even try.

Blessings!

[Guest Levi]

What about if the dead communicate with you anyway???

Ok, here goes with my experience. My dead granparents appeared to me in my sleep but in actuality it was no dream. I was sitting on a stool or something in a bright white room that seemed to glow with a beautiful white light. All of a sudden the door opened and my grandparents walked in and they too had a wonderful aura and eminating white light that seemed to radiate into me and it was really warm and comforting, full of love. I couldn't really see their faces as their faces just glowed with this beautiful light and that's all you could see in their face, but I knew without a doubt that it was them. I have no recollection of what they were talking with me about but it is like there was a lot of communication going on and it was all instantaneous like telepathy, it was a telepathic form of communication. There was nothing at all evil there, it was almost like evil was absent from that place and the spirit was one of overwhelming love. We talked for a while and then they were about to leave so I kissed my grandfather goodbye and he was cold to the touch which I found odd, and then they left. It's funny that I kissed my grandfather and not my grandmother because when my grandmother died I wouldn't touch the body but I touched my grandfather's hand while he lay in the casket and it was the same cold feeling. I think it was a sign or a confirmation that it was in fact my grandfather. I believe they were sent by God and they were discussing my future with me. It was about a year later that I got saved. I found out later that around the same time, my mother was visited by them as well and she described how they looked and the warm light and love just like I had experienced. They each took one of her hands and told her to come with them. They began walking down a long corridor with a light at the end and my mother was quite happy to see them and was enjoying their fellowship when all of a sudden she realized "I can't go with you, you're dead" and they vanished. Turns out she had had a mild heart attack. To top it off, later my brother and his wife told of seeing granny and gramps around the same time too. My brother and his wife had been out shopping and when they returned home, my brother's wife went in the house first and all of a sudden she dropped the groceries. My brother asked if she was ok and she said "I just saw grandma and granpa, they were just here" but by that time they had vanished. All of this is too much to be coincidence since we all lived thousands of miles apart at the time.

Another story is of a boyfriend of my sister when she was like 15 or 16. He died in a motorcycle accident and she was completely devestated. He appeared to her in her room on more than one occasion and told her how he was fine and everything was ok and then she was able to recover and get over the loss.

All this talk about any spirit sighting or communication being evil is a little silly as far as I'm concerned. Because people fear the evil they lose sight of God's good spirits. There are evil spirits but there are also many good spirits under God's command whom he uses to help run His Kingdom and to assist His people on earth. We are compassed about with a great cloud of witnesses.