Whatsayscripturesspiritism_02
PART II
WHO ARE THESE SPIRITS WHICH PERSONATE THE DEAD?
We have in the Scriptures most abundant and most positive testimony that no communication could come from the dead until after the resurrection. Furthermore, we have positive Scripture testimony (1) that not only some, but all, of these spirits are "evil spirits," "lying spirits," "seducing spirits." The Scriptures forbid that humanity should seek to these for information, and clearly inform us that these demons or "devils" are "those angels which kept not their first estate," - some of the angels to whom was committed the supervision of mankind in the period before the flood, for the purpose of permitting them to endeavor to lift mankind out of sin; that by their failure all might learn that there is but one effectual remedy for sin; viz., that provided in Christ. These angels, instead of uplifting humanity, were themselves enticed into sin, and misused the power granted them, of materializing in human form, to start another race. (Gen. 6:1-6) Their illicit progeny, was blotted out with the flood, and themselves were thereafter restrained from the liberty of assuming physical bodies, as well as isolated from the holy angels who had kept their angelic estate inviolate.
The Apostle Peter (2 Pet. 2:4) mentions these, saying, "God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell [Tartarus] and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment." Jude (6) also mentions this class, saying, "The angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation [proper condition] he hath reserved in everlasting chains - under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." Notice three points with reference to these evil angels.
(1) They are imprisoned in Tartarus, restrained, but not destroyed. Tartarus is nowhere else rendered "hell," but in this one passage. It does not signify the grave, neither does it signify the Second Death, symbolized by the "lake of fire and brimstone;" but it does signify the air or atmosphere of earth.
(2) They have some liberties in this imprisoned condition, yet they are chained, or restrained, in one respect - they are not permitted to exercise their powers in the light being "under chains of darkness."
(3) This restriction was to continue until "the judgment of the great day," the great Millennial Day - in all a period of over 4,00 years. As we are now in the dawning of the Millennial Day - "the great day" - it is possible that this should be understood to mean that some of these limitations as to "darkness" may ere long be removed, gradually. If so, if the "chains of darkness" should be released, it would permit these evil spirits to work deceptions or "lying wonders" in the daylight (as they are now attempting to do) to the delusion of mankind more than ever has been known since the flood.
These fallen angels, or demons, are not to be confounded with Satan the prince of demons, or devils, whose evil career began long before - who was the first, and for a long time the only, enemy of the divine government; who, having been created an angel of a superior order, sought to establish himself as a rival to the Almighty, and to deceive and ensnare Adam and his race to be his servants; and to a large extent, for a time at least, he has succeeded, as all know. As "the prince of this world," who "now worketh in the hearts of the children of disobedience," he has indeed a very multitudinous host of deceived and enslaved followers. Naturally he would appreciate the deflection of the "angels who kept not their first estate," and who were restrained at the time of the flood; and hence he is spoken of as their chief, "the prince of devils;" and no doubt as a superior order of being he exercises some degree of control over the others.
These fallen angels, "demons," have probably very little to interest them amongst themselves; - evil beings apparently always prefer to make game of the purer, and apparently take pleasure in corrupting and degrading them. The history of these demons, as given in the Scriptures, would seem to show that the evil concupiscence which led to their fall, before the flood, still continues with them. They still have their principal pleasure in that which is lascivious and degrading; and the general tendency of their influence upon mankind is toward working mischief against the well-disposed, and the debauchery of those over whom they gain absolute control.
We are well aware that many Christian people have reached the conclusion that the lord and the apostles were deceived, when they attributed to the works of demons conduct that is now considered human propensity and mental unbalance and fits. But all should admit that if our Lord was in error on this subject, his teachings would be an unsafe guide upon any subject.
Notice the personality and intelligence attributed to these demons in the following Scriptures - "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well; devils also believe and tremble." (Jas. 2:19.) Do human propensities "believe and tremble?" The demons said to our Lord, "Thou art Christ, the Son of God! And he, rebuking them, suffered them not to speak [further], for they knew that he was Christ." (Luke 4:41.) Another said, "Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are ye?" (Acts 19:15.) The young woman from whom Paul cast out the spirit of soothsaying and divination (Acts 16:16-19) is a good illustration. Can it be claimed by any that the Apostle deprived the woman of any proper talent or power? Must it not be confessed to have been a spirit which possessed and used her body - an evil spirit unfit to be tolerated there?
Many of those who claim that the demons of the Scriptures were the spirits of wicked men and women who died, and that theses are the "lying spirits" acknowledged by Spiritists, have still another difficulty; - for generally they claim that the spirits of wicked dead go to hell-torments as they wrongly interpret sheol and hades to mean.* If so, how could they be so much at liberty?
———————-* See "What Say The Scriptures About Hell?" a pamphlet in which every text of Scripture containing the word hell is cited and examined in the light of Scripture and reason, together with other Scriptures and parables supposed to teach eternal torment.
"Witchcraft," "Necromancy," the "Black art," "Sorcery," etc., are supposed by many to be wholly delusions. But when we find that they had a firm hold upon the Egyptians, and that God made special provision against them with Israel, we are satisfied that he made no such restrictions either against that which is good, or against that which had no existence whatever. The instruction to Israel was very explicit: they should not have any communion nor make any inquiries through necromancers (those who claimed to speak for the dead; i.e. spirit-mediums); nor with any wizard or witch; nor with any who had occult powers, charms; nor with those who work miracles by means of sorcery and incantation. - Read carefully all of the following Scriptures, - Exod. 22:18; Deut. 18:9-12; Lev. 19:31; 20:6,27; 2 Kings 21:2,6,9,11; I Chron. 10:13,14; Acts 16:16-18; Gal. 5:19-21; Rev. 21:8; Isa. 8:19,20; 19:3.
The Bible story of King Saul's "seance" with the witch of Endor, a necromancer or spirit-medium, as related in I Sam. 28:7-20, is an illustration of what is claimed to be performed to-day. Altho the law with reference to these mediums was very strict and the punishment death, there were some who were willing to risk their lives because of the gains which could thus be obtained from people who believed that they were obtaining supernatural information from their dead friends - just as with spirit-mediums to-day. King Saul was well aware that there were numerous of these mediums residing in Israel contrary to the divine injunction and his own law, and his servants apparently had no difficulty in finding the one at Endor. Saul disguised himself for the interview, but no doubt the crafty woman knew well the stately form of Saul - head and shoulders taller than any other man in Israel. (I Sam. 9:2.) Hence her particularity to secure a promise and oath from his own lips that no harm should befall her for the service.
The methods used by the evil spirits through the medium at Endor were similar to those in use to-day. They caused to pass before the medium's mental vision the familiar likeness of the aged prophet, Samuel, wearing as was his custom, a long mantle. When she described the mental (or "astral?") picture, Saul recognized it at once as a description of Samuel; but Saul himself saw nothing - he "perceived," from the description, that it was Samuel. Easily convinced, as people under such circumstances usually are, Saul did not stop to question how it could be that Samuel look as old and as stooped as he looked in the present life, if he was now a spirit being and far better off; nor did he inquire why he wore the same old mantle in the spirit world that he had worn when he knew him as an earthly being. Saul had been forsaken by the Lord and was now easily deceived by these "lying spirits," who personated the prophet and spoke to Saul in his name, through their "medium," the witch, necromancer, Spiritist.
The fallen spirits are not only well informed in respect to all the affairs of earth, but they are adepts in deceit. In answering Saul, the manner and style, and as nearly as could be judged the sentiments of the dead prophet were assumed - the better to deceive. (Thus these "lying spirits" always seek to counterfeit the face manner and disposition of the dead.) The response was, "Why has thou disquieted me to bring me up?" This answer corresponds to the Jewish belief - that when a person died he became unconscious in "sheol," the grave, waiting for a resurrection. (Job 14:12-15,21; Psa. 90:3; Eccl. 9:5,6.) Hence the representation is that Samuel was brought up from the grave, and not down from heaven; and that his rest or peaceful "sleep" was disturbed or "disquieted." - Psa. 13:3; Job 14:12; Psa. 90:5; John 11:11,14.
Saul was easily deceived into thinking that the Prophet Samuel who had refused to visit him to have any further converse with him while alive, had been forced to commune with him, by the wonderful powers of the witch. (See I Sam. 15:26,35.) Saul's own testimony was, "God is departed from me and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams." - I Sam. 28:6, 15.
Any rightly informed person will readily see the absurdity of supposing that Samuel would hold any conference whatever with Saul under the circumstance. (1) Samuel (when living) was aware that God had forsaken Saul, and hence Samuel had no right to speak to him and no right to give him any information which the Lord was unwilling to give him. And Samuel would not do so. (2) It is thoroughly absurd to suppose that a spirit-medium under condemnation of the Lord and prohibited of the right of residence in the land of Israel could have the power at the instance of a wicked king, whom God had deserted, to "disquiet" Samuel and to bring him "up" out of sheol. Was Samuel down in the earth, or was he afar off in heaven? and had the witch the power in either case to command him to present himself before King Saul to answer his question? Or is it reasonable to suppose that any spirit-mediums have the power to "disquiet" and "bring up" or in any other manner cause the dead to appear to answer the speculative questions of the living?
The "familiar spirit" of the witch, personating Samuel, foretold nothing which Saul himself did not anticipate. Saul knew that God's word had been passed that the kingdom should be taken from him and his family, and he had sought the witch because of his fear of the Philistine hosts in battle array for the morrow. He expected no mercy for himself and his family, God having told him that David would be his successor. He even anticipated, therefore, the statement which was the only feature connected with this story that indicates in any degree a supernatural knowledge; viz., "To-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hands of the Philistines." The well-informed demons knew full better than did Saul the strength of the Philistines' position and army, and the weakness of Saul's position and army, and that he himself was already panic-stricken and making this inquiry of the witch-medium because he was distracted at the situation. Any one familiar with the warfare of that time would know (1) that one day's battle would probably settle the question; and (2) that the death of the king and his household would be the only logical result. Nevertheless, the "familiar spirit" erred, for two of Saul's sons escaped and lived for years. It is even denied by scholars that the battle and the death of Saul occurred for several days after the visit to the witch.
It is not surprising that Satan and the fallen angels, his consorts in evil, should know considerably more than do men, concerning many of life's affairs. We must remember that by nature they are a higher, more intelligent order than men; for man was made "a little lower than the angels" (Psa. 8:5): besides, let us remember their thousands of years of experience, unimpaired by decay and death, as compared with man's "few years and full of trouble," soon cut off in death. Can we wonder that mankind cannot cope with the cunning of these "wicked spirits," and that our only safety lies in the divine provision that each one who so wills may refuse to have any communication with these demons? The Word of the Lord is, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (Jas. 4:7.) "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring [angry] lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist, steadfast in the faith." - I Pet. 5:8,9.
But while able to tell things past and present, these evil intelligences are quite unable to do more than guess at the future. Yet these guesses are often so skillfully stated as to satisfy the inquirer and yet appear true, if the result should be the opposite of his expectation. Thus the oracle of Delphi having been consulted by Croesus demonstrated to him a super-human knowledge of present things, and when he, having thus gained confidence in it, inquired through its mediums, "whether he should lead an army against the Persians," the answer as recorded by Herodotus the historian was, "By crossing the Halys, Croesus will destroy a mighty power!" Relying upon this, Croesus attacked the Persians and was defeated. His own mighty power was destroyed! History is full of such evidences that the demons know not the future; and God's Word challenges all such, saying, -
"Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the king of Jacob. Let them bring them forth and show us what shall happen. Let them show the former things [things before or to come] what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods." - Isa. 41:21,23.
But where was Samuel the prophet, if Saul would be with him the day following? Clearly the meeting place would not be heaven, for wicked Saul was surely unfit to enter there (John 3:5); nor could the meeting be in a place of flames and torment, for surely Samuel was not in such a place. No; the "familiar spirit" spoke to Saul from the standpoint of the general faith of that time, taught by Samuel and all the patriarchs and prophets, - namely, that all who die, good and bad alike, go to sheol, the grave, the state of death, the sleep from which naught can awaken except the resurrection power of Michael, the arch-angel (Dan. 12:1,2); - except it were claimed that the witch's "familiar spirit" could awaken the dead in advance, - but this, as we are showing, was a deception, a fraud, the "lying spirit" personating the dead and answering for Samuel.
Of this passage Charles Wesley wrote -
"What do these solemn words portend?
A gleam of hope when life shall end? -
Thou and thy sons shall surely be
To-morrow in repose with me: -
Not in a state of hellish pain,
If Saul with Samuel remain;
Not in a state of damned despair,
If loving Jonathan be there."
One remarkable thing in connection with the manifestations of these fallen angels or "demons," is that people of ordinary common sense are so easily deceived by them and accept such flimsy proofs respecting the dead, which they would not accept respecting the living. The inquirer will accept through the medium a description which fits to the individual and his manner, clothing and appearance years before, and will hold sacred a message purporting to come from him, whereas the same individual would be more on guard against deception by a living impostor, and his message through a servant.
The mention in the Scriptures of these necromancers, witches and mediums, leads us to infer that through mediums they were for centuries seeking fellowship with the Israelites. But it is apparently the custom to change the manner of manifestation from time to time: just as witchcraft flourished for a time in New England and Ohio, and throughout Europe, and then died out and has been succeeded by Spiritism, whose tipping and rapping manifestations are gradually giving way to others, clairaudience and materialization being now the chief endeavors, the latter, being very difficult and the conditions often unfavorable, are often accompanied by mediumistic assistance and fraud.