Can the dead come back and visit us?

Caller: I have a friend, and she tells me that her mother died some years ago and she came back to her and was telling her these foolish things, so I took her to Ecclesiastes 9:5 where it says ‘The dead know not anything, neither do they have any more remembrance of anything under the sun’, and she reminded me of when Saul went to the Witch of Endor (unintelligible) Samuel and called up Samuel, and Samuel even predicted the future. He told Saul that he and his sons would be with him tomorrow and these things took place. Now I know there has to be a logical explanation because the Bible doesn’t lie.

Pastor Doug: Alright, no, the Bible doesn’t lie. Again, you just do a little bit of logical work here and when it tells us that the witch conjures up Samuel—the Bible is talking about who this demon, of course, is attempting to impersonate. It could not have been Samuel for a number of reasons. First of all, the devil does not have the power to resurrect, much less a witch. Secondly, Samuel says to King Saul, ‘you will be with me’.

How could this king who grieved away the Spirit of God be sharing the reward of a holy prophet, if they’re going to the same place? Thirdly, the message that Samuel gives has absolutely no hope in it. The messages that the Lord usually gives give warning and hope. It’s a hopeless message. So, we don’t believe that this witch- That’s why God pronounced the death penalty on anyone who conjured up the dead because it was very deceptive.

Co-Host: And also, if you look at the Scripture, it actually says, if you read the message that the witch gave, the actual text says, ‘And she perceived that it was Samuel’. It was not actually Samuel. And in fact, it says ‘the gods coming up out of the earth’. It was demons.

Pastor Doug: That’s right. You know, if you read to your friends Job 7:10, Kathryn, Job 7:10 says ‘he will return no more to his house’ speaking of a dead person. And we know you already read Ecclesiastes 9:5, and you could look at Psalm 146:3. So there’s a number of verses in the Bible that say that dead people don’t come back to haunt the living. The Bible is very clear about that.

We have a lesson called “Are the Dead Really Dead?”, we’ll send you a free copy if you call the resource number.

Caller: Is that 1-800-835-6747?

Co-Host: That’s correct.

Pastor Doug: Are the Dead Really Dead? You ask for that.