Table of Contents
Channeling
Channeling is defined as the practice of serving as a medium through which a spirit guide purportedly communicates with living persons. The Bible forbids channeling and the act of contacting the dead through mediums, necromancers, and fortune-tellers. The Lord warned His children, “Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them” (Leviticus 19:31). Deuteronomy 18:12 declares, “For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you.”
Clearly, God condemns the practice of channeling: “I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people” (Leviticus 20:6). Those who sought in any way to contact the spirits or contact the dead were punished.
The Lord abhors demonic powers that are contacted through mediums and wizards. The person that “practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums provoked God to anger (2 Kings 21:6 also 23:24; 2 Chronicles 33:6). Therefore, to save His children from demonic deceptions, God commanded in the Old Testaments that wizards, witches and others with “familiar spirits” should be put to death (Leviticus 20:27).
King Saul’s Sin
When king Saul disobeyed God’s clear commands and sought the help of the witch of Endor to speak with the presumed dead spirit of the prophet Samuel, he saw a demonic spirit appearing as God’s prophet. The demon posing as Samuel was able to depress Saul to the point where Saul was no longer able to stand up (1 Samuel 28:20).
That demon gave a message of utter hopelessness, typical of evil angels, which led Saul to commit suicide the next day. About Paul’s sin, the Bible says, “He was unfaithful to the Lord, he did not keep the word of the Lord, and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the Lord” (1 Chronicles 10:13–14).
In the New Testament, Paul explained that demons can actually appear as angels of light to deceive the living: “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).
Isaiah the prophet warns, “And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?” (Isaiah 8:19 also 19:3). By consulting the spirits of devils, people will eventually become like them. The devil has full control over those who forsake the “law” and the “testimony” (Isaiah 8:20).
Why We Should Communicate with the Dead?
The entity that appeared to Saul was not the ghost of Samuel because the Bible clearly teaches that the dead are in a state of unconsciousness till the Resurrection Day and are not aware of anything: “the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing…for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going” (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10).
The Bible Says, after death a person: returns to dust (Psalms 104:29), knows nothing (Ecclesiastes 9:5), possesses no mental powers (Psalms 146:4), has nothing to do with anything on earth (Ecclesiastes 9:6), does not live (2 Kings 20:1), waits in the grave (Job 17:13), and continues not (Job 14:1, 2). When people die, they enter a state the Bible likens to “sleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). They remain unconscious till the resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 15:51-54).
The biggest mistake for men is to forsake the living God and put themselves under the influence of Satan. Those who reject the truth because it is not popular are defenseless against Satan’s deceptions (2 Thessalonians 2:10, 11)
For more on the state of the dead, check out this article on the Intermediate State.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
