GHOST BUSTER

Since we're approaching halloween I thought I'd throw in a little about the supernatural.

When I was a child I enjoyed that scared feeling when I heard a ghost story or saw a scary movie. Around halloween we are bombarded with horror films, but now I have no inclination to watch them. Even as a child I couldn't understand the concept of ghosts, even though I knew or heard of people who swore they had seen them. The reason I couldn't understand how there could possibly be ghosts is because when people die their spirits either go to Heaven or Hell. If they go to Hell, there is no way out, they are not free to come back and haunt people. In Luke 16:25-31 the rich man who had died and gone to Hell wanted Abraham to send Lazarus to his family to warn them about Hell because he couldn't go himself, but Abraham told him they wouldn't believe even if someone rose from the dead, inferring that the only way for someone to come back here was to come back as a live person again. If a person's spirit goes to Heaven God wouldn't allow them to come back to scare or destroy people, God has other ways of dealing with people, he doesn't need to send back those who have died.

Ok then, what do people see or experience? I believe it's something. Here's my theory: there are really devils (or demons), the bible has many references concerning people who were possessed by devils. When the person dies, or the devils are cast out of the person, the devils that possessed them are still here, I believe they probably took on some characteristics of the person who they possessed that died or that they were cast out of, so people who think they see ghosts may really be seeing devils that had possessed that person during their life. The good news is devils or demons can be cast out, Jesus and the disciples did it all the time, Christian's do it today. I wouldn't recommend trying this if you're not a Christian or don't know what you're doing, the seven sons of the chief priest, Sceva, tried it in Acts 19:12-16 and were overcome, but not killed, by the demon possessed man. If there were such things as ghosts here on earth there wouldn't be much you could do about them, the dead can't die again. The witch of Endor who supposedly conjured up the ghost of Samuel for Saul in 1 Sam. 28, really just conjured up a familiar spirit or demon who imitated Samuel, because God didn't answer Saul when he prayed, He certainly wouldn't answer him through this wicked woman.

So where did devils or demons come from, the popular opinion is that they are fallen angels, those that rebelled with Lucifer and those that fell in the days of Noah. The problem is these angels are currently bound in Hell (Tartarus) 2 Peter 2:4. I heard Bob Yandian give what I believe to be a credible explanation of the origin of these devils, he suggests they are the spirits of the pre-Adamites who inhabited this planet before it was destroyed and re-created (See my first two posts How It All Began, and How Art Thou Fallen).
http://www.precepts.com, the links are Free Study Materials / Archives / Angels and Demons / The Origin of Demons.

There were a couple of movies I watched in my youth that intrigued me, "The Three Faces Of Eve", starring JoAnn Woodward, and "Sybil", starring Sally Field. These movies were about women who had multiple personalities that caused them to behave in different ways depending on the personality that was manifesting itself at the time. This apparently was something new to the doctors who were treating them in these movies. I soon noticed that people were using "multiple personality syndrome" as a legal defense for horrible crimes they had committed, stating that it was one of their more deviant personalities, not them, who had committed the crime. I thought this was just some scam they concocted in order to be able to commit crimes and get away with it, and in most cases it probably was. Then all of a sudden it clicked, when Jesus asked the demon possessed man in Mark 5 what his name was the devils answered "My name is Legion, for we are many", this man really did have "multiple personality syndrome", but in fact he had many different demons that manifested themselves in many different ways. Psychiatrists and pyschologists who encounter people who really do have "multiple personality syndrome" might do them a world of good by having the devils cast out of them by a bible believing Christian. Just think how many people in Mental Health facilities might be cured if their doctors only knew what they were really dealing with. I am not suggesting, however, that all mental illness is due to the person being possessed by a devil.

When a devil is cast out it wants to go somewhere, it might possess another person, or an animal (in Mark 5, when Jesus cast the devils out of a man called "Legion" they asked to be sent into pigs and Jesus allowed it). If the person from whom the devil(s) are cast out doesn't guard his or her life by accepting Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord it may come back with more devils:
Matthew 12:43-45
43When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
44Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
45Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

A devil can't just decide they're going to possess just anyone they please, the person has to open him or herself up to being possessed by the demon.

Now about halloween, the Celts believed a lord of death sent evil spirits into animals and they went around playing tricks on people. To escape the people wore a disguise so that the evil spirits would think they were one of them, Celtic priests, called Druids, built bonfires on hilltops to frighten the spirits away and even offered human sacrifices. Later Christians tried to change the holiday to "All Hallow's Eve" which means "all holies" or "all the saints" to change the holiday from one of fear to one of joy, celebrating the lives of loved ones who had gone on to be with the Lord. The pagans would have none of it and changed it into "The Witches Sabbath" and they met to worship the devil. This information about the origin of Halloween is taken from a children's book titled "Halloween Is It For Real?" by Harold Myra.

A lot of churches offer safe alternatives to going house to house on Halloween. Many children have been harmed participating in the activity of trick or treating.

This is a link to a site where you can look up scripture references in many different versions of the bible: http://www.biblegateway.com.

HOW ART THOU FALLEN?

What happened between Genesis 1:1 and 2?

"For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water. Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."
2 Peter 3:5-7.

The world of Noah's day didn't perish, these scriptures refer to the period between Genesis 1:1 and 2. Notice that Genesis 1:2 states that the "darkness was upon the face of the deep (or waters). And the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters." Genesis 1:9 states "And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place and let the dry land appear, and it was so." God didn't create the earth filled with water, He created the earth and it was destroyed by a great flood, long before the re-creation of the earth and the creation of present day mankind.

But why?:

The New Living Translation
Ezekiel 28:12-17
"Son of man, weep for the king of Tyre. Give him this message from the Sovereign LORD: You were the perfection of wisdom and beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone – red carnelian, chrysolite, white moonstone, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald – all beautifully crafted for you and set in the finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created. I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire. "You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you. Your great wealth filled you with violence, and you sinned. So I banished you from the mountain of God. I expelled you, O mighty guardian, from your place among the stones of fire. Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings."

Lucifer (king of Tyre) was placed on earth as a guardian, perfect in beauty, blameless in all he did, till iniquity was found in him, his heart was filled with pride. He actually thought he could dethrone Almighty God and take His place. His beauty caused his pride, but could it have been something else as well?

The New Living Translation
Isaiah 14:12-15
"How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. For you said to yourself, 'I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God's stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.'
But instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths.

There were pre-Adamic nations on earth before the world was destroyed by a great flood and re-created for present day mankind. We know that Lucifer deceived them and they were destroyed. Could it have been that they began to worship him because of his beauty, is that why his heart was lifted up? Or was it because he became so enthralled with his own beauty that he deceived them into worshipping him instead of God? We can only conjecture about this because the bible doesn't reveal much about this period.

This was the period of the dinosaurs. Maybe they were a judgement of the people of that period because they began to worship Lucifer. Maybe they were gentle and became ferocious, again we can only conjecture.

The bible does reveal that these pre-Adamic nations were weakened by Lucifer's rebellion and pride and eventually destroyed. We don't know how long the period was between this destruction and the re-creation of the earth and the creation of the Adamic race in Genesis 1:2-31.

Lucifer was cast down to the earth because of his fall, not to hell, but to the earth. He was already here as Satan when Adam and Eve were created, ready to tempt them to sin. He is called the "Prince of the power of the Air" (Eph. 2:2), his dwelling is in the atmosphere of the earth, not in heaven or hell. I'm sure if truth were known, he doesn't want to go anywhere near hell. But he doesn't mind deceiving us and causing our destruction like he caused the destruction of the pre-Adamic nations.


Recommended reading: "Dake's Annotated Reference Bible";
"God's Dispensational and Prophetic Plan"
by John G. Hall.

This is a link to a site where you can look up scripture references in many different versions of the bible: http://www.biblegateway.com/