answers about ghosts

Hi to Jess - those were all good questions you had! One thing you might want to consider is getting a concordance. I have "Strongs Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible." It is a very large book that lists every word in the Bible, gives the verse it is found in, and also gives the definition of that word from the Hebrew (Tanach-Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament). It is a lot of fun to study things using this tool. One example of a word study using the concordance is the word "large". In the New Testament there are four words translated "large". One is found in Mk 14:15, ". . .he will show you a large upper room." Large here is the Greek word, "megas" which means big. In Galations 6:11, Paul wrote, "Look at the large letters I use. . ." Here, the word translated "large" is the Greek word, "megaleios" meaning "magnificent", "a conspicuous favor", or "perfection". Then in Rev. 21:16 it says, ". . .the length is as large as the breadth. . ." The Greek word here is, "tosoutos" meaning, "so vast as this". This is not the best example, but is the only thing I could come up with this late at night. lol Just in curiosity, I looked up the word, "ghost". The verses there did not shed any light on your question. Then I looked up, "spirit". In the Old Testament there are two words translated "spirit". The most common one is, "ruwach" which means wind, or by resemblance, breath, or spirit of a rational being. The other word used for "spirit" is "owb". The definition is a little hazy but basically refers to a necromancer. A necromancer is a person who makes contact with the dead. The Bible refers to those people as those with a "familiar spirit" The verses that speak about that are: Lev. 19:31, 20:6 and 27, Deut. 18:11, ISam. 28:3,7,8,9 and 2Kings 21:6, 23:24, IChron. 10:13, and 2Chron. 33:6. Basically, trying to make contact with the dead is something that God warns His people to stay away from. The spirit world is very real. We do not need to fear it, but it is not something to play games with either. People who practice "spiritual" things outside of the realm of the guidelines given to us in the Scriptures are playing dangerous games and will eventually end up in trouble. The verses in ISamuel 3-9 actually tell about King Saul calling on the services of a woman with a familiar spirit. According to the story, she did contact Samuel, who then spoke to Saul. It should be noted that the reason Saul sought her services is that he was in big trouble, and God refused to answer him because of his rebellion toward God. That is not a good position to be in!

Generally, people involved in spiritual activity outside of the guidelines of Scripture are seeking power for themselves. One New Testament example is in Acts 9:9-24; "There was a man named Shim'on in the city who for some time had been practicing magic and astonishing the nation of Shomron, claiming to be somebody great. Everyone gave heed to him, from the lowest to the highest, saying, 'This man is the power of God called, The Great Power'. They followed him because for a considerable time he had amazed them with his magic."

You can read the rest of the story for yourself and see what happens to him.

Another New Testament story concerning something along these lines is Acts 19:13-16.

I have read stories of missionaries that tell about instances that dealt with the power of evil spirits in countries where witchcraft and voodoo are widespread - like Haiti for instance. The thing to remember is that Jesus is greater and more powerful than any of these other things. As we grow in him, our confidence in His power in us will give us strength. Remember the story in Luke 10 where Jesus sends out 70 disciples, and they came back all excited because, ". . .even the demons submit to us." In America we have not had so much experience in these things. Our country was founded upon the values found in Scripture, and most people did not dabble in things like astrology and fortunetelling. But as these things increase, it opens the door for Satanic activity. That is why so many Christians are against the Harry Potter books and movie. They stir ignorant people who become curious about witchcraft.

For our part, we need to stay close to the Lord in prayer and Bible study, meditating on what He says about us.

God raised Jesus to the highest place and gave Him the name above every name;
that in honor of the name given Yeshua, every knee will bow - in heaven, on earth and under the earth - and every tongue will acknowledge that Yeshua the Messiah is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Phil.2:9-11

Grow powerful in union with the Lord, in union with His mighty strength!" Eph.6:10

All who are led by God's Spirit are God's sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to bring you back again into fear; on the contrary, you received the Spirit, who makes us sons and by whose power we cry out, "Abba!" (that is, dear Father!)
What then are we to say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare even his own Son, but gave Him up on behalf of us all - is it possible that, having given us His Son, he would not give us everything else too?" Romans 8:14,15 and 31,32