WHAT CAN THE DEAD TELL US?

WHAT CAN THE DEAD TELL US?

My first real exposure to the dead (up close and personal) was the day I went to the local hospital and had to find the “necrology” department.  Let me give you some background; Judy and I had moved into the upstairs apartment of a local funeral home and, as our third job between the two of us, we were the live-in caretakers.  Our job description included, but was not limited to: working visitations, keeping the place clean, answering the phone throughout the night, helping during services, and making removals from homes, or the hospitals.  The first time I went to the necrology department by myself was the first time I ever went there.  Naturally it was an old hospital and necrology was in the basement.  I will spare you the details, but it was just like in the movies: a long hallway with half the light bulbs burned out, not another soul around, just me and…you know…it’s the necrology department.

I think most people have at least some aversion to the dead.  Most of us don’t spend any great deal of time around those who are deceased and I have found an awkwardness exhibited by most when they have to come in contact with someone who has died. 

There are those among us who claim they can make contact with the dead – we call them: spiritualist, mediums, or necromancers.  In a more “culturally sensitive” form there are also fortune tellers, palm readers, and those who play with Ouija Boards.  Scripture says that these people are all to be avoided.  We are to have nothing to do with them or anyone else who thinks they can communicate with the dead or tell the future.  There are only two sources of knowledge of the future or communication with any other realm of existence: Satan and the Lord.  The Lord will contact us if He deems it necessary.  If we go looking for Satan, he is only too happy to oblige our ignorant search for what we are forbidden to seek.

All of this is an introduction to the prophet Isaiah’s world where necromancers were operating with the blessing of king Ahaz.  The kingdom of Judah is seemingly going down the drain, so Ahaz has made a bargain with the Assyrians, seeking their protection against lesser invaders, and now the Assyrians have decided that the kingdom of Judah is “easy pickings” and they will take the land for their own.  Where is God when His covenant people need Him most?  God is still around…His people are the ones who have trusted in gods of lesser abilities.

I don’t know the attraction, but in this day people are moving away from church and yet studies show they are more interested in ‘spiritual” things than ever before, so why is it that they turn to horoscopes, mediums, and even all sorts of false ways to seek the Truth?

Even though Ahaz was seeking after other gods, the Lord was still about the business of keeping His people safe.  He told Ahaz this and even gave him the chance to ask for a sign as proof of His promise to act to keep His covenant people secure.  When Ahaz declined to ask for a sign God gave him one anyway – a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall call his name Immanuel. 

My friends, anything other than the God of Scripture, the God who created all we see and the God who knows your very thoughts is a false god and one that will provide false assurance, false knowledge and false hope.  Our Heavenly Father did not want there to be any misunderstandings about His intentions: He will save His people!  And to make sure we understand this He chose to achieve this in a way that could not be misunderstood as anything other than divine power – the Son of God came into this world, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. 

Let’s see your daily horoscope top that!