We will approach this subject by using the Scriptures to identify who or what the spirits are. Many that I have spoken with claim that the spirits are the spirits of their ancestors who have died. These ancestral spirits are free to move about and generally remain involved in the affairs of the living. In order to investigate this claim, let us see what Scripture has to say about those who have died—what happens to their spirits? First before we do that, we should look at what the Bible has to say about each of those beings that have or are spirits. There are four distinct classes of beings including God, angels, Satan and demons, and man. As we consider each one of these beings, please think carefully about how or where the ancestral spirits may fit in.
God
God is a spirit (John 4:24) and if we are going to have any understanding of this subject at all we must come to Him for He is the One who knows and reveals "the deep and secret things." (Dan. 2:22) In His Word, God has revealed Himself as the only true God (John 17:3; 1 Cor. 8:6; Isa. 44:6) and all other beings worshipped by the nations are demons and not God (1 Cor. 10:20). We learn that He is the Creator (Col. 1:16,17), that He upholds all things by the Word of His power (Heb. 1:3) and all men live and move and have their being through Him (Acts 17:28). He is holy (Lev. 19:2), cannot lie (Titus 1:2) and it is with Him that we have to do (Heb. 4:13). We learn that God is Love (1 John 4:16) and so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son to die for us (John 3:16) and that same love has now made us His own children (1 John 3:1). At one time God spoke to man through prophets using dreams, visions and direct communication, but He has now revealed Himself through the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom His word is now complete in the New Testament (Heb. 1:2). When we believe on Him, God gives us His own Spirit to dwell within us and speaks to us directly through His Word (2 Tim. 3:16,17; Rom. 15:4).
In His Word, God has revealed Himself as a Triune Deity as Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). Each of these divine persons in the Trinity is called God—"God the Father" (Phil. 2:11), "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever" (Heb. 1:8), "why has Satan filled thy heart that thou shouldest lie to the Holy Spirit... Thou hast not lied to men, but to God" (Acts 5:3, 4).
We will consider the nature of God and our relationship further in Chapter 6, but for now it is important to see that He is a holy loving God who reveals Himself today through His word and not by secretive means, dreams or visions.
Summary: There is one true God—the Creator, Almighty, sustainer of life, and redeemer. He is revealed in three divine co-equal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Angels
Scripture speaks of mighty unseen spirit beings called angels. Like all beings other than God, they were created by God (Col. 1:16, 17) and we find in Job 38:4, 7 that the angels, there referred to as the "sons of God," were present at the creation of the world. This is significant since it clearly shows that the angels were created before man and therefore cannot be the spirits of those who have died.
It tells us in Heb. 1:7 that the angels are spirits and in chapter 12:22 that there are so many that they cannot be numbered. We find in 2 Thess. 1:7 that they are mighty and 2 Kings 19:35 describes how one angel killed 185,000 Assyrians in one night. They are holy (Luke 9:26), do not marry (Matt. 22:30) and cannot die (Luke 20:36).
We are told what they do in Heb. 1:14: "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out for service on account of those who shall inherit salvation?" Those who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ today are the ones who will inherit salvation and God uses the unseen angels to help us. Besides helping believers, it tells us in Psa. 103:20, 21 that they execute God's Word and do His will. They do not do their own wills or get upset with people when they are ignored. The word "angel" means "messenger" and this occupies much of their service in the examples given in Scripture (see Luke 1:19; Dan. 6:22; Matt. 1:20; 2:13). Other examples of how angels have directly helped believers may be found in Acts 12:7 and Acts 27:23. We also find that angels are occupied with learning about the wisdom and ways of God by observing (they are called "watchers" in Dan. 4:13, etc.) his dealings in the world (Dan. 4), with the Lord's servants (1 Cor. 4:9), with His people (1 Cor. 11:10) and in the assembly (Eph. 3:10).
Summary: God created the angels, mighty spirit beings that do His will and help believers. They were present at the creation of the world—they are not departed spirits.
Satan and Demons
The next class of spirit beings after God and angels that Scripture speaks about is Satan and his angels which are known as demons (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 12:7; 16:13, 14). In order to understand what Scripture has to say about these spirits, let us first consider what it has to say about their leader, Satan.
Satan's Fall, His Defeat, and His End.
In Ezek. 28:14-17, we are told that Satan was created perfect in his ways as the angel that stood in the immediate presence of God covering His glory. However, there was a little seed of pride growing in his heart for he became occupied with his own beauty. The seed eventually grew into a great tree of rebellion against God and in Isa. 14:12-15 we are told that Satan decided in his heart that he would exalt his own throne above the stars of God and be like the most High. For this great sin, Satan fell from his God-given place in heaven and became the leader of all those who have since refused God's authority.
Soon after God placed the first people, Adam and Eve, upon this earth, Satan went to them and sowed the same seeds of pride and rebellion in their hearts. As a result, man sinned and sin came into the world. After this wicked act, God predicted the rest of Satan's career and his doom. In Gen. 3:15, He said that Satan and those that follow him would be against Eve and her descendents. He also foretold the day when Satan would bruise the Lord Jesus at the cross but how, in that work at Calvary, the Lord Jesus would destroy Satan's power. The Lord Himself stated in John 12:31 how the prince of this world (Satan) would be cast out and, in Heb. 2:14, it tells us that through his death he destroyed Satan's power. According to Col. 2:15, the Lord Jesus Christ completely spoiled all the unseen wicked forces allied with Satan in such a way that there is no doubt about their future utter defeat.
Even though his power is broken, today Satan is allowed by God to continue in his wicked ways as a test of the heart of man. However, the Scriptures foretell that very soon, after Christians have been taken out of this world at the coming of our Lord, Satan will be cast out of the heavens and be confined to the earth where he will stir up unimaginable wickedness and rebellion against God (Rev. 12). Shortly after, he will be bound in a bottomless pit for one thousand years and then loosed for a short time as a final test of man (Rev. 20:1-3). After this, we are told in Rev. 20:10 that he will be thrown into a lake of fire and brimstone where he will be tormented forever and ever.
Satan's Accusation of Job and His Role in Job's Sickness.
Before continuing on with the Scriptures that tell us of Satan's current activity in the world, let us look at an example from the Old Testament of how Satan works in the life of a believer. In Job 1:1, we learn that a man named Job was righteous and feared God. He was greatly blessed by God in his life and had much land, cattle and possessions. In verses 6-8, we are told that the sons of God (angels) came on a certain day to present themselves before Jehovah God and Satan also came there among them. Satan accused Job before God and said that Job would curse God to His face if all of Job's possessions were taken away. As a test, God allowed Satan to destroy almost everything Job had. But Satan was wrong and Job did not sin or curse God (Job 1:22). So, wicked Satan again came into God's presence to accuse Job and said that if Job became very sick that he would curse God. Again, God allowed Satan to put his hand on Job and his whole body became covered with sore boils. But Job still did not curse God.
Now, before we proceed any further, why did God allow Satan to put his hand on Job in this way? Didn't God love Job? Yes, he did. Wasn't Job righteous and God-fearing? Yes, he was. Then, how could God allow such a thing? It was because there was a hidden problem with Job a problem so difficult that God could not deal with it in any other way. You see, there was a small seed growing deep down in Job's heart that no one else could see and Job himself was barely aware of it. Do you remember how that seed grew in Satan's heart? God loved Job and did not want it to grow into a tree of rebellion, so he allowed this great trial to come into Job's life. By the end of the book of Job, he completely repented of this sin (Job 42:6) and God blessed him with far more than he had before (Job 42:10-16).
There is another very important point that we should consider about Job. Who put his hand on Job God or Satan? Although God allowed it, Satan was the one who caused all of Job's trouble and sickness. So, if it was Satan putting his hand on Job, should not Job respond to Satan and appease him in order to make peace? Absolutely not! You will never find Job or any other believer dealing with Satan in this way. In fact, Job never communicated with Satan at all. God had allowed the trial and it was God that Job had to deal with. No one can harm a believer in any way unless our loving God allows it. Just like Job, we must never deal with Satan or demons when trouble comes. Our relationship is with God and it is with Him that we have to do (Heb. 4:13).
Satan's Current Activity
We have seen how Satan worked against Job, a believer who lived thousands of years ago. But what does Scripture say about his activity today? Believe it or not, he is just the same. In Rev. 12:10 we find him referred to as the "accuser of our brethren... which accused them before our God day and night." We also learn from references like 2 Cor. 12:7-10 that, as far as he is allowed to by God, Satan is active in working against Christians just as he did with Job.
As to his role in this world, in Eph. 2:2 he is called the "prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" and in 2 Cor. 4:4 he is called, "the god of this world." The Lord Jesus tells us about his character this is very important, because it will give an important clue as to who the spirits may be. In John 8:44, He said that Satan, "is a liar, and the father of it" and "there is no truth in him." Nor is this deception limited to unbelievers. In Acts 5:2, 3 we find that he filled the heart of Ananias to lie to the Holy Spirit. He can deceive believers today if they do not have their armor on in the power of the Holy Spirit. This protection against his deceit is discussed at the end of this paper.
Satan's Angels—Demons
As we saw previously, other angels that sinned are called Satan's angels. They are referred to as "the spirits" and "demons" in passages like Matt. 8:16 and we also find from these passages that they possess people and control their bodies at their will. Elsewhere, they are referred to as "wicked spirits" and "evil" spirits (see Acts 19:12-16) and "unclean spirits" (see Rev. 16:13,14). Some are known more specifically by their characteristics like the "spirit of divination" mentioned in Acts 16:16-18. Some of these "fallen" angels are already bound in chains of darkness waiting for their final judgment, but many are still freely moving about doing their wicked deeds and they know that the time is coming when they will be tormented for their wickedness (see Matt. 8:28-32). In 1 Tim. 4:1, the Spirit of God makes a special point of telling us that at the last times (today) some shall turn away from the faith and give their mind to "deceiving spirits" and "teachings of demons." This is a most important point since it means that there are those who profess to be Christians today who are being fooled by demons known as deceiving spirits. This is their character because they follow their leader who is "a liar and the father of it." The verse also tells us that they give their minds to "teachings of demons." There are many of these teachings among those professing to be Christians today. We must remember that the only safe source of teaching is the Word of God and everything, even this paper, must be tested by it.
Summary: Satan is a powerful, deceiving spirit who is head over demons who also deceive. His power was defeated at the cross and he can only go as far as our loving Father will let him. As we will see, the believer is to resist him and never to deal with him in any way.
Man
The final being that is mentioned in Scripture as having a spirit is man. It tells us in Gen. 2:7 that "the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Animals are also referred to as having spirits in Eccl. 3:21, but there it is referring only to their life. Scripture never speaks of animals as having a spirit that is conscious of God or that lives after death. Instead, we are told that they are made to be taken and destroyed (2 Peter 2:12) and they perish (Psa. 49:12, 20). By contrast, man has a spirit that was made by God (Zech. 12:1) and returns to
God when he dies (Eccl. 12:7). That spirit is unique to man (1 Cor. 2:11) and by it we can seek the Lord (Isa. 26:9), rejoice in Him (Luke 1:47), serve Him (Rom. 1:9) and worship Him (John 4:23, 24).
In addition to the spirit, we find in 1 Thess. 5:23 that man is composed of two other parts; soul and body. It is the Word of God that is able to divide these things (Heb. 4:12 "joints and marrow" refer to the body) and we must not form our own opinions about them or accept teachings from other sources that do not completely conform to the Scripture. We all understand quite well what the body is since it is that part of our being that we see and use to interact with each other. The soul is the other unseen part of man that consists of his affections, desires, likes and dislikes, and ambitions. Like the spirit, it does not die and returns to God when man dies. Again, the three parts of man are:
Spirit—Unseen—God-conscious thinking part of man
Soul—Unseen—Affections, desires, and ambitions
Body—Seen—Our physical body
The question we need to answer is where the soul and spirit (hereafter referred to only as the "spirit") go when a person dies. This is the subject of the next section.
Summary: Man is a three-part being composed of spirit, soul and body that has been created specially by God.
The Dead
We understand that a person is dead when their spirit leaves the body, and Scripture confirms this in James 2:26. We look at the body of a dead person and see that it is still there, but the person is gone. The question is, what happens to the spirit when it leaves the body? Where does it go? What does it do? This question has long been answered in traditional African religions which claim that the person's spirit is free to move around and remains involved in the affairs of its living descendents. Many believe that this is true because they have seen the face and heard the voice of some ancestor in a dream and have become convinced that it is really that person. But, is this really true? Let us see what God has to say about this in His Word.
In the Old Testament, very little is revealed about the ultimate destination of the spirit. However, under divine inspiration, various authors wrote about the relationship that the departed have with the living. In the New Testament we are told much more because there was One who came from the other side of death to reveal to us what happens there. The Lord Jesus said in John 3:12 that he spake of "heavenly things" as the one who has come down from heaven. But let us start with the truth of the Old Testament regarding the connection between the dead and the living.
David had a child that got very sick and died. After his death, David said, "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me" (2 Sam. 12:23). This verse indicates that the dead do not return to the living, not in body or in spirit. In Psa. 31:12 it says, "I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind." Now if the spirit of the dead could come to us in dreams or visions, would they really be out of mind? Another verse says, "The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence" (Psa. 115:17). If the dead come back and speak to the living in dreams or in any other way, it could not be said that they go down into silence. Either that which we think has been our experience is true or else these verses are true.
God raised up a special man named Solomon whom he prepared in such a way that he would know all that there is to know with regard to living on this earth. The wisdom which he gained is given in the book of Ecclesiastes where he wrote, "For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything" (Eccl. 9:5). We, the living, are conscious of the fact that, as far as the normal course of things on this earth are concerned, we are going to die some day. With respect to this earth, the dead don't know anything. This means that, even if they could come and speak to us, they wouldn't have anything to say about events on this earth. In the next verse, he states it even more clearly when he says, "Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." All that the dead cared about on earth is forever over and they have nothing to do with anything that is done on earth.
Solomon was given a further insight into the fate of the spirit in Eccl. 12:7 where he says, "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Is the departed spirit free to roam around the earth and be involved in the affairs of the living? No it returns to God!
Now, let us turn to the greater revelation of the New Testament to find out what happens to the spirits when they return to God. In Luke 16:19-31, the Lord Jesus told an actual story of what happened to two men who died. There was a poor man who died having faith and his body was buried. The Lord Jesus told us that the part of him that wasn't buried (his spirit) was taken to a place of happiness and was comforted. The rich man, who had no faith, also died and was buried. His spirit went to a place of torment called hell. In that place he had eyes, a tongue, a memory and reason because spirits are capable of seeing, speaking, feeling, remembering and thinking even though they have no body. In his torment, he asked that the poor man be permitted to come and cool his tongue with water. However, he was told that there was a gully between them so great that no one could pass from the place of torment to the place of happiness and neither could anyone pass over from the place of happiness to the place of torment. By this we learn that those who die without faith are in a fixed place of torment where they cannot escape. This place is called a prison of spirits in 1 Peter 3:18-20.
Knowing that his fate was sealed and that he could never move from his prison of torment, the rich man had a good idea. What if the poor man could go back to earth and tell the rich man's brothers about the place of torment so that they would not come there. He was told that this could not be because they had the Word of God to tell them. So, we learn from this story that the spirits of the departed go to fixed places after death, those with faith to a place of happiness and blessing, and those without faith to a place of torment called prison. Rev. 20 tells us that the unbelieving dead will remain in that prison until they are raised up and judged for what they did in this life. Then they will be cast into a lake of fire forever.
In Luke 23:39-43, we find out further information about what happens to a believer after death. There were two thieves dying with the Lord Jesus on crosses next to His. One thief had faith and said to the dying Savior, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." The Lord told him these most remarkable words; "To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." How could that be? Later on that same day, the Lord Jesus died and was laid into a tomb. The thief also died and was buried. So how were they together in paradise? It is because their spirits were together in that same wonderful place that the Lord told us that the poor man went to in Luke 16.
In fact, this is always the way the final condition of the spirits of Christians is referred to as being with Christ. In Phil. 1:21-24, the Apostle Paul spoke of desiring "to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better." In 2 Cor. 5:8 he says that when we are "absent from the body" we are "present with the Lord." In 1 Thess. 4:13-18, he speaks of the "dead in Christ" and says that they "sleep in Jesus." Now, if a man was sleeping on the floor in the middle of a room of people, could he talk to them? No, certainly not. Is he dead? No. His body is there, but he is in another place of consciousness. So it is with a believer who dies. His body is in the grave, but his spirit is alive in another place of consciousness and that place is the presence and enjoyment of Christ. He is asleep with respect to this world.
Summary: The dead have no communication with the living whatsoever. Believing dead are with Jesus enjoying His presence and unbelieving dead are in torment. There are no ancestral spirits!
So, Who Are the "Ancestral" Spirits?
Could they be God? They claim to be the ancestors, not God. They could only be God if He is lying, but Scripture says that God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). Could they be angels? Again, since angels are spirits who were created before men, they could only be angels if the angels are lying. But then the Scripture would be false which says that the angels are holy (Matt. 25:31, etc.). Can they be the departed spirits of men? As we have seen in the previous section, Scripture does not allow this possibility. So who are they? What is the remaining possibility? Could they be demons, spirits that scripture says are characterized by lying? Is this the conclusion we must reach from Scripture?
GOD Angels Demons Spirits of the Dead
For many, this is a very difficult thing to face, but the truth is the only thing that can set us free. No matter what it costs, let us go on to see what Scripture teaches on this important subject. We have just seen by process of elimination that spirits claiming to be ancestors must be demons. There is much teaching in the world today (no doubt, the "teachings of demons") that there are other possibilities or that the spirits are actually the spirits of our ancestors. But what does the Word of God say? "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isa. 8:20).
Summary: There are no other beings interacting with man, only those which Scripture speaks of God, Angels, Satan and Demons, and Man. Ancestral spirits are merely deceiving demons pretending to be ancestors!