with the dead, those who try to speak with the dead put themselves on Satan’s side. While they may think that they are talking with the dead, they have become the victims of a hoax. Just as Satan made it appear to Eve that a serpent was talking, so he can just as easily make it appear that the dead are talking through mediums. Does this mean that Satan is directly responsible for all the strange phenomena that are often attributed to the spirits of the dead? Or, are others also involved?

OTHER INVISIBLE DECEIVERS

The Bible reveals that Satan is not the only rebellious spirit creature. Revelation 12:3, 4, 9 shows that there are others. In this Scripture passage Satan the Devil is symbolically depicted as a “great fiery-colored dragon” having a “tail” that “drags a third of the stars of heaven.” Yes, Satan was able to use his influence, like a tail, to get other “stars,” spirit sons of God, to join him in a rebellious course. (Compare Job 38:7, where spirit sons of God are called “morning stars.”) This happened before the global deluge in the days of Noah. Numerous angels, contrary to God’s purpose, “forsook their own proper dwelling place” in the heavens, materialized human bodies, lived as husbands with women and fathered hybrid offspring known as Nephilim. Of this, we are told:

“Now it came about that when men started to grow in numbers on the surface of the ground and daughters were born to them, then the sons of the true God began to notice the daughters of men, that they were good-looking; and they went taking wives for themselves, namely, all whom they chose. . . . The Nephilim proved to be in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of the true God continued to have relations with the daughters of men and they bore sons to them, they were the mighty ones who were of old, the men of fame.”​—Genesis 6:1-4.

During the Flood these sons of God lost their wives and their hybrid offspring. They themselves had to dematerialize. Respecting what happened to them thereafter, the Bible reports: “God did not hold back from punishing the angels that sinned, but, by throwing them into Tartarus, delivered them to pits of dense darkness to be reserved for judgment.” (2 Peter 2:4) And at Jude 6 it adds: “The angels that did not keep their original position but forsook their own proper dwelling place he has reserved with eternal bonds under dense darkness for the judgment of the great day.”

As these descriptions relate to spirit creatures, it is evident that the “pits of dense darkness” and “eternal bonds” are not literal. These expressions simply convey to us a picture of restraint, a condition of debasement separated from all divine enlightenment.

There is no Scriptural basis for concluding that these disobedient angels are in a place like the mythological Tartarus of Homer’s Iliad, that is, in the lowest prison where Cronus and the other Titan spirits were said to be confined. The apostle Peter did not believe in any such mythological gods. So there is no reason to conclude that his use of the Greek expression ‘throwing into Tartarus’ even hinted at the existence of the mythological place referred to by Homer some nine centuries earlier. In fact, in Greek the expression ‘throwing into Tartarus’ is only one word, a verb, tar·ta·roʹo. It is also used to mean debasing to the lowest degree.

To illustrate, the English word “debase” contains the noun “base.” Yet our use of the word does not mean that a literal base in some geographical location is involved in the act of debasement. Likewise the Greek verb rendered ‘throwing into Tartarus’ need not be viewed as suggesting the existence of an actual place, but as suggesting a condition.

At 1 Peter 3:19, 20 the debased spirit creatures are referred to as “spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient when the patience of God was waiting in Noah’s days, while the ark was being constructed.” Thus the Bible makes it plain that after the Flood the “angels that sinned” came under a form of restraint. There is no Biblical indication that they were able to materialize and take up visible activity on earth after the Flood. So it logically follows that the restraint under which they came made it impossible for them to take on flesh again.

BEWARE OF DEMON INFLUENCE

It should be noted, however, that the disobedient angels, who now came to be known as demons, had a strong desire to be in close association with humans. They were willing to abandon their heavenly position for the pleasure of living as husbands with women. Scriptural evidence shows that, though restrained from such physical contact now, they have not changed their desires. They seek every means open to them to be in touch with humans and even to control them. Jesus Christ referred to this, using figurative speech in saying:

“When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through parched places in search of a resting-place, and finds none. Then it says, ‘I will go back to my house out of which I moved’; and on arriving it finds it unoccupied but swept clean and adorned. Then it goes its way and takes along with it seven different spirits more wicked than itself, and, after getting inside, they dwell there; and the final circumstances of that man become worse than the first.”​—Matthew 12:43-45.

It is vital therefore to be on guard lest a person yield himself to demon influence. He may be very uncertain about himself and his future. He may desperately want some assurance that things will go well for him. Or he may find a certain fascination in the weird and frightening manifestations of occult practices. He may hear about someone who reportedly can accurately predict the future. Or he may learn about the various means of divination used​—Ouija boards, ESP (extrasensory perception), patterns of tea leaves in cups, oil configurations on water, divining rods, pendulums, the position and movement of stars and planets (astrology), the howling of dogs, the flight of birds, the movement of snakes, crystal-ball gazing and the like. His situation may appear so desperate or his fascination be so great that he may decide to consult a fortune-teller or a medium or to resort to some form of divination. He might be willing to try anything just once.

Is that wise? Definitely not. His curiosity can lead to his coming under demon control. Rather than such a course’s bringing him relief and comfort, his situation may only worsen. Supernatural disturbances may rob him of sleep and fill even daylight hours with dread. He may begin to hear strange voices, suggesting that he kill himself or someone else.

Is it not wise therefore to avoid such a risk and to shun all forms of divination? Jehovah God does not view this matter lightly. To protect the Israelites from being deceived and harmed by wicked spirits, he made the practice of divination a capital offense, saying in the Law: “As for a man or woman in whom there proves to be a mediumistic spirit or spirit of prediction, they should be put to death without fail.”​—Leviticus 20:27.

God’s view of spirit mediums, sorcerers and divination has not changed. A divine decree still stands against all practicers of spiritism.​—Revelation 21:8.

Therefore exert yourself to resist being deceived by wicked spirit creatures. Should you ever hear a strange voice, perhaps suggesting that it is that of a deceased friend or relative, do not pay any attention. Call upon the name of the true God, Jehovah, to help you to resist coming under demon influence. As God’s own Son advised, make your prayerful petition: ‘Deliver me from the wicked one.’ (Matthew 6:13) As to items associated with divination, imitate the example of those who accepted true worship in ancient Ephesus. “Quite a number of those who practiced magical arts [there] brought their books together and burned them up before everybody.” Expensive as these items were, they did not hold back from destroying them.​—Acts 19:19.

In view of this example, do you think that it would be right to associate deliberately with those known to dabble in the occult and to accept gifts from them? Might they not become the instrumentalities by means of which you could come under demon influence?

Our recognizing that wicked spirits are often responsible for causing people to see or hear weird and frightening manifestations​—voices, rappings and shadowy figures for which there are no apparent causes—​is a major factor in safeguarding us from being deceived. This knowledge will free us from fearing the dead and from engaging in valueless rites in their behalf. It will also help to prevent our being victimized by wicked spirits.

But if we are to be protected from every aspect of the deception that Satan and his demons have perpetrated in connection with the dead, we must believe and act in harmony with the entire Bible. This is because all of it is the inspired Word of God.

Chapter 11

Is Hell Hot?

IS IT NOT a fact that many translations of the Bible refer to a place called “hell”? Yes, many translations of the Holy Scriptures use that expression. But the question is whether the things that the clergy have taught about the place called “hell” have come from the Holy Bible or from some other source.

Did you know that, not only members of Christendom’s churches, but many non-Christians as well, have been taught to believe in a hell of torment? It is revealing to read from a variety of sources what is said about the torments of those confined in hell.

A non-Christian “holy book” of the seventh century C.E. says the following: