Question:
When I was a child I spent a great deal of time with my Grandparents. I loved them dearly. When I reached my early twenties they began to fail in health and I fretted terribly over the thought that they would soon be gone. In short I agonized over this. At different times their health worsened and I guess I reached a point where I fixed an image of what they used to be in my mind. My Grandmother went first, May 93, and I did not weep. Grandpa went in 97 and I did not weep. Here is the second area I need your input on. The day that Grandpa died I immediately drove home to get some things for the funeral. Out of the blue it came to me that one of my good friends children was going to die, and wouldn’t you know it about 2 weeks later my friends boy was diagnosed with cancer and just recently pasted on this spring. The next thing that happened was this. Almost one week after my grandfathers passing I believe God sent me a dream. I am awakened in the dream by someone rubbing my arm and it is my grandmother. I look at her and she says to me ” it’s OK Mike we are all right. I get up of the bed and begin to leave, and I turn the corner to go down a hall way and there stands papa. He did not speak, just looked down at the floor. Pastor, I believe the lord was speaking to me. Do these dreams and ideas carry any weight. Since these events I am careful to pay attention to my dreams and thoughts. Tell me what you think.
Answer:
In regard to having an idea that something bad (or something good) is going to happen, it is something that happens to everyone, in big or small ways.
Many Christians look back and see how God prepared them for something that was coming that they would have to face. Amos 3:6,7 says, “Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” That was specific information that the Lord gave unto His prophets to warn the people. God may do that to us today through a message that we hear, or through our Bible-reading. He may prepare us for something that is coming our way.
But be careful about seeking experiences or following mysterious thoughts or feelings about something that you think is going to happen. The Bible is very clear in Proverbs 27:1, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; FOR THOU KNOWEST NOT WHAT A DAY MAY BRING FORTH.” The Bible says that we do not know what is going to happen for sure tomorrow, so we should not seek to be able to tell the future. James 4:14,15 says, “Whereas YE KNOW NOT WHAT SHALL BE ON THE MORROW. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” Once again, the Bible is very clear that we do not know exactly what is going to happen from day to day — that is in God’s hands alone. Acts 1:6-8 says, “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, WILT THOU AT THIS TIME restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO KNOW THE TIMES OR THE SEASONS, WHICH THE FATHER HATH PUT IN HIS OWN POWER. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” The Lord told them, “Do not worry about trying to figure out exactly when something is going to happen — just be faithful doing what I have called you to do.” And He has called us to give out the gospel faithfully to people, so that they might be saved. Romans 10:14 says, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?” So do not spend your life seeking feelings about what is about to happen, but spend your life seeking to be a faithful witness and servant of the Lord.
Concerning dreams about loved ones who have passed away, probably most everyone who has had a loved one who has passed away, has had a dream where their loved one was alive, and they were doing this or that. And many times to wake up was a disappointment, because they then realize that their loved one is indeed gone.
God has given us the ability to dream, and it all seems so very real when we are dreaming. We sometimes dream, because we go to sleep with those things on our minds. Ecclesiastics 5:3 says, “For a dream cometh through the multitude of business.” In other words, if our minds are thinking about something in particular when we go to sleep, or if we have been thinking about something a lot, and it has been consuming a lot of our time, it may very well be that we will dream about that thing that night. When a loved one passes away, that affects us very greatly, and it consumes a lot of our thoughts, so it would be natural to have such dreams.
But this should not be confused with communicating with those who have died. The Bible specifically forbids that. All of our communication is to be with God — not those who had died. Isaiah 8:19,20 says, “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: SHOULD NOT A PEOPLE SEEK UNTO THEIR GOD? FOR THE LIVING TO THE DEAD? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says, “THERE SHALL NOT BE FOUND AMONG YOU any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, OR A NECROMANCER. For ALL THAT DO THESE THINGS ARE AN ABOMINATION UNTO THE LORD.”
Necromancy is “conjuration of the spirits of the dead for purposes of magically revealing the future or influencing the course of events” (Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary). As you can see, consulting with the dead to know the future, is absolutely forbidden of God. That was the final straw with King Saul, and the Lord took him home. I Samuel 28:3-19 says, “Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa. And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor. And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing. Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself. And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David: Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day. Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”
So the Lord forbids necromancy — consulting with the dead for questions that we have. If we have questions, or need assurance, then we are to go to God and His Word. Remember Isaiah 8:19,20? “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” God wants us to seek Him for direction, and He gives that through His Word.
Are you reading the Bible every day, and seeking God’s will through prayer? You will not know exactly “what” is going to happen “when,” but you will be found doing the right thing no matter what happens!