Are the Dead Speaking to You?
Hebrews 11:4
Can the dead send signs to the living? Can they send out a message? Have you been contacted by the dead? Here are the top ten ways people believe the dead may be trying to communicate with you.
- Electricity – Flickering lights or appliances that switch on and off
- Cold Temp
- Fragrance
- Familiar smell associated with the deceased, including perfume or cigar
- A specific number keeps showing up being repeated on clocks or billboards
- A vivid dream
- Spontaneous thoughts keep occurring
- Watchfulness – Feeling of being watched
- A tingling feeling on the back of the neck
- Through a Ouija board or seance
- A person covered in a sheet saying “BOO!”
Just what does the Bible say about communication from the dead? In the Old Testament, this was condemned. Anyone trying to communicate with the dead met the same fate as other false teachers. Once God sent Samuel back from the dead to the utter surprise of the witch of Endor. Samuel had a prophecy of doom for King Saul. There is one other way the dead communicate with the living. Abel is said to be speaking to all of mankind according to Hebrews 11:1-4:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
The list of those who are honored inductees into Faith’s Hall of Heros begins with three “antediluvians.” that is, men who lived before the Flood or through it. All three were deemed righteous because of their faith. Abel was a righteous man by worshiping God by faith. By faith the righteousness of Enoch is seen as he walks with God. Noah by faith worked on the ark and demonstrates his righteousness by doing what God had commanded of him in every detail.
The Hebrew writer does not start with Adam and Eve. They saw God and walked with him in the Garden. Instead, this great list begins with Abel.
Abel Worshiping by Faith
■ His Sacrifice Offered in Righteousness
Neither Moses nor the Hebrew writer specifically informs us as to what made the sacrifice of Abel more acceptable to God. It was “a greater sacrifice” (NEB) than that of Cain. It could have had something to do with the character, amount, or particular steps involved in the offering. It is not possible that Abel just happened to stumble upon an acceptable way to worship God. Abel offered his sacrifice believing in his heart that God would be pleased. He offered it up in faith. God must have given instructions to both Cain and Abel as to proper worship. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). God encouraged Cain to do what is right, so he would be accepted just as Abel had been accepted (Gen. 4:7). Likewise, Cain must have been instructed as to what was right.
Cain’s offering was not acceptable. Perhaps, he only gave God left overs instead of the first fruits of his labor. Whereas Abel gave the best of the flock, perhaps he gave the firstborn and an animal without imperfections. However, it cannot be proven from the scriptures these two brothers had been commanded to give an animal sacrifice. Others believe Cain failed to provide a blood sacrifice for sins. “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Heb. 9:22). It is likely that Cain’s heart was not right with God when he offered his worship. John informs us Cain was not righteous like his brother. “For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous” (1 John 3:11,12). God will not accepted the reverence from the unrighteous irreverent worshiper. “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; How much more when he brings it with wicked intent!” (Prov. 21:27).
■ His Gifts Witnessed to His Righteousness
By accepting Abel’s sacrifice God testified that he was a righteous man. Abel was the type of worshiper God is looking for among the faithful. “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4:23-24).
■ His Life Continues to Proclaim His Righteousness
Cain did not listen to the warning of God and killed his brother. Death did not muzzle the message of faith. Dead men do indeed tell tales. Abel’s blood cried out for vengeance. God asked Cain, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground” (Gen. 4:10). In like manner the blood of the righteous martyrs calls out to God for revenge in Revelation 6:9-11. The blood of Christ does not call for wrath but for mercy and forgiveness as the most acceptable sacrifice. “…the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel” (Heb. 12:24).
In addition to God and the apostle John, Jesus also testified of the righteousness of Abel (Mt. 23:35). Abel is still speaking to mankind today about faith through the record left of him in scripture. What is Abel preaching about some six thousand years after his death?
- God must be worshiped according to faith.
- It makes a difference how one worships God.
- God will bring justice against those who murder innocent men of faith.
- It is God who can count men and women as righteous.
Jesus told a parable of the Rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus was comforted in Paradise or Abraham’s bosom while the rich man was in the torment of Tartarus. He asked Abraham, “I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment” (Luke 16:27-28). The dead are speaking. We need to listen to Abel to the risen Savior.
– Daniel R. Vess