Meaning of DEAD (Spirit of a)

Those who claim to be "mediums" claim that they evoke them and consult them (Deut. 18:11); Their voice seems to come from beneath the earth, like that of ghosts (Is. 29:4) or reside in the medium himself (Lev. 20:27, Heb.).

The medium was called "possessor" or "lord" of a spirit (1 Sam. 28:7, Heb.). The medium intended to divine the future (Is. 8:19).

He was thought to have a particular spirit always ready to respond to his incantations and capable of putting other spirits into action; It was also believed that he could relate to whatever spirit he was.

The passage from 1 Sam. 28:8: "I pray you, divine for me by the spirit of divination, and bring up to me whomever I tell you" allows for both interpretations. Consulting the spirits and evoking the dead was equivalent to abandoning Jehovah, to apostatizing (Lev. 19:31; Is. 8:19).

The law of Moses ordered the death of those who sought to possess this power (Lev. 19:31; 20:6, 27; Deut. 18:10-14). Saul had this decree executed; Later, deeply distressed about his future, the king went to consult a woman of Endor, who had contact with spirits, and asked her to evoke Samuel.

Manasseh favored those who consulted the spirits and predicted the future (2 Kings 21:6; 2 Chron. 33:6). Josiah, his grandson, had the law of Moses re-enforced against mediums (2 Kings 23:24).

According to the LXX, ventriloquists were probably included among mediums. The "voice of the spirit" was like a murmur coming from the earth.

God strictly prohibited all contact with the dead because in reality mediums were in contact with demons.

The fortune teller of Philippi was possessed of an evil spirit that made her able to divine (Acts 16:16-18).

And certainly the same thing happens with a multitude of modern mediums, and a large number of reckless spiritualists end up victims of real diabolical possessions.