A large number of people have claimed to see ghosts; that is the spirit of a deceased person. In fact, in my youth, I had seen what I thought was a ghost. One day going over to my grandmother’s house, who lived next door, I knocked and no one answered. I peeked in the window to see if anyone was there and saw a shadowy figure sitting on the chair. It looked at me and ran from the room. My mom thought that it was the ghost of the original owner of the house. Then I spent the night with my cousin one night and woke up in the middle of the night to see a glowing figure standing in the hallway. The figure would look at me and then look into the other room where my cousin was sleeping. It kept looking back and forth at my cousin and I. I finally threw the covers over my head, shut my eyes real tight, and tried to go back to sleep. My mom and some other family members said that it was the ghost of my cousin’s mom, who died giving birth to my cousin. I’ve heard others claim they’ve seen the ghost of a deceased person. We have stories, books, movies, and TV shows about it. Movies like Poltergeist, Beattlejuice, Ghost Dad, Ghost Busters, and many more. TV shoes like Ghost Whisperer, Ghost Hunters, and many of the episodes on Unsolved Mysteries. There are many who believe in the idea of ghosts, but is the idea biblical?

We must first define the word ghost. The Bible talks of the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19, Acts 1:8, Ephesians 5:18). However, this is a person of the Trinity of God not a deceased person. In fact, God is a spirit being (John 4:24). The Bible does speak of the existence of the spirit beings of angels and demons (angels: Genesis 28:12, Matthew 4:11, Revelation 7:1; demons: Mark 1:34, 1 Corinthians 10:20, James 2:19). Of course, there is the existence of Satan (Luke 10:18, 1 Corinthians 7:5, 1 Timothy 1:20), who at times will appear to people as an angel (2 Corinthians 11:14) and is the prince or leader of the demons (Matthew 12:24). However, angels and demons are not deceased human beings either. The Bible makes clear distinctions between humans and angels (1 Corinthians 4:9, Hebrews 1:14, Revelation 7:9-12) and humans and demons (1 Corinthians 10:20, James 2:19, 2 Peter 2:4 and 11 [fallen angels]). In fact, Jesus said that we would not become angels but be like angels, that is we would become similar in nature (Matthew 22:30). Therefore, the spirits that exist are God, angels, and demons. But what about the spirits of deceased people? We are given examples throughout the gospels and elsewhere in the Bible that God, angels, and demons dwell throughout the earth and make appearances to people, but what about the spirits of deceased humans?

Human beings do have a spirit (Acts 7:59, 1 Corinthians 2:11, 1 Thessalonians 5:23). The Bible is clear that we are spirit beings within a body, but is also clear that immediately following death we face the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). In fact, Paul says that “I…prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). At death, our spirit is separated from our body (John 19:30, Acts 7:59). At this separation, we face judgment (Hebrews 9:27) and if we are believers in Christ we enter heaven and the lost go to hell. Again for believers “to be absent from the body” is “to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). The home is described earlier in this chapter as “a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). At death, the spirit of a believer will be separated from the body and will go to heaven. The spirit then waits for a resurrected body, which will be given at the second coming (1 Corinthians 15:51-53). The spirit of the lost go to hell to await the final judgment (2 Peter 2:9-10). Jesus gave an illustration to point out the eternal states of the dead in Luke 16:19-31. In that story it is pointed out that when a person is dead, judged, and placed in either heaven or hell, they are there permanently. He said, “between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, in order that those who wish to come over from here to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us” (Luke 16:26).

Now there was one instance when this principle was broken. This was when king Saul had a medium contact the deceased Samuel (1 Samuel 28:7-25). In this instance, God actually let Samuel come back from the dead and communicate with Saul. First note that Saul did this through a medium, which was a sin (vs. 7 and Leviticus 20:27). Second, note that the medium was surprised that Samuel showed up, which leaves the impression that she really didn’t communicate with the dead (vs. 12). Thirdly, note that Samuel was irritated about the whole situation (vs. 15). We can draw a few principles from this passage. First, it may be possible to contact the dead, but it is a sin that brings God’s judgment. Second, because the medium was surprised, this passage cannot provide proof that a person is capable of contacting the dead. Perhaps it had all to do with what God was doing and not what the medium was doing. Thirdly, judging by Samuel’s response, this is not a usual event. Whatever were the reasons that God allowed this to happen here, it is not the norm.

When we come across situations that we think we saw a spirit being, we must note that it will be one of the following options. Option one is that it was a hallucination. We must understand that our minds are capable of throwing off our senses to make us see something that isn’t really there. Option two is that we had a dream. I know I have had dreams that I couldn’t figure out if they were real the next day and am sure you probably have as well. Option three is that it was your imagination. With all the crazy things some of us watch, it is very possible that we can have those things on our mind that can drive us to think we saw something that we did not. Option four is that it was an angel, demon, or appearance of the Lord. If you really did se a spirit being, most likely it is one of these spirit beings that you saw. Option five, the last option, is that it was a spirit of the deceased. Before you make this conclusion, remember that the only time this happened in the Bible was from the direct result of the sin of the viewer or hearer and completely out of the ordinary. If you have had an experience, please remember to let it be interpreted by the truth of the Bible.