Too Superstitious Volume 18 Number 6
http://www.discernment-ministries.org/content/too-superstitious-volume-18-number-6
Volume 18 Number 6 November/December 2007
Too Superstitious
Malcolm Harris (South Africa)
On a recent visit to the North West African country of Ghana, David and Jewel Grewe and I were struck by the ‘Christian’ flavor of many of the business names that we encountered throughout the country. In a country where employment is scarce and necessity has spawned thousands of entrepreneurs in the streets of every city and town, one can’t miss the apparently God honoring business names like: By His Grace Taxi Service, Great is the Lord Clothing, God is # 1 Shoes, Trust in Jesus Builders and we even saw a Coke for Christ’ Billboard!
A superficial observation of these signs suggests that the majority of Ghanaians are saved; but while it is true to say that Ghana is very open to the Gospel and there are many wonderful born again believers in the country, the Christian business names conceal one of Africa’s greatest bondages! Our knowledgeable and perceptive guide, Brother Paa, who is a local minister in Accra, a dedicated Bible believing Christian and also a University Lecturer, informed us that the majority of ‘Christian’ business names were used to ward off the ancestral spirits and to free their businesses from interference from deceased ancestors.
This problem is not peculiar to Ghana, but is common throughout Africa. In South Africa many long standing born again Christians give their dead a Christian burial, but also slaughter a goat at the funeral in the hope of appeasing both God and the ancestors.
While considering these things, Paul’s words come to mind, “Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. “ (Acts 17:22)
The ancestral superstition that has the African continent in its grip is of great concern to Christian Leaders and Pastors in Ghana and was raised as a subject in the recent IFCB (International Fellowship of Christian Believers) Conference held in Kumasi, Ghana. Some Pastors exercise various forms of ‘deliverance’ in the name of Jesus or by the blood of Jesus as a way of ridding believers of the ancestral curse. This erroneous method of dealing with the problem plays into the hands of the devil, in that it is based on the unbiblical presupposition that either these ancestral spirits are able to interfere with the living, or that the believer with the ancestral problem is demon possessed.
Paul’s observation of the Athenians is clearly a fitting observation of the majority of Africans, both saved and unsaved, they are TOO SUPERSTITIOUS! It should be noted that Paul did not exercise any form of ‘deliverance’ over the Athenians, he simply told them the truth for it is the TRUTH that will make us free.
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)
Africa needs to be told the truth about (1) ancestral influences and (2) the truth that genuine Christians can’t be demon possessed and this truth will make them free from the greatest tool of the Devil….. their own superstition!
The truth about ancestors that have died
The greatest authority on the subject of life after death is the Lord Jesus Himself. Jesus deals with this complicated and baffling human subject in a very simple but supernaturally profound way by giving us the account of the death of a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. (Luke 16:19-31). In this account the Lord unfolds factual information about life after death that demolishes all of men’s speculations that vary from reincarnation to soul sleep to annihilation. Jesus tells us that although the unsaved rich man, who had died, was desperate to communicate with his five living brothers to warn them about the torment of Sheol, there was no way for him to do this. Even his suggestion that Lazarus be sent back was turned down by Abraham, saying that they have the Bible (the Law and Prophets) let them be warned by the Scriptures.
The truth about the dead is that they CANNOT communicate nor have any influence over the living.
In many circles, not only in Africa, there is the practice of speaking to the dead and supposedly also hearing from the dead. This form of communicating with the departed is given a deceptive credibility by odd references to facts that only the deceased person would know about the living. Also the sighting of ghosts and strange inexplicable noises at night all help to build the deception that the dead are trying to communicate with us.
This phenomenon known as necromancy is dealt with very sternly in the Old Testament. And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. (Leviticus 20:6)
It is to be noted that anyone in the Scriptures who had anything to do with communicating with the dead, had a ‘familiar spirit’. A familiar spirit is of course a demon and all such had to be killed in the Old Testament because they were an abomination to God. Anyone today who claims to be able to communicate with the dead is not of God and they have a familiar spirit (demon) who helps them with facts about the dead that deceive the bereaved living into thinking that they are hearing from their dead loved one.
The ghosts and noises are all orchestrated by demons to deceive, because we know from the teaching of Jesus that the unsaved dead are in Sheol and cannot communicate with us and the saved dead are in Paradise. Paradise was in the heart of the earth separated from Sheol by a great gulf, until Jesus paid the redemptive price for the Old Testament saints on the cross, at which point He took them to Heaven. (Eph 4:8-10) Paul tells us, We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8). Christians who die in this New Testament era go immediately into the presence of the Lord and will return with Him at the Resurrection. (1 Thessalonians 4:14)
The truth about Christians being demon possessed
The idea that a Christian who has the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them and whose body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit can be demon possessed, stems from the erroneous concept of ‘Dualism’. Dualism teaches that the forces of good and evil are equal (sometimes depicted by the Eastern ‘Ying Yang’ sign), where good is the kingdom with God in charge and evil is the equal and opposite kingdom with the Devil in charge.
Nothing could be further from the truth! From a human perspective the Bible teaches that the Devil is a Prince Angel and has been given certain powers by God which he exercises for evil. For this reason we are not to speak lightly of Lucifer, as we are taught by Jude:
Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. (Jude 1:8-9)
However, from God’s perspective, the Devil is merely a created angel that has been judged already and will be cast into the Lake of Fire in due course. The Devil is NO THREAT to God whatsoever! Reading the Book of Job will put the relationship between God and the Devil into clear Biblical perspective for any true believer.
It is not possible for a fallen angel (the Devil) to take hold of the Spirit of Christ in a believer, cast Him out and then take possession of that believer. Nor is it possible for a demon and Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit to co-exist in a believer’s soul, spirit or body! .… for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14)
The Bible does however teach that we can give place to the Devil in our lives, by yielding to temptation.
We can also allow strongholds and ‘high things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God’, also vain imaginations to exit in our minds and thereby be brought into bondage by the Devil. The ancestral superstition is a very powerful example of this bondage or ‘oppression’ by the Devil.
Paul in dealing with this kind of bondage does not advocate that we exercise some form of deliverance over a believer who is in bondage, but he tells Timothy to INSTRUCT those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;” And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. (2 Timothy 2:25,26)
The truth about the Devil is that he was defeated by a ‘man’ hanging upon a cross and we are told to: Submit ourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from us. (James 4:7)
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation. Jesus defeated the Devil at the cross and made a show of principalities and powers, triumphing over them. At salvation, where true repentance and turning from ancestral worship and every other sinful practice is evident, the new creature in Christ is delivered from every bondage of the devil and is free to walk in newness of life as a saint.
Deliverance in the name of Jesus is only necessary, where an unsaved person is demon possessed and wants to be set free. Salvation should follow deliverance, otherwise the person could end up in a worse state.
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
(Matthew 12:43-45)
Thank God for Jesus who is THE TRUTH!
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)
