A séance is an attempt to communicate with the spirits of the dead. It typically involves a medium, who is believed to have the ability to contact spirits, leading a ritual to summon them. Participants sit around a table, join hands, and wait for messages from the spirit world.
The Bible has a clear stance on séances – they are forbidden and dangerous. Consulting with mediums and spiritists is labeled as detestable to the Lord (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). The reasons for this prohibition are rooted in who God is, and how He has instructed His people to live.
God’s Sovereignty and Lordship
As the one true and living God, the Lord alone has sovereign authority over the realm of the dead. He holds power over life and death (Deuteronomy 32:39). Attempting to consult the dead is an affront to God’s lordship, as it implies there are other spiritual authorities besides Him. It also indicates a lack of trust in God’s wisdom and care.
In Isaiah 8:19-20, God rebukes His people for consulting mediums instead of seeking Him: “And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.” Consulting mediums essentially elevates them to the status of gods, when there is only one true God worthy of our worship.
Denial of God’s Revelation
Attempting to speak with the dead implies that God has not revealed a sufficient amount of truth for guidance and knowledge. But the Bible claims that Scripture contains all we need for “life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). Consulting the dead reflects a denial of the sufficiency of God’s revelation.
In the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), the rich man asks if Lazarus can be sent back to warn his brothers. He is told they already have Moses and the Prophets – if they will not listen to Scripture, they will not be convinced even by a messenger from the dead. God’s Word is sufficient for salvation and instruction.
Human Beings Are Limited
Human beings have limited knowledge and perspective, which makes any information from the “dead” highly suspect. Even if a spirit claiming to be a dead loved one appears, what guarantee is there that the spirit is who it claims to be? The devil can disguise himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). Our enemy wants nothing more than to deceive people away from God’s truth.
Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 confirms that the dead are completely unaware of anything happening here on earth. So any “spirit” responding contains limited knowledge at best, if not outright demonic deception. We are better off trusting God and His Word than the claims of mediums and séances.
God Forbids It for Our Protection
Everything God prohibits is designed to protect His people. His laws are given because He loves us and wants to spare us harm. Practices like séances open people up to demonic influences – even possession. So God in His mercy forbid them in order to guard His people (Deuteronomy 18:9-14).
We are told to test every spirit to see if it is from God (1 John 4:1). Since mediums do not confess the lordship of Jesus, they fail the test. Even if strange phenomena seem to occur, we must cling to the truth of God’s Word over experiential deceptions. God tells us to flee from these practices, which indicates their danger (Leviticus 19:31, 20:6).
It Reflects a Desire to Control
Part of faith in God is accepting there are mysteries we cannot control. The future is in God’s hands. But often people pursue séances because they are seeking secret information about the future or afterlife. Or they may be driven by unhealthy grief to reconnect with the dead, not accepting God’s timing in taking their loved one.
Either motivation reflects a desire to control what God has not seen fit to reveal. And rebellion against God’s authority never ends well. We are called to trust Him even when we cannot understand all His ways. “The secret things belong to the LORD our God” (Deuteronomy 29:29).
We Have a Better Hope
For believers, communing with the dead is unnecessary because we have a living hope. Death is not the end – we have assurance of eternal life through faith in Christ (John 3:16). We can trust God’s promise that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord for those who are saved (2 Corinthians 5:6-8).
Rather than chasing forbidden knowledge, we must rest in what God has revealed – that His purposes cannot be thwarted. We have the Bible’s comfort about the destiny of believers. And we have the Holy Spirit’s presence as God’s guarantee that we belong to Him forever. So we do not need to seek messages from beyond the grave, because we already have God’s message of love and redemption.
Pursuing God Wholeheartedly
Séances and similar practices are doors to demonic deception that produce fear, not life and hope. God in His mercy calls us away from these dangerous pursuits. He invites us instead into a relationship with Him through His Son. As we seek God with our whole hearts, we can trust Him to guide and provide for us – in life, in death, and forever.
Rather than chasing after mystical knowledge and forbidden practices, God wants us to pursue Him alone. He promises that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us (James 4:8). We do not need to dabble in darkness – we have the light and truth of God’s Word to illuminate our path.
Warning Signs from God
If someone is already dabbling in the occult or being deceived by séances and mediums, God provides a way back. He warns us to flee from deceit and promises to restore the repentant soul. King Saul’s life provides a sobering example of someone who violated God’s clear commands regarding mediums and ultimately faced judgment (1 Samuel 28).
But we also see God’s grace at work. In Acts 19, believers who had practiced magic publicly burned their sorcery scrolls after coming to faith in Jesus. They renounced their former ways and aligned themselves fully with God’s truth. It is never too late to heed God’s warnings, reject spiritual counterfeits, and receive His redemption through Christ.
The Superiority of Christ
Séances and mediums ultimately point to the fact that we were made for communion with the spiritual realm. But just as every counterfeit implies an original, Christ is the fulfillment of our longing. He alone crossed the divide between the material and spiritual realms at His incarnation. He atoned for sin to reunite us with the Holy Spirit. And He rose bodily from the grave, defeating death forever.
Jesus is the perfect mediator and the all-sufficient bridge to the Father. We do not need to chase after mystical experiences or esoteric knowledge. In Christ, we have the embodiment of truth and the fullness of God (Colossians 2:9-10). Any spiritual power or insight apart from Him is illegitimate and inferior.
Testifying to God’s Truth
As believers, we have a responsibility to share God’s perspective with humility and grace. We should avoid sensationalizing occult practices. But we must also be ready to explain biblically why séances and mediums are forbidden. God’s truth sets people free from deception and danger.
We should spur one another on to fix our eyes on Jesus, who endured the cross to secure our redemption (Hebrews 12:2). We can point people to the superior wisdom, knowledge, and power available in Christ. He alone can restore our broken souls and equip us for self-sacrifice and service.
Trusting God’s Promises
Séances and occult practices are forbidden and dangerous – but God’s promises are sure and life-giving. For those repenting and turning to God, He promises: “I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart” (Jeremiah 24:7).
We serve a merciful and faithful God who loved us enough to give His Son for us. He will never leave or forsake those who put their trust in Him (Deuteronomy 31:6). Let us therefore cling to the Lord alone, forsake all others, and find true life and joy in His presence.
