The Occult & The Ouija Board - Cults & The Occult Lesson # 3

Defining the Occult and the Ouija Board

So tonight we're going to be looking at the subject of the Ouija board and the occult. So first, let's start out with defining this term occult. So within Christianity and the teachings of the Bible, there are certain boundaries we are not to cross.

Right? There's the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness, the things that are of God and things that are not of God. So the word occult is something, the definition technically, is something hidden from view or something mysterious or not easily understood.

Basically, the occult would be anything supernatural that is outside the bounds of the Bible, the Christian Church. So something supernatural, some supernatural practices forbidden by the Christian Church.

That's what the occult is. So magic, sorcery, witchcraft, divination, some of that's the same thing. You could use those terms interchangeably, but included in that is the Ouija board. So the Ouija board would be considered a part of the occult.

So the Ouija board is also known as a spirit board or a talking board. It's basically a flat piece of wood or cardboard. It can be like a like a Monopoly board that you unfold it, right? So it's a flat board marked with letters of the alphabet and the numbers zero through nine.

Also the words yes, no, and sometimes hello and goodbye. And it uses a small heart-shaped piece of wood that you put your fingers on to guide it. It's called a planchette. So it's a movable indicator that will spell out the messages, you know, go to A and then L and then it spells out whatever the message is.

And the whole thing, the whole purpose of it, is to sit down with people and conduct a seance. So when you play with the Ouija board, you are doing a seance. So the word for this is necromancy. So what's necromancy?

It's when you try to contact the dead or communicate with what I would see is just the spiritual realm. Okay, so we're gonna read a biblical account of something like this happening in a few minutes. Some of you could probably guess what that event is.

What are we going to read about, you think? Yeah, Saul, King Saul goes to consult a medium. But before that, let's just do a brief history of the Ouija board. Apparently, devices similar to the Ouija board, and that's O-U-I-J-A, for those who will listen later on.

Ancient devices similar to the Ouija board were known to the Egyptians and ancient people. So some variation of this goes way, way, way back. In 1853, a French spiritualist invented the planchette. Again, that's the little heart-shaped object.

It has three legs. Originally, one of them, one of the legs was a pencil. So the operators would place their fingers on it, and under it was a piece of paper. And originally, it would just spell out spell out words.

Eventually, the pencil was replaced. Felt was put on the bottom of the legs, and the paper was replaced with the board. And voila, the Ouija board was born. Back in the 19, around 1920, I guess, was the the most popular year for the Ouija board.

It quickly became a best, a best seller. In the 1960s, there was a renewed interest in the occult. So during the 1960s, it kind of came back into popularity, and it was purchased, the patent for the Ouija board was purchased in 1966 by the Parker brothers.

Who knows the Parker brothers? And what I found interesting about this is that the Parker brothers, their headquarters, take a wild guess. Salem, Massachusetts. Yeah. And then in 1967, so the following year, the Ouija board became America's favorite board game.

For the first time, it outsold Monopoly with 2 .3 million sales. And it's popular. It's not that popular today, but it's still still pretty, pretty well known. Just some background. That's the background information.

Saul, the Witch at Endor, and the Limits of Contacting the Dead

Let's look to the scripture. 1st Samuel chapter 28. We'll turn there again. That's the account where Saul decides that he's king of Israel, is gonna hold a seance with a witch. But here's what's deceptive about the Ouija board.

Yeah, that it's made by Parker brothers. How could, I mean, come on. It can't be, can't be anything too bad. And actually now it's a trademark of the Hasbro Corporation. So at some point it was sold. Now Hasbro owns it.

So you can go into Walmart. I mean, maybe not your local Walmart, but Walmart does sell the Ouija board. Target sells the Ouija board. You can buy it along with all these other games. So that gives the impression that it's just a game.

It's fine. It's, it's no big thing. But remember, the devil is subtle. How does the devil work? This is what the devil wants to do. Trick people into something serious by saying, hey, you know, just take a hit of this.

It's no big deal. It's fine. Just, just try it once. It's just a board game. Just, you know, no, no, no big deal. Right? Yeah, yeah. Well, the, yeah, the Bible says that we shouldn't be involved in this.

Oh, what's, that's kind of people's attitude today about everything. You know, what's the big deal, right? Well, Saul found out what the big deal was, but we'll, we'll get to that in one second. But when the devil tempted Eve, this is what he did.

He tried to make it sound like disobeying God was, was no big thing. And I'm sure there have been people who have played with Ouija boards and it really was no big thing because nothing happened to them.

I'm sure that's, I'm, there's probably one, at least one person in this room or who will listen later on who played with a Ouija board and yeah, nothing happened. So it seems like no big, no big deal.

But then there's other people that have played with it and I shouldn't even use the word play because it's really not play. But I, I've heard from other people who have used the Ouija board that yeah, they did get into contact with, with something.

Something strange happened. So here's the thing. People who dabble in the occult, sometimes they get out unscathed. Sometimes they don't. All right. Here is the account of King Saul going to the witch at Endor, 1st Samuel chapter 28.

And the whole purpose was to conduct a seance to get in touch with who? Samuel the prophet because God was no longer answering Saul. God wasn't talking to Saul. The normal methods of communicating with God were not working and Samuel is dead.

So Saul normally could go to Samuel and Samuel would talk to God, but Saul is cut off. So hey, we'll just try to raise Samuel from the dead or so to speak. So, all right, look at 1st Samuel 28 verse 3 says, now Samuel had died and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, in his own city.

And Saul had put the mediums and the spiritists out of the land. By the way, locally, you know Lake Pleasant. That is a hotbed for spiritist activities. So whatever, spiritists, spiritualists, palm readers, spiritual mediums, that is a well-known place right here, about 15 minutes away.

But anyways, we continue. Verse 4, so the Philistines gathered together and came and encamped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together and they encamped at Gilboa. When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly.

And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets. The Urim is the thing that was part of the priest's breastplate that he could communicate with the Lord.

So God wasn't talking to Saul. Verse 7, Saul said to his servants, find me a woman who is a medium that I may go to her and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, in fact, there is a woman who is a medium at Endor.

So the term witch or spiritual medium, same thing. So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes and he went. Now why did Saul put on different clothes? Why did he wear a disguise? Yeah, and he did.

He didn't want anyone to know why. Because he was the one who made this practice illegal in Israel and he was doing the right thing by making it illegal. That was part of the mosaic law. So Saul is now disguising himself and verse 9, then the woman said to him, well, let's go back to verse 8, Saul disguised himself, put on other clothes and he went and with two men with him and they came to the woman by night and he said, please conduct a seance for me and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.

Then the woman said to him, look, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for me or for my life to cause me to die? So obviously she doesn't know that she's talking to Saul.

And Saul swore to her by the Lord saying, as the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing. Then the woman said, whom shall I bring up for you? And he said to her, bring up Samuel for me.

When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice and the woman spoke to Saul saying, why have you deceived me? For you are Saul. And the king said to her, do not be afraid. What did you see?

And the woman said to Saul, I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth. So he said to her, what is his form? And she said, an old man is coming up. And he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down.

Now Samuel said to Saul, why have you disturbed me by bringing me up? And Samuel answered, I am deeply distressed for the Philistines make war against me. And then he goes on to explain his situation.

So once the the spirit comes up, she seems pretty frightened and she realizes right away that, oh, this is Saul who's here. Now, why do you think she figured that out right away? Well, I was hoping you had an answer because I wasn't, I wasn't really sure.

A few things about this story. It's a subject of debate whether or not this medium or witch had supernatural abilities. And there's a debate of whether or not this is really Samuel. Is that there could be a demonic spirit impersonating Samuel.

Did she have the ability to do this? Did God just kind of allow this to happen this one time? So we're not exactly sure about all the details, but the fact that the medium, she seems so surprised, she seems frightened, that seems to tell me that she's shocked that this actually worked.

I'm not positive about that, but I think this is the first time she ever saw a spirit coming up out of the earth. The reason why I say that is because most people who do tarot card readings, palm readings, seances, most of them are con artists.

You know, it's a scam. Most people, maybe today all, but most do not actually have supernatural ability to raise up spirits from the underworld. I personally think that this woman was a fraud and that God in his sovereignty, just this once, just for this occasion, that he allowed this as part of his judgment against Saul.

I can't prove that, but that's my theory. A lot of people hold to that view. So people who practice magic today and sorcery, spiritual mediums, most of it, if not all of it, is sleight of hand. What are they, it's called mentalism, where they do a cold reading and they pretend they know things, but they're actually just picking up details and guessing.

There was one famous preacher, he was a faith healer, and his name was Peter Popov, and you've seen him on television. I think there was more than one guy who did this, but his wife would go out into the audience before the crusade and get like people's, she would just talk to them and collect information, and then when he was on stage, he would say, oh God is speaking to me, and you there in the second row with the blue shirt, you're here because, you know, and they thought like God's talking to him.

Well, no, he had an earpiece and his wife was telling him information. So, but this is what people do, you know, witches, even some con, because there's some preachers who are con men too. So I don't actually think that most of them have the ability to contact the dead, because according to scripture, when people die, they either go to one of two places.

They go to paradise, or what we would call heaven, or they go to Hades. Either way, when someone dies, they're completely unaware of the things that are going on in this world. Now, I'm not saying that there's nothing to the Ouija board and seances.

I think there may be some demonic activity we'll get to in a second, but just I'm talking about contacting the dead, you know, your great-grandparents, your loved one. There's no indication in scripture that anyone has the ability to contact the dead.

Ecclesiastes chapter nine, verse five says that the dead know nothing. Now, that doesn't mean that they've gone out of existence. Ecclesiastes is a book about life under the sun. So our departed loved ones who went to heaven or are in heaven, they don't know anything about life under the sun.

And if you think about it, because you've heard people say this, and maybe you've said it, but people say, well, you know, I think your grandfather's looking down on you right now. You know, your mother would be so proud.

And I think she's looking down on you. And that's, you know, it's a nice sentiment. People say things like that to be kind, but there's really no biblical basis for any kind of communication between this earth and heaven or this earth in hell.

There's no biblical basis except for this one situation, which I think is a a special circumstance. Now, anyone, maybe I'm not thinking of something. If anyone wants to give a chapter and verse to challenge that.

I mean, anyway, any thoughts? Okay.

What? No. I was just looking at Romans one, you know, God gave them over to the base mind and, you know, practicing.

Okay. Yeah. You know, and I don't think our loved ones in heaven would want to see a lot of things that go on here on earth. I don't think heaven would be heaven if they knew about all the suffering and things happening on earth.

And just this idea of the dead knowing what's happening here on earth. Number one, that's God's job to look down on us. That's the job of God. And for us to seek out somebody, we should be, we should be seeking God.

And number two, just having a deceased human being watching us all the time is kind of creepy. So I just don't think that that actually takes place.

Well, in verse 13 of first Samuel 28, you know, when Saul asked, what did you see? And the woman said to Saul, I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth. Well, I guess that was prior to Christ emptying paradise.

But yeah, this is before the cross. The way I would understand that is people in the old Testament, they went down into Sheol or they went down into Hades and part of Hades was the compartment known as Abraham's bosom or paradise.

So it wouldn't be heaven like we think of it. But the point is, I just don't think there's any biblical basis for being able to contact the dead. Can people be in contact with spiritual beings though?

Yeah, that's another story. That is something that happens. So let's say somebody uses a Ouija board and they say that, well, actually did get into contact with my deceased uncle. What should the Christian response be?

Well, you should warn them. I'm going to give some verses to warn people not to dabble in this kind of thing. It wouldn't be their loved one though. And a lot of time when especially kids get together, college students get together with a Ouija board.

I've never done. I've never been in the presence of a Ouija board just to let you know. But I've heard stories where someone will guide it, you know, and they're just kind of messing around to spell out a message.

Are there spiritual beings people get into contact with? What spiritual beings are out there? Well, there's God himself, right? The Holy Spirit. There are angels. And then there are, what's the other category?

Fallen angels or demons. So if anyone did come into contact with a being with a spirit, if that did happen with a Ouija board, seance, anything else, it would be biblically. It would be a demon. So if somebody says I've had contact with a deceased relative and they told me things that only they would know, and I've, I've had people say, you know, I woke up one time and the middle of the night and I saw my grandmother, my, my, my father who died and he was sitting at the edge of my bed and they told me it was very comforting.

I think I'd be terrified, but you know, there's a few possibilities. Like, honestly, there's a few possibilities. Someone could be making it up. Obviously. Romans three, four says, let God be true. And every man, a liar.

So somebody might just make that up for whatever reason. The second possibility, it was a dream and it just seemed real. Maybe they were hallucinating. You know, the, the mind can play tricks on people when you're going through a really distressing time.

I don't doubt that people think they saw things when they really didn't. But then, yeah, the worst case scenario is that someone could have actually encountered a real spirit. And that would be a demonic spirit.

And if it is portraying itself as someone you recognize someone, you know, there is what is called a familiar spirit. The term familiar spirit, depending on your Bible translation, it's, it's mentioned a few times.

So demons can actually, one, it's a theory it's, I can't prove it. But the idea is that demons can masquerade as, as someone, you know, that could have been what happened with Saul. It might not have been Samuel.

I, I think it was, but it might not have been. Why would, why would a demon masquerade as a loved one to lure people in to the occult? Okay. Let's turn to Deuteronomy 18. Even people who are in, and here's another thing I read up on, even people that are interested in the paranormal, like UFOs and aliens.

There are some people who have dabbled in the occult and they claim to have encountered extraterrestrial beings and seen UFOs. I want, I want to be clear. I'm not saying I believe all this stuff, but when you dabble in the occult, it's possible that weird things start happening.

I've talked to enough people who have done things like this, held seances, and they, they told me that, yeah, they started having these strange occurrences. So I would say probably the majority, they imagined it.

They're not telling the truth, but you know, in those rare cases, yeah, I, there is a whole spiritual realm out there and I don't claim to know all about it, but you know, God tells us to stay away from it because that's the thing you don't know what's going on.

So this is, this is what the Lord says. Deuteronomy 18, nine through 14, when you come into the land, which the Lord, your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations.

There shall not be found among you. Anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire or one who practices witchcraft or soothsaying or one who interprets omens or a sorcerer or one who conjures spells or a medium or a spiritist or one who calls up the dead.

So what's the Ouija board? That's what it is. It's a device meant to call up the dead. What are some reasons why somebody would want to get into contact with a dead person? What do you think? Why do people do it?

Okay. They miss somebody. They, they want to get a word from someone. They want advice and, and they're, they're seeking out somebody to, to talk to what would God want? God would want us to seek out who?

Him, right? And that was the whole issue with Saul. Saul, well, Saul had communication with God until he, he rebelled and God cut off communication. But God wants us to seek out him. Can we agree with that?

Okay. Continue in Deuteronomy 18 verse 12. So all who do these things, conjure spells, medium, spiritists, those who call up the dead for all who do these things are what an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations, the Lord, your God drives them out from before you, you shall be blameless before the Lord, your God, for these nations, which you will dispossess.

Listen to soothsayers and diviners. But as for you, the Lord, your God has not appointed such for you. It's pretty well known that during World War II, Hitler and Himmler, both, especially Himmler was, was consulting with spiritists and mediums.

And there's a lot of the cult practices going on with, with the Nazis. People all over the world. This isn't just something kids do in a dorm room. I mean, people at the highest levels of government, and I'm not going to get into all this because someone will say, well, that's not true.

It's a conspiracy, whatever. The evidence is out there that people at the highest levels dabble in this type of thing. So what does God say about it? It's, it's an abomination. That's kind of one of those words where, where God wants to stress, like this, this is like the worst possible thing you can imagine.

So is it pretty clear what the Bible teaches about anything like this? Stay away from it. So when you go on vacation and you're at the beach and you know, there's the boardwalk and there's the palm reader, you know, or there's the Jewish rabbi who wants to read your palms for money or something.

Hey, listen. Yeah. Maybe it's just for fun and there's nothing to it, but no, let's just stay away from it. You better hope there's nothing to it. The people who get involved best case scenario. Yeah.

They're scamming you for money. Best case scenario, worst case scenario. You're going to be demonically oppressed for a while. So God, as our creator, he wants what's best for us, right? God created us.

He knows what's best. And because he knows what's best, he says, just completely stay away from all this stuff because God is merciful because Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost. Someone who has dabbled in this stuff in the past.

There is grace. There is forgiveness. Let's turn to Acts chapter 19. Here is a biblical and acts 19. Here's a biblical example of people that were involved in the occult and the Lord did a work and he saved them as you're turning there.

I just want to read something else. I found this whole study is based on the book. I told you about cults and the occult by Edmund Bruce. So there's one or two other books I've been looking at. Here's something I read and I found it really interesting.

So in regards to demonic possession and affliction, what are the potential dangers of the Ouija board? Experts say as an approach to psychic development, as the operator becomes more involved with the board, his fascination with it often leads him to dependence upon it and to the surrender of his will.

So people get, they start doing it and they get obsessed with it. And of course, people can get obsessed with just about anything, but this can really lure people in. After time, the answers to the questions are anticipated in the mind before they are spelled out on the board.

So this is what the experts are saying, warning about. After this, the board may be discarded and in its place, the operator may hear a voice. Sometimes the voice or voices communicates almost continuously and the messages are often profane and obscene.

I've talked to people who have again, dabbled in this stuff and they say they can't control their thoughts. Like the most obscene, outrageous, perverse thoughts come into their mind and, and they don't, they don't know why.

Beyond this sensual feeling, sexual stimulation, and the use of the person's vocal cords for expression by the possessing entity or demon may also take place. So understand this would be the worst case scenario.

Again, there are kids who have gotten together, played with this stuff. They walked away, nothing happened. It's a big joke. I'm sure that probably happens a lot, but then there are plenty of people who tell of these kinds of stories.

So the Ouija board can, based on testimonies can and has led to demonic possession. If you want to be skeptical of that, Hey, fine. Be skeptical of it. But this is, this is pretty well accepted by most Christian pastors that I know.

But even if that's not true, the command is still to stay away from it. Psychologists and psychiatrists, medical doctors, theologians, and many other informed persons have issued warnings on the dangers of the Ouija board experimentation.

While they do not always agree on the source of the danger, right? A theologian and a doctor are going to disagree with why this is happening, but they both agree that something bad is taking place. They say the dangers do exist, exist.

If for no other reason, uh, the occult often attracts dark and disturbed people. So at the very least it could get you hanging around with the wrong crowd. People always think, well, it'll never happen to me, but it happens to some people.

So with them, it did happen to them. But thankfully, uh, there is both forgiveness and deliverance in Christ. Look at Acts chapter 19. Here's a really interesting story. Acts 19, 11 through 20, because sometimes the devil tries to imitate what God does, right?

And the apostles could work miracles. So the devil, he tries to have his own supernatural, um, things. Well, it says in verse 19, now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of who? Paul. So that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.

This isn't something you should expect today because even back then, what is it called? Unusual miracles. Like this was really strange. Verse 13. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits saying, we exercise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.

Do you think that's going to work? We exercise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches. Also, there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priests who did so. And the evil spirit, I love this. The evil spirit answers these, these men who don't know what they're doing.

The name of the guy, Paul preaches. We cast you out. The evil spirit answered and said, Jesus, I know. And Paul, I know. But who are you? So not everybody can just cast out demonic spirits or 16. Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them and prevailed against them so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus and fear fell on them all. And the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. So it was clear that there was demonic power. There were people who were possessed by demons, but the Holy Spirit in Paul was greater.

And that's the thing. If somebody is possessed by a demon, there's actually a big, uh, to do right now with, um, I won't mention the names of the, the, the famous pastors. There's now kind of a resurgence in deliverance ministries, uh, where some evangelicals are starting to do exorcisms.

And, uh, and the teaching is that if you are a Christian, you can be demon possessed. Now, do you believe that? I don't believe that. I don't think any true Christian can be demon possessed. I think we could be, uh, influenced, but I don't think we can be, uh, demon possessed.

But anyways, that's, that's, uh, another, another story.

Uh, yeah, Larry. So how many men were there that went in to cast the spirits out of this guy?

Well, there are the seven sons of Sceva.

I mean, and they couldn't do a thing and he overpowered them all. Right. Rip their clothes off. Right.

Right. Yeah. And even that, if, if you think so, I know one pastor friend, somebody asked him to do not, not an exorcism, but something similar. And he's like, you know, I don't want anything to do with this because what there's no new Testament commandment.

I would pray with somebody, but that's about it. This type of stuff should frighten us. Really. Um, but look at verse 19 or go verse 18. And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds.

Also many of those who had practiced magic. So you see, they had done it. So they were involved in, in witchcraft. And what did they do? They brought their books together and they burned them in the sight of all.

And they counted up the value of them. And it totaled 50 ,000 pieces of silver. This is a lot of money. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. The point is the point that I'm getting at is there is deliverance in Christ.

If somebody's dabbled with this stuff, if you believe in Jesus, if somebody is truly born again, you cannot be demon possessed. So if somebody is worried about this trust in Christ, that will guarantee that you will not be demon possessed.

I think that's probably a pretty rare thing these days. I don't know. I don't know enough about it. Um, and then second, if somebody dabbles in this, you got to turn away from it. Don't take all the books and everything you own, the magic wands or whatever, and sell them on eBay and try to get some money.

Cause then someone else is going to be afflicted. What do these people do? They took it all and they burned it. They, they totally turned away from it completely. And I know people who, when they, when they came to faith in Jesus, they had records or CDs of music that was really like, not just worldly music, but satanic music.

And what did they do with the records? No, they didn't give them away. They, they broke them. They threw them in the trash. And really that's, that's the way to do it. And why do people do that to show the Lord?

Hey, I'm, I'm done with this. I'm not just giving it to someone else so they can be afflicted. And I would say, you know, music can have an impact on us. I don't, it's just, it's just me. I'm just talking my opinion and what I've noticed.

There are certain sounds, maybe certain beats, certain sounds that just when I hear it, I don't know. It's, it's, it's unsettling. Uh, there was one YouTube video where it was showing people that were supposedly possessed by devils and just hearing their shrieks.

And it's like, I had to, I have to shut it off. Like, I, I, I don't want anything to do with this. And that's the best approach. Anything where you just sense, you feel like this just isn't right. You know, go with that.

That, that may be the Lord telling you, nope. Cause aren't we guided by God, the Holy spirit. So, so just, just walk away, stay away. And remember seeking the dead or trying to contact the spirit realm.

I mean, this is the very definition of the occult. So in conclusion, the main takeaway, just for maybe somebody who stumbles across this video and watches it, uh, why people get involved in the occult they're, they're seeking something.

Right. They want advice. They want some experience, whatever it is they're seeking. They're seeking something that our message to you would be seek the Lord. Isaiah eight verse 19 says, and when they say to you, seek those who are mediums and wizards who whisper and mutter, this is what the response should be.

Should not a people seek their God. Then Isaiah 55 verse six says, seek the Lord while he may be found call upon him while he is near. So that that's what we need to tell people. Seek, seek the Lord and warn them of, of these dangers.