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By Will Kinney and Steve Van Nattan This
is a discussion of the use of the word "ghost" in the modern bible translations. Ghosts
do not exist, but these funny bibles imply that God believes in ghosts. This is the folly of John MacArthur and many other gullible men.
GHOST-
If there were such a thing as ghosts, then this would contradict several biblical truths. It would of course imply that death is not the end of life. This part is true. However, the King James Bible teaches that when a person dies, if he or she is a blood of the Lamb bought child of God, he immediately goes to be with the Lord his Saviour. "having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better" Phil. 1:23; "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." II Cor. 5:8. To say that ghosts exist, is to deny that at physical death one either goes directly to be with the Lord Jesus Christ, or he goes immediately to hell. In Luke 16 we read of the rich man that "he died, and was buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes being in torments." This condemned man was told by Abraham that "between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence." God seems to have placed a barrier of some kind that prohibits the condemned from leaving this place of torment. They cannot go back to the world of the living, wander around as ghosts, and make a nascence of themselves. We are also told in I Peter that Christ went in the Spirit and preached unto the spirits in prison which were disobedient in the days of Noah. Man has a spirit and a soul. Those who are redeemed are referred to as "the spirits of just men made perfect" Hebrews 12:23, while the others are called "the spirits in prison". There is no escape. There seems to be some evidence that a very few of the righteous dead may be permitted to revisit the living, as with Samuel in I Sam. 28:12 and Elijah and Moses at the transfiguration of our Lord in Mat. 17. But in neither case are they referred to as ghosts, but were recognized as who they were even by people who had never seen them before. They knew them to be Samuel, Elijah and Moses. John MacArthur, a man who abandoned the King James Bible many years ago, is seduced by the NIV I suspect. Here is the KJV and NIV and NASB for I Samuel 28:12-13: KJV-
NIV- NASB- The witch in the text allegedly saw a ghost in the NIV, and she saw a "divine" in the NASB. Divine in the Bible in English is related to divination, or to fortune telling. The woman was NOT seeing a "god" she brought up. That is why she panicked when she saw the real Samuel. Both the NIV and the NASB keep the context as ghostly or a product of mediumistic powers. John MacArthur was seduced by these two mongrel bibles. READ MY TREATMENT OF HIM HERE Can you imagine my shock when I began to examine the modern version bibles and found that the NKJV, NASB and NIV all refer to ghosts? The NKJV does this twice, the NASB three times and the NIV four times. All of these versions change the meaning of Matthew 14:26 and Mark 6:49. Matthew 14:26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. Mark 6:49 But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out: The KJB and Tyndale, the Geneva Bible, Webster's 1833 translation, the Third Millennium Bible and the 21st Century KJB all say: "And when the disciples say him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a SPIRIT; and they cried out for fear." The word here is FANTASMA, and is something that appears to the sight. The RV, Darby and Young render this as "an apparition." But the NKJV, NASB and NIV say: "It is a GHOST." We know from other passages that deceiving spirits, and other spirits of angels can appear in a visible form. "He maketh his angels spirits" and they are "ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" Hebrews 1:7,11. The book of Job mentions spirits: Job
4:13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
This night vision was seen by Eliphaz, one of Job's troublesome "friends" who was attacking Job and trying to convince him his troubles were because of some secret sin in his life. His vision is VERY much like the bogus visions we hear about from Pentecostals and Charismatic Christians. Eliphaz may have even made this up to make Job think the God had appeared to Eliphaz. But, he used the word RUWACH, which is ALWAYS related to something physical and real, not a ghost. Even this reprobate trouble maker knew that Job would not fall for his story if he used a word from witchcraft, as the NIV and NASB do. I Kings 22 presents us with another example of a spirit which came forth and stood before the LORD and was sent to be a lying spirit in the mouth of the false prophets. This was an angelic being, and not the spirit of a man. So, when the disciples cried out at seeing Jesus walk upon the water, they thought they were seeing a spirit, not a ghost. The NIV alone of the four principal versions we are looking at, changes the KJB, NKJV and NASB reading in Luke 24:37, 39. Here the Lord appears to his disciples after his resurrection. It is recorded that they were terrified and supposed that they had seen a spirit. Jesus said "Handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." Here the NIV changed both words to ghost. KJV- NIV- I need to remind you that we are using GHOST in the contemporary context, which is what the modern bible translations claim to be doing. It is quite fair to hold them accountable for their word choices and their meanings. And again, you must understand that God nowhere gives credibility to the notion that ghosts exist at all. There are no humans hanging around after death...... NONE. Any such visits are devils using the gullibilities of fools who think they can communicate with the dead. Perhaps the worst example of giving credence to the false idea that such a thing as ghosts exist is found in the NASB and NIV. In Isaiah God is bringing judgment upon Egypt. KJV- All of the spiritual resources of Egypt were like so many New Agers today. The spirits of devils who deceive through necromancy and channeling of spirits. These are evil spirits of Satan. The versions that read along with the KJB's "Charmers" are the ASV, 1936 Hebrew- English, Young's, Webster's, Third Millennium, KJV 21, Hebrew Names Bible, and the NKJV. Other versions have either diviners, sorcerers or mediums. But the NIV has "they will seek to the SPIRITS OF THE DEAD" and the NASB has "they will resort to GHOSTS OF THE DEAD." This is why John MacArthur believes in ghosts because his NASB and NIV have God giving credibility to the spirits of the dead or ghosts. This is how the modern translations create doctrine which is a total fiction. This is why men, like MacArthur, who started out sound and useful to God's people long ago, have become blind guides. They dip their little cup into the cesspool of Satan, and they drink deeply. They then go on to lead the people of God into the Slough of Despond doctrinally. No one, especially a devil controlled medium or charmer, can communicate with the spirits of the dead or ghosts! The dead are either in hell right now, with no way to get back, or they are present with the Lord, and certainly will not be sent to give a devil inspired message to the living. The NASB and NIV present this impossibility as though it were true. The next time you hear some New Age wacko tell you that ghosts are found in the Bible, tell him they are not at all found in the true Holy Bible, the King James 1611 Version.
CONCLUSION There is an innate tendency in all of humanity to find spirits. Even Atheists, who claim they do not believe in God or angels, will wear crystals and knock on wood. The heathen in Africa were serious believers in the spirit world before the missionaries arrived. The message of the Gospel was often received by these primitive people largely because they saw in it the answer to the spirit world and the master of spirits, God Almighty. The problem arises when people decide to go looking for spiritual experiences in the paranormal. When they do this, Satan and his devils eagerly oblige, and the world of ghosts, jinn, wee people, UFOs and endless varieties of alleged beings, appear and seduce them. The Age of Enlightenment long ago resulted in the death of God to much of the world of philosophy. So, why are the spirits returning to the Age of Technology? It seems that the mystery of many technological processes fosters even further investigation into the world of the spirits. "Virtual Reality" draws in the mind to tinker with things outside of reality. Thousands of people who have no faith in God or the Bible are eagerly searching for friends and visitations from the other side. What is going on here? 1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Combine the thoughts in the two texts above. They are both speaking of the world at the end of the Age of the Church. Evil spirits will be loosed to deceive people, and this will prepare the way for Antichrist, the second incarnation of the son of perdition. Contrary to what many people think, the Antichrist will be very religious. He will convince the world that he is the returning Christ and Madhi. There will be no Atheists during the Great Tribulation. So, millions of people are now seduced by the spirit world, that is, the army of Satan's devils who are loose in the world. These devils also teach doctrine, and they teach it through alleged Christian ministers just as easily as through some vile perverted guru in an ashram in India. The wandering into spirit error by John MacArthur is depressing, but it should not send us into shock. I went online to look for sermons and teaching by Christians on the spirit world, both the true as well as the bogus spirit world. I found a number of videos by people whom I would ordinarily consider sound, but they ALL had to make the whole thing spooky. They were simply pandering to the lust of the viewer to see and hear about creepy spirituality. I have seen a number of examples of people who delved into UFOs or ghosts, and these people are often given what they went looking for by devils. Devils have the ability to present themselves as very real looking illusions, and one you see them perform, you will find it extremely hard to stop believing what you saw was real. The seduction is great, and just because you are a born again Bible believer does not mean you can play in the Devil's sandbox and not come away with fleas. And, the fleas are hard to kill. Thus, I end this article with a serious warning my Christian friend. Stop peeking into the realm of Satan. There is sorrow and terror enough in dealing with people you know who are possessed of devils, or people who are being deceived by devil possessed preachers, faith healers, and church house gurus. If you cannot find it in the Bible, it does not exist, that is, the issues of the spiritual world.
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