Familiar spirits are also classed as the spirits of divination. Divination is known as looking into the spirit realm to know the past, the present, or the future. It’s the supernatural manifestations of bogus prophecies, lying wonders, and false visions which gives a false impression of spiritual insight. It makes us believe that anointed ministers can know the hidden unknown secrets of our hearts or even expose forces and influences in our lives of which we were never aware.
It’s interesting to see what God says about divination and the prophets who were involved in it. In Ezekiel chapter thirteen, we see the concept of divination being directly linked to prophets and leaders who were among God’s people but no longer speaking the Word of God.
"Thus says the Lord God: "Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing" (Ezekiel 13:3).
"They have envisioned futility and false divination…" (Ezekiel 13:6).
This reflects the Hebrew word for familiar spirits because "obe" means "empty or hollow." It can also mean "to mumble." Now, it is apparent that false prophets of today do not mumble. But it is also apparent that false prophets can articulate words that muffle and hide God’s true purposes — a lot of spiritual-sounding words that say nothing. In other words: the empty spiritual words come across like a fine prophecy. It represents the false prophet who flatters the people of God instead of telling them the truth. They declare "peace, peace" when there is no peace.
A word of blessing is a dangerous prophecy when the people are far from God. The people of God may need to hear, "you must return to the Lord."
I recently attended a minister’s conference, which featured a "prophet" who gave personal prophecies. During the meetings, I had the opportunity to dialogue with a pastor who was opening up to some of the new revival concepts and strange manifestations. He was actively pursuing these new things for his church. I was able to share my side of the story and it seemed like I was getting through to him. But during one of the meetings, the prophet called the pastor out of the congregation and flattered him with a wonderful prophecy which said, "God is with you, You are seeking the right things for your church. And if you continue, your meetings will increase to five hours or more. Your influence will increase in your city, it will spread to your province and then to your nation."
So I ask you, "Who is this pastor going to listen to now — my counsel to stay away from these strange doctrines — or the prophet’s encouraging words of flattery?" Instead of exposing the popular false teachings of today for the benefit of the pastor, the prophet stroked his pride and built him up with foolishness.
Prophetic Flattery
A true prophet wouldn’t flatter such a man. He would confront him and tell him the truth. Yet I know the false prophet was convinced that this was the word he should give. I know how strong the motivation can be to conjure up prophetic words for the congregation. He didn’t know it, but he was tickling the man’s ears while under the influence of seducing spirits.
Speaking Through a Hole in the Ground
Another characteristic of familiar spirits is further revealed in the book of Isaiah.
"You shall be brought down, you shall speak out of the ground; your speech shall be low, out of the dust; Your voice shall be like a medium’s (familiar spirit), out of the ground; and your speech shall whisper out of the dust" (Isaiah 29:4).
Can you imagine trying to hear someone who is speaking out of a hole in the ground? I don’t think there’s anything that can smother a person’s voice like layers of earth between you and them. Even if a person shouts the message it may remain unintelligible; so hard to understand that you may have to strain to hear what they are saying.
This is further insight into the character of familiar spirits. Their spiritual message cannot be easily understood.
Of course, you realize we’re not talking about the actual physical sound of the voice. If a preacher stood in a pulpit and began making unintelligible sounds with his voice, then we wouldn’t need any discernment to conclude that you are not going to stay around for the rest of the meeting.
What we are talking about is the lack of clarity in the spiritual message. Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ coming through loud and clear or do we have to strain to know what the preacher is talking about? Familiar spirits manifest through messages which appear prophetic but do not clearly reveal the Word of God. The spiritual words are audible, but the message of the Gospel is vague. The preacher may even shout his message, but the spiritual content of his words are still empty of truth. They might as well speak through a hole in the ground. The revelation of God’s Word is mysteriously missing. It is like an empty bottle; there’s nothing there to satisfy the spirit man. Only the flesh would be entertained by such emptiness.
Charmers
"They will consult the idols and the charmers, the mediums and the sorcerers" (Isaiah 19:3).
The definition for charmers mean; "to whisper, low speech, and noiseless speaking." Charmers also operated their wiles through the channel of familiar spirits. Their soft ways are likened to the subtlety of a spider’s web.
"Charmers" are those who "moved and spoke softly and gently." Incantations given by the charmers were gentle, sweet, and soft.
This is a very accurate description of the kind of antichrist spirits that I’ve seen in action. False teachers who are under the influence of antichrist spirits are real charmers. They can be very controlling by their soft approach and their gentle persuasion. They can seem so sweet, loving, and kind while they spin their web of deception. You hardly notice that the trap is closing in.
Who in their right mind would dare challenge the doctrines of such a sweet and gentle charmer? Who would dare expose them as false or accuse them of being motivated by demons? When you challenge their doctrine, don’t be surprised if people turn on you and accuse you of not walking in the same level of love as these seducers. As you listen to their spiritual message, you will find the simple clarity of the Gospel mysteriously missing, almost silent in a way. The truth of the Gospel and the revelation of Jesus Christ — a mere whisper. What they are saying is only a shadow of the truth. But don’t be surprised when many around you are taken in with their soft words.
The Devil is a snake. He is cunning and moves very cautiously before he strikes. But he can strike with deadly accuracy once he is close enough to his victim. It is almost like watching someone trapped by a spell. It overtakes them ever so slowly and quietly.
"Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth…?" (Galatians 3:1).
I have seen people mesmerized and fascinated with personal prophecies and false signs and wonders. Their comments would reflect this after a flakey church meeting, "Such a wonderful service." They were spellbound and charmed with the alleged supernatural words and manifestations. This may sound redundant but when are we going realize — just because it appears to be supernatural doesn’t mean it’s from God?
Witchcraft In The Church
One of the manifestations of familiar spirits in the Old Testament was "witchcraft." The definition for witchcraft is, "to gather clouds or to soothsay or to act covertly or undercover."
Sometimes a message can sound very spiritual but the true meaning behind that message can be very cloudy. In other words, the gray just won’t go away.
The purpose of witchcraft is to mislead under cloud cover. Immature Christians who are misled by false manifestations are misled only because of the confusion of the cloud cover.
You may say to yourself, "I haven’t got the foggiest idea of what this preacher is saying." But you keep listening because you think the preacher is more open to the Spirit than you are.
As the knowledge of God’s Word concerning familiar spirits began to make sense to me, I was able to discern what was going on. What surprised me was the fact that deception was more common among Charismatic leaders than I had imagined.
Let’s make it clear. Jesus Christ is our message. God’s parables contain the power to change lives. Meanwhile, our own parables only entertain. Empty words do not belong inside the Church. The Church has yielded to these things in the name of the "prophetic anointing" long enough. The true prophetic anointing isn’t cloudy. The message is clear and alive. Revelation 19:10 says, "for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Let’s get it straight, He is our message!