One of the other interesting definitions for familiar spirits is "conjuring up spirits of the dead." Now, I know we would never knowingly or purposely do such a thing; but, nevertheless, many Christians do this out of religious habit.
A good example of this is the popular Catholic concept of praying to the saints. The idea comes from the concept of Christian leaders and other saintly men and women who have passed on and are supposedly in Heaven. We call them "saints" and pray to them, who in turn are supposed to plead with a "judgmental Christ" to loosen His blessings upon us.
Within liturgical Charismatic circles, visions of Mary, idols that bleed, and supernatural saintly visits in the night are on the rise. But be warned, this isn’t the work of the Holy Spirit. The purpose of these visions and visitations is to keep us in religious captivity, separated from the true concept of Christ. Again, this is the powerful influence of wrong teachings.
Often, these people will experience something moving which convinces them that the supernatural experience was infallible proof that what they are seeing was from God. The dearly departed don’t actually come back from the dead; but, in reality, the Word of God is pushed aside to make room for a new voice.
We must remember something very important. The Devil isn’t anti-religion, anti-signs and wonders, or anti-spiritual experiences. He is anti-Jesus. If the Devil can keep us occupied with empty spiritual experiences, he can keep us from Christ. This is his ultimate goal.
The Devil isn’t threatened when we pray in the name of Mary or when we pray to a Saint. In fact, he likes it. He is only defeated when we identify with the name of Jesus and understand what that name represents.
So what if we find a set of keys when we’ve prayed to "Saint Whoever" for help? Is it supernatural proof that what we are doing is from God? The Devil doesn’t care if we find the set of keys or not. If he could, he would even send his demons to help us. All he cares about is keeping us from the revelation of Jesus by beguiling us with false miracles.
King Saul Yielded To Familiar Spirits
King Saul is a good example of what happens to people when they open up to new voices. He was guilty of yielding to familiar spirits and conjuring up spirits of the dead.
He had rebelled against God’s prophetic Word and wouldn’t repent. As a result, God was no longer speaking to him. This left a great void in his life.
During the time when he served God, he knew his future was secure. But when King Saul was no longer serving God — he didn’t know what the future held in store for him.
He knew things would go well as long as he was submitted to God. But when he was cut off from God, because of his rebellion, he didn’t know if things were going to work in his favor. This void desperately needed attention and since God wasn’t talking to him, he decided to consult a woman who had a familiar spirit. (1 Samuel 27:5-19)
The women "conjured up" a voice from Saul’s past, the voice of the prophet Samuel, a voice from the grave. This was a huge step backward for the King and as far as God was concerned, this was the last straw. Because of this, God took away his kingdom and began looking for someone else to lead the Children of Israel.
How did Saul the King come to the place where he would stoop so low? Why did he turn to divination instead of turning back to the Lord?
Rebellion was the reason for Saul’s fall. He had been told by the prophet Samuel, "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." But Saul didn’t repent. The spiritual void in Saul’s life cried out for attention and since he wouldn’t turn from his rebellion, he opened up to familiar spirits.
Revival Seeking Christians
A similar thing happens to today’s revival seeking Christians. When we are first born again, we were made aware of a new realm. We realize there is a spirit realm. As we grow spiritually, we are thrilled to hear the voice of God as His Word comes alive to us. But when we rebel and grow hard to the voice of His Word, it leaves a spiritual void in our lives. Since we won’t go back to God’s Word, we seek another way of fulfilling that void. We open up to the spirit realm instead of the inspired Word of God!
The false experiences that follow, often distract people from the Word and reinforce their rebellion. I’ve seen rebellious sheep leave the fold because of this. The interesting thing was, these people were attracted to the very thing we warned them about.
The good teaching they had received about the revelation of Christ, how to discern antichrist spirits, deception, and emptiness, seemed to mean nothing to them. They were able to go to another church and experience incredible spiritual things and backslide all at the same time. These people could remain in their rebellion and fall down under the power, get spiritually drunk, and laugh in the spirit all night.
It is my observation that rebellious Christians seem to be more receptive to these false signs and wonders than others. I have seen people refuse to leave their sin and still long for the voice of the Spirit. They seek out churches where their sins aren’t known — usually it’s a church which allows many kinds of manifestations and calls everything "the Holy Spirit."
Some of these experiences are nothing more than false antichrist spiritual manifestations which reinforce their rebellion and reward their step toward a false idea with bogus signs and wonders. Therefore, a false sense of freedom allows the Devil to keep them in bondage.