Читать книгу The young spirit messenger - Pascal Voggenhuber, Pascal Voggenhuber - Страница 12

Let the Dead Rest in Peace!

This is a sentence I hear frequently. As a medium I can’t understand it, because I clearly know that I don’t go looking for the dead, but rather they come because they want to contact me. It’s not at all possible to force the deceased to communicate or to go fetch them. I’m often confronted with biblical texts or quotes that clearly state that one may not speak with the dead or engage the services of a clairvoyant. But I find it fascinating that often priests come to me for a consultation, so in this respect I see a gross contradiction. If it really was something evil that couldn’t be reconciled with their faith, then no priests would even come! Or would they?

Or have they perhaps understood the Bible differently? I know that many believers don’t seek out comfort or healing from a medium out of fear of being punished, or when they do go to a medium, they have the feeling they are committing a sin. I respect every opinion and every faith, and when someone doesn’t want to believe in life after death, that is totally okay. At the latest, he’ll find out there is, indeed, life after death when he dies. For me it is also alright when people can’t get into my work or don’t believe in extrasensory abilities; at the end of the day I don’t believe everything that’s told to me either. All the same, it makes me sad when someone doesn’t use the services of a medium out of fear of possible punishment from God, or when believers repeatedly point out to me that, as a medium, I am in league with the devil. Everyone who knows me knows that I have the deepest respect for God. And what kind of god would that be who punishes someone for helping people? I know the Bible, study the Koran and the Bhagavad-Gita, and with this chapter, I would like to take away your fears.

In my opinion, it’s not written anywhere in the Bible that you shouldn’t make contact with the dead, and that “clairvoyance” or communication with the afterworld is a talent of the devil. Here I’d like to make it very clear again that I am in no way putting myself on the same level as prophets like Jesus, David, Mohammed, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, Hosea, Ezekiel, Micah, Buddha, and others. From a spiritual perspective, they were highly advanced humans who could certainly not be compared with the mediums of our times, although all of them had also received messages from another dimension. They were all in contact with the dead and with angels. Why should it then be a sin for us and not for our great prophets? Because they are so much more advanced than we are? However, everyone should make up their own mind about the contents of this chapter.

Let’s first take a closer look at the Bible. To this I would like to clarify one thing: in Scripture “death” and “the dead” are mentioned quite frequently, but only in a few places in the Bible is earthly dying also meant in reference to “death.” The “dead” of the Bible aren’t those who have departed from earthly life. When the Bible speaks of“death” it doesn’t mean the separation of spirit from body, but rather the separation of spirit from God. “Life” is being in union with God and believing in Him. “Death” is separation from God. This teaching runs through all of Scripture, whether it be in the Old or New Testament. Therefore the “dead” are those separated from God – the “spiritually dead” – regardless of whether they are now spirits in the afterlife or humans living on earth who have fallen away from God.

Many clients come to me with the following Bible texts, so I would like to show here how I believe these texts are to be understood. Deuteronomy 18:9–13: “9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD; because of these same detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God.” (All Bible quotations are from THE HOLY BIBLE, New INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.) As was indicated before, “the dead” also includes the “demons” or those spirits separated from God, which the Bible refers to as “the dead.” It goes without saying that in former times there were many cultures that were involved with so-called demons. However, I believe that many cults or practices were simply not understood and thus portrayed as something “negative.” On the other hand, we find many places in Scripture where things are predicted by prophets; therefore it would be illogical when prophecies were portrayed in general as negative. A distinction was made about who made the predictions. In Deuteronomy 18:9–13, it is clear that the warning applied primarily because it was a new land with a different belief system, and consequently only evil spirits could live there – that is people and entities separated from God. Here it is never about the physically dead, but rather about “spiritual death.”

However, let’s look at other places where bodily death could not be meant because it wouldn’t make any sense. Just so we can see that most of the time, when the Bible speaks about “death,” “the dead” or a “dead person,” people are meant, and spirits respectively, who have fallen away from God and His healing order, in other words, the “spiritual dead.” Let’s begin with Adam and Eve and the Fall in paradise, which didn’t lead to physical death but rather suffering from spiritual death. They crossed over to the side of the “serpent,” which symbolizes Satan, who thus represents evil. In paradise God spoke to Adam (Genesis 2:16b,17) saying, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” Here is it very clear that bodily death is not what was meant. Why, then, shouldn’t many of the other Bible verses not refer to “spiritual death”?

Let’s look at a few more examples. Luke 9:60: “60 Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’” I believe here it is apparent to everyone that Jesus meant not the physically dead, but those separated from God, who should bury the physically dead. Those who are separated from God should bury their physically dead, only then would the proclamation of the kingdom of God make any sense. Or it could, or course, also mean that the spiritually dead should attend to the spiritually dead, and that those who walk with God shouldn’t let themselves be hindered by the spiritually dead. However, physical death is certainly not what is meant here.

Here are some further passages. John 5:25: “25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” Ephesians 5:13–14: 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible – and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said: ‘Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’” Revelation 1:17b-18:“Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

From the writings of Jakob Lorbers: “Jesus: ‘ Death, in and of itself, is only that from which the ability to move freely against My order within its evil order has been wellintentionally removed. And death itself is thus nothing more than a persistence in all that is against My order.’” Romans 6:16, 21–23: 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey – whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians 2:1:“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,…” Jakob Lorber: “Jesus: ‘It is not just meant under the dead those departed from the world, rather it means predominately those still living in the world, whose hearts are dead and who have neither faith nor love and are thus indeed dead.’” So here is one last verse which, I believe, beautifully expresses this: Deuteronomy 30:19–20: “19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

It is not bodily life and bodily death that the Bible means, rather spiritual life that lasts as long as one believes in God, and spiritual death that takes immediate effect as soon as one abandons God and separates from him. Those who keep God’s laws will preserve their life; those who despise God’s word will die.

I don’t want to offend anyone with this chapter; I only want to take away the fear in case you think you’re doing something sinful. For a long time the stories in the Bible were only orally transmitted. The Old Testament was written down in Hebrew and recorded in a language that was no longer spoken at the time of the translations, so definitely mistakes also crept in, and then the Bible was translated many times over. Surely certain things were unintentionally left out, and later much more was intentionally omitted, for example, the interesting subject of reincarnation. Today it is well-known that reincarnation was actually part of Christian beliefs. The writings of the early theologian Origen (185–254) were proved to have been tampered with, and a large portion of them were even burned. However, I don’t want to pursue this here. In this chapter, I only want to show that you don’t have to be afraid of God’s punishment, because many parts of the Bible are misunderstood, when it comes to contact with the afterlife.

In addition, there is also the prophet Isaiah, whose book is part of the Old Testament and who gave a detailed clairvoyant prophecy approximately 700 years before Jesus’ birth. In Isaiah 7:14: “14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” In the Old Testament we find many accounts of prophets who had made very astonishing prophecies. For example, regarding the birth of Jesus Christ, Jesus himself often spoke appreciatively of the prophets; one example being in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:17: “17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

Likewise, prophecies regarding the future Buddha can be found in Buddhist writings. Also the last and greatest prophet of Islam was in contact with the spiritual world. At age 40 Mohammed received the first revelation of God while meditating, and it came through Archangel Gabriel. This was followed by further revelations for 23 years which constitute the core of Islam. Here I’d like to add a saying from Mohammed that makes his attitude toward clairvoyants clear: “Don’t believe in clairvoyants, but don’t avoid them either.” Not all prophets who followed created new religions. However, with their works and wisdom they have inspired many people and are still studied today.

To end this chapter, I’d like to also discuss some wellknown people who have been inspired by the spiritual world. They have had nowhere near the impact and influence of those such as Jesus, Mohammed, or Buddha, and in no way would I put them on the same level. A “prophetic medium” is a medium that is used by the spiritual world to deliver God’s message. But that is the function of only very few mediums, because only the fewest are so highly developed that they can fulfill this task. However many people are inspired by the spiritual world, be it in music, research, poetry, pearls of wisdom, or also wisdom teachings. I’d like to mention a few names of people here who, I am thoroughly convinced, were guided by the spiritual world, some consciously and others unconsciously.

Certainly one of the best known clairvoyants is Nostradamus, who was born in 1503 and wrote 942 prophetic quatrains, which are still being interpreted today. In the case of many of these quatrains, it would be impossible to attribute them to “coincidence,” also when the quatrains were partially written in a very heavily coded manner.

Madame Helena Blavatsky was born in Russia in 1831. Her predictions and activities are, in part, highly controversial. However she foretold that atoms are in constant motion and can be split, and that matter and energy allow themselves to be transformed into each other. After her death in 1891, this prophesy came true. Even Albert Einstein had a book by Madame Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, always within reach on his desk. I am convinced that Einstein himself was inspired by the spiritual world.

One that should not be omitted is Edgar Cayce, also known as “The Sleeping Prophet.” He was born in 1877 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, USA. Cayce was best known as a trance medium, who allowed the spiritual world to speak directly through his body. Cayce was a very pious man, but in trance he sometimes delivered predictions that didn’t fit with his traditional religious convictions, and that irritated him. In addition he was considered to be a very simple, modest man with a normal working-class education. However, in trance he made diagnoses and explained complex connections that he couldn’t understand in his waking state. His predictions were very exact and he was tested a great deal. Edgar Cayce’s books are worth reading. He gave approximately 25 000 – 30 000 readings of which 14 000 sessions were recorded. He also made very precise predictions about the future. Like all other clairvoyants, he sometimes erred, but I think with so many readings it’s clear that there would be some among them that didn’t come true, or some people that he couldn’t help. For this book, I read many stories about prophets and clairvoyants, and one thing they all have in common is that they were astonishingly precise and changed the world, yet with some predictions they, too, fell short.