Life After Ministry

Familiar Spirits

Today we’re taking a look at these familiar spirits, how the Church defines this phenomenon & why it refers to the Book of Mormon as the voice that’s a familiar spirit.

Cowley’s Talks on Doctrine, pg 185; “They literally came out of the earth, and righteousness in the personage of a holy angel came down from heaven and placed them in the hands of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Isaiah speaks of the ancient seers being covered, and that in the latter days their speech should be “low out of the dust.” The Book of Mormon was written by seers upon the American continent.”

Under the entry of “familiar spirits” McConkie defined it this way:

Mormon Doctrine, pg 273; “See SPIRITUALISM”

Under spiritualism it said;

Mormon Doctrine, pg 760; “Those religionists who attempt and frequently attain communion (as they suppose) with departed spirits are called spiritualists. Their doctrine and belief that mediums…can actually hold intercourse with the spirits of the dead is called spiritualism.…they are in fact turning to an evil source “for the living to hear from the dead.”…information revealed from spirits through mediums is not according to “the law and to the testimony.””

The Mormon apostle Orson Pratt insisted the BoM was either the voice Isaiah spoke of or it was an imposter…

Divine Authority or the Question, Was Joseph Smith Sent of God, pg 10; “Here it will at once be perceived that the Book of Mormon is actually the book predicted by Isaiah, or else it must be an imposter. The book mentioned by Isaiah was to have every characteristic which seems to accompany the Book of Mormon.” – Orson Pratt

The apostle Daniel Ludlow emphatically taught the interpretation of Isaiah’s prophecy is not a dire warning, but a promise to Mormons the Book of Mormon is something to look forward to.  Ugh…

Companion to Y our Study of the Book of Mormon, pg 16; “…a careful reading of this scripture, particularly when read together with Nephi’s explanation, would indicate that the term it “hath a familiar spirit” means that this record (the Book of Mormon) would speak with a “familiar voice” to those who already have the Bible. In other words, Nephi is evidently saying here that the doctrinal teachings of the Book of Mormon would seem familiar to people who had already read and accepted the Bible.” – Daniel Ludlow

Again and again God warns us through His word of dangers in this life. Some of the prophecies in the Old Testament were announcements to the Israelites of impending doom and punishment. Other prophecies were for future events that will take place and to date; we’re still waiting on the Lord for those! 

What to do with prophecies in the past? 

We use them as examples of what God doesn’t want us to do. We study the historical aspects of the socio-economic era to determine Israel’s behavior pattern, what plagued them as a society, as well as their strengths. 

This particular prophecy in Isaiah 29:4 was a pronouncement upon the Israelites at that time because of the riotous behavior they continued to engage themselves in. They bowed their knee to Ba’al. They had worshipped the creature instead of the creature (Ro. 1:20-25), and did so under the trees in a grove. 

They made sweetcakes to the goddess Asherah and even painted her image on household oil flasks.  They paid homage to her because of the fertility powers they believed she held – just like we do today with “Mother Earth”. 

They had also stooped so low they were worshipping Molech (aka Ba’al).  Molech was the god of the Ammonites who would sacrifice their kids in fires to appease their gods. 

The passage from Isaiah 29 is referring to the upcoming events they (Israelites) should expect for rejecting God. 

Other atrocities of the Israelites: 

 They frequented the tents of soothsayers and witches looking for a message that a dead relative may have for them. Fortune tellers would take old wine skins and fill them half way which produced a spooky ghost-like noise. Doing this out of eyeshot of the intended “victim” the fortune-teller would then give their listening audience a fabricated feel good story about their deceased loved ones.

The Israelite then believed their dead relative was speaking from out of the ground where they had been buried.  The witches called these sounds and interpretations “familiar spirits”.

God called it idolatry.

Leviticus 20:6; “And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.”

Isaiah 29:4; “And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.”

As we’ve seen in the Bible and outside historical sources, God wasn’t kidding. Israel was stripped of her dignity and almost wiped off the face of the earth.

Many who survived the Assyrian onslaught were taken captive and enslaved to a life of servitude to the Assyrian king. Others were split up and placed in outlying communities so far removed from others it was believed they’d starve to death. Still others were allowed to go south and join the two southern tribes of Benjamin and Judah.

With our history lesson behind us, let’s take a look at the text!!  Context is king and trumps all presumptions so what does it tell us?

Isaiah 29:3-5; “And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. 4 And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust. 5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.” 

God warns the Israelites their city would be under siege from outsiders. They were going to find themselves humbled either through death, in servitude to a foreign king or through the reality they’ve lost everything they know in life and are now wandering again. 

Their voices would be low, as a whisper, so the enemy couldn’t detect them when they spoke and resemble the familiar spirits they had gone “whoring after”.  When all this was accomplished Babylon would do the same to the Assyrians (vs. 5).

So from ONE verse (vs. 4) the Church built an entire theory by claiming a punishment from God for worshiping demons is the pet name for their false gospel (BoM). 

Oh please God, have mercy on my people!  Place in their hearts a desire to read and know what these things mean. Give them a heart of curiosity to study Your word and give them means to purchase a dictionary.