The Great Gulf Fixed

Why the dead cannot contact the living

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"And beside all this, 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."

Luke 16:26
1
They Are Separated by an Impassable Gulf
"Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot." Luke 16:26
2
They Await Resurrection in a Separated Realm
"The beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." Luke 16:22
3
They Know Nothing of Earthly Affairs
"Neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun." Ecclesiastes 9:6
4
They Cannot Return to Their Houses
"He that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. He shall return no more to his house." Job 7:9-10
5
They Cannot See What Happens to Their Children
"His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them." Job 14:21
6
They Cannot Cross the Gulf to Warn the Living
"Neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence." Luke 16:26
7
God Forbids Seeking Contact With Them
"Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them." Leviticus 19:31

What This Means

If the dead cannot cross the gulf to contact us, and God forbids seeking them, who answers the medium? If they cannot return to their houses, who appears as departed loved ones?

Scripture's answer: "For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles" (Revelation 16:14). Fallen spirits impersonate the dead to deceive the living.

The serpent's first lie was "ye shall not surely die" (Genesis 3:4). Understanding death's true nature protects you from this deception.

The Real Hope

The dead are conscious in their separated realm, but our hope is not communication with them. Our hope is resurrection, when Christ returns.

"The dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air."
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17