Satan and the demons have always been cruel and dangerous. In early times Satan killed the livestock and servants of faithful Job. Then he killed Job’s ten children by causing “a great wind” to destroy the house they were in. After that Satan struck Job with “a malignant boil from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.”—Job 1:7-19; 2:7.

In Jesus’ day, the demons made some people speechless and blind. (Matthew 9:32, 33; 12:22) They tormented one man and made him slash himself with stones. (Mark 5:5) They also caused a boy to cry out, dashed him to the ground, and “violently convulsed him.”—Luke 9:42.

Today, Satan and the demons are as murderous as ever. In fact, their evil activity has increased since they were thrown out of heaven. Reports from around the world testify to their cruelty. They plague some people with illness. Others they harass at night, depriving them of sleep or giving them terrible dreams. Others they abuse sexually. Still others they drive to insanity, murder, or suicide.

Lintina, who lives in Suriname, relates that a demon, or bad spirit, killed 16 members of her family and tormented her physically and mentally for 18 years. From firsthand experience she states that the demons “enjoy torturing their unwilling victims until death.”

But Jehovah is able to protect his servants from Satan’s attacks.—Proverbs 18:10.

The Bible says that Satan is “misleading the entire inhabited earth.” (Revelation 12:9) Satan and his demons do not want us to believe God’s Word, the Bible. They try to make people believe that the dead are alive somewhere in the spirit realm. Let us see how they do that.

False Religion

Many religions teach that every human has a soul that passes on to the spirit realm after the death of the physical body. They say that the body dies but the soul does not die. Moreover, they assert that the soul cannot die, that it is immortal.

But God’s Word does not teach that. The Bible shows that the soul is the person, not something inside a person. For example, in describing the creation of Adam, the Bible states: “And Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7) So Adam was not given a soul; he was a soul.

Animals also are called souls.—Genesis 1:20, 21, 24, 30.

Since the Bible word “soul” means the person himself, it should not surprise us to learn that souls can and do die. The Scriptures say:

• “The soul that is sinning—it itself will die.”—Ezekiel 18:4.

• “And Samson proceeded to say: ‘Let my soul die with the Philistines.’”—Judges 16:30.

• “Is it lawful on the sabbath to do a good deed or to do a bad deed, to save or to kill a soul?”—Mark 3:4.

Other scriptures show that souls can be destroyed (Genesis 17:14), slain by the sword (Joshua 10:37), suffocated (Job 7:15), and drowned (Jonah 2:5). Thus, the soul dies.

If you read the Bible from cover to cover, you will never find the phrase “immortal soul.” The human soul is not a spirit. The teaching of the immortal soul is not a Bible teaching. It is a teaching of Satan and his demons. Jehovah hates all religious lies.—Proverbs 6:16-19; 1 Timothy 4:1, 2.

Spirit Mediums

Another way that Satan misleads people is through mediums. A medium is a person who is able to receive messages directly from the spirit world. A great many people, including mediums themselves, believe that these messages come from spirits of the dead. But as we have seen from the Bible, this is impossible.—Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10.

From whom, then, do these messages come? The demons themselves! The demons are able to observe a person when he is alive; they know how the person talked, what he looked like, what he did, and what he knew. So it is easy for them to imitate people who have died.—1 Samuel 28:3-19.

False Stories

Another way that Satan promotes the lie about the dead is through false stories. Such stories often turn people aside from Bible truth.—2 Timothy 4:4.

In Africa there are many tales about people who were seen alive after they died. Typically, such sightings are made far away from where the person lived. But ask yourself: ‘Does it seem reasonable that if a person had the power to come back from the dead, he would return to a place far away from his family and friends?’

Also, could it not be that the person seen merely resembled the person who had died? For example, two Christian ministers who were preaching in a country area noticed an old man who followed them for some hours. When they questioned him, they learned that the man thought one of the ministers was his brother who had died some years previously. Of course, he was wrong, but he refused to believe he was wrong. Imagine the story the old man later told his friends and neighbors!

Visions, Dreams, and Voices

No doubt you know about strange things people have seen, heard, or dreamed. Such supernatural experiences often frighten those having them. Marein, who lived in West Africa, regularly heard the voice of her late grandmother calling her at night. Terrified, Marein would scream, waking up her whole household. Eventually, she lost her sanity.

Now, if the dead were really alive, is it reasonable that they would terrify their loved ones? Of course not. The source of such hurtful messages is the demons.

But what about messages that seem to be helpful and comforting? For example, Gbassay, from Sierra Leone, was sick. She had a dream in which her late father appeared to her. He instructed her to go to a certain tree, take a leaf, mix it with water, and drink it. She was not to talk to anybody before doing so. She did this and got well.

Another woman said that her husband appeared to her one night after he died. She said he looked very nice and wore beautiful clothes.

Such messages and visions seem good and helpful. Are they from God? No, they are not. Jehovah is “the God of truth.” (Psalm 31:5) Never would he agree to tricking or deceiving us. Only the demons do that.

But are there good demons? No. Even though they may seem helpful at times, all of them are bad. When the Devil spoke with Eve, he seemed friendly. (Genesis 3:1) But what resulted to her after she listened to him and did what he said? She died.

You know that it is not uncommon for a bad person to be friendly to those he wants to deceive and cheat. “White teeth, black heart,” says the African proverb. And God’s Word says: “Satan himself keeps transforming himself into an angel of light.”—2 Corinthians 11:14.

God no longer contacts people on earth by means of dreams, visions, or voices from the spirit world. He guides and instructs them through the Bible, which can make a person “completely equipped for every good work.”—2 Timothy 3:17.

Thus, when Jehovah warns us against the tricks of the Devil, he does so because he loves us. He knows the demons are dangerous enemies.

But why do Satan and his demons work so hard to deceive people? Because they want us to join in their rebellion. They want us to worship them. They want us to believe their lies and to practice things that Jehovah does not like. Many of these practices involve customs related to the dead.

The death of a loved one is an emotionally painful experience, and it is normal and proper to express grief. After the death of his friend Lazarus, Jesus “gave way to tears.”—John 11:35.

There are many customs associated with death, and these vary widely throughout the world. Many do not conflict with Bible principles. Some practices, however, are based on the idea that the dead are alive and are able to see the living. Wakes, unrestrained mourning, and elaborate funeral ceremonies are all rooted in the fear of displeasing spirits of the dead. But since the dead are “conscious of nothing,” those practicing such things are promoting Satan’s falsehood.—Ecclesiastes 9:5.

Other customs or ceremonies arise from the belief that the dead need help from the living and will harm the living if they are not appeased. In some lands feasting and sacrifices are held either 40 days or one year after a person’s death. This is supposed to help the deceased to ‘cross over’ to the spirit realm. Another common practice is to offer food and drink to the dead.

These things are wrong because they promote Satan’s lies about the dead. Would Jehovah approve of our having anything to do with customs based on the teachings of demons? Never!—2 Corinthians 6:14-18.

Servants of the true God do not have any share in practices that support Satan’s lies. Instead, they lovingly concentrate on helping the living and comforting them. They know that once a person has passed away, only Jehovah can help that one.—Job 14:14, 15.

Spiritism Condemned by God

Some people get in touch with the demons directly or through a human medium. This is called spiritism. Voodoo, witchcraft, magic, fortune-telling, and inquiring of the dead are all forms of spiritism.

The Bible condemns these things, saying: “There should not be found in you anyone . . . who employs divination, a practicer of magic or anyone who looks for omens or a sorcerer, or one who binds others with a spell or anyone who consults a spirit medium or a professional foreteller of events or anyone who inquires of the dead. For everybody doing these things is something detestable to Jehovah.”—Deuteronomy 18:10-12.

Why does Jehovah warn us so strongly against these practices?

For our own welfare, Jehovah warns us against all forms of spiritism. He loves and cares for people, and he knows that those who get involved with demons are bound to suffer.

One such person was Nilda, who was a spirit medium in Brazil. The demons made her life a misery. She relates: “The spirits . . . possessed me, ordering me about. I alternated between states of consciousness and unconsciousness, and I was interned with psychiatric problems. The demons persecuted me so much that my nerves were affected. I took sedatives and began to drink and smoke constantly. This went on for years.”

In time, with the help of Jehovah and his Witnesses on earth, Nilda broke free of demon influence and now lives a rich, wholesome life. She says: “I encourage all never, not for one instant, to become involved with the [wicked] spirits.”