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Transcript 643B
Being "Slain in the Spirit" + Playing Cards
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum,
CALLER: Good evening, Brother Camping. I have two questions please. The first is, what is meant by "slain in the Spirit," like when a person falls backwards, seemingly unconscious, when hands are laid on him in healing? Is this referenced in the Bible, and where?
HC: What does it mean to be "slain in the Spirit"? This is a phenomenon that is increasingly popular in many many denominations and congregations. Actually, it is something that relates to something in the Bible, but if it has any relationship to anything in the Bible it is very ominous. It is a very terrible thing that is happening.
In the Bible there are only four references to failing backwards, and each one has to do with the judgment of God. Each one has to do with those who are under the judgment of God, who are subject to eternal damnation. And indeed they are slain, but it's a picture of eternal damnation that has come upon them. And so while this thing is happening today, I really believe that it is not of God. I believe that it is something that is a sign that, I really think that it is, in the Bible to fall backwards is the equivalent of calling down fire from heaven, and it could very well be the phenomenon that is spoken of in Revelation 13, where it talks about Satan even making fire come down from heaven, in verse 13 of Revelation 13.
In other words, it is something that is not at all a blessing. It is not something that I would look upon as being desirable. I believe it is something that if it relates to the Bible at all relates in a terrible way.
CALLER: Okay. Thank you on that one. The other question is, if you're playing cards not for money, but just for the fun of it, like playing Pinochle or Cribbage, is this a sin? And if so, where does it say so in the Bible?
HC: The question is, is it wrong to play cards just for points rather than for money? Is that a sin? Of course the Bible doesn't say you are not to play Poker, that you are not to play Cribbage, you are not to play Canasta, and so on. The Bible just doesn't put it that way. The more I study the Bible, however, I find that in the Bible casting the lot was a very sacred event. Now casting the lot means to pull straws to see who gets the shortest straw, or it means to throw dice to see if a certain number would come up, or to spin an arrow. All of these things were casting the lot. We have no control over what is going to come up. And in the Bible casting the lot was a sacred event that, when employed rightly, was to determine what God's will was in the matter.
For example, when the nation of Israel was being divided in the land of Israel, we read in the Book of Joshua that the lot was cast. By casting the lot God's will was determined. When a replacement was required for Judas, after he had committed suicide, two men were found that were qualified and the lot was cast to discover God's will, which one would God pick out? Now that's a very sacred and rightful use of casting the lot.
However, when we cast the lot to decide who is going to but the cup of coffee (we flip a coin), or when we cast the lot in games, even games like Rook and these other seemingly innocent games, I really believe that we are going contrary to the will of God. Now I know many will say, "Wow, that's really getting pretty picky." But as we go along in life, and we want to live more and more close to the Lord, we want to do it God's way more and more, and we must remember that games, most of the games were not designed by Christians who earnestly love the Lord and who had thoroughly studied the Bible. They are designed by the world. And even the so called Christian games, like "Going to Jerusalem" and so on were patterned after the games of the world.
Now there are games that are simply games of skill, that have nothing to do with casting the lot (chess or checkers, or Chinese checkers, or some of these games), and they would be perfectly valid as long as we do not spend so much time with them that we waste our time.
CALLER: Then in your opinion, and according to the Bible, we shouldn't play cards?
HC: In my opinion we should not play cards. Now there's one other factor that may be a little more substantive for many. And that is, the Bible says, "Do not give any appearance of evil." And of course the normal deck of cards that is used for Poker or for Blackjack, or gambling games, has that very heavy association. And so again I think the lest we know about cards the better it is for us. We don't even want to be misunderstood as we use those kind of cards.
CALLER: Okay. Well, thank you, Brother Camping.
HC: Thank you for calling. Good night.