A small group of individuals stood outside an enclosed cemetery praying. A young man had brought this group to the memorial garden to visit a specific grave and to receive an impartation. While they stood before the locked door to the burial site, the man held up a golden key said to hold an amazing prophetic account in unlocking passage to a deceased mighty woman of God. The resting place of interest was the burial site of Kathryn Kuhlman. The young man anointed each person with oil before entering, and as they wept, knelt, and laid before Kathryn’s grave, an impartation service took place as those in attendance received prophetic words and were slain over surrounding graves. Coats and scarves were placed across the grave marker in hopes of soaking up the anointing from the life of a human being said to have had a fantastical death causing a power outage in a hospital and the strong scent of roses permeating the building, originating in her hospital room. Another account has simply told of a light hovering over her body before she died. Despite the discrepancies, much is made about such accounts with amazement as to how anointed individuals such as Kuhlman were and people long for that same power. (Links provided: (1272) BENNY HINN BEN LIM NECROMANCY – YouTube, (1272) How Kathryn Kuhlman Died “An Aroma Of Roses Filled the room” the nurse who attended to her – YouTube)

It is a strange thing to say, and it may sound self-righteous, but even as a former Charismatic, I had my limits. Grave soaking was beyond those limitations. It was not even a consideration, and many I knew personally shared this same sentiment. For years, I had heard about the accounts surrounding many men and women who were said to be affiliated with great moves of God and the supernatural. This was not uncommon. Their stories are told to inspire and to encourage others to follow suit. Yet as I reflect upon the practice of grave soaking, both well-known individuals within this movement and some affiliated with Bethel perpetuate going to the graves of appointed generals of God. Questions also arise as to who is being glorified in the pursuit of such accounts and practices.

If you take time to peruse online, you will find photos and clips of people laying across the graves of Smith Wigglesworth, Evan Roberts, John Alexander Dowie, and Maria Woodworth Etter. One worship leader, Sean Feucht, took his son to the grave of Charles Finney for an impartation. Jeff Jansen has been recorded laying on the tomb of William Branham as he soaked up the anointing. Bethel is on record as stating that they do not teach the practice of grave soaking, but they do encourage taking risks, showing honor and that past anointings and mantles are needed for the next great move of God. In Bethel’s book, The Physics of Heaven: Exploring the Mysteries of God in Sound, Light, Energy, Vibrations and Quantum Physics, Bill Johnson stated, “There are anointings, mantles, revelations and mysteries that have lain unclaimed, literally where they were left, because the generation that walked in them never passed them on. I believe it’s possible for us to recover realms of anointing, realms of insight, realms of God that have been untended for decades simply by choosing to reclaim them and perpetuate them for future generations.” (Chapter 4: “Recovering Our Spiritual Inheritance)

Ben Lim, a millennial pastor and professing prophet, was the young man who conducted an impartation service at the grave of Kathryn Kuhlman described earlier. It is said those with the golden key accessing the locked private memorial gardens are able to gain access to her grave. Isaiah 22:22 is a passage proclaimed with the golden key, “And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.” Men such as Benny Hinn have also provided footage of visiting Kathryn’s grave, thanking God for her anointing and desiring to have that same perceived power.

As I think on these accounts and the accounts of Kathryn’s death, I notice a few things. The graves of all these individuals reveal human beings not of superhuman stock. No matter how fantastical the stories attached to them, they could not avoid death. They could not heal themselves of ailments, and they succumbed to them. I sadly recognize the flagrant idolatry taking place by coveting the perceived mantles of such people. It is alarming and humbling to realize how easy it is to pluck a verse out of the Bible and to assign it new meaning while ignoring the original context, which gloriously speaks of Jesus Christ. It is equally alarming in noticing the absence of the gospel of Jesus Christ in these accounts of life and death and replacing it with another gospel and another message fixating on the individual of interest.

There is a calling out for the mantle from dead men’s bones rather than calling out for Christ and His righteousness. There is a desire for something greater than oneself, but that desire is essentially to exalt oneself in the name of God. You do not have to grave soak to possess this desire. It is simply sinful nature, and it is to be crucified. The account of Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:21) is not prescriptive for such practices. It is also worth noting 1 John 2:20 speaks of all believers having the anointing, which may be a good topical Bible study to consider. There are no have’s and have nots in the body of Christ, and there is nothing special in laying across graves nor should we be doing such things as believers in Christ.

There is nothing wrong with having great respect for someone who has demonstrated great faith in Jesus Christ and who has provided Biblical teaching glorifying the Lord and helping us in our walk with Christ and in understanding the Word. We honor those who have gone ahead of us in the saving faith of Christ by running our race and continuing the proclamation of the gospel. Having said that, our focus is to be on the One who saves us and redeems us. We are to follow Christ. We are not called to pick up mantles or to emulate any other human being. As someone who did not soak on graves but who soaked up grandiose accounts of fallible individuals propped up as generals and giants among the masses, the temptation is real in idolizing such people and losing sight of what matters most.

We are not called to preach about any other person except Jesus Christ. We are never instructed to lay on the graves of others in order to soak up an anointing and to look like pagans. We are to imitate Christ. Stay off the graves, literally. Get back to the Word of God. Recognize that no tale of death compares to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and if the focus is upon the man or woman, the focus needs correction.

Listen to this episode of The Lovesick Scribe podcast as we delve into grave soaking and the account of Kathryn Kuhlman’s death from a social media post making the rounds: Soaking on Graves and Epic Tales of Death – The Lovesick Scribe Podcast | Podcast on Spotify