Witchcraft & Sorcery
The Forbidden Arts
I feel
compelled in the Lord to write this article because we have had many requests lately for information about ouija boards
and communicating with the dead. (Ouija is pronounced We-Gee). These are subjects that seem to strike fear in the hearts
of Christians everywhere. But many Christians do not believe that they should be spoken about from the pulpit and so
they are discussed in the dark corners of churches by people who, for the most part, have no idea exactly what they are
talking about. We need to drag these subjects out into the light of Christ where they can be examined and shown for what
they really are - Tricks of the devil!
This article will probably offend some people, so consider yourself warned. Some people seem to feel that we should
leave well enough alone, that it is not right to talk about things like these openly. Well I am here to rock the boat!
Hosea 4:6 says that God's people are "destroyed for a lack of knowledge" and 2 Corinthians 2:11
tells us not to be ignorant of the devices of the devil. So in obedience to the word of God it is time to stand up and
be a true man of God or get out of the boat. There are too many preachers in the world that refuse to preach the
severity of God. They seem to be afraid that they will offend someone. Jesus and His apostles offended almost everyone,
especially the established church of that time! If we are to be called true men of God then we must preach the whole
truth of serving a jealous God, not just the good bits.
Many of the requests for information we receive are from people that have a loved one that is involved in these
forbidden practices. In order to answer these questions I found that a deeper study was needed. It is useless to try to
attack a fortress by knocking the top off one of the towers. It is better to undermine the foundation and then all the
walls will collapse. Before we go any further I should clarify a few things. This article will cover more than these two
subjects because the Bible does not use occult, ouija, necromancy or similar words. These are modern words used to
describe variations of sorcery and witchcraft. However the Bible does use the words sorcery, sorcerer and witchcraft.
Everyone knows that sorcery has to do with magic and spells but let us see what more the Bible has to say.
We are told in Revelation 21:8 that sorcerers shall have their part in the "lake which burneth with fire and
brimstone.
"The original Greek word for sorcerer is pharmakeus which means "an enchanter with
drugs." This, in turn, comes from the word pharmakeia from which we get our modern English word pharmacy. The word
in its original Greek means the occult, sorcery, witchcraft, illicit pharmaceuticals, trance, and magical incantation
with drugs.
Why does God condemn those that practice these forbidden arts? To find the answer to this question we
must return to the Word of God. 1 Samuel 15:23 says that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Why does God
equate the sin of witchcraft with the sin of rebellion? After all it is not murder or rape. To learn why, we must look
at what witchcraft entails. It does not matter what you call it, witchcraft, sorcery, necromancy, tarot reading,
horoscopes, ouija boards or any one of a hundred other names, witchcraft is rebellion and therefore is a sin against
God. The purpose of any one of these forbidden practices is to seek knowledge over and above that which is allowed by
God, whether it be to foretell the future, to have power over others or to control things that belong to God. In short
to be as God Himself. Our God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14). In Deuteronomy 6:15-16 it says;
15 (For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled
against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
16 Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted Him in Massah.
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In Exodus 17:7 we are told that at Massah the Israelites rebelled against the Lord God saying
"Is the Lord among us or not." God created us for His pleasure. What right
do we have to rebel against Him and put our trust in things other than what He allows? We do not have the right to do
this. As 1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us:
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which
are God's. (Emphasis added)
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God is telling us right there in His word that we are to put our trust in Him alone and to have faith
that He will supply all of our needs, as He has promised. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is the "substance
of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." We are to have enough faith that God, the creator of the
entire universe, knows what is best for us, even if at times it does not seem like it to us. If we do not have enough
faith to believe that God can supply our needs then how dare we call ourselves children of God? Jesus said that if we
have the faith of a mustard seed then we can tell a mountain to move and it will (Matthew 17:20). How much faith
then does it require to trust that God can look after our needs? Our lack of faith and trust in Him is why God condemns
the sin of witchcraft so strongly. In fact God condemns it so much that the Old Testament punishment for witchcraft was
death. Exodus 22:18:
18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. |
The sin of witchcraft is not a new sin; in fact it is almost as old as creation itself. It began in the
Garden of Eden with Eve. Genesis 3:6 says:
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and
a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her
husband with her: and he did eat. (Emphasis added)
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Eve desired to be as wise as God and the spirit of rebellion and witchcraft entered the world. This
spirit has been with us ever since and is growing stronger and stronger. These spirits are overtaking us. Eve initiated
this sin and this is one of the reasons why those that practice the sin of witchcraft are predominantly women. There are
a number of Christians out there that do not understand the dangers of witchcraft and rebellion. They even go so far as
to believe that things like horoscopes are fun to read even though they know that they are not real, but they are
involved in the sin of rebellion and are in a very real danger of hell! I know that some of you reading this will think
that I am being too harsh or too rigid. These are not my rules people! These are directly from the mouth of God Himself.
It is all in His Word.
If we open ourselves up to the devil just once he will take advantage of it. The devil is evil - not
stupid. It might just be reading the horoscopes today and then, out of idle curiosity, you get a personalized horoscope
done. Then you get a tarot reading. The next step after that is ouija boards and consulting mediums to communicate with
the dead. This is direct rebellion against the Word of God, and it does not have to be anything as overt as this.
Remember God calls rebellion as the sin of witchcraft. Any time you are not obeying
God, you are being rebellious and you are opening yourself up to the spirits of witchcraft and all that comes with them.
Witchcraft normally begins with the sin of curiosity, which in turn is born out of pride (this was the
sin of Eve). This comes about because pride tells us that we have a right to know something when the Bible tells us that
we are to place our trust in God and lean not to our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Remember, we have already
established that we were bought with a price. So if we are no longer our own but belong to God, what right do we have to
try to find out about the forbidden knowledge? How dare we put ourselves in the place of God! Where is our trust? This
is very important so let me repeat it. What right do we have to do our own thing when we belong to God? None. We have no
rights, we are slaves to Christ, and we are to do His will. I know that I have already said this, but this point is so
important that it bears repeating.
Now there are probably still some people reading this complaining that this is too rigid, that a loving
God would not do this. It is because He is a loving God that He has set down rules.
We set rules for our children because we love them and do not want to see then get hurt. God disciplines us for the same
reason, as He shows us in Hebrews 12:5-11:
5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not
thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather
be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be
partakers of his holiness.
11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the
peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
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This spells it out very clearly that God sets rules for our benefit and if we break those rules then God
loves us enough to tell us that we must get right or go to hell. Verse 11 tells us that if we endure the correction then
it produces "the peaceable fruit of righteousness".
God has set down rules for us to follow, (as is His right to do,) but because of His love for us, He
does not leave us without warning signs. That is what Hebrews 12:5-11 tells us. The things forbidden by God include
more than has been mentioned. It also includes astral travel, mantras and chanting, astrology, shamanism, Wicca, white,
black or gray magic, belief in and communicating with fairies, imps and spirits, divining, aura reading, animal and
human sacrifice, self mutilation, psychics, role playing games, card, board and Internet role playing games, and many
more too numerous to list. All of these practices and more come under the broad heading of witchcraft. They are the ways
that people use to try to take the place of God and gain unnatural control over their own lives and the lives of others.
I will expound on these subjects in future articles. These are subjects that need to be exposed and not
feared because we are to have only a holy fear of God, not of man, not of the devil, not of the things of this world.
(2 Corinthians 7:1)
1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
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If you are unsure if you are involved in any area of witchcraft then you need to pray, read the word of
God and ask for His guidance, because if you sincerely seek Him, you will find Him.
Please feel free to contact us for any questions on this article.
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