God prohibited all these things for a reason. Not once did He ever say that these are fake, that they don’t work, or that there’s nothing behind them. God in His Word wouldn’t make such strong prohibitions against things that aren’t real.
Hello Readers, hope all’s well. Time for another Friday post in the Do Not Fear the End Times series. My backlog of topics is almost finished. I hope I’ll be able to think of ideas to write about from next week onward.
This week I’m writing about the rise of witchcraft in our society, and the widespread prevalence of it. I won’t be writing in detail about specific practices or how witchcraft works in general. Those are separate topics of their own.
Witchcraft is a very broad topic and if I go off on tangents, this post will never end. So I’m going to stick to the topic of the widespread presence of witchcraft in our society and culture.
But First …
Before going any further, let me go off on a tangent. Let’s look at the Biblical prohibition on witchcraft. This is in Deuteronomy 18:10-12. Quoting from the KJV isn’t my style. But the KJV translation preserves specific words like “witch” and “sorcerer.” Some of these words get swapped out for equivalent ideas in other Bible translations. Some take the list in verse 10 and condense many things into less words. I like the KJV here because it’s more specific.
(10) There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, (11) Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. (12) For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (KJV)
So here we have a direct command from God prohibiting these specific things. They are abominations to the LORD. That means these are things He hates, so these sins are very serious. Anyone guilty of them must repent and ask for forgiveness.
Divination is using spirits or other connections with the spirit realm that are not God to tell the future or know something. Since these spirits (etc.) are not God and not of God, they are of the devil. Divination is looking to the devil or his agents (such as Baal, see the Cast Down Jezebel series) for knowledge.
A consulter with familiar spirits is similar. That’s someone conversing with spirits who are supposedly under their ‘control’ or at least friendly to the person. The familiar spirit can take on deceptive appearances like spirit guides, ancestors, deceased loved ones, and so on. They take these appearances to deceive their victims to go down the sinful road of engaging in these evil practices. In truth these spirits are not of God, but the devil.
An observer of times is someone using astrology and other such means to predict the future.
An enchanter, witch, charmer, and wizard are those casting spells. Magic users. Magic is an abomination to the LORD, as we can see from its inclusion in this list. This is because the source of magic and what makes it work is demonic power.
There is a clear distinction between magic and miracles, which come from God. Anything that’s not a miracle is magic, which is of the devil. For much more detail on this topic, check out this YouTube video on it by Cynthia Pang. She also has a cleaned up transcript of the video in a blog post. Check those out for more info.
Finally we have necromancers, and this category includes mediums and channelers. Basically, any act of speaking with the dead (or trying to) is an abomination to God.
By the way, it’s worth noting that God prohibited all these things for a reason. Not once did He ever say that these are fake, that they don’t work, or that there’s nothing behind them. God in His Word wouldn’t make such strong prohibitions against things that aren’t real. There is something very real behind them: A power that isn’t God’s. That leaves only one other option, which is the devil’s power. All these prohibited things work by the devil’s power.
If you’re still unclear about this list in Deuteronomy 18:10-12, the CEB translation is much easier to understand:
(10) There must not be anyone among you who passes his son or daughter through fire; who practices divination, is a sign reader, fortune-teller, sorcerer, (11) or spell caster; who converses with ghosts or spirits or communicates with the dead. (12) All who do these things are detestable to the LORD! It is on account of these detestable practices that the LORD your God is driving these nations out before you.
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (CEB)
Witchcraft in all but Name
Earlier this month I posted a book review of The Second Coming of the New Age, which you can check out here. The renewed interest in New Age ideology and its rapid spread via social media is one example of how witchcraft (and magic) is becoming widespread throughout our culture.
The Law of Attraction, spirit guides, spirit channeling, astral projection/traveling (disconnecting your spirit from your body and traversing the spiritual realm), communicating with aliens, manifestation and affirmations … the list goes on and on. These are all things that are popular within the New Age movement. And an astute reader will note that they check off many of the criteria of Deuteronomy 18:10-12.
But thanks to social media and other factors, many of these ideas have spread beyond New Age circles and become more mainstream.
More people have some idea of what it means to create your own reality by manifesting with the Law of Attraction. More people are becoming familiar with the idea of astral projection. And of course I can’t forget to mention crystals and Reiki energy healing.
People are crazy about crystals these days, they can’t get enough of them! And clever business people have taken note of that. Crystals are a whole industry. People believe in them to varying degrees. But if a person so much as thinks of these colorful rocks as good luck charms, then that means they believe in something about crystals. They have some faith in them.
Add on to this people who work openly as witches. They promise their clients better health, success, romance, wealth, and so on. All worldly things meant to be enjoyed here on earth, and nothing spiritual. Their clients consent to having spells cast on them, and willingly take part in rituals. These examples of open witchcraft are rare, but more and more are popping up. These “working witches” are usually found in large cities where they have a client base. They aren’t found so much in rural areas.
And once while browsing Reddit, I saw an ad for a book of “protection spells.” Mass-marketed witchcraft. You don’t have to go searching out New Age forums and Facebook groups to encounter these things anymore. It’s gone mainstream.
Finally, add on a few more esoteric and culturally-specific types of witchcraft like voodoo, obeah, santa ria, and so on. All that’s witchcraft too. There’s some interest in these things too. There was recently a big party at a club in New Orleans in which they performed a voodoo ceremony.
The point is more and more people outside of New Age circles are embracing these beliefs. Many don’t realize that these things are witchcraft and occult practices, since it isn’t introduced to them by that name, “witchcraft.” Even if they did know, many wouldn’t even know that witchcraft is to be avoided. There’s a couple of reasons why that is.
First, they aren’t strong in their Christian faith (assuming they’re even Christian to begin with). And just because you were raised Christian doesn’t guarantee you were taught about these things. I wasn’t. And any Christian who isn’t interacting with God by reading their Bible, praying, and interacting with other Christians will be at a disadvantage when it comes to perceiving these disguised forms of witchcraft in the world.
And second, it’s like I wrote in my review of The Second Coming of the New Age: “Many New Agers are unaware of the origins of the ideas they adhere to. Can’t blame them for that — they’ve been hidden for a reason.” Open, blatant witchcraft is being normalized in some corners of society. But for the average person that isn’t something they want to be involved in, at least not yet. So the other practices I mentioned above, which are still witchcraft, are more acceptable to the general public.
It may come with a friendlier image and a more innocent name, but it’s still witchcraft. Stay away from witchcraft in all its forms! All witchcraft is of the devil.
How do you determine whether something is witchcraft? I’d say the easiest criteria is if it relies on, interacts with, contacts, or works through any power that is not God, or is done by your own power.
Supernatural things can be made to happen by God’s power, these are miracles. The Bible sets up only two options for how supernatural things happen: Either by God’s power or the devils. Miracles are from God and happen by His power. No matter what it is, all else is magic, and that is of the devil.
Keep that in mind when you encounter New Age (etc.) ideas or worst of all, blatant and open witchcraft. These things work by the devil’s power, but they are able to affect and change reality somewhat. The Law of Attraction, for example. That does work (poorly) to some extent. But it works by interacting with and harnessing a power that is not God. That criteria right there—what is the power that makes something work—gives you enough info to know whether something is witchcraft or not, even if it doesn’t go by that name.
Run—don’t walk— away from witchcraft in all its forms. Put it down if you’re involved with it, turn back to Jesus and REPENT of your involvement with it. Whether you knew it was witchcraft or not, the dark powers that make it work have still tainted you. Jesus can and will cleanse you of that, but you must turn to Him asking for forgiveness and REPENT of the sin of witchcraft. Turn to Jesus and never go back to witchcraft again.
For everyone else, study God’s Word every day so you’re equipped to make your own determinations about what’s witchcraft. And pray to God for the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to recognize it when you see it.
This too Is a Sign of the End Times
I would be more concerned about the increase of witchcraft in society, but it seems to be another sign of the End Times. If that’s the case then why should I be worried about it? “These things must happen,” LORD Jesus said.
And I’ve said many times in this series that God’s plan for the end of the world can’t be stopped, delayed, altered, changed, and so on. So I take the rise of witchcraft in society as one more sign that The End is very near. I don’t feel the need to do anything in particular in response to this. What God intends to happen will happen.
I think the best I can do to fight back against witchcraft is trying to get any witches that I can away from this vile practice and bring them to Jesus. Jesus is the only one Who can save them from the dark powers they’ve gotten themselves involved with, so bringing them to Jesus is the only real answer.
I already know that many, too many, will not be willing to hear the truth of that. But some are willing to listen, and they can be saved. When a veteran witch turns away from the craft and turns back to Jesus, heaven rejoices over the one sinner who has come back (Luke 15:7). The conversion of that witch does great damage to Satan’s kingdom through their absence.
I’m also not worried because I know through experience that God will protect us from witchcraft and spells if we call out to Him for protection. But that’s a story for another post. This post is already getting kind of long.
Anyway, let’s look at some Scripture. In these verses from Revelation we can interpret that during the End Times, there will be many spellcasters around:
(20) The rest of humankind, who weren’t killed by these plagues, didn’t change their hearts and lives and turn from their handiwork. They didn’t stop worshipping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can’t see or hear or walk. (21) They didn’t turn away from their murders, their spells and drugs, their sexual immorality, or their stealing.
Revelation 9:20-21 (CEB)
And this one:
(8) But for the cowardly, the faithless, the vile, the murderers, those who commit sexual immorality, those who use drugs and cast spells, the idolaters and all liars—their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
Revelation 21:8 (CEB)
When I look at the increasing popularization of things like the Law of Attraction, I can see how the world could become full of spellcasters in the final days. Witchcraft is everywhere, and although much of it comes in disguised forms, it’s becoming more open and socially acceptable in general. The world is heading at a slow, but quickening pace towards being overrun with spellcasters and magic.
A probable next step in this process is recasting known witches as the misunderstood heroines of history, using their powers for good. They did have powers which had some effect on reality. But the source of their powers was not God, nor “nature” or anything else. It’s the devil. That’s the dualistic either-or choice set up in Scripture.
But we as Christians don’t conform to the ways of this world (Romans 12:2). We don’t go along with this. Run, don’t walk, away from witchcraft. Never get involved with it. Let’s inform our unsuspecting brothers and sisters when we see they’ve gotten involved in witchcraft. Let’s continue speaking out against witchcraft and driving it into the shadows for as long as we still can.
As Christians we can rely on God for protection from witches and spells. Note that there’s no guarantee He will not allow us to be harmed by spells. We can look in the book of Job and see that God will sometimes allow the devil to harm us to serve God’s purposes. But we do have tools available to us, through God, that provide defense against witchcraft.
But Scripture has already warned us that we’re fighting a losing battle. The rise of witchcraft will continue, but that’s OK. What’s meant to happen will happen. Things will work out how God has already planned.
So we have no need to fear, as I always see in this blog. Recognize the rise of witchcraft and see it for what it is. Another sign of The End. It won’t be long now, people. Stay strong and keep the faith till The End—it’ll be here soon enough. Turn to Jesus and REPENT of your sins. And stay away from all forms of witchcraft! Turn to Jesus immediately if you’ve gotten involved with these things. You still have time to do this, but this chance won’t last forever!
Do not fear the End Times OR the rise of witchcraft. The LORD Jesus Christ is coming back soon, and everything will be made right. Amen!
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Until next time, be strong and do good!
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