Christians and occultic practices
The Witch of Endore by. Gustave DoreToday on Social media, you get a peek into other people’s lives, politics, and ideologies. For better or worse. As a general rule (but not exclusive) I only “friend” people I actually know. I do this to help keep the drama down. But even still, I find myself “biting my tongue,” so to speak, when I see a lot of things on social media. But one thing that I find troubling lately, that I can no longer hold back on, is how many “Christians” make posts about non-christian/occultic practices that are strictly forbidden in the scriptures that fall under the umbrella of witchcraft/occultism/paganism. I not only see this on social media, but I also hear it in conversations I have with others and even in testimonies from other pastors who have dealt with it within their own churches. So in this blog, I want to point out those things and list why, as believers in Christ, we are not to practice or participate in such things.
A Primer
For starters, let us define a few words and take a look at some foundational texts to help us understand the Lord’s clear direction when it comes to the subject at hand.
The term Occultic simply means “of or relating to magic, astrology, or any system claiming use or knowledge of secret or supernatural powers or agencies.” [1]
The term Witchcraft is not just related to the fairy tale Wizard of Oz variety but means “a religious practice involving magic and affinity with nature, usually within a pagan tradition.”[2]
In Deuteronomy 18:9-12, the Lord gives a clear command to Isreal as they are coming into the promised land, saying, “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations, the Lord your God is driving them out before you.”
The word “divination” means “the practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means.”[3] But the more direct interpretation of the original language means “witchcraft”. Thus anyone who practices such things is considered a witch. “Divination” covers all the proceeding words but mentioning the others really clears up any questions to what it addresses. “Tells fortunes”, includes fortune tellers, horoscopes, and the crystal ball types. “Interprets omens” means using crystals, dowsing, casting chicken bones, reading tea grounds, tarot cards, astrology, etc. A charmer or sorcerer is someone who conjures up spells, rituals, and potions or uses “magic/magick” to try and manipulate reality, and or would use the “power of suggestion”, hypnosis. A medium or a necromancer are those who try to communicate with the dead by invoking the spirits, calling upon the spirits to do works, or revealing things about life and or the afterlife. And these things are listed with those who would sacrifice their own children to the pagan gods as a form of divination. This is absolutely insane, but they are all listed together.
All of these things are considered an abomination to the Lord. The word “abomination” here means, “a disgusting thing to God, in an ethical sense.”[4] It is open rebellion towards God because you are placing your trust in something else other than God. Which is a form of idolatry (the worship of idols).
And if you are someone who likes to say, “that is from the old testament,” well, here is some new testament text for you.
In Galatians 5:19-21, Paul tells the church at Galatia, who has left the truth of the gospel and followed false teachers who presented a different/false gospel, “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” He warned them of these things to get them back on the right path of the “True Gospel” and a Christian life.
We see it throughout the NT, especially in the book of Acts, where the apostles confronted witchcraft and saw it as downright demonic on several occasions.
That’s right, the spiritual forces behind such things are not God but demons. They do whatever is necessary to draw you away from God, and they want you to offend and sin against Him. Now I’m not talking about the movie style, head spinning, horns, and pitchforks kind of demons, but as 2 Corinthians 11:14 tells us, “even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light.” Those who claim to have “spirit guides” or even angels communicating with them either have a severe mental issue, experimenting with hallucinatory drugs, have a demon communicating with them, or all three.
Certainly, charlatans practice such things, and possibly some of those practices may seem like harmless games for fun. But we must take caution. First, it is forbidden by God for His people. Secondly, we must realize that such activities open the door for demonic interference, influence, and possession. Now, there are cases where our own sinful flesh causes and participates with such desires, but certainly, it is not from God in either case.
Now I would like to list some of these practices and show how and why they fall into this category of divinations/witchcraft, along with some scripture to keep us focused on what God’s Word has to say about such things.
Astrology
The most common practice I see among Christians is their fascination with astrology. They make posts about their “sign”, looking for love with a “compatible sign”, following their horoscope on a daily basis. We should not confuse astrology with astronomy. Astronomy is the study of the solar system, which is ok to do. In doing so you are witnessing the glory of God’s creation. But we are not to seek wisdom, direction, or guidance from the stars of the heavens. Not only does it find its roots in paganism, but it is strictly forbidden in scripture. Your identity as a Christian is in Christ alone, not in your “astrological sign”!
Deuteronomy 4:19 tells us “And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.”
Mankind has gazed into the sky and often associated the celestial bodies with a sense of astonishment and awe, but as Romans 1:25 shows us, many fail in recognizing the one who created the heavens “because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,”
We see an example of God’s wrath against such a practice in Isaiah 47:13-14 “You are wearied with your many counsels; let them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at the new moons make known what shall come upon you. Behold, they are like stubble; the fire consumes them; they cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. No coal for warming oneself is this, no fire to sit before!”
Practicing Witchcraft/ Wicca
I have seen professing Christians post videos on social media of them burning sage to cleanse their house of “negative spirits”. Or “layout” offerings for those spirits who pass by.
Even those who profess to be a Christian yet are practicing Wiccans (old English for witch). Which is more of an oxy-moron than anything. You cannot serve two masters (Matt. 6:24). You cannot be a Christian and a Wiccan. They claim that it is all “white magic” and they are casting spells and performing rituals to bring about positive energy while worshiping nature. There are many different variations of Wicca, but all of them violate God’s commands. Again, the text in Deuteronomy 18, Leviticus 19-20, Galatians 5, and Revelation 21 clarifies that God’s wrath is against those who practice such things.
Ghost Hunting
A newfound interest in “ghost hunting” happened in the late 1990s and early 2000s with hit TV shows like “Ghost Adventures” and “Ghosthunters,” and the advancement in the internet with youtube has led people to visit “haunted” locations and try to capture video and or audio footage of the supernatural, from ghosts to demons (which are one and the same) and unexplained noises and moving objects. Again, I know many of the things you see in these shows and videos are totally fabricated, but they try to communicate with the spirit by provoking it, asking questions, and looking for signs. This again violates the Word of God and opens the door to the demonic. Biblically speaking, in situations where they have truly experienced something supernatural, it is demonic in origin. The bible clearly tells us (that for the believer), to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). And from the Lord’s parable, we see that there is a great gulf fixed between the spiritual plains that neither souls in heaven or hell can pass between or to earth (Luke16:19-31). Thus, what is seen or experienced during these “ghost hunts” is totally fake and fabricated or is again either the result of severe mental issues, the effects of hallucinatory drugs, demonic communication, or all three.
Seances / Communication With The Dead
During the late 1800s on through the early 1900s, Spiritism was a huge “phenomenon” that swept the western world. Even penetrating the church through certain denominations and influencing those in positions of power, including the President of the United States. It had a lasting impression on the western hemisphere and has seen a resurgence in the last few decades in America again with entertainment, T.V shows, the growing popularity of the New Age movement with psychics and mediums like “Crossing Over With John Edward” from the early 2000s, and more recently “Mama Medium” on TLC (The Learning Channel). The popularity of Ouija boards, scrying (aka psychometry, the “ability” to touch or hold an object that belonged to someone who is deceased and or living and have a “vision” about that person’s life), channeling, etc. These practices are no different from the above. Any attempt to communicate with the dead is not biblical. Any communication that appears to be accurate, for example, “where the lost deed to the house is located” from Uncle Earl and the deed is found, is not a message from Uncle Earl, it is from a demon via the medium or one of the other practices listed above. Think about it for a second, these immortal beings who were formally angels, who were also cast out of heaven at the beginning of creation, have wandered the earth for thousands of years and have witnessed many human events. They were not cast into hell (hell awaits them in the end); they were cast down to this earth. So it is safe to say that they pretend to be “Uncle Earl” communicating through a medium to convince you of the supernatural plain outside of biblical understanding and that it is harmless but ultimately causes you to trespass against God. We often think of demons deceiving us to the evilest and vilest of things, but scripture tells us they can masquerade as other creatures, such as people and even angels, to make us feel safe and okay with these things, simply to deceive us and lead us down the wrong path.
Conclusion
These are a few examples of how Christians are participating and practicing in the occult. For the sake of time and this blog not going any longer, we will not cover the other examples for now. But I want to encourage you to take stock of what you are doing as a believer in Christ and how it influences those around you. Are you following the biblical prescription of worship and devotion or following things that God has strictly forbidden? Are you discussing with our family the things that we see in this world, as “screens” are everywhere, exposing them to these things? Are you expressing and teaching how God views such things? Use these moments to have these discussions and use them in your family worship and devotion. You may be surprised by the things it will open up. Know your family’s weaknesses and guard them against such things when necessary.
Because there are “professing Christians” who practice and participate in the occult and may try to convince you that what they are doing is perfectly alright, remember 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” and that Ephesians 5:11 tells us, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” Do not let anyone, not even an angel of light, tell you anything that would contradict the Word of God, especially those who take part in the occult. Paul says in Galatians 1:8-9 “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” Even if someone seems to be highly educated Colossians 2:8 says, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” Let God’s Word be the standard against which you test all things.
As a final warning to those who practice in the occult, Galatians 5:20-21 says, “Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Revelation 21:8 also tells us, “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Repent of these sins and believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord, and savior.
