Witchcraft is mainstream and dangerous
Witchcraft is defined as the “religious practice involving ritual, spells, and nature worship, usually within a pagan tradition“. Witchcraft promises people superior power or wisdom through beliefs, philosophies, idols, “energies” and signs and wonders. It appeals to man’s desire for greater knowledge, favour or control of our own lives. All these are false “promises” from Satan to deceive people into following him.
(See Chinese versions: 简体中文 > 巫术是主流和危险的 | 繁體中文 > 巫術是主流和危險的)
2 Thessalonians 2:9 ESV The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,
Counterfeit power and wisdom
Witchcraft comes in many forms – from alternative healing, prosperity rituals and good luck charms to casting spells, cursing, consulting the dead, fortune telling, superstitious beliefs and the worship of the universe, moon, stars, sun, trees and earth*. Believing in all these requires faith and is an ungodly distraction from faith in the only One who can truly save us – Jesus Christ.
God Almighty mocks such counterfeit power and wisdom, because it is God alone who holds all our futures in His hand. Satan may make a show of having some power but in reality, witchcraft only leads to spiritual ruin and eternal condemnation in “the lake that burns with fire and sulfur”.
Isaiah 47:10-12 ESV You felt secure in your wickedness; you said, “No one sees me”; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” But evil shall come upon you, which you will not know how to charm away; disaster shall fall upon you, for which you will not be able to atone; and ruin shall come upon you suddenly, of which you know nothing. Stand fast in your enchantments and your many sorceries, with which you have labored from your youth; perhaps you may be able to succeed; perhaps you may inspire terror.
Revelation 21:8 ESV 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.”
* Other aspects of witchcraft include alchemy, astrology, black arts, black magic, chants, conjuring, divination, enchantments, horoscopes, illusions, incantations, magic, necromancy, occultism, sorcery, spells, superstitions, voodoo and wizardry.
Witchcraft is hidden in plain sight
Witchcraft is not isolated to witchdoctors in South America, shamans in North Asia or witches in the West – it is everywhere. Witchcraft has invaded our homes, schools, workplaces and the media.
Children adore wizards like Harry Potter and happily dress up for pagan festivals such as Halloween. Nursery rhymes and Disney movies glorify magical and mystical figures. Heroes in movies get their powers from magical sources. Yoga is being taught as physical exercise in schools. Dreamcatchers are being made as arts and crafts projects.
New Age wellness programmes have invaded companies such as Google, Hasbro and Twitter, with courses on yoga, mindfulness etc. People blindly tattoo their bodies with mystic witchcraft symbols. Every newspaper and magazine has a horoscope. Organic health products promote mysticism and asceticism. We listen to spiritual Celtic, Gregorian and new age chants for background music. Health energy bracelets, lucky charms and Fengshui crystals are bought for well-being and prosperity. People dabble in ouija boards, tarot cards or meditation without realising the source of their “enlightenment”. Phrases such as “touch wood”, “fingers crossed” or “first time lucky” and superstitions are subconsciously followed. And the list of examples goes on and on….
Colossians 2:18 NLT Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud,
Nahum 3:4 ESV And all for the countless whorings of the prostitute, graceful and of deadly charms, who betrays nations with her whorings, and peoples with her charms.
Witchcraft has cast a spell over believers
Satan, who is described as “the god of this world”, has de-sensitised our minds to witchcraft. It is as if the enemy has cast a spell over our minds so we cannot discern the truth. A spell bewitches or charms someone so they become emotionally attached or addicted to something. This is true of the many spiritual strongholds that we find hard to surrender to God.
2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.
1. Generational
Witchcraft is so prevalent in our societies that we have become numb to it. Even within our extended families, we all know someone who consults fortune tellers and mediums, believes in Feng Shui or horoscopes, wears lucky charms, prays spiritual chants, consults the lunar calendar, is addicted to gambling or is fascinated with unicorns, fairies, mermaids and UFOs etc.
We will naturally pick up such ungodly beliefs and patterns from our families because they wish to share earthly prosperity with us, when the truth is that such practices only lead to spiritual death. We are warned not to yield to such teachings from our families. Our families did not create the universe, they did not die on the cross for us and they cannot save us on Judgment Day.
Deuteronomy 13:6-8 ESV “If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him.
2. Peer pressure from young
Peer pressure to dabble in witchcraft starts very early. Childhood friends will ask us to light sky lanterns, play ouija boardgames or compete in online games filled with magic charms and powers – all in the name of “fun”. Relatives may tell us what our future holds by our zodiac signs, birthdates, handwriting or facial features – in the name of “goodwill”. Our parents may dress us for Halloween or bring us to pay respects to our ancestors – in the name of “tradition and respect”.
When such actions are justified as “fun, goodwill, tradition and respect”, we are put in a difficult position and fear offending someone, particularly when we are just young children. We have no way of knowing that this is a snare from Satan that forces us to choose between pleasing people or pleasing God. The Bible warns us to beware the company we keep because we can be led astray.
Proverbs 29:25 ESV The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
3. Self-improvement messages
Satan’s oldest lie is that we can gain superior knowledge or power outside of God’s control. It is similar to what the devil told Eve. His basic line was, “Just try this. It will improve your current condition. Ignore God. There are no consequences to worry about.”
Genesis 3:1,4 ESV Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made… But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
Messages about witchcraft always sound logical and very appealing. Satan’s deceptions seduce us with high sounding rationale. For instance, we are told that acupuncture will heal our pain, meditation will help us tap our inner creative powers, lucky charms will help us win a competition, and so forth. When we turn to anything other than God for blessings, prosperity, health and safety, we are in reality, turning to demons. The Bible clearly states that we “cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons”. God will not tolerate it.
1 Corinthians 10:20-22 ESV No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
Take King Saul for example. Saul lost God’s protection when he consulted a medium for guidance and died in battle the very next day, as a direct result. Witchcraft is the entry point for the wide, easy way to destruction.
1 Chronicles 10:13 ESV So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the LORD in that he did not keep the command of the LORD, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance.
Matthew 7:13-14 ESV “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
4. Ungodly shortcuts to serve our will
Whenever God puts believers through faith, patience and perseverance training, Satan will come along with enticing shortcuts and the same basic line; “Just try this. It will improve your current condition. Ignore God. There are no consequences to worry about.” We will be presented with options that appear to give us faster results and success.
Just like any elite athlete who uses illegal performance-enhancing drugs, we may initially do better in a couple of races, but will ultimately be disqualified, disgraced and stripped of our rewards when the truth is revealed. The difference for believers who throw away our confidence in God is that our disqualification will be eternal.
Hebrews 10:35-36 ESV Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
All witchcraft brings spiritual death
1. Witchcraft is repulsive to God
God declares that we disgust Him when we take part in any form of witchcraft and become “participants with demons”. Witchcraft gives demons the right to enslave us spiritually. Like King Saul, God’s protection will be removed and we will be left defenceless to demonic oppression and destruction. Even if we don’t experience physical death immediately, the door to destruction is already open – until we repent and close it in Jesus’ name.
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 ESV There shall not be found among you 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.
2. Witchcraft makes us unfit for fellowship with God
Some people say that they are unable to hear God when they pray. More often than not, it is likely that they had participated in witchcraft in the past and have not yet repented. How can we expect God to listen when our unconfessed sins cut us off from God?
Leviticus 19:31 ESV “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.
Isaiah 59:2 ESV It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.
3. Witchcraft will be thwarted by God
People who take part in witchcraft will never be able to succeed in the end, because they have turned against the Creator of this universe. He will “expose the false prophets as liars and make fools of fortune-tellers”. We cannot hope to rebel against or mock Him and get away with it. We will always suffer the consequences of our sins, unless we humbly repent in Jesus’ name.
Galatians 6:7 ESV Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
Isaiah 44:24-25 ESV This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer and Creator: “I am the Lord, who made all things. I alone stretched out the heavens. Who was with me when I made the earth? I expose the false prophets as liars and make fools of fortune-tellers. I cause the wise to give bad advice, thus proving them to be fools.
4. Witchcraft promotes religiosity in church
Because witchcraft is essentially driven by a desire to be self-determining, the spirit of witchcraft promotes a reliance on our own human effort (religiosity) instead of a reliance on the Holy Spirit.
There are numerous churches across the world that are under an “evil spell” of religiosity. Many teach people how to become better Christians based on their own efforts, with Jesus as merely a human role model, rather than to allow the Holy Spirit to radically transform them into God’s holy image (2 Corinthians 3:18). The apostle Paul warned the Galatians against the spell of witchcraft that infiltrated their church thousands of years ago. Sadly, we still see this spell manifesting today (Galatians 3:1,3).
Galatians 3:1,3 NLT Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? … How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?
2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Witchcraft is an ungodly faith that destroys
1. Biblical evidence: Witchcraft will harm us in the end
The Bible records a queen who practised witchcraft and led ancient Israel and its king away from God. Queen Jezebel persecuted God’s prophets and falsely accused a god fearing landowner of blasphemy so that he would be killed and they could grab his land. By following a queen who practised witchcraft and not submitting to God, King Ahab received God’s stern judgment. The king was eventually killed in battle according to God’s judgment.
2 Kings 9:22 NLT … Jehu replied, “How can there be peace as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother, Jezebel, are all around us?”
2. Scientific evidence: Witchcraft will harm us in the end
Kansas State University undergraduate, Scott Fluke, led a research project on witchcraft because as he confessed, “I was interested in superstition because it frustrates me when people do things that don’t make sense, It boggled me that people would use a good luck charm to do well on a test rather than studying for it. We wanted to know why people would go about almost actively hurting themselves.”
The research found that “people who believe that fate and chance control their lives are more likely to be superstitious. After performing two studies, the researchers developed three reasons for superstitious behavior: individuals use superstitions to gain control over uncertainty; to decrease feelings of helplessness; and because it is easier to rely on superstition instead of coping strategies.” The study showed that some people would rather put their faith in lucky charms and superstitions, than persevere with the discipline that would ultimately help them.
3. Practical evidence: Witchcraft will harm us in the end
Those who practice witchcraft often end up feeding their inner demons. Here is a first-hand account from a banker who also studied fengshui.
“I knew all about horoscopes, Chinese zodiac signs, and lucky numbers like 3, 6 and 8 growing up, but I only really got into witchcraft after I purchased my first flat. My friends told me about the good fortune they received after consulting fengshui masters for their home and office decorations. I found it so fascinating that I joined in and even studied fengshui for over three years. The fundamental teachings of fengshui interrelate with many Chinese philosophies such as Taoism, Buddhism and other idols and temple worship. As I dug deeper, I started worshipping all sorts of demonic spirits.
Now looking back, practicing witchcraft can be described as someone who accidentally fell into a pool of whirling water. The force of the water keeps sucking us deeper and deeper as our weaknesses like fear, pride and greed keep growing stronger. My desires for good fortune kept growing the more I learnt. If I had a good year, the next year I would want to further enhance my fortunes for a better year.
I ended up doing so many irrational, superstitious things. I put feng shui decorations everywhere, I would leave my flat at certain times of the day, wear only certain colours, put an image of a mountain behind my chair at work and so much more. The worst part was there was no end to it. The seeking and the desiring would continue endlessly. The most destructive part was that I couldn’t even distinguish what was right or wrong, or what was real or unreal. When I found that one practice didn’t seem to work, I went for something else hoping the new practice would work better. Also, I had so much anger and frustration during that time. Anytime I didn’t get what I wanted, I would become extremely upset. There was never any peace or joy.”
Breaking off the spell of witchcraft
1. Repent and stop
Witchcraft is evil. We need to repent immediately and stop our practices. The Bible points out that the only way that Satan loses his hold over us through witchcraft is when we stop sinning and are under God’s protection.
Even if we dabbled in witchcraft “for fun” 5 or 50 years ago, Satan will still have a right to accuse us and eventually destroy us. Like a legal document we signed with Satan that we may have forgotten, we must revoke any access we have given him previously, by repenting for every single form of witchcraft, whether past or present.
As we do this, we can be sure that the enemy will try to weaken our resolve to stop by using fear and anxiety, or he will send people to us to encourage us to continue. We must stay on the alert and not take God’s grace for granted by falling back into witchcraft.
1 John 5:18-19 ESV We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
Ephesians 6:18 ESV Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance…
2. Repent for misleading others. Expose the darkness of witchcraft
Those who have put their faith in witchcraft may have also promoted its practices to other people. The Bible condemns such people and says that we might as well “be drowned in the depth of the sea” if we have misled believers. We should also make an effort to expose the truth about witchcraft and share our testimonies of repentance with as many people as possible, especially those whom we have misled previously.
Matthew 18:6 ESV But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Ephesians 5:11 ESV Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
3. Destroy all witchcraft materials and images
The enemy is cunning and will use any excuse to continue to oppress us if we do not remove his influence beyond any shadow of doubt. This means that besides repenting and renewing our hearts, minds and souls in Jesus’ name, we must also destroy all objects, teachings, chants, sounds, songs or images related to witchcraft.
Like those in the early church, where people destroyed their magic scrolls that would have been worth millions of dollars in today’s terms, we ought to be thorough in destroying all things related to witchcraft that we might have. The value of these items will never be close to the cost of our souls. It’s good to conduct a thorough audit of our bodies, mobile phones, cars, homes, workplaces and clean them out etc.
Acts 19:19 ESV And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.
4. Cut off ungodly spiritual “yokes”
In 2 Corinthians, the apostle Paul reminds us to be separate from unbelievers. This does not refer primarily to a physical separation, but a spiritual one. We should, therefore, cut all ungodly spiritual ties with fortune tellers, mediums, psychics, Fengshui masters, witchdoctors, new age healers, tattoo artists – in other words, any person who practices magic, hypnotism, sorcery, spells and curses etc.
We should also disassociate ourselves with locations where witchcraft is practised, such as altars, temples, shops, tattoo studios, shrines, graveyards, funeral parlours, columbarium etc. by cutting spiritual ties with such defiled places too.
2 Corinthians 6:14,16-17 ESV Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,
5. Fast
Fasting is a basic Christian discipline. In Matthew 6:16-18 Jesus twice said, “when you fast”. He did not say, “in case you decide to fast”. Fasting is a powerful spiritual weapon which the enemy has been trying to get mankind to relinquish. The “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4) teaches us that food is glorious and that, “We can’t do without food, we will suffer horribly from hunger pangs”. This is absolutely not true when we fast correctly. Satan knows that by fasting, we will join with the Holy Spirit to “loose the bonds of wickedness” and “let the oppressed go free” (Isaiah 58:6).
Where we have practised witchcraft before, it is important that we fast regularly so that the Holy Spirit can reveal any other remnants of demonic oppression in our lives and we can continue to be set free in Jesus’ name.
Isaiah 58:6 ESV “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
6. Discipline and humble ourselves before God for all things
People who have practised witchcraft before will often have difficulty submitting every aspect of their lives to God, because they have been so accustomed to turning to other spiritual sources for self-gratification and “immediate” results.
We must remember that turning to Christ is not about practising another form of religion, but about becoming a servant and a friend of the Almighty God and Creator of all things.
In the past, we may have turned to witchcraft for comfort, security, protection and answers but we must learn new disciplines and go to God first with a thankful heart, knowing that all things have already been settled and decided by our perfect Father in heaven. God created us with all our desires and talents, He knows us more intimately that we know ourselves. Hence, we can certainly place our complete faith in Him. God’s Spirit will guide us continually and satisfy our deepest desires.
1 Corinthians 9:27 ESV But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
Philippians 4:6-7 ESV Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Isaiah 58:11 ESV And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
See testimony: Jesus frees manager to receive full gift of tongues
To receive notifications of new posts from Teaching Humble Hearts, please subscribe here .