Sermons
Witchcraft and Sorcery
Witchcraft and Sorcery
I. Introduction
It’s that time of year again when the leaves turn colors, pumpkin spice reigns supreme, and ghosts, goblins, and witches appear in stores, yards, and even roaming the streets.
Now, I realize people have different opinions about it, but most of what we see appears to me to be just make-believe and fantasy. People dress up as pirates, gypsies, super heroes, skeletons, etc.—just not clowns! We know clowns are real and they’re evil!
But seriously, there is a dark reality about many of these things. In fact, the Bible has a lot to say about witches and sorcery. So that’s what we’ll be looking at today.
- Laws
- Examples
- Modern applications
II. Laws
This subject came to my mind actually by studying Leviticus recently. I was somewhat surprised by how much it is addressed in the law. There’s a simple and clear statement in Exodus:
Ex. 22:18 “You shall not permit a sorceress to live.
And the Leviticus expounds on that.
Lev. 19:31 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.
From what I understand, a medium is someone who communicates with the spiritual world, and a necromancer is someone who communicates with the dead.
Lev. 20:6 “If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.
Lev. 20:27 “A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.”
This was obviously a very real problem in their day, something the Israelites would have to be on guard against. Especially when they got into the Promised Land. The inhabitants of the land practiced these things.
Deut. 18:9-14 “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. 10 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 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 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. 13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, 14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this.
There are something like nine abominable practices mentioned here. They mainly seem to be various supernatural ways of gaining information. For example, some people might read tea leaves, or the pattern that oil makes in water, or a flock of birds, or whatever to divine the future. Perhaps these same people would be sought out to give a blessing on a certain endeavor, or to utter a curse against an enemy, like a spell.
But all of these practices were absolutely forbidden to God’s people. And it’s not hard to understand why. God is their God, the Creator of the Universe. He wants them to look to him for guidance, understanding, blessings. Turning to witchcraft and sorcery is looking to some other source, some other power, and often one associated with darkness and death.
III. Examples
Let’s look at some examples.
A. Egypt
You’ll recall that there were magicians in Egypt who attempted to match the signs that God had given Moses.
Ex. 7:10-12 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. 12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.
So, how did they do this? Well it says right there: “by their secret arts” or “enchantments” (KJV and NKJV).
I don’t know how that worked, but in each case, their power, whatever it was, was limited and unable to match what God was doing through Moses. And in one case, they completely failed.
Ex. 8:18 The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast.
And of course, most importantly, the magicians were completely incapable of undoing the plagues.
D. Babylon
I suppose all the kingdoms of the ancient world had similar magicians and sorcerers. We also find them many years later in Babylon in the days of Daniel.
Dan. 2:1-2 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.
They were glad to interpret the king’s dream, as soon as he told them what it was. But he said, no, you tell me the dream first. That’s a good test, isn’t it.
Dan. 2:9-11 if you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” 10 The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. 11 The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
Only a god could do what you ask. True enough! And this is where Daniel comes in.
Dan. 2:27-28 Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries…
C. Saul
Now we can understand that pagan kingdoms like the Egyptians and Babylonians would turn to such things for insight and guidance, but God’s people were called to follow him and only him. As we have seen, they were forbidden, in no uncertain terms, from using the dark arts of sorcery and witchcraft.
Sadly, like all of God’s laws, they broke this one repeatedly and gave in to the temptation to be like the people around them.
One of the saddest examples is from King Saul. Early in his reign, when things were going well, he had banished all witches and mediums from the land. But later, when he had rebelled against God and was thus cut off from receiving prophetic help and guidance, he sought out a witch.
1 Sam. 28:3-7 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the necromancers out of the land. 4 The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. 6 And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets. 7 Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a medium at En-dor.”
It’s interesting that they knew this. Kind of like how people know how to find drug dealers. Saul disguises himself and goes to her, and at first she objects and says it’s a trap. But he promises no harm will come to her.
1 Sam. 28:11-14 Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul.” 13 The king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.” 14 He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage.
Many have pointed out that the woman seemed surprised to actually see Samuel. That’s interesting, isn’t it?
1 Sam. 28:15-16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.” 16 And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy?
Then Samuel gives him the devastating news:
1 Sam. 28:19 Moreover, the Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The Lord will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”
This last act of desperation, seeking out a witch, sealed Saul’s fate.
1 Chron. 10:13 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.
D. Manasseh
Saul was not the only king to seek out a witch. In fact, Manasseh became so corrupt that he practiced ALL the abominable practices of the pagan people of Canaan.
2 Chron. 33:6 And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.
In fact, under his rule, Judah became WORSE than the peoples before them.
2 Chron. 33:9 Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.
E. New Testament
Well, what about in the New Testament? There is this example from Acts.
Acts 16:16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.
And Paul lists “sorcery” among the works of the flesh in Gal. 5:20. Also:
Rev. 9:20-21 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
So the same things are of course just as evil today.
IV. Modern Applications
Okay, so let’s talk about how this applies today. Here are some questions you may be wondering about:
A. Is witchcraft and sorcery real?
Do these things actually work? Do they have power?
First, the Bible is clear that there are evil spirits. Now, when it comes to modern fortune-tellers, mediums, people who are into Wicca, etc., are they tapping into a real power? I’m not really sure.
I suspect most of it is a bunch of hooey. A fortune teller, palm reader, etc. is probably just a charlatan whose real power is getting your money. But it’s interesting that the Bible condemnations of these things don’t mention whether they are real or not. The point is, God’s people are not to go after them.
And this would apply to any kind of mystical fortune-telling, like astrology.
B. What about magic tricks?
There seems to me to be a difference between sorcery and what we usually call magic, referring to an illusion. Like a card trick or other illusion or slight of hand trick. My opinion is that as long as everyone understands that it’s just a “trick,” and not a claim to have some dark secret power, then it seems harmless.
C. What about Harry Potter?
Again, this is a judgment call, but I think most people understand the difference between a fictional fantasy world and reality. Magic and witches show up in lots of fairy tales. Fairies, for that matter. Etc.
Now, if there’s a danger to Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, it’s that they put sorcery in a positive light. So if someone is into that kind of thing, perhaps it would be good for parents to have a conversation about the difference between fiction and reality. In the real world, if there was a sorcerer’s school, it would absolutely be a sin to go.
D. What about dressing as a sorcerer or witch?
This one I’m torn about. On one hand, clearly if everyone knows it’s all pretend and for fun, it seems like it might be harmless. On the other hand, I certainly understand where someone would say, “that’s something evil and abominable to God, I don’t want to represent that, even for fun.”
I guess I would say this is where some personal judgment would have to be used.
V. Conclusion
Here’s the main point I want to leave you with. Let’s look at one last passage:
Isa. 8:19-20 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
There is one God, the giver of every good gift. The source of light, life, and truth. There is also an evil being, Satan, the prince of darkness. The source of lies and lying signs.
When you want guidance, turn to God’s word. When you want to talk to a higher power, pray to him. Do not seek out nor look to other supernatural powers. God takes that very seriously, and we must as well.
INVITATION
