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What The Bible Says About Magic And The Occult, Wicca & Paganism

What The Bible Says About Magic And The Occult, Wicca & Paganism. Cults Lecture -3. Some Terms…. Divination - foretelling the future by a system e.g palm-reading, water-reading, tea-leaves, I- Ching etc

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What The Bible Says About Magic And The Occult, Wicca & Paganism

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  1. What The Bible Says About Magic And The Occult, Wicca & Paganism Cults Lecture -3

  2. Some Terms… • Divination - foretelling the future by a system e.g palm-reading, water-reading, tea-leaves, I-Ching etc • Soothsaying – much the same as divination but without a system, false prophetic reading of omens, portents and signs • Reading of omens – telling what a certain puzzling event ‘means’ in occult terms • Witchcraft – the practice of casting spells, may involve the use of potions etc as well, a very general word • Conjuring spells – the specific act of using ‘magic words’ and sometimes smoke and ceremony for occult purposes • Sorcery – the ability to influence people and objects through magic and to perform false miracles • Charms – objects worn to protect from spirits or to work magic

  3. Terms cont’d • Mediums – someone that speaks with the voice of a spirit, or who ‘channels’ a spirit being, or who contacts the dead • Spiritist –one who communes with spirits. • Familiar spirits – spirits of family members, ancestors, the deceased, spirits that ‘haunt’ an area or are familiar to it • Calling up the dead – people who contact the dead and talk with them • Making son / daughter to pass through the fire: occult initiation ceremonies, in other cases the child may have been offered as a sacrifice to the god Moloch

  4. What The Bible Says About Magic… • (Leviticus 19:26-31 NKJV) {26} 'You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying. {27} 'You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard. {28} 'You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the LORD. {29} 'Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness. {30} 'You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the LORD. {31} 'Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God. • (Leviticus 20:6 NKJV) 'And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.

  5. Cont’d…. • (Deuteronomy 18:10-14 NKJV) 10 "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,11 "or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.12 "For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. 13 "You shall be blameless before the LORD your God.14 "For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you

  6. Astrology • Isaiah 47:12-14 MKJV Stand now with your spells, and with the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have wearied yourself since your youth. Perhaps you will be able to profit; perhaps you may bring terror. (13) You are exhausted by your many plans; now let the astrologers stand up and save you, the stargazers, making known what is coming on you into the new moons. (14) Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame; there shall not be a coal to warm them; nor fire, to sit before it. • Deuteronomy 4:19 MKJV and lest you lift up your eyes to the heavens, and when you see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, lest you should be driven to worship them and serve them, ……

  7. See also…. • OT History: 2 Kings 17:17, 21:6, 23:24; 2 Chronicles: 33:6 • OT Prophets: Isaiah 8:19; Jeremiah 14;14, 27:9Ezekiel 12:24; 13:6-7,18,20,23; Malachi 3:5

  8. Why The Bible Forbids Magic etc…. • It connects people with evil and degrading (Satanic) powers • It misrepresents God and His plans (false divination!) • It portrays the spiritual world as ‘only about power’ • It is an abomination that leads to the wrath of God • It brings a curse to the third and fourth generation • It makes people fearful and superstitious and takes away their free will and ability to think clearly • It frequently leads to mental and emotional instability • It is ultimately futile and worthless

  9. Idols & Paganism… • .(Exodus 20:4-5 NKJV) "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; {5} you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, • Deuteronomy 5:8-10 MKJV (8) You shall not make a graven image for you, any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters beneath the earth. (9) You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them. For I Jehovah your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, (10) and doing mercy to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

  10. What To Do With Idols • Deuteronomy 7:5 NKJV) "But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire. • (Deuteronomy 7:25,26 NKJV) "You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the LORD your God."Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing.

  11. Cont’d… • Deuteronomy 12:1-3 MKJV (1) These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to do in the land which Jehovah, the God of your fathers gives you to possess it, all the days that you live upon the earth. (2) You shall completely destroy all the places in which the nations which you shall possess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. (3) And you shall overthrow their altars and break their pillars, and burn their pillars with fire. And you shall cut down the carved images of their gods, and destroy their names out of that place.

  12. The NT, Magic & Idols • (Acts 19:19 NKJV) Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. • (Revelation 21:8 NKJV) "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." • (Revelation 22:15 NKJV) But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. • 1 Corinthians 10:14 MKJV (14) Therefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. • 1 John 5:21 MKJV Little children, guard yourselves from idols. Amen.

  13. Why The Bible Forbids Idol Worship • They take away worship and glory from the One True Living God and lead people to follow other gods • Idols misrepresent God - Who is invisible and eternal and living, and not visible, temporal, and static. • Idols are futile man-made objects and cannot speak, walk, talk or do anything • Idols are cursed objects which bring a curse to the household that contains them • Idols lead people into spiritual bondage, wrath and judgment

  14. Occult, Wicca & Freemasonry • Freemasonry –Fatherhood of God, brotherhood of Man, free-thinking, Masons start as part of the Blue Lodge then move to other lodges, blood oaths at all levels, occult practices in the Scottish Rite levels 19 and above • Satanists – many different kinds from disturbed teenagers to religious Satanists • Church of Satan – Anton La Vey & Church of Set, self-indulgence • Occult – use of dark powers, rituals, secret knowledge and rites, numerology, astrology etc Kabala uses the Hebrew alphabet • Wicca – a modern nature religion based on old witchcraft traditions, shamanism, spells, fertility gods, nature worship, seeks to “Harm None” and believes in the Law of Three, does not belief in Satan

  15. Modern Paganism • Paganism is a broad, eclectic contemporary religious movement that encompasses shamanistic, ecstatic, polytheistic, and magical religions. Most of the religions termed Pagan are characterized by nature-centered spirituality, honoring of pre-Christian deities, dynamic, personal belief systems, lack of institutionalization, a quest to develop the self, and acceptance and encouragement of diversity. Paganism is sometimes referred to as Neo-Paganism to emphasize its connections to as well as difference from pre-Christian religions. • Paganism is a worldwide phenomenon and includes revived and updated ancient European practices and religions, feminist Goddess-worship, and religions inspired by science-fiction writings. For their inspiration, Pagans look to non-Abrahamic, ecstatic, and mystery religions of Europe as well as indigenous and magic-using traditions from around the world. Contemporary Paganism is interwoven with artistic, visionary, and libertarian traditions and emphasizes the free will of the individual. Many traditions celebrate rituals to mark transitions in the natural world (such as solstices, lunar phases, or a birth) as well as in a person's life (such as marriage or moving to a new home). • While the largest segment of the Pagan population is Caucasian and middle class, Paganism cuts across all lines, whether racial, occupational, or class- or gender-based. Most Pagans, however, are avid readers with interests in ecology, creativity, and personal growth. Many come from the scientific, computer, and technical fields. Since it is not an organized movement, it is very difficult to determine the number of its practitioners, but it is estimated that there are between 100,000 and 600,000 in the U.S. alone. Some have termed Paganism the fastest-growing religion in the West.

  16. Conclusion…. • We have barely ‘scratched the surface’ of the huge movements of astrology, magic, paganism, the occult and Babylonian mystery religions that abound today and fill our bookstores – and unfortunately the minds of many people • These movements are nearly always very hostile to Christianity – often openly so. At best they tolerate Christianity as a vague philosophy, but never as the Truth • Involvement in these groups, beliefs or practices can bring long-term spiritual trouble and such things must be confessed and renounced completely. This used to be part of pre-baptism instruction in the early church “I renounce the Devil and all his works…”

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