October 9, 1991
An Alberta newspaper ran an article about a woman who was arrested and charged with two counts of “pretending to practice witchcraft.” It seems someone complained about her fee schedule and the police took a closer look at her activities.
My question is this: Is it also illegal to practice as a real witch or only illegal to PRETEND to be one?
Actually, there should be laws against anybody pretending to be what they are not. We don’t want fake policemen, fake doctors, or fake car repairmen. We don’t want fake religious leaders or fake religions either.
Come to think of it, maybe we need a law that makes it illegal to pretend to be a Christian. While fake witches might jilt the unsuspecting out of pocket, fake Christianity dupes people out of something far more important.
The Old Testament fake religious leaders certainly didn’t cut it with God. When He gave Jeremiah a 40-year ministry of speaking against them, He said: “The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart.”
He also said, “Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams... who, by their lies and by their recklessness, cause My people to err. I did not send them... therefore they shall not profit these people at all.”
These fake spiritual leaders led the people into idol worship and eventual judgment. Such is the power of a few religious hot-shots who claim to be genuine. They can fool an entire nation.
In the New Testament, Paul said false apostles and deceitful workers would “transform themselves into apostles of Christ.” He said these fakes would “come in by stealth to spy out the liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage” (2 Cor.11:13, Gal.2:4).
He was talking about phonies who tried to change the gospel of Christ which says salvation is a free gift into a religious system of rules by which a person could supposedly earn the favor of God. They took advantage of human guilt and their fear of judgment and exploited this for personal gain.
The fake witch in the newspaper story was making predictions and taking money from unsuspecting people, action forbidden by civil law. Real witchcraft is forbidden by God, even called an abomination, because real witches are in the business of deceit too. They steer people from the truth about God and about man’s eternal destiny by promising superficial knowledge of the future. People who earnestly want some control of their destinies need to hear the truth — that only God can give anyone that eternal well-being they are seeking.
In the long run, such deceivers haven’t a hope. Satan, the master-fake, is doomed just as are those who follow his ways, including fakes and witches. Revelation 10:10 tells of their fate, “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
That fake witch likely faces a fine and maybe some time in jail. She will change her advertising, lower her rates, and be back in business before very long. However, unless she and others who practice deception determine to follow the truth, a genuine punishment is yet to come.
Showing posts with label witchcraft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label witchcraft. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Sunday, January 11, 2015
God warns of hidden dangers ............... Parables 221
(June 13, 1990)
My husband once yanked one of our children, who was oblivious to the danger, from the path of a truck. Other tots toy with matches -- fire is “pretty.” Some play in sewer systems - that’s “exciting.” A few teenagers spin the chamber of a loaded gun in a game of roulette - what a “thrill.” A youngster inhales his first snort of cocaine - someone told him it’s “harmless fun.” Danger that is obvious to a parent is not always obvious to a child.
But what if the danger is not obvious, even to an adult? How can we know what is too hot to touch? If we touch it to find out, we may be burned. In such cases, a wise child consults his even wiser heavenly Father. He gives instruction about “poisons” and “fatal toys” of which we may not be aware. For instance, consider this list: “There shall not be found among you any one that... uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a counselor with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer...” (Deuteronomy 18:10).
In case anyone thinks witchcraft is a fairy tale and this warning is out of date and related to superstition, take a look at the occult section in a book store. These days, with the New Age movement advocating activities like channeling and consulting spirit guides to discover the “god within,” this Old Testament passage needs to be reconsidered. What does it say for our time?
First of all, God hates this kind of thing. Verse 12 says: “For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD...” Whatever the human reasons for seeking guidance from spirits, conducting seances, even reading a horoscope, God detests it. No doubt His hatred is based on His knowledge that He alone knows what is best for the creatures He created. Certainly a medium or a witch does not. Some may declare that God is either dead, useless, uncaring, or something other than He has revealed Himself to be, but those who reject Him and follow tarot cards and the like are guilty of a form of idolatry, in this case a particularly dangerous form.
Secondly, it was nations in the land of Canaan that practiced these activities and God said “because of these abominations the LORD thy God drives them (those nations) out from before thee.” These people lost their homes and their land because they were dabbling in fortune-telling and other so-called “harmless” activities. It may or may not have been serious stuff in their minds but it was worthy of judgment in God’s mind.
God went on to tell His people (verse 15) that He would give them One to listen to, a prophet that would tell them all they needed to know. He would be from God and like God. This is a definite reference to the One who later came and proclaimed Himself to be God in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ.
When Jesus came, He opened the way to the true God; not the god within but the One who would come in, if invited. He also gave those who believe in Him a promise for their future and a faith for right now. God’s people don’t need the vague generalities from a horoscope nor the deception of “spirit guides.” What we do need is the truth of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, with the discernment that only a loving heavenly Father can provide.
“Baby” Christians don’t automatically know which “harmless” fun is really harmless, so we need to watch out for each other, warning and admonishing in love, just as the New Testament says. We also need to pay careful attention to our Parent... who knows the danger and wants to protect us from what might appear to us as “harmless fun.”
My husband once yanked one of our children, who was oblivious to the danger, from the path of a truck. Other tots toy with matches -- fire is “pretty.” Some play in sewer systems - that’s “exciting.” A few teenagers spin the chamber of a loaded gun in a game of roulette - what a “thrill.” A youngster inhales his first snort of cocaine - someone told him it’s “harmless fun.” Danger that is obvious to a parent is not always obvious to a child.
But what if the danger is not obvious, even to an adult? How can we know what is too hot to touch? If we touch it to find out, we may be burned. In such cases, a wise child consults his even wiser heavenly Father. He gives instruction about “poisons” and “fatal toys” of which we may not be aware. For instance, consider this list: “There shall not be found among you any one that... uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a counselor with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer...” (Deuteronomy 18:10).
In case anyone thinks witchcraft is a fairy tale and this warning is out of date and related to superstition, take a look at the occult section in a book store. These days, with the New Age movement advocating activities like channeling and consulting spirit guides to discover the “god within,” this Old Testament passage needs to be reconsidered. What does it say for our time?
First of all, God hates this kind of thing. Verse 12 says: “For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD...” Whatever the human reasons for seeking guidance from spirits, conducting seances, even reading a horoscope, God detests it. No doubt His hatred is based on His knowledge that He alone knows what is best for the creatures He created. Certainly a medium or a witch does not. Some may declare that God is either dead, useless, uncaring, or something other than He has revealed Himself to be, but those who reject Him and follow tarot cards and the like are guilty of a form of idolatry, in this case a particularly dangerous form.
Secondly, it was nations in the land of Canaan that practiced these activities and God said “because of these abominations the LORD thy God drives them (those nations) out from before thee.” These people lost their homes and their land because they were dabbling in fortune-telling and other so-called “harmless” activities. It may or may not have been serious stuff in their minds but it was worthy of judgment in God’s mind.
God went on to tell His people (verse 15) that He would give them One to listen to, a prophet that would tell them all they needed to know. He would be from God and like God. This is a definite reference to the One who later came and proclaimed Himself to be God in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ.
When Jesus came, He opened the way to the true God; not the god within but the One who would come in, if invited. He also gave those who believe in Him a promise for their future and a faith for right now. God’s people don’t need the vague generalities from a horoscope nor the deception of “spirit guides.” What we do need is the truth of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, with the discernment that only a loving heavenly Father can provide.
“Baby” Christians don’t automatically know which “harmless” fun is really harmless, so we need to watch out for each other, warning and admonishing in love, just as the New Testament says. We also need to pay careful attention to our Parent... who knows the danger and wants to protect us from what might appear to us as “harmless fun.”
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