WITCHCRAFT

The greatest barrier to revival in the church

Study 3 – The biblical definition of sorcery

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In undertaking these studies there was no intention of exposing members of the church, clergy or lay, in order to make them feel guilty, the sole intention is to expose the spirit of witchcraft and show from scripture how we can gain victory over it in Jesus name.

The third characteristic of witchcraft will surprise many people, it is sorcery. This shows itself in ways that many people would not suspect. Every day many people look at the newspapers to read what is written under their star sign. This is illegitimately trying to discern the future It is also the total opposite of faith in what Jesus has done and won for us on the cross and therefore can only be of the devil.

There are people who believe that the movement of the stars govern what happens to them in their lifetime. Therefore, if this is correct we could never be condemned as sinners before God because whatever it was that we did we were not responsible for since it was all in the stars. Many people say "It was a result of my upbringing" claiming it must have been their parents who were responsible for your wickedness.

Others say it was a result of their environment, as you can see all these statements are excuses not to accept responsibility for our own wrong actions. The commandment of God which must be obeyed if we are going to be forgiven is "Repent and believe the gospel" which includes making a commitment to walk in fellowship with Jesus through prayer day by day and making Him the only Lord of your life.

You can only repent of something that you have done wrong, therefore if you do not take responsibility for those actions it means you can never be forgiven since you still insist that you are not the guilty one as it was not your fault. 1 John chapter 1 and verse 9 gives us a wonderful promise if we will only take responsibility for our own wrongdoing. " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

See how Adam and Eve denied responsibility for their disobedience in the Garden of Eden, read Genesis chapter 3 verses 8 to 14. " Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid. The Lord said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? "The man said, "The woman you put here with me —she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then The Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Instead of owning up to the wrong they had done they tried to cover it up, blaming somebody else so that they could avoid taking the guilt squarely on their own shoulders. Isn't this just what people do in society today? Saul wanted to please the people so that he would be a popular king of Israel but in trying to please the people he was actually making himself the enemy of God.

Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from The Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt.

Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'"So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim—two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand from Judah. Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine.

Then he said to the Kenites, "Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt. He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword.

But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed." Once again instead of owning up to what he had done wrong he tries to wriggle out of the responsibility by saying it wasn't entirely his fault and that his intentions were honourable. If you make the world your friend you make God your enemy.

You cannot please God and man you must decide whom you are going to please. If you try to manipulate people's opinion to your favour whilst going against the will of God then you are guilty of an aspect of witchcraft that has been mentioned earlier, that of manipulation. This is always wrong no matter how clever an excuse somebody will come up with to do it.

Later Saul does several things that confirm that he is still in rebellion to The Lord, for one thing he tries to eliminate the man divinely anointed of God to lead the people of Israel, David, and then he commits an even greater sin which is wholly against what The Lord had commanded His people Israel through Moses. They are clearly told that they must have no recourse (consultation) with the dead.

In 1 Samuel chapter 28 verses 3 to 23 we read where Saul knowingly goes against this commandment, once again believing that what he is doing is going to be for his own good. Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and set up camp at Gilboa.

When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. Saul then said to his attendants, "Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her." "There is one in Endor, " they said.So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. "Consult a spirit for me," he said, "and bring up for me the one I name."

But the woman said to him, "Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?"Saul swore to her by The Lord, "As surely as The Lord lives, you will not be punished for this." Then the woman asked, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" "Bring up Samuel," he said.

When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!" The king said to her, "Don't be afraid. What do you see?" The woman said, "I see a ghostly figure coming up out of the earth." "What does he look like?" he asked." An old man wearing a robe is coming up," she said.

Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" "I am in great distress," Saul said. "The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has departed from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do." Samuel said, "Why do you consult me, now that The Lord has departed from you and become your enemy?

The Lord has done what he predicted through me. The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbours—to David. Because you did not obey The Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, The Lord has done this to you today. The Lord will deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me.

The Lord will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines." Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel's words. His strength was gone, for he had eaten nothing all that day and all that night. When the woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly shaken, she said, "Look, your servant has obeyed you."

The consequence for Saul's disobedience was death; a sentence that has not changed even to this day. If you do the things that lead to death, you will experience death, the second death in the lake of fire as it is described in the book of Revelation. In many parts of the world people try to speak to their ancestors who have since long died and in some religions it is normal for people to attempt to contact the saints who are long dead.

In the eyes of God this is sorcery, for it is doing something that we are forbidden to do. We are to try to discern the future only through reading the scriptures and not through any other method. If God wants us to know anything about the future then He will let us know, and there is much that God has let us know about the future all written down for our benefit in the bible, not the least amount of it in the book of Revelation.

Here is something else that will surprise some of you. Deuteronomy chapter 7 gives many promises as to what will happen if you obey God, although these promises are partly for the nation of Israel in its day they are certainly applicable individually and nationally today if we come out and declare that we will obey The Lord from this day forth.

"Love The Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always. Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of The Lord your God: his majesty, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm; the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country; what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots, how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea as they were pursuing you, and how The Lord brought lasting ruin on them.

It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the wilderness until you arrived at this place, and what He did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth right in the middle of all Israel and swallowed them up with their households, their tents and every living thing that belonged to them. But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done.

Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, and so that you may live long in the land The Lord swore to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.

The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land The Lord your God cares for; the eyes of The Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love The Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul — then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.

Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then The Lord's anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land The Lord is giving you. Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land The Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.

If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast to him— then The Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.

Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea. No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.

Note carefully that The lord promises rain in due season and liberty from disease. Medicine is not in itself wrong but going to a witch doctor who will mix you a potion to rid you of your illness is, as it comes under the definition of sorcery. In some parts of Africa and India the rain season is sometimes late, and sometimes fails altogether. Today scientists will fly to 30,000 feet and spray various chemicals into the atmosphere in order to produce rain.

This too is sorcery, if you have a time when you need rain on your land then you should act as Elijah did in 1 Kings chapter 18 verses 41 to 46 read: "Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain." So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up and looked. "There is nothing there," he said. Seven times Elijah said, "Go back."

The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.'" Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. The power of The Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel."

The way to avoid a drought and (when you have one) the way to break it is to live in obedience to God as individuals and do all that you can to see that the nation lives in obedience to the ways of the one true and living God who created all things. If the nation is experiencing drought the nation should cry out to Yahweh collectively, or at least representatives of the nation should. Any other way is sorcery and will lead to more trouble.

You must never put a curse on anyone and you must never accept a curse from somebody yourself. You can be cursed by negative words from parents "you'll never make anything of yourself; you will always be a ne'r do well." You must reject and break such words spoken over you and if you genuinely believe that you have broken their power over you it shall be as you believe.

Never do tarot card reading or become involved with using a Ouija board, both are detestable to God and almost guaranteed to have you demonised. God wants you to depend on Him and Him alone, for He is the only one that is reliable, dependable, faithful and loving, the one who cares for you more than anyone or anything else.

The final study, study No.4 will show you how you can defeat witchcraft in your life and how you can defeat it over your nation, wherever in the world you happen to live. Before reading further take a look at Deuteronomy chapter 7 because it is a very important chapter and can be a great blessing in practicing the things we shall be looking at in study No. 4.