MAGIC, SORCERY, DIVINATION AND WITCHCRAFT ***
Magic has always been associated with religion. That it is associated with Judaism and Christianity would be strongly argued by Jews and Christians, but the truth is that the magic arts are still very much present in religion. They are not recognized for what they are, however, because they have been so cleverly integrated into the religious culture for so many years that hardly anyone sees them for what they really are. The people that do see magic in religion are New Covenant disciples, and they are on a mission to expose all religious deceptions and set people free from religion.

To understand the presence of magic in Judaism and Christianity it is helpful to review the history of magic in religion in these scholarly articles:

• • • Magic in Egypt — Ancient History Encyclopedia
    • Magic in Ancient Greece – – Ancient History Encyclopedia
    • A Guide to Ancient Magic | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine
    • MAGIC AND MAGICIANS IN THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD — Matthew W.Dickie

    • Magic and religion — Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

From these resources it is clear that magic was very much a part of pagan religions before, during and after Old Testament and New Testament times. It is not surprising, then, that God gave warnings about the practice of magic, sorcery, divination and witchcraft. These practices are among the religious activities about which God warned that his people should not follow the customs of other nations.

Religion exists because God’s warnings fell on deaf ears for both Jews and Christians. That is why magic and its associated supernatural arts (e.g. witchcraft, soothsaying, divination, etc.) have always been important features of Judaism, the early Christian church and contemporary Christianity.

No religious people would admit that their religion, or their faith, involves magic. Their high opinions of their religion and the correctness of it because it is based on the words of the Bible prevents them from seeing any fault in it. This blindness to the truth as God sees it does not change the facts: Religion is deception and magic is part of the deception.

How magic came to be integrated with religion is an interesting story. Knowing this history is helpful to understanding the ways in which the magic arts function in Judaism and Christianity.

We being with the truth that God is the only one who can speak truth to the hearts of people. The Bible tells us, however, that almost everyone, especially religious leaders, speaks lies to God’s people. These are all included in the category of False Prophets. The exceptions to this rule are the True Prophets.

Because these human teachers (i.e. false prophets) have such irresistible influence on his people, God calls them Kings, Queens and Princes. 

STUDY TIP: See Kings, Queens and Princes for discussion about these kinds of false prophets. Also see Religion is the Kingdom of False Prophets for an overview of all false prophets. Also see Pastors, Priests, Rabbis, Apostles, Bishops, Elders, Deacons, Overseers, Rabbis, Popes, Missionaries and Evangelists.

These religious leaders are the glue that holds religion together. Without them there would be no religion. They all represent the king that Israel demanded to have to fight their battles for them. It is reasonable for God to call them kings, queens and princes because they “lord it over” them with absolute authority regarding religious laws and traditions.

When people choose to listen to or read the teachings of a religious leader, they have effectively chosen a king to rule their hearts and minds on religious matters. This is offensive to God who is the rightful king and lord of hearts and minds which are his kingdom.

STUDY TIP: See Kingdom of God/Heaven for understanding of God’s kingdom.

We see a parable of the wrong choice that people make about who they listen to regarding religious matters in the story of Adam and Eve in the garden. Their decision to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is a parable that shows the consequence of choosing to listen to religious leaders symbolically represented as satan. In effect, Israel rejected God as the Tree of Life in favor of a mortal person (i.e. Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil) who would presume to teach them about God and his ways.

STUDY TIP: See Wood (trees) for understanding of the symbolism of the two kinds of trees.

Adam and Eve were not so much choosing a person as they were choosing to believe what that person said. It can also be said that they were choosing to listen to an idol instead of listening to God’s voice. This, of course, is sin.

This was a bad choice that represents man’s strong tendency to choose religion instead of listening to God’s spoken voice. Old Testament stories about Israel show that it was often tempted to practice the kind of religion that other religious nations practiced. These religions always included a god-like king who exercised power and authority over the religious laws of those nations. This choice is best summarized as choices to practice Old/First Covenant religion instead of New Covenant discipleship. It is also a choice to practice idolatry. It was a bad choice because it directly contradicts God’s command that Israel should not follow the customs of other nations.

STUDY TIP: See Cities, Kingdoms and Nations, Egypt, Babylon and Canaan, and Gods at War for more about nations and kings.

In addition to kings, queens and princes, God uses a variety of other kinds of characters to represent false prophets who have authority over his people. In the Old Testament, these characters include the following:  

If we believe that all scripture is useful for training in righteousness, we also believe that there is something for us who live in these modern days to learn from scriptures that reference these characters. The following table gives examples of religious activities that can be compared to supernatural abilities that some  people claim to possess:

Religious people believe that a spiritual transformation of some kind occurs when religious leaders do these things . They believe that they gain knowledge, wisdom, forgiveness, physical healing and spiritual healing from God. In religious cultures, these characters are called pastors, priests, prophets, evangelists, musicians and apostles. No matter what they are called, they all employ a kind of magical deception that causes their followers to believe that something spiritual happens when they practice their magical arts.

From the fact that God uses so many different kinds of characters to identify false prophets, we may correctly assume that he is trying to communicate something very important to Israel and to us. We would do well, therefore, to take scriptures about these characters seriously instead of dismissing them as archaic concepts with no relevance to us who live in these modern times.

In addition to these characters found in the Old Testament, the following characters found in the New Testament are also False Prophets:

If we believe that all scripture is God-breathed and useful for training in righteousness, we take seriously the stories of false prophets by a variety of names who report to God’s people false visions that they have created out of their own imaginations. If we do not apply these scriptures to our own lives, we in are deceived in our proud confidence that these warnings do not, and could not apply our own pastors, prophets and rabbis. When we invest such weight and authority in their teachings, we effectively put them ahead of God and they become idols for us.

There is great pride and arrogance at work in us when we put our own judgment about the veracity of our religious leaders ahead of God’s warnings. When we trust our own judgment about such things we effectively elevate ourselves above God and become devils. If we are convinced in our hearts that we would not be so stupid as to fall for the deception that Israel of the Bible did, we are no better off than the Israelites of the Bible. It is totally wrong thinking that we are immunized from deception because we have been baptized, said the sinners prayer, can quote the Bible and are faithful to observe religious laws and traditions.

If we can give God credit for being right in these matters, we might wonder how it was that Israel was deceived and how we can be so deceived as to listen to false prophets. God has the answer for that also: People love the peaceful messages that they hear in the smooth talk of false prophets. They love these messages so much that they are willing to hire priests to tell them lies. They love to be entertained and excited by the pseudo-spiritual activity that religion offers to them. They love it so much, in fact, that many of them are willing to return to the religious show every week and pay good money to be entertained by it. Moreover, they are so deceived in their belief that what they experience is really God at work in a religious setting, that they will invite their friends, neighbors and relatives to come and participate.

Typically these religious events include inspiring music that contributes to the feeling that God is actually working in the event. This too is a deception that is discussed in detail in Music, Singing and Dancing. 

STUDY TIP: See Shepherds, Priests and Sheep for more about religious leaders telling lies to God’s people.