Truth Magazine

An article in the April 20, 1998 issue of one of America’s most popular newspapers, the USA Today, charted the change in Americans’ belief be- tween 1976 and 1998 about the following items:

Things Be- lieved	1976	1998
Spiritualism	12%	52%
Faith healing	10%	45%
Astrology	17%	37%
UFOs	24%	30%
Reincarnation	9%	25%
Fortune Telling	4%	14%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though these figures mildly surprised me, I began to think of several news accounts that confirmed these findings. Nancy Reagan consulted her astrologist on a regular basis. Hillary Clinton had seances with Eleanor Roosevelt. Psychics advertise on TV with costly phone numbers. Astrology charts are sold at many grocery check-out counters. Some police departments occasionally turn to psychics to help solve crime.

These figures show a rise in pagan beliefs in our society as do the changes in moral standards accepted in such areas as the following: abortion, euthanasia, divorce and remarriage, homosexuality, and gambling. The sociologists tell us that we live in a post-Christian America and these trends confirm their assessments.

The rise in superstition is directly tied to the rejection of the revealed faith. Paul wrote,

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things (Rom. 1:21-23).

As Americans become so impressed with their own wisdom and learning, too sophisticated to believe in an Almighty, Eternal God who sacrificed his Son on the cross of Calvary for the remission of man’s sins, and who revealed his perfect will to mankind through the Holy Spirit in an inspired Bible, they become more gullible to such things as extra sensory perception, seances, astrologists, spiritists, yoga, etc. Christians may wonder what the Bible says about such phenomena.

The Teachings of the Bible About Spiritualism

Divination and magic are attempts to contact supernatural powers to determine answers to questions hidden to humans and usually involving the future. Karen Joines explained,

The ancient Babylonians and Assyrians employed several methods. The Babylonians commonly used hepatoscopy, divination by the liver. The liver of a sacrificial animal by virtue of being considered the seat of life could be observed carefully by specially trained priests to deter- mine the future activities of the gods. For this purpose the priests underwent ceremonial cleansings in preparing to interpret the livers which had carefully been divided into zones, each containing its own secrets. This was done before action was taken on any matter of real gravity. Clay models of animal livers apparently used as instructional tools in teaching the science of hepatoscopy appear in archaeological sites in Babylonia and in Palestine (Karen Joines, Holman Dictionary of the Bible).

Resorting to these pagan means of learning the future was condemned in Scripture. Consider the following texts:

1. Leviticus 20:27. “A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.” The things condemned in this text are:

a. One that hath a familiar spirit (NIV or NRSV: me- dium). The word  bw) means “a spirit of divination, or necromancy. . . a necromancer, one who calls up spirits to learn of them the future” (Davidson, Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon 50-51). In Brown, Driver, and Briggs’ A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (hereafter BDB) the word is defined as “necromancer.” The English word “necromancer” is derived from necros, the Greek word for “dead” and manteia, the Greek word for “divination.” The word means “one who claims to foretell the future through alleged communication with the dead.”

b. Wizard (NIV or NRSV: spiritist). The word yn(dy is from the root of the verb that means “to know” and is defined as “wizard, soothsayer, . . . spirit of divination” (298). BDB defines the term as “prop. either as knowing, wise [acquainted with secrets of unseen world]” (396).

2. Leviticus 20:6. “And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.”  One who turns aside to these is guilty of spiritual adultery. He has gone “a whoring”   (from hnz, “to commit fornication”) after other gods.

3. Leviticus 19:31. “Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them:

I am the Lord your God.” One who turns aside to these things “defiles” himself.

4. Exodus 22:18. “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” The one who is a “witch” (a female sorcerer) was to be punished with death. The word P#k means “to practice magic, use witchcraft” (Davidson 396; BDB 506).

5. Deuteronomy 18:10-12. “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.” This passage forbids the following practices:

a. Using divination. The verb Msq means “to divine, spoken esp. of false prophets” (Davidson 663); “practice divination” (BDB 890). The cognate noun means “divination.” The word “divination” means “the act or practice of trying to foretell future events or the unknown by occult means” (Webster).

b. An observer of times (NIV: sorcery; NRSV: is a sooth- sayer). The verb Nn( means “to cloud, bring a cloud . . . Poel. . . to divine, by the clouds or perh. the sky generally” (Davidson 607). BDB suggest several possible etymologies, but defines the word as “practice soothsaying” (778). A “soothsayer” is “one who predicts or pretends to foretell the future” (Webster).

c. Enchanter (NIV: interprets omens; NRSV: augur). The root meaning of #xn is “serpent.” The word evolved in meaning to mean “divination by serpents. . . to use enchantment, divination; . . . to perceive, observe” (Davidson 545). BDB define the word to mean “practice divination, divine, observe signs” (639).

d. Witch (NIV: engages in witchcraft; NRSV: sorcerer). For definition see “no. 4” above.

e. Charmer (NIV and NRSV: casts spells). The verb rbx means “to be bound, joined together, to consociate; to charm, bind with a spell” (Davidson 246). BDB defines the word to mean “unite, be joined, tie a magic knot or spell, charm” (287). The noun is used in this context for “incantation” or “spell.” When a witch joins together something such as sticking a pin in a doll to creating pain in someone, he is doing the thing here described. Some charms used are magic charms sewn as wristbands (Ezek. 13:18 NIV) to ward off evil spirits and diseases (cf. Isa. 3:20) or other items designed to protect a person from some supposed evil (cf. the modern use of crosses, good luck charms [rabbit’s foot, horseshoe, etc.]). Snake charmers exercised power in the community because they knew “magic words” or “magic acts” to prevent poisonous snakes from harming people. The psalmist compared the wicked to deaf snakes who were immune to such charmers (Ps. 58:4-5). The “enchanters” (NASB, NIV, NRSV) are listed among com- munity leaders the prophet condemned (Isa. 3:3).

f. Consulter with familiar spirits (NIV: a medium; NRSV: consults ghosts). See on “1.a.” above.

g. Wizard (NIV: spiritist; NRSV: one who consults spirits). See “1.b.” above.

h. Necromancer (NIV: one who consults with the dead; NRSV: who seeks oracles from the dead). The words in He- brew are Mytmh-l) #rd. The verb #rd is used in this context to mean “to ask, inquire, especially to inquire of or consult an oracle” (154). The most familiar example of a necromancer is the “witch of Endor (see 1 Sam. 28:7-9). The “witch of Endor” was one who called up the dead (see “1.a.” above) to learn the future.

Wicked kings not only tolerated these practices but also consulted such mediums (2 Kings 21:6; 2 Chron. 33:6). Righteous kings expelled those practicing these things from the land. Saul initially destroyed such people and eventually went to the witch of Endor (1 Sam. 28:3, 8-19). Josiah destroyed them as a part of his reforms (2 Kings 23:24). Isaiah showed that one departed from God to the degree that he sought those practicing these arts (Isa. 8:19). He directed men to the law and testimonies rather than for the living to seek direction from those who are dead!

Why Men Resort To These Practices

Men who believe God’s revelation will listen to these divine warnings to stay away from these practices of the occult. Men turn to these things when they have (a) Lost confidence in divine revelation (otherwise they would be- lieve what it says about the impotency of such things) and (b) Rejected divine revelation (cf. why Saul turned aside to the witch of En-dor. Saul had rejected God’s revelation to walk in his own ways. When he sought divine help, God did not answer, so in his desperation, he turned aside to the witch of Endor [1 Sam. 28:3-6]).

The Scriptures describe how those who profess to be wise become “fools” as they follow their own reasoning (Rom. 1:21-23). The more human wisdom men profess to have as shown by their rejecting the revealed word, the more foolish they become in following such things as ESP, parapsychology, UFOs, the psychic network, spiritists, and astrologists. There is a direct correlation between infidelity and superstition.

The growing phenomena of Americans turning to seances, spiritists, astrologists, psychics, those claiming to have ESP, and such like things is an indication of the rejection of the biblical message. These phenomena are condemned by God as false religion used by the Devil to deceive the hearts of men.

By Randy Blackaby 

The ancient prophet Isaiah, speaking of the evils of his day, described our own when he wrote, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isa. 5:20).

What better words to describe the “pro-choice” advocates of today, who avoid admitting the evil of their bloody practices by cloaking the issue in terms of freedom, choice and the “good” to be gained by parents who don’t want the responsibility of a child to raise?

The cutting, chopping, dissection and sucking to death of tiny lives is not described for the evil that it is — murder — but in terms that generate feelings of good.

Sadly, a huge number of Americans have succumbed to this reverse logic and have become virtually blinded to reality — a reality that sees millions of infants slaughtered each year.

But those who defend such practices under the “pro-choice” banner are selective in their use of this logic.

If moral issues such as murder and sexual practice are wholly matters of individual choice, why do we hire police to protect us? If a man wants to kill us, why not be consistently pro-choice and allow him to do what he deems best for him?

If there are no righteous standards for sexuality, why do we condemn incestuous fathers and pedophiles and rapists?

This dilemma has not escaped those who would excuse the murder of infants. So, they have redefined life and tried to legally establish that a person isn’t a person until near birth. If a doctor aborts the fetus it isn’t a person, but if an angry husband punches his wife and kills the fetus, he’s guilty of murder. Pro-choice logic is nothing if not inconsistent.

Abortionists also have argued that as long as the baby is in the womb it is a part of the mother and thus within her prerogative to amputate, disembowel, or excise. The fetus is treated like a fingernail that is clipped and discarded.

But all this must be done by ignoring the fact that the baby in the womb is genetically and, in many ways, metabolically distinct from the mother. For instance, how can a male child with a different blood type being pumped by a different heart under the direction of a different brain be called a part of a woman’s body?

Also ignored in the pro-choice rhetoric is the factual difference between ability to make a choice and the right to make a choice. God has given us all the ability to make wrong choices, but the guidance to make right ones. I have the ability to choose to pick up a gun and shoot you, but I don’t have the legal or moral right.

Joshua, the successor to Moses as leader of ancient Israel, put the choice issue before his people thousands of years ago. He said, “Choose you this day whom you will serve . . . but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15). The choice issue is no different today.

Moses had set a similar choice before his people, as recorded in Deuteronomy 30:19. Moses wasn’t talking about abortion, but the words are hauntingly meaningful in the abortion debate. He said, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before your life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.”

Don’t be fooled by perverted terminology. Those who favor “abortion rights” need to be more concerned about choosing right than their right to choose.

A few months ago, a decision was handed down in a famous court case in Texas. This case involved the so- called “vampire” killer who murdered several people in very brutal way. The jury found him guilty of murder in the first degree and the judge sentenced him to die for his heinous crimes.

While listening to the national news, I heard a curious statement reported of what the judge in the case had to say to this corrupt young man during sentencing. The judge reportedly said this to this killer, “Your parents failed you, society has failed you!”

This is not the first time I have heard such “foolishness” come from the lips of judges in America. Someone, some- where, in some way has failed you. We live in a society that has accepted the liberal pap of someone else is to blame for your actions. Our country was founded on the truth of individual responsibility and accountability, but today the montra of our nation is, “find someone else to blame.”

From the dawn of time, man has attempted to justify unlawful actions on the backs of other people. In the garden, God told man in Genesis 2:17-18, “Of every tree of the gar- den you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” We know the story! Satan tempted Eve and she ate, then she gave it to her husband and he ate. When God confronted them with their sin, they looked for someone else to blame: Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent, and the serpent must have laughed. God’s way is personal responsibility. God punished the serpent for his sin, Eve for her sin, and Adam for his sin.

This is and always has been the Bible way. Ezekiel told Israel to straighten up and quit blaming their fathers for the consequences of sin they were now reaping. Ezekiel 18:20 states, “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of their father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.” Only upon ourselves, guilt and punishment will come for our own wickedness. Although others may influence us to sin, God will demand payment from our hands. It is our fault regardless of the environment in which we live! Yes, maybe our parents didn’t train us correctly. Maybe society deems our promiscuous behavior acceptable. Possibly all of our peers are doing it! Yet God will punish you for your sin and God will punish me for my sin! You have failed yourself!

Brothers and sisters, we need to place this truth deep into our hearts and the hearts of our families. God expects us individually to serve him and obey the gospel. He has given every able-bodied Christian the duty of “assembling with the saints” (Heb. 10:25) on a consistent basis. God admonishes each of us to bear his own load (Gal. 6:5). God encourages us to work in his vineyard as he has given us a variety of talents to utilize and bear spiritual fruits for the glory of God. Are you bearing your own load? One of the songs we sing exhorts us by saying, “There is much to do, there’s work on every hand.” Don’t attempt to put your load of spiritual service on another brother or sister. Don’t leave it for the preacher, the Bible class teacher, or the “faithful few.” When you drift from God, don’t blame the church for its lack of teaching or concern. If you are overcome in sin, don’t gnash out against your family or friends as though they are responsible for your wickedness. On the day of judgment, all people will stand before Jesus and you’ll never hear from him, “Your parents failed you, society has failed you!”