Cults Lecture -3

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

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Terms contd

• 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

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What The Bible Says About Magic

• (Leviticus 1926-31 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 206 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.

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Contd.

• (Deuteronomy 1810-14 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

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Astrology

• Isaiah 4712-14 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 419 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,

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See also.

• OT History 2 Kings 1717, 216, 2324 2
  Chronicles 336
• OT Prophets Isaiah 819 Jeremiah 1414,
  279Ezekiel 1224 136-7,18,20,23 Malachi 35

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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

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Idols Paganism

• .(Exodus 204-5 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 58-10 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.

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What To Do With Idols

• Deuteronomy 75 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 725,26 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.

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Contd

• Deuteronomy 121-3 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.

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The NT, Magic Idols

• (Acts 1919 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 218 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 2215 NKJV) But outside are dogs and
  sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and
  idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
• 1 Corinthians 1014 MKJV (14) Therefore, my
  dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
• 1 John 521 MKJV Little children, guard
  yourselves from idols. Amen.

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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

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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.

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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