Sorcery, Magic, and the Occult

Sorcery is a form of magic and an expression of the occult.  Occult means “relating to, or dealing with supernatural influences, agencies, or phenomena.”[1]  It is “of or pertaining to any system claiming use or knowledge of secret or supernatural powers or agencies.”[2]  Near synonyms would include magic, mystic, and supernatural.

“Sorcery” itself comes from the Greek pharmakia, meaning “the use of medicine, drugs, spells,” then “poisoning,” and then “sorcery.”[3]  Vine explains the term in this way: “In ‘sorcery,’ the use of drugs, whether simple or potent, was generally accompanied by incantations and appeals to occult powers, with the provision of various charms, amulents, etc., professedly designed to keep the applicant or patient from the attention and power of demons, but actually to impress the applicant with the mysterious resources and powers of the sorcerer.”[4]

Barclay says that pharmakeia (or pharmakia) was used “medically with no bad meaning at all,” then it came to denote “the misuse of drugs, that is, the use of drugs to poison and not to cure,” and finally it took on “the meaning of sorcery and witchcraft.”[5]

Magic and the occult was prevalent in Egypt, Babylon, Canaan, as well as Greece and Rome.  Interestingly, the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (1728-1686 BC) “proscribed sorcery and called for the death sentence for those who practiced it.”[6]  However, generally speaking, it was widespread in the ancient world with nearly everyone assuming that false supernatural powers were at work to influence the false gods.

Under the Law of Moses, there was a strict mandate that “forbade God’s people to practice any magical or occult art or to consult those who did so.”[7]  This was so serious, that God required the death penalty for the sin (Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 20:27; cf. 19:26, 31; 20:6).  It was totally forbidding of God’s people (Isaiah 8:16-20; 44:24ff; Jeremiah 14:13-16; 27:8-11; Ezekiel 13:6-9, 23). A lengthy prohibition says this:

When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.  For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD; and because of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out before you.  You shall be blameless before the LORD your God.  For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so (Deuteronomy 18:9-14).

One source offers a list of various classifications of types of divination: chresmology, oneiromancy, astrology, necromancy, haruspicy, augury, omens and portents, mechanical means.[8]  “To appeal by magic to spiritual forces is to deny God as master of all and to turn from God as master of all and to turn from God to other powers for help.  For the person who knows God as sovereign Lord and has established a personal relationship with him, turning to magic or the occult is a deadly insult.  To turn to magic is to turn away from God and necessarily implies either a lack or trust in his power or doubts about his love.”[9]

Another list includes the Ouija board, palmistry, handwriting analysis, automatic handwriting, ESP, hypnotism, horoscope, astrology, levitation, fortune telling, water witching, tarot cards, pendulum, witchcraft, black magic, white magic, conjuration, incantation, charms, fetishes.[10]

Today, occultism is widespread, even in the Western world.  It involves “a wide range of beliefs and practices involving magical, secret, or unseen forces.  Occultism includes astrology, fortunetelling, magic, and spiritualism—the belief that spirits of the dead communicate with the living.”[11]

Dealings with the occult were common in the first century.  Luke tells us of Simon of Samaria, “who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great” (Acts 8:9).  In Paphos on the island of Cyprus, Paul found a magician by the name of Bar-Jesus or Elymas, and this evil man sought to pull the proconsul away from the faith in Christ.  The apostle struck him blind (13:8-12).

In Philippi, Paul cast a spirit of divination out of a slave girl (16:16-18).  In Ephesus, various believers who had practiced magic came with their books on magic and burned them publicly, possessions that were worth 50,000 pieces of silver (19:18-19).  Even back in the days of Moses, there were “magicians” in Egypt who performed miracles “with their secret arts” (Exodus 7:11, 22; 8:7; cf. 2 Timothy 3:8-9).

Paul points out that those guilty of “sorcery” will “not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21; cf. Revelation 9:21; 18:23). Furthermore, sorcerers will have their part in the lake of fire, which is the second death (Revelation 21:8); they will not gain entrance into the City of God (22:15).

This means that we should be very watchful about any form of sorcery and witchcraft that may be in our environment.  We refer to the various expressions of occultism mentioned above. This would include astrology, clairvoyance, divination, extrasensory perception, fortunetelling, graphology, hypnotism, numerology, the Ouija board, palmistry parapsychology, spiritualism, telepathy, witchcraft, and similar practices.  The condemnation of sorcery would likewise fall on other forms of occultism.  Renounce all horoscopes, all games of witchcraft, all ghost stories, all fortune tellers, all movies of the occult, all amulets, and anything else that is supernatural and demonic. We must have absolutely no contact with this evil!

 

[1] The American Heritage College Dictionary.

[2] Random House Webster’s College Dictionary.

[3] W. E. Vine, Expository Dictionary.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Flesh and Spirit, p. 36.

[6] Richards, Expository Dictionary, p. 425.

[7] Ibid.

[8] The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, s.v. “divination.”

[9] Richards, Expository Dictionary.

[10] Frank and Ida Mae Hammond, Pigs in the Parlor, pp. 130-131.

[11] The World Book Encyclopedia¸ s.v. “Occultism.”