Warning: The Spirit of Witchcraft in America Today
Sometimes I feel called to be a watchman on the wall (Ezekiel 3: 16 – 21). God told Ezekiel, “Hear the word I speak, and give them warning from me”. That is what I am trying to do in the next two posts. The warning is about the spirit of witchcraft in America in particular, and the rest of the world in general. The manifestations of the spirit of witchcraft are manipulation, intimidation, and deception in order to dominate or control a person, movement, even a nation. We see these attributes of the spirit of witchcraft everywhere we look in America today. So, here goes:
Scripture is very clear: witchcraft and its cousins, divination, and sorcery (and abortion) are detestable to God.
“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord . . . “(Deuteronomy 18: 10 – 12 NIV).
Yet I believe witchcraft is all around us today, perhaps more than any other time in American history. I want to explore this phenomenon in this post, partly because it has significant implications as we go to the polls to vote for our next President and the make-up of Congress. But more importantly, it has significant implications for the spiritual lives of every Christian, and I believe, the future of the Church in America.
“Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry” (1 Samuel 15: 23 KJV).
Shortly after their creation, Adam and Eve rebelled against God (Genesis 3: 1 – 12). They chose rebellion when the serpent (the deceiver or satan) told them, “You will be like God”. When satan said, “You will be like God”, he was telling them, “You can be powerful – you can be in control”. To be in control of another person or a situation is power; power is to be in control. Fallen human nature craves control – this desire is the root of idolatry and therefore much human evil.
Satan manipulated Adam and Eve. The definition of manipulation is, “To control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious (e.g. treacherous) means especially to one’s advantage” – a good description of what satan did.
In the Garden, rebellion entered into the spiritual DNA of the human heart – and with it the very human need to be in control. Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft; a spirit of witchcraft is part of mankind’s fallen human nature. Witchcraft is the hallmark of pure evil. When witchcraft is present, you are in the presence of evil.
“Wait a minute”, you are probably saying (well, most of you), “I have nothing to do with witchcraft. I don’t cast spells, make blood sacrifices, belong to a coven, or put curses on anyone (at least, not intentionally)”. True, but that is one narrow description of witchcraft. In a broader sense, anyone who rebels against God is guilty of the spirit of witchcraft, because witchcraft is synonymous with rebellion against Him.
What is witchcraft? There are many books on witchcraft that Christians can consult, although I am personally not interested is going very deep into this subject. I want enough knowledge to know witchcraft when I see it so I can know how to pray against it – in particular, how to release believers from a spirit of witchcraft. One good book is ‘They Shall Expel Demons: What You Need to Know About Demons – Your Invisible Enemies’ by Derek Prince. Here are some quotes from this book:
“As we trace the tortuous, deceptive paths of demonic activity and the occult, we discover that they all proceed from one primal source: witchcraft. Witchcraft is the universal, primeval religion of fallen humanity. When the human race turned from God in rebellion, the power that moved in was witchcraft” (pg. 129).
In one of his videos on witchcraft, Prince defines witchcraft as:
“The attempt to control people and make them do what you want them to do by the use of any spirit which is not the Holy Spirit”.
A corollary to this definition is, “If any person has a spirit which they use to control others, it is not the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is God, and no one uses God.”
Paul writes about witchcraft in Galatians:
“The acts of the sinful nature (called “flesh” in the KJV) are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred . . . etc.” (Galatians 5: 19 20 NIV).
Idolatry and witchcraft are lumped together in this passage in the NIV. This makes sense because idolatry is rebellion and rebellion is fueled and instigated by a spirit of witchcraft.
Jezebel, queen to Ahab, King of the Northern Kingdom, or Israel, is a good example of a person in the Bible who operated in a spirit of witchcraft. Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal, King of the Sidonians, and a priest of Baal. As soon as she showed up in Israel, Ahab began to worship and serve Baal. “He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him” (1 Kings 16: 32 – 34 NIV).
The kings of Israel followed in the footsteps of the first king of Israel, Jeroboam who made idols (2 golden calves and told Israel, “Here are your Gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt” 1 Kings 12: 28) and set up temples on high places. They all did evil in the eyes of the Lord. But that evil took a much darker turn under Ahab when Jezebel became Ahab’s queen. She introduced Baal into Israel. Jezebel also worshiped another god, Astarte (in Greek, Ashoreth). The worship of Baal and Ashoreth involved rituals and blood sacrifices, sometimes the sacrifice of children, sexual immorality and public prostitution, magic, and divination – all manifestations of a spirit of witchcraft.
By her actions Jezebel teaches us something much more fundamental about witchcraft. As the priests and prophets of Baal became more powerful in Israel, Elijah, a prophet of God, began to prophesy against Ahab. Finally, Elijah summoned the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Ashoreth to a showdown on top of Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18: 16 – 46). On the summit of Mount Carmel, Elijah demonstrated the power of God when fire came down from heaven. Then, Elijah slew all the Baal prophets.
What came next illustrates the spirit of witchcraft in Jezebel. She threatened or intimidated Elijah. She sent a messenger to Elijah saying, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like one of them” (1 Kings 19: 3 NIV). Elijah was so intimidated, he fled into the desert.
Jezebel also used manipulation and deception to kill Naboth the Jezreelite to take his vineyard that Ahab coveted, but which Naboth would not sell (1 Kings 21: 5 – 5 – 16).
The last time we see Jezebel in the Old Testament (she shows up in the book of Revelation), she is preparing to meet Jehu, knowing that he is probably coming to kill her. But she had one last trick to play. “Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she painted her eyes, arranged her hair and looked out of a window” (2 Kings 9: 30). Her intent was to seduce Jehu, and so manipulate him to save her life.
Jezebel used manipulation, intimidation and deception to control the people around her, especially her enemies.
Manipulation and intimidation, often coupled with deception, for the purpose of controling or dominating a person or situation are the marks of witchcraft. Whenever we encounter manipulation, intimidation, and deception we are in the presence of a spirit of witchcraft.
Witchcraft is a work of the flesh – our fallen, rebellious, sinful nature. This nature, even in infants, manifests itself in efforts to control other people. Control = power. We want our needs, wants, and desires to be met and if they are not, we will often resort to manipulation, intimidation, and deception to dominate or control to get what we want or feel we need.
Today witchcraft operates in every area of society in America. We see a spirit of witchcraft today in politics, media, social media, unrest in our streets, cartoons, comic books, books like Harry Potter, Hollywood movies, and day-to-day social interactions in our own sphere of influence. Even, if we are honest, in our own lives.
Like Jezebel, if someone is trying to control a person they perceive to be weaker than them, they will use intimidation. If the person they are trying to control is stronger than them, they will use manipulation. Usually, both of these actions are camouflaged, at least initially, by deception.
Why should we care about this? Derek Prince tells us:
“People who habitually use manipulation or intimidation to control others will be taken over by a demon of witchcraft. After that they will be unable to relate to anyone apart from these tactics. Now it will be no longer just the flesh at work, but a new, supernatural power that can bring the person they control into a condition of spiritual slavery” (Prince, ‘They Shall Expel Demons, pg. 138).
The one they are trying to control is brought into spiritual slavery. The one habitually using witchcraft to control others will themselves enter into a condition of slavery or bondage. The supernatural power they are calling upon, the demon of witchcraft, constructs a stronghold in their heart they are powerless to tear down, apart from the power of the Holy Spirit.
All demonic activity – the occult, including religions like Voodoo and Santeria; divination, sorcery, spells and curses, all spiritism; and demonic spirits, like the Jezebel spirit – have one common root or source: witchcraft, the primeval religion of fallen, human nature.
“Whenever this kind of controlling relationship exists between two people, the person being controlled almost invariably needs deliverance from witchcraft. Likewise, the person exercising control needs deliverance” (Prince, pg. 139). We are delivered through renouncing intimidation and manipulation, repenting, asking Jesus for forgiveness and forgiving ourselves, and giving these sins to Jesus.
But the main reason why we should care about witchcraft and its relatives – sorcery and divination – is that they are detestable to God. They are anathema to God because they corrupt and destroy the heart, mind, and lives of human beings. Ultimately, those who embrace a spirit of witchcraft, even inadvertently, let that spirit into their hearts with dire consequences. This is true for individuals; it is true for churches, and even cities. An entire city can come under the thrall of witchcraft. Such a city will quickly become unlivable, so that their residents will leave for a safer place, only to bring the spirit of witchcraft with them to poison a new place. Much of the culture in America today is steeped in this spirit of witchcraft. The church must very carefully consider how it aligns itself with cultural movements like ‘social justice’ that appear to be a noble cause, but through deception are hiding an underlying spirit of witchcraft.
One of the reasons why a spirit of witchcraft can so easily invade our culture, even our churches, is because few believe in the demonic, and if they do, are unwilling to talk about it. Jesus defeated satan at the cross – so satan is a defeated foe. But if we turn our backs on the works of the enemy, we open ourselves up to his attacks — in the past the church has always been vigilant; it must remain vigilant today. Only the church rooted in Jesus, the Cross, the Holy Spirit, and our Father can defeat the spiritual forces of darkness at work in America today. And only if it acknowledges these forces exist and teaches us how to wage war against them. We have defeated the spirit of witchcraft before, we can do it again but only if we identify the enemy and band together to implacably wage war against it.
In my next post I’ll look in more detail at some areas in society where I believe the spirit of witchcraft is prevalent today.
Trusting in Jesus,
John