In headlines across the country, we are now being treated to the fact that modern-day witches outnumber Presbyterians in the United States. We’ve gone from a nation where our founding revolution was referred to as “The Presbyterian Revolt” by the British, to a nation where millennials are only able to construct political arguments based on Harry Potter – a fictional boy wizard invented by a British children’s author.
What did everyone expect to happen when they abandoned the founding faith of our nation? People would just become shiny secular atheists who use reason and logic to rule their lives?
Pew Research reports that the number of practicing pagans, witches or “Wiccans” now totals 1.5 million in America, compared to 1.4 million Presbyterians. These modern-day witches are noted for their adherence to radical feminism, political Marxism, and worshiping trees and plants in the forest to unlock their “higher selves.” (In fairness, a lot of Presbyterian Church-USA sermons are indistinguishable from this.)
Popular culture is awash in pagan spirituality like never before in America. Everyone from the Olson twins to Katy Perry, Heather Graham, Beyoncé, and Hillary Clinton openly practice forms of the occult and brag about it publicly. The late Patrick Swayze once gave an interview about how important crystals are to his health and well-being. (Spoiler alert: Didn’t work.)
The term “witch” in scripture is an old word that translates as “poisoner.” Witches in ancient times were essentially drug dealers. They sought to control events and people through the use of drugs and murder. Hence, the command in Exodus 22:18, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”
A better description of these modern-day Wiccans and occultists who refer to themselves as “witches” is found in Deuteronomy 18:9-11:
“When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 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.”
Moloch worship involved passing children over an altar flame, in order to dedicate them to the state. Child sacrifices were not uncommon among the Canaanites, but the primary purpose of passing the children over the flames was to place them in covenant with the government, rather than with God. This idea that children belong to the state is still common in America, where an MSNBC host recently stated that children belong to the “community” and not to their parents.
Divination is the practice of attempting to know the future apart from God. Likewise, “observers of times” were practicing astrology, the belief that the rotation of planets millions of miles away in outer space somehow rules over a person’s life on earth. Open up any newspaper for the “daily horoscope” to see examples of this.
Charmers claim to have hidden knowledge that they can use to impart healing and protective powers to inanimate objects. Ironically, the same people who cling to healing crystals will tell you that they belong to the “party of science” as they lecture you about what the weather will be a hundred years from now. The magical trinkets are a pagan substitute for prayer.
Consulters with familiar spirits, wizards and necromancers all claim an ability to communicate with the dead for various purposes, from predicting the future to comforting the bereaved. Former First Lady Hillary Clinton is said to have communed with Eleanor Roosevelt and Mahatma Gandhi while in the White House, while rejecting an adviser’s suggestion that she should perhaps consult with Jesus.
Television personality and author John Edward dazzled audiences in the early 2000s with a “spiritual medium” trick used by carnival barkers and con artists for more than a century. He made millions preying on grieving people with his deceptive routine. “I’m getting really strong feeling that there’s a Janet or Janice in the audience?” Americans ate it up.
All of these various forbidden practices are being engaged in by pagans in America under the blanket term, “witch.” In all cases, they seek power apart from Jesus Christ. Is it any wonder that as we live in such revolutionary times, people are revolting against God in record numbers?
For our purposes as Christians, we shouldn’t spend much time worrying about the various occult practices at work. We should be more concerned with God’s warning in Deuteronomy 18:9. The Canaanites were displaced from their homeland for allowing all of those abominations to flourish.
