Pioneer and Bell Church of Christ

Witchcraft, or sorcery, has always been condemned throughout the Bible. Leviticus 19:26 states, "Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times." Deuteronomy 18:10-14 states, "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, 11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12 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. 13 Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. 14 For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do."

The prohibition is carried over in the New Testament when in Galatians 5:19-21 witchcraft is identified as one of the works of the flesh and clearly states that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. In Revelation 9:21 and Revelation 18:23 those who practice sorcery are identified as those opposing God. Furthermore, in Acts 19:18-19 we read about those who had practiced these arts that when they became Christians they brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all.

In The Dictionary of The Old Testament: Pentateuch (193-197) by T. D. Alexander and D. W. Baker, it states that magic is often synonymous with sorcery and witchcraft. Any distinction made seems to be sorcery is magic learned from master practitioners, while witchcraft deals with innate supernatural powers.

Witchcraft is a quest for power and control. It attempts to become a god, to force their will on God, man, and nature. They ignore that all power comes from God and not from ourselves. In Jeremiah 10:23, Jeremiah acknowledged "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps."

It is best that all practitioners of witchcraft be aware of what Paul wrote in Romans 14:11-12 when he stated, "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. 12So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." In the end, you have lost your soul over a delusion.

"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness," "Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies," "Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

"And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds." "Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver."