Joshua stood before the people of Israel at the end of his life, and challenged them to "Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” Although the conquest of Canaan was largely complete, there were still many opportunities for them to worship false gods, rather than the one true God who had led them out of Egypt. Joshua’s words sounded a lot like the words of Elijah on Mount Carmel several hundred years later, "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him. But if Baal, then follow him.”
Both Joshua and Elijah were standing before a people who believed in God. They were not atheists by any stretch of the imagination. But both of these leaders knew the human tendency to try to worship other gods in addition to the one true God. And they knew this simply wouldn’t work. It had to be one or the other. The people had to choose.
Today we Christians in America, including my own people, the Anabaptists, are faced with a similar dilemma. Satan has been trying to convince us that we can worship the creator God and also follow the false gods of the nations around us. And many of us are tragically falling for this lie, especially in the area of witchcraft, occultism, and the New Age.
While virtually all of us would agree with the statement, "witchcraft is sin,” Satan has still been wildly successful in getting this sin firmly established in Christian circles, including Anabaptist churches. The result has been the suffocation of the life and power that Jesus wants to pour in us and through us by His Spirit. Following are some thoughts for us to consider as we ponder the call of God, "How long halt ye between two opinions . . . Choose you this day whom ye will serve.”
1. Witchcraft exists. We have to agree on this point before we can move on to any of the others. While we might think that this point seems obvious, the fact is that many of us seem to subconsciously believe that it does not exist. Some of us make arguments like, "If it works, it must be OK.” Others take the skeptical approach, "If it isn’t natural, then it must be just quackery.” The implication behind both of these responses is that witchcraft really does not exist. But the truth is that witchcraft does exist, and we can know for sure that it exists, because the Bible says it exists. It is up to us as God’s people, therefore, to identify it, if in fact it exists among us, and to cast it out of our lives completely, for the sake of church purity and for the testimony of Christ Jesus.
2. God forbids witchcraft. Tapping into the power of Satan is forbidden by God in both the Old and New Testaments. God drove out the Canaanites largely because of the sin of witchcraft, punished the Israelites severely when they fell into it, took Saul’s life because of it, and in Revelation 21:8 promised the lake of fire for those who practice it. After an intense spiritual battle, the church in Ephesus experienced genuine revival after they had a
bonfire to destroy all their items of witchcraft, with a total value of fifty thousand pieces of silver.
3. Witchcraft brings into bondage. When we allow ourselves to fall into the sin of witchcraft, even if it is in ignorance, we are potentially giving Satan a foothold in our lives that can only be broken by the power of Jesus. If there seems to be a lack of spiritual power in our personal lives, in our families, or in our churches, it would be prudent to at least ask the question about whether this sin is among us.
4. It is common for users of witchcraft to believe that its power is natural. An October 25, 2017 article on CBN News reported that "more than half of young adults in the U. S. believe astrology and horoscopes are actually scientific.” Members of Wicca (also known as Pagan Witchcraft) commonly believe their powers come from nature rather than from demonic forces. The fact is that most people aren’t comfortable with the idea that they are tapping into Satan’s power (if they even believe he exists), and would usually prefer to believe that they are accessing some natural power, regardless of how unreasonable that belief might be.
5. It is possible for us to know what is and what isn’t witchcraft. God has forbidden witchcraft and has called to repentance those who practice it. We must conclude, therefore, that He has also given us the tools to discern, beyond a reasonable doubt, which practices qualify as witchcraft. These tools, however, will only be effective for us if we truly want to know the truth. For those who do not want to know the answer, or for those who do not care enough to investigate the evidence, they most likely never will know the truth about these things. We are still people of free choice, and if we do not want to know the truth, then God generally will not force us to know. But for those who sincerely do want to know, God has given and will continue to give the evidence necessary so that we can know the truth.
6. The world, the flesh, and the devil have provided us with plenty of excuses to keep us from seeking and finding the truth about witchcraft. Some of the common ones are: "Just because we don’t understand how something works does not make it witchcraft.” Or "It will cause too much conflict in our church if we try to deal with it.” Or "Christians just happen to have differences of opinions about these things, so we’ll just have to agree to disagree.” These excuses are basically just creative ways to say that we don’t care about the truth enough to investigate it and deal with it.
7. True repentance requires a knowledge of sin. Some congregations have taken the approach that since these issues are controversial, they will just agree not to practice them for the sake of peace. The problem with this approach is that it does not deal with the strongholds resulting from witchcraft that was practiced in the past. It also runs the risk that church members will still practice witchcraft secretly: "Since I don’t really believe that it is sin, therefore it’s not going to hurt anyone, as long as those who disagree with me don’t find
out that I am doing it.” How much better if we would be willing to go to the work of examining the evidence, and find out where the evidence is pointing, and then come to a conclusion based on that evidence. Then, if any of us are guilty of practicing something that is evidentially witchcraft, we should confess it, renounce it, and weed it out of our lives, just like we would do with the sins of adultery or drunkenness.
8. The passion to find the truth about this sin should come primarily from one basic motivation, which is the fear of God. Proverbs 1:7 says that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Do we truly have a fear of God? If we do, we will care what He thinks. If we really care, we will investigate. If we investigate carefully, we will find the truth. If we find the truth, and the truth is that we are guilty of this sin, we will repent. If we sincerely repent, God will forgive us and set us free.
9. The New Age movement, which is steeped in witchcraft, paganism, and anti-God philosophy, has worked its way into the lives of many professing Christians, including Anabaptist believers. This is true about a number of areas, but especially in the area of health care. Partly because of the cost, the corruption, and the side effects of conventional medicine, many professing believers are turning to what they believe to be natural cures. Many of these remedies that are promoted as natural, however, turn out to in fact be supernatural (occultic), when examined in light of the available evidence.
10. Seldom if ever will a promoter of a New Age practice admit that its power is demonic. Most of them likely do not even know that it is demonic, since the New Age religion does not hold to a Biblical view of God, angels, Satan and demons. Instead, they will try to tie its power to some entity that sounds scientific, such as frequencies, universal energy, electromagnetic energy, vital force, life force, Chi, innate intelligence, or meridians. The thing that is so deceptive about these terms is that many of them also describe real phenomena in the natural world; therefore many people assume these forces are natural as well. However, when a New Age practitioner uses these words, he is referring to something entirely different than that which can be observed in nature. For instance, the electromagnetism that New Agers refer to could never be detected with a voltage meter, battery tester, or any other natural testing device. This is because, except for the fact that they use the same word, it has absolutely no connection to the electromagnetism found in nature. It is referring to a different sort of power altogether.
11. An explanation is not the same as an investigation. It is common to hear various explanations which attempt to justify a particular practice. "Water-witching is not witchcraft because it is based on the electricity in our bodies. We all have electricity in our bodies. My aunt can’t wear a wrist watch because of the electricity in her body.” "Homeopathy works on the same principal as vaccinations, using a small amount of something to get big results.” It is tempting when we hear these explanations to nod agreeably, smile, and say, "That makes sense.” However, a simple investigation will reveal that these explanations have no basis in reality. The truth is that the natural electricity in
our bodies cannot be the source of the power that makes water-witching work. The truth is that the power behind homeopathy is not based on the same principle as vaccinations, nor is it remotely connected.
12. In order to examine a practice to determine whether or not the evidence says it is occultic, there are a series of connected questions we can ask to lead us to an evidence-based conclusion.
a. Does it work? If the practice gets real results (as opposed to no results or only perceived results) then we can know that there is a real power at work.
b. Is it natural? If there is a real power at work, the next question is whether this power is part of nature. A characteristic of a power that is natural is that it will produce similar results when performed multiple times in similar conditions; it will not be impacted by the mindset of those performing the experiment or the bystanders. Supernatural powers, on the other hand, can produce wildly different results in identical conditions, and the mindset (faith) of the user can be a key ingredient as to whether or not it will work. That is why occultic practices must rely on testimonies rather than on experimentation in order to validate their effectiveness.
c. If the evidence (including testimonial evidence) seems to suggest that there is a real power at work, but scientific research eliminates the possibility of it being a natural power, then the only thing left is that it is a supernatural power. Supernatural powers fall into one of two categories: those from God and those from Satan. The next two questions can help us determine which category it is in.
d. If it is a supernatural power, does it depend on obedience to God’s Word for it to work? Must it be done in the name of Jesus? Does it require repentance from known sin? If the answer is to these questions is no, then apparently it is a supernatural power that is not from God.
e. Do the promoters of the practice invoke wording or explanations that would associate it with the New Age movement? Wording such as life force, meridians, bioenergy, and electromagnetism are indications that it derives its power from the occult and from New Age philosophy.
13. Here are just a few practices which, when examined with the process above, taking into account the evidence currently available, appear to be connected to the occult: Water- witching (dowsing). Homeopathy. Applied Kinesiology. Reflexology. Yoga. "Structured Water”. Ouija boards. Acupuncture. Radiesthesia. Vitalist Aromatherapy. Hypnotherapy. And a host of other practices and therapies which are constantly being developed. Yes, it is true that there are many who will deny that some or all of these things are connected to the occult, but the only way they can do so is by ignoring the evidence that is currently available.
14. Once again, the reason that Christians should consider the above practices to be witchcraft is not because we are called to be fanatics who "see a devil behind every bush”. Nor is it because we should simply write off as witchcraft everything we don’t understand. Rather,
the reason we should regard these things as occultic is because a careful examination of the evidence points to the conclusion that they are occultic. Furthermore, there has currently been no evidence presented that would point to them being anything other than occultic. Therefore, until new evidence is brought forward, there is only one reasonable conclusion we can come to, and that is the conclusion that they truly are forms of witchcraft.
15. To those of you who can honestly say that you simply don’t know whether or not a particular practice is occultic, then I certainly do not judge you for that. But I do urge you not to rest a moment until you have investigated the evidence and received an answer, especially if it is a practice you have engaged in personally. (There probably is not any need to spend time studying into a questionable practice if neither you nor your loved ones have had any involvement with it. But if you have practiced it, it will be hard to sincerely repent from it unless you know for sure that it is sin.) Let the fear of God, which is the beginning of knowledge, drive you to an urgency in your investigation. Develop a passion to agree with God about this issue, and to fervently hate the same things He hates. Don’t take comfort in the fact that other Christians are practicing it, since Jesus made in clear in Matthew 7 that many will be turned away on Judgment Day, even though they were professing Christians their entire lives.
16. To those of you who intend to persist in using one or more of these practices, in spite of the conclusive evidence that they are indeed occultic, then please, for the sake of the testimony of Christ, stop calling yourself a Christian. Go join another religion if you wish, or even start your own if you prefer. Find yourself a prophet to lead you, write your own holy book to guide you, and build whatever sort of temple suits your fancy. But please don’t call yourself a Christian, since these practices are simply not part of the Christianity described in the Bible. To call yourself a Christian while practicing witchcraft will tarnish the testimony of Christ’s church, and, according to Revelation 21:8, you will still end up in the lake of fire.
17. If you are a church leader, I urge you to insist, with all lowliness and meekness, upon having a congregation that is free from this sin of witchcraft, in the same way that you would insist on freedom from adultery or fornication. Yes, this will take tremendous courage, and it may cost you your reputation, your financial security, or even access to your church building. But how much better it is to have a small congregation that meets in a humble building, in the power of the Holy Spirit, rather than a large congregation meeting in a modern building, whose spiritual life is being strangled by this ugly sin of witchcraft.
18. This last point does not mean that God is promoting division in His church. God has no desire to see churches torn apart, since He hates schism and division, and He longs to see true spiritual unity in His body. However, He also has a desire to see a pure church, and for that reason He calls us repeatedly to get rid of evil in our lives, and even to "put away from among yourselves that wicked person” who refuses to repent.
19. Perhaps as you read this article, you have been turned off by a tone that you feel is harsh and insensitive. If so, I simply ask for your forgiveness. I have no desire to be any more severe than God Himself is, but rather to accurately reflect what He has already said in His Word. I would, however, like to end by softening my tone and extending a humble invitation to any of you that have been trapped by any of these occultic practices. I want to assure you that you are not the enemy, even though you may have been tricked by him. Our real enemy is Satan, and he is seeking to devour all of us through the deceitfulness of sin. Yet our God is still merciful, and He is still longing to turn away His wrath and extend to you His mercy, if you will but humble yourself, confess your sin, and ask for His forgiveness in the name of His Son Jesus.
20. Finally, as the author of this article, I do not claim to have any special virtue or any special authority that would compel you to listen to what I have to say. But I do urge you to consider (and investigate) whether or not these things are true, regardless of who says them. I also urge you to consider the following thoughts from God’s Word: . . . when Joram saw Jehu . . . he said, "Is it peace, Jehu?” So he answered, "What peace, as long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft are so many?” These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: "I know your works, love, service . . . Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel . . . to teach and seduce . . . I gave her time to repent . . . and she did not repent.” Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.
Roger Hertzler November, 2017