That first word “mediums” is from the Hebrew word which has the following meaning, “from the same as 1 (apparently through the idea of prattling a father’s name); properly, a mumble, i.e. a water skin (from its hollow sound); hence a necromancer (ventriloquist, as from a jar):–bottle, familiar spirit.” The second word has the meaning, “properly, a knowing one; specifically, a conjurer; (by impl) a ghost:–wizard.”<\/p>\n
In later centuries, warnings are still given about them, as Isaiah wrote, “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead?<\/em>” (Isaiah 8:19). The wicked king Manasseh even forced this on his son: “He made his son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD provoking Him to anger<\/em>” (II Kings 21:6).<\/p>\n And we find them centuries later in the New Testament. We remember that Paul and Silas got in trouble in the city of Philippi when they confronted a young woman who was practicing sorcery. “It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling<\/em>” (Acts 16:16). Paul drove out her evil spirit, and when her masters saw their profit was gone, they dragged Paul and Silas before the authorities and raised up a mob who caused Paul and Silas to be beaten and thrown into prison.<\/p>\n Well, what about the United States? Witchcraft, sorcery, or whatever you want to call it, is everywhere. When driving in your car, have you ever seen a sign in front of a building that says “Palm Reading?” “Spell Casting?” “Fortune Telling?” It’s all the same. Do you subscribe to your local newspaper? If so, you probably have a column entitled “Horoscope” in it. that’s basically a form of fortune-telling.<\/p>\n\n\n One of the popular posts in the newspapers a while back was Jeane Dixon (1918-1997), who appeared regularly in the newspapers with her prognostications. Among her “prophecies” which did not come to pass were<\/p>\n As we know, none of these came true. Yes, she did make some predictions that did come true. I might take a survey of several people and make a correct prediction of who our next president might be. But that would not be because some “spirit” told me. Anyone can make an “educated guess.” Some will come to pass, while others will not.<\/p>\n Let us take care that we do not fall for this fantasy. It may seem harmless, but it is the work of Satan, and we have been warned about this.<\/p>\n “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<\/em>” (Deuteronomy 18:9-12).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Jefferson David Tant Witchcraft has been around for a long, long time. Way back in Leviticus 19:31, Israel is warned about such: “‘Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.” The KJV refers to them as “familiar spirits” and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[604],"class_list":["post-33396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-witchcraft"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15213,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/witchcraft-isnt-evil-i-dont-believe-in-evil-it-depends-on-each-individual\/","url_meta":{"origin":33396,"position":0},"title":"Witchcraft isn’t evil. I don’t believe in evil. It depends on each individual","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just have a comment. Please don't misunderstand. Witchcraft is like a secret. It is no different than other religions. Nothing bad about it. But don't confuse witchcraft with people's intentions, which could be good or bad. Look at all the corrupt people, all of them believe in some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5406,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-talk-with-those-who-have-died\/","url_meta":{"origin":33396,"position":1},"title":"Can we talk with those who have died?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question: when a loved one who was pure and good dies, is it possible for that person to come back to the living? How can one learn ways to communicate with a loved one? Answer: The Bible teaches that those who die are not able to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4818,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-witchcraft-real\/","url_meta":{"origin":33396,"position":2},"title":"Is Witchcraft Real?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Samuel 28:3-14 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Bible has much to say about witchcraft and none of it is good \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It amazes me how many people attempt to blend forms of witchcraft with Christianity \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I have had discussions with a woman who called herself a \u201cWhite Witch.\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55689,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/consulting-mediums\/","url_meta":{"origin":33396,"position":3},"title":"Consulting Mediums","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Sam Stinson \"When they say to you, 'Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,' should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?\" (Isaiah 8:19) Dear friend, are you a Christian? Many people in the world do not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/ouiji.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":44188,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-you-were-forced-into-believing-in-witchcraft\/","url_meta":{"origin":33396,"position":4},"title":"What if you were forced into believing in witchcraft?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I know you say about\u00a0witchcraft, that the only way you're a victim is if you allow it, but what if you're forced into it and tortured until you believe in it? What is a person supposed to do then? I have so many dreams of people mentioning programming, satanic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7491,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-about-ghosts-and-speaking-with-the-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":33396,"position":5},"title":"What about ghosts and speaking with the dead?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I heard that communication with spirits is forbidden. Is this true? How about those who claim that they can communicate with spirits? Is it a gift from God that they can do that? I learned that there is a verse in Revelation that goes something like this: \"...the dead\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Jamacian-Witchcraft-247x300.jpg\")
In my work in South Africa, I studied with a young woman who seemed to be convinced concerning the gospel, but she was afraid that if she accepted it, evil spirits would bring harm. The “sangoma” is a traditional healer, who reads bones he has cast to make decisions. In sub-Sahara Africa, there is one traditional healer for every 500 people, while there is one medical doctor for every 400,000 people. Sangomas claim they can cure any disease, including aids. In working in Jamaica, I have come across Obeah, which is “spell-casting.” I had a spell cast on me one time, but evidently, the spell-caster wasn’t very good at it, as I felt no ill effects from it.<\/p>\n\n