What Does The Bible Say About Witchcraft Pt. 2
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Main topic for today
Today, we’re going to talk about some difficult passages when it comes to witchcraft and how the Bible handles these situations. We touched on several of these passages last week, but today we’re going to take a deeper dive and really flesh out the difficulties of these passages and what they mean for us today.
Witchcraft as a human ability
We looked at several passages that just come right out and condemn the practice of witchcraft. Let’s take a look.
Deut. 18:10-12
Exodus 22:18
Lev. 19:26
All of these just come out and say, “Don’t do it.” But there’s something a little strange about this prohibition.
What do you think is missing from these prohibitions against practicing witchcraft?
What’s missing is an explanation as to why we shouldn’t do it
The difficult part about Witchcraft and the Bible is this question: Why doesn’t the Bible tell us why we shouldn’t practice it?
Yes, examples that kind of do include:
Isa. 8:19– says “why consult the dead on behalf of the living"
This isn’t a Good vs bad reason, instead, it’s more like a “it doesn’t make sense to practice it" type of explanation.
Deut. 18:9-12 just says “don’t” but why?
Lev. 19:31– says you will be defiled by them. But why? What is this defilement and to what end?
But why is there no explanation for the prohibition? I’m not saying it's ok (because it's not!), but you’d think if it was super important, that there would at least be some reasoning or explanation behind the prohibition, right?
Theory
This is Joshua talking, this isn’t necessarily backed up with Scripture but is simply a hypothesis based upon the strict “Don’t do it” prohibition.It is possible that humans have an inherent ability to connect with the supernatural. We see this with the gift of the Holy Spirit and the miracles that were performed. Our connection to the supernatural is possible. Demon possession is also another connection to the supernatural only in the negative. Now it’s possible that humanity has an inherent ability to connect with the supernatural and because of sin, we choose to distort the natural order of the world. We know that witchcraft is real and it's not just fiction. Witchcraft has shown displays of power both in our world and in the Biblical world. The question becomes “Where does this power come from.”
Demons, evil spirits, ourselves, etc.???
There may be several answers to that question, but what is important is the existence of this extra-God given power and our ability to utilize it for our own gain rather than God’s purposes.It’s this twisting of the natural order of things like Raising spirits of people from the dead, invoking spirits, inquiring of mediums, etc. that God has a problem with it.In fact, it could be that this is such a serious offense, that God is simply saying “Do NOT do this. It is a straight up command. DON’T DO IT.” Like a parent would say to a child, they ask why, and the parent says, “Because I said so.”
The reason why it may be prohibited this way is because of the seriousness of the problems witchcraft creates.An example is the witch of Endor and its possible link to demons and demon possession. As well as the distortion of the natural order of the death/life cycle.You have this issue of spirits being raised up, but if you read the story of the witch of Endor we’ll see that Samuel’s spirit is never put back into the ground/Sheol. This may have a possible link to the origin of demons.
Again, this is just a theory, but what are your thoughts on this?
Before we move on to the Witch of Endor, do you have any questions?
The Witch of Endor
Read 1 Sam. 28: 3-24
What stands out as strange or difficult in this passage?
1) Saul breaks his own command and seeks a medium (vv. 7-10)
2) The fact that a human was able to bring up the soul/spirit of another human who had died.
3) The woman did not seem to recognize who this spirit was as v. 15 says that Saul was the one who recognized who the spirit was.
4) The text confirms that it was not some demon or evil spirit but was in fact the spirit of Samuel– one of the greatest prophets/judges in Israel’s history and a true man of God. (v.15-20 says “Samuel”)
5) It says that Samuel was brought up but note that the text never says that the medium put Samuel back down!
Do we confirm that this was actually Samuel, why or why not? Support it with evidence.
How/why is it significant that one of the most faithful/impactful prophets/judges was brought up via a medium? What does this mean for the natural order of the life/death cycle and creation?
What implications are there if Samuel’s spirit was not put back into the grave?
If this happened in the Bible, it’s not unreasonable to say that it has and can still happen today. What would this mean for us today if spirits were being brought up but not placed back into the grave?
A Possible Connection with Demons
A possible explanation of the origin of demons or at least what they could be or why they are the way they are is as follows.
The Bible provides a few potential explanations as to what demons are.
Theory #1
Demons are disembodied spirits from a pre-Adam race of human-like beings
Possible shortcomings with this view:
1) This view aligns with theistic evolution
2) There is no biblical evidence to support this view as the Bible story does not indicate that such a race of human-like beings ever existed.
Theory #2
Demons are beings that coexisted with angelic beings known as Nephilim found in Genesis 6:1-4 and were human-angel hybrids
Possible shortcomings with this view:
1) This view only works if one interprets the "sons of God" as angelic beings.
It's much more likely that these "sons of God" were simply human kings as this was a common phrase used in the ancient world for kings.
2) If the "sons of God" were angels, the Bible never describes angels as having relations with human women to produce offspring.
This was an idea that came from the intertestamental texts such as 1 Enoch.
Theory #3
Demons are Spirits of humans who escaped Sheol as seen in the Witch of Endor story in 1 Samuel 28:7-25
Possible shortcomings with this view:
1) There is only one passage in the whole Bible that supports this view.
2) Would God allow such an instance to take place regarding a person's soul?
Theory #4
Demons are fallen angels who were cast down with Satan from heaven
Ezekiel 28:13-19; Isaiah 14:12-15; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Revelation 12:7-9
Possible shortcomings with this view:
1) Our previous discussions on the Ezekiel and Isaiah passages could just as easily be referring to the human kings of Tyre and Babylon as laid out in the text. This perspective forces a spiritual/apocryphal meaning onto a plain and clear text about human kings
2) 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6 are most likely quoting a passage from 1 Enoch, a text from the Apocrypha.
3) Revelation 12:7-9 could be talking about a future event rather than an event that took place before creation. Additionally, if the angels described here are "bound" and awaiting judgment, how could they be on the earth now?
Regarding the witch of Endor and theory # 3, This is the only example in the Bible of this happening– it is mostly just a hypothesis.
Check out the "Death and Afterlife" series on the Church website with blogs like “What happens when we die?” as well as the “Demonology and Satanology” episodes on our blog page to learn more.
Joseph practiced divination
Read Genesis 44:5-15
What is significant about this passage and the practice of witchcraft?
What is Joseph doing with a divination cup?
You may argue “Well he was just playing along.” Back up that claim with scripture. Joseph is one of the few characters besides the prophets that are considered paragons of righteousness, yet he has a divination cup.
Why do you think that is? Why do you think the Bible includes this passage?
Evidence of embarrassment argues that if an embarrassing detail made it into a text, the more likely that the story is legitimate and historical.
Why include an embarrassing detail unless it’s true!
This may actually make the legitimacy of the story stronger because it shows the fact that even though people make mistakes, God is still willing to use them despite their flaws and sins. So it’s better to accept the fact that Joseph may have been actively practicing divination because it lends to the story's credibility. Compare this to a perfect, white-washed story– which tends to be less believable and more likely to be thrown out by scholarship and general faith of humanity in God.
Take away
What has this discussion helped you see that you didn’t previously see or understand?
Why is it important that we tackle these difficult passages rather than shying away from them and ignoring them by sweeping them under the rug?
How has this shaped your faith?