(Just a lil forewarning some of this will get a lil personal at times as I know the arguments my critics would put forth and in fact have already put forth against me/us, so there is some refuting of what they would want to say before it even gets started again.)
CHAPTER VII
BIBLICAL DEMONOLOGY AND MAGIC
EARLY ISRAEL'S virile monotheism was bound to clash violently with surrounding paganism. Its exalted revelation of divine truth could not help exposing the darkness and superstitious ignorance of every form of idolatry. Its own chaste and lofty demonology could not fail to furnish an adequate criterion for appraising the complexities and crudities of pagan practices. Moreover, in the light of Israel's sublime conception of God, refining and purifying every department of its theological thought, especially its demonology, it is not surprising to find the greatest contrast between its belief in demons and the notorious excesses and extravagances of neighboring nations, which, though steeped in gross idolatry, were more or less allied to them. It is also not amazing to discover in the religious literature of ancient Israel, and throughout the entire Bible, the most direct and outspoken hostility toward every type and form of pagan practice and heathen ritual as demoniacally inspired and energized by evil supernaturalism.
Little wonder that Moses, in his parting counsels to Israel, in View of their impending entrance into their covenanted possession of the Promised Land gives solemn warning and issues stringent prohibitions against every kind of idolatrous custom. Little wonder that he brands anyone who "useth divination," or "practiceth sugury," or an "enchanter," or a "charmer," or a "consulter with familiar spirit, or a wizard." or a "necromancer," as "an abomination unto Jehovah" (Deut. 18:11-12). Little wonder that he brands these practices as themselves "abominations," and lays the sin of trafficking in them as the actual reason why Jehovah drove these people out of the land before them (Deut. 18:12).
(And your gonna side with their descendants?
Im sorry what other book has light on two instances in its creation story
and 17 verses about him expanding the heavens?
And an end playing out just like he says it will?
You wanna go against God you just go right ahead:
Romans 1:28
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,
God gave them over to a reprobate mind,
to do those things which are not convenient;
Where exactly do you think we are in relation to that?
Huh?
How far you think that is from the truth?
Better listen up you practitioners of scientism:
"they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,
God gave them over to a reprobate mind,)
His clarion call is for the strictest and most uncompromising separation from these defilements and works of darkness, that they might be perfect with Jehovah" their God, who "hath not suffered" them to do as the heathen. (Deut 18:13-14)
The history of Israel in the land is the recital of a continuous contest with demonic powers of darkness, relentlessly attempting to bind the people of God with cruel fetters, and foist upon them the idolatrous doctrines of demons, against which the great Lawgiver of the nation had given them such stern warning at times the battle laagered, as in the latter days of Solomon, when his laps into demonism and idolatry took its gigantic toll, in the disruption of the kingdom. Henceforth Israel and Judah went their separate ways, both eventually to be drawn themselves into the vertex of demonism, and to be driven from the land, as the heathen natin before them had been.
All Israel's woe may be traced to her defection from Jehovah and her complicity in pagan practices. These heathen custom destructive and disastrous to the people of God, assume the shape of various forms of demonology, which are met and condemned in the Word of God. Magic, divination, prognostication, sorcery, witchcraft, necromancy, and ventriloquism are so inextricably connected with idolatry, and so inseparably interwoven with each other, in their character and history, that it is impossible, in every case, to draw definite lines of demarcation between them. Like idolatry itself (Deut. 32:17. Ps. 96:5, 106:36-37, 1st Corinthians 8:4, 10:19-20, Rev. 9:20), of which they are but particular manifestations, demonism is their source and dynamic, and a study of them in the revelation of the depraved heart of paganism.
Notwithstanding the risk of overlapping, it seems advantage, for the sake of clarity and logical arrangement, to group these seven forms of demonology characteristic of pagan practices, under three principle heads-magic, divination, and necromancy
A. THE EVIL CHARACTER OF MAGIC
Magic may be defined as the art of bringing about results beyond man's power through the enlistment of supernatural agencies. It's wicked and legitimate nature at once appears when it is realized that the supernatural agencies used are evil spirits. The term, in its true scope, thus involves more than what is often classified under this category, such as legerdemain, sleight of hand, or clever jugglery Sometimes, of course, it is nothing more than shrewd imposture, and cunning manipulation of natural phenomena, but more frequently,
as it is encountered in ancient history
and in the Bible,
it embraces the activity of demons producing
"wonders through their knowledge of the powers of nature"
(I was all in with Zero point energy after it had come across my plate three or four times so to speak as being the means by which the fallen angels/Nephelium produced ALL ancient megalithic structures WELL BEFORE I ever read that.
(Few weeks anyway. So that phrase had nothing to do with being all in with that, Misslers Genesis 1 session three was much more the source of that conclusion, here we are finding further justification for it.
Remember:
"As Satan's vast though finite wisdom became corrupted when he sinned (Ezek. 28:12, 17), it is reasonable to conclude that the great wisdom which characterizes angelic beings in general (2 Sam. 14:20), was, in the case of the multitude of angelic collaborators who followed him, likewise perverted."
Unger, Biblical Demonology p. 67.
You can forget all about your ancient civilization having advance technologies etc, its all explained right there.)
There can be no doubt, if only the authority of divine revelation allowed a voice, that magic, in the strictest and truest sense, a departure from religion. Adherence to the testimony of Scripture must ever result in the conclusion that all religions are due to a primitive revelation, the false being corruptions of the true.
The connection between magic and religion is very arresting. It is obvious from its character, that it can have no legitimate place in true spiritual religion. And it is also apparent that impersonal magic, which is a species of crude science, viewing natural forces in the world as utilizable under certain conditions, such as incantations, magical acts, and drugs, has little or no connection with religion. But, in personal magic, where living, intelligent, personal agents are appealed to, influenced, and controlled, the connection is real. The magical acts may, in the less corrupt stage, include sacrifice, and the incantations may not be very dissimilar to prayer. Therefore, personal magic, in its higher forms, shades off into religion, and not infrequently do the two exist together.
Although it is a common practice to speak of sacrifice and prayer as constituent elements in ancient and modern religions, it highly questionable whether such terms, in many cases, are propriate, as they certainly do not bear the same connotation at they have in Old and New Testament Scriptures. True prayer an be addressed only to God and, since the paternal revelation of Himself in His Son, it is in the name of Jesus Christ. The moment prayer or other religious exercise is directed to any other deities, angels, demons, or saints, it loses its genuine character, and becomes tinged and contaminated with magic.
(100% agree.
We have a high priest who intercedes for us.
No intermediaries needed.
Hebrews 4:14-16
Jesus the Great High Priest
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Romans 8:34
Who then is the one who condemns?
No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that,
who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God
and is also interceding for us.
1 John 2:1
My dear children, I
write this to you so that you will not sin.
But if anybody does sin,
we have an advocate with the Father
—Jesus Christ,
the Righteous One.
Hebrews 7:25
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him,
because he always lives to intercede for them.
YOU SIMPLY
DO NOT NEED ANYONE
OR ANYTHING ELSE.
PERIOD.
IF YOU DISAGREE?
I DONT CARE IF YOU ARE:
ORTHADOX
CATHLOIC
ORIENTAL
SYRIAC
WHATEVER...
YOU ARE GOING AGAINST
THE WORD OF GOD.
CHURCH TRADITIONS?
ARE SIMPLY WRONG SOMETIMES.
WE HAVE STRAYED
In our church when we take communion we say:
"We have failed to be an obedient church"
Amen.)
This magic may be said to be present in greater or lesser degree in all non-Christian religions and also to exist in corruptions of Christianity. It may be said that the more corrupt and degenerate a religious system becomes, the more it is vitiated by the element magic. The ethical element then wanes, or even disappears. Incantations may be thought of on the mode of as crude prayers, where the main stress is on the mode of utterance, rather than on the moral condition the agent. Plants, drugs, and incense, when burned to court the favor of good spirits or to protect against mischievous or malevolent ones, are but magical perversions of true spiritual sacrifice.
The link between magic and immorality is therefore, not an imaginary one. The unethical means employed correspond the unethical nature of the spirit-beings dealt with. In monotheism where God is infinitely righteous and holy, and demands moral qualifications on the part of those who have dealings with Him there is no place at all for magic. In proportion as there is deterioration and the element of magic increases, in that proportion does morality sink to a lower level and evil supernaturalism take control.
B. THE BIBLICAL CONDEMNATION OF MAGIC
The attitude of Scripture, inculcating, as it does, the high ethical and spiritual religion of Israel under the Old Covenant and the sublime and perfect revelation of truth in Christianity, tinder the New, must of necessity be hostile and completely condemnatory of all magic and magical arts. This attitude, especially ou the part of the Old Testament, must be strange and inexplicable to those who would trace the source of Israelite religion to anything other than monotheism. But it is perfectly normal, und exactly what would be expected, IF Israel's religion began divine revelation of truth, despite the fact that the adjoining nations were completely abandoned to superstition, and had elaborate magical rituals. The wide extent of the magical arts may be comprehended from the fact that Scripture alone redes to their being practiced in Babylon (Ezek. 21:21), Assyria (2nd Kings 17:17), Chaldea (Dan. 5:11), Egypt (Exod. 7:11), Canaan (Deut 18:14, 21), Asia (Acts 19:13, 19), Macedonia (Acts 16:16).
1. ITS OLD TESTAMENT CONDEMNATION
The one great reason which induced the Hebrews to condemn magic was, of course, because it clashed completely with the moral and spiritual religion of Israel, and was intimately and inseparably linked with idolatry. To the Hebrews, deities worshipped by other peoples were evil spirits or demons, with which magicians and diviner's trafficked. To practice magic or divination, or to support them, was to them, at least to the God-fearing and orthodox among them, tantamount to an acknowledgment of idols. This is the reason that Hebrew names for heathen gods (shedhim, seirim, 'elilim, gad), which really denoted the demons behind the visible idolatrous representations, have been so translated in the Septuagint.
"In II Kings 9:22, magic seems actually to be identified with idolatry, where the "whoredoms" ("idolatries"),
(The interpreters bible on the book of Revelation goes into great detail about this when discussing "The whore of Babylon" (Rev 17).Babylon is the world and its whore is the things which it's people would place more importance on than their relationship with God. You are cheating on God basically.)
and "witchcrafts" (keshaphim, "magical incantations") of Jezebel are mentioned. It was a dark day for Judah when Manasseh opened wide the flood gates to demonism, and the practice of every sort of magical art, and, in his idolatrous orgy, "made his son to pass through the fire, and practiced augury, and used enchantments, and dealt with them that had familiar spirits, and with wizards" (II Kings 21:6).
The divine displeasure against this fearful eruption of occultism, which may be taken as characteristic of the divine attitude against all magical arts in general, is graphically set forth in the word of the Lord: "I will bring such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth it both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down" (II Kings 21:12-13).
Scripture, on the other hand, just as clearly acknowledges the reality and power of magic as it points out its illegitimacy and heinous wickedness. In the account of the plagues (Exod. 7-11), it is taken for granted that the magicians of Egypt had real power to perform miraculous feats by evil supernaturalism. It is clearly not mere jugglery nor sleight of hand. They are actually represented as throwing their rods down, and they became serpents, and turning the water of the Nile into blood. It is only when they attempt to produce gnats that they fail, showing their power was great, but definitely limited.
("...is taken for granted that the magicians of Egypt had real power to perform miraculous feats by evil supernaturalism."
The author gives no explanation as for how the Egyptian magicians found out about or knew how to use such evil supernaturalism to perform their miraculous feats. I don't think its very logical to assume they just came about it on their own accord, They had to have originally learned it from a superior intellect, ie fallen angels, as they would have possessed such knowledge.)
It is true the magicians did "in like manner" to Aaron and Moses "with their enchantments" (belahatehem, "with their hidden or secret arts"). But this does not signify imposture or fraud. They were not imposing on Pharaoh's credulity, as some suppose any more than on Aaron's or Moses' perspicacity. These "sacred scribes" (hartemmim), skilled in religious writing (hieroglyphics), belonging to a class of Egyptian priests learned in occultism, and conversant with demon-controlled religion, were the instruments of Satan, who manifested his power in them. Similar traffickers in the "black arts" practiced them in Babylon (Dan. 1:20; 2:2, 27; 4:7, 9; 5:11). What they did in the presence of Moses, Aaron, and Pharoah were "lying wonders." The names of two of these agents of darkness, Jannes and Jambres, endued with demonic powers, are given in II Timothy 3:8.
Such mighty demonstrations of demon power seem to occur periodically, like religious revivals, and are found today in spirit- ism. Occult power will be fully revealed in the tremendous latter- day demonic rival under the Antichrist, which will be attended by phenomenal signs and wonders (II Thess. 2:9-12; Rev. 13:13-18).
Despite the purging effect of Hebrew monotheism and the stern warnings of the law, traces of magic cropped out occasionally, in spite of the uncongenial soil in Israel. The teraphim mentioned in Genesis 31:19, 30, and again, as put away with "familiar spirits, and the wizards... and the idols, and all the abominations," during the drastic reforms of Josiah (II Kings 23:24), were household gods in all probability, employed as charms to ward off evil spirits of every kind and to bring good luck.
Rachel's keen desire for the mandrakes, which had been given to Leah by her son, seems to be an example of the popular heathen belief in the magical power of plants, here the "love apple," to stir up sexual passion (Gen. 30:14-24). Instances of the same superstition occur in Arabic literature in connection with what is called "Yabruh," which is almost certainly the same plant. Indeed, it would seem the common appearance of magic as a love charm, often exercised by women, is the likely explanation for adultery and magic being frequently named together in the Old Testament (2nd Kings 9:22; Nah. 3:4; Mal. 3:5).
(Im going to include Malachi 3:5 here as it tells you exactly what is going on in our country/world and has been for some time.
“So I will come to put you on trial.
I will be quick to testify
against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers,
against those who defraud laborers of their wages,
(Trickle down economics anybody?)
who oppress the widows and the fatherless,
(We need social security reform!)
and
deprive the foreigners among you of justice,
(Speaks for itself.)
but do not fear me,”
says the Lord Almighty.
What you have been brainwashed to believe
and what scripture says
are two completely different things.)
"In the apostasy of Isaiah's day, when occultism had so invaded every phase of life that the "diviner" and the "skillful enchanter" were named among honorable warriors, prophets, and Judges (Isa. 3:2), the prophet sternly denounced the wanton women of Jerusalem, not only because of their pride and vanity, as exhibited in their gaudy finery and ostentatious jewelry, but also because many of the fashionable trinkets, such as the "crescents" (saharonim, "moonlets" or "moon-shaped amulets") were nothing more than counter charms worn around the neck to protect against evil spirits, and, as such, meant an acknowledgment of heathen religion (Isa. 3:18). Among pagans such protective crescent talismans were even put around camels' necks, as in the case of the Midianite chieftains, whom Gideon slew (Judg. 8:21, 26).
(Flags of countries with a crescent moon:
Algeria
Azerbaijan
Brunei
Comoros
Croatia
Malaysia
Maldives
Mauritania
Mongolia
Nepal
Pakistan
Singapore
Tunisia
Turkmenistan
Türkiye
Uzbekistan
Western Sahara
It seems likely that the earrings worn by the Israelites in the desert, out of which the golden calf was made, were amulets (Exod. 32:2 ).
(Here is where it starts to get personal.
The issue becomes idolatrous because the individual wearing the amulets, tailsmens, phylacteries etc. believes the physical object itself has the power to protect, instead of the ultimate creator and giver of all who could deliver to the physical object such a power to protect the wearer if he wanted.
Following me here?
My buddy made my first necklace for me right in front of me.
That night when I took it off it felt like it was still there to the point I had to go and look in the mirror to confirm that it wasnt, When I told my friend about that episode later he said, "Thats the power it has in it." To which I replied, "Inanimate objects only have power if it bestowed on them by the creator and the wearer has the correct disposition."
Following me here?
Folks?
If you only really knew just how intense the spiritual battle that has been going on since before creation (A fallen lucifer was in the garden) is becoming? Then I think you would understand a lil more wats up.)
It is significant that at Bethel Jacob not only put away the idols ("strange gods"), but also the earrings, the latter being as much at variance with Yahwism as the former, because of their heathen origin and import (Gen. 35:1-4).
Israel is urged, under the figure of the wife of the prophet Hosea, "to put away her whoredoms from her face" (that is, the nose-ring which was a charm against the "evil eye") and "her adulteries from between her breasts" (that is, the necklaces, also worn as amulets) (Hos. 2:2). These ornaments, when worn, signified sympathy and complicity with heathenism, where they were regarded as defensive against the "evil eye."
Condemnation of the custom of wearing amulets and of trusting in the defense of mere material objects is implied in Proverbs 6:21. A young man is exhorted to "bind" parental admonitions continually upon his "heart," and to "tie" them about his neck. It is significant that the Talmudic word for "an amulet" (gemia) denotes something tied or bound to the person.
Evidence seems to point to the fact that the phylacteries, worn so ostentatiously by the Pharisees in the time of our savior (Matt. 23:5), have a magical connotation. It is certain the practice of using them has no genuine Biblical support, and was introduced by a mere external interpretation of Exodus 13:9, 16, and Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21. The Greek name phulakterion, whence the English term phylactery, in the New Testament period denoted a safeguard, in the form of a counter-charm or defense (phulusso, "guard" or "protect") against evil influences. To explain the Greek word as denoting an agency or device to lead the people "to keep" the law is scarcely defensible. This original idea may well have existed in the minds of those who, by a crude literalism first reduced a purely figurative and idealistic Old Testament phrase to a materialistic representation. But this initial corruption only opened the way for further degradation and abuse to fit the mould of the materialistic and superstitious practices of the pagans, so that very soon the most excessive reverence became attached to phylacteries; and, following the general tenor of rabbinic demonology, it was not long before they were regarded as amulets with magical power to avert evils and drive away demons (Targum on Canticles 8:3). It is not at all surprising, in view of the essential unscripturalness of the whole custom of wearing phylacteries, that they should have become the prolific source of other abuses besides superstition; and it is but what would naturally be expected, when our Saviour is seen denouncing the empty pride and arrant hypocrisy which this unscriptural custom sheltered and encouraged (Matt. 23:5).
A closely allied case of the perversion of a Biblical concept, under the impact of popular magic, is connected with the literalizing of the same figurative Old Testament passages, whose misconstruction gave rise to phylacteries. The injunction to write the words of Jehovah upon the "door-posts" (mezuzoth) of their houses and upon their "gates" (Deut. 11:20) led to the actual inscription of the words from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21 upon folded parchment, which was encased in a little box, called the "Mezuzah" and exhibited over the doorpost of a Jewish home, to the right of the entrance." Although the word "Mezuzah" occurs over a dozen times in Biblical Hebrew, it is invariably in the sense of "door" or "gate-post" and never in the sense of an amulet put on the door-post, which the Hebrew word came to denote in later Judaism.
2. ITS NEW TESTAMENT CONDEMNATION
The New Testament, of course, places the same stern ban against every form of the magical art as does the Old Testament. The sinister and corroding reality of the art of magic is everywhere acknowledged, and the manifestation of its polluting influence is everywhere inexorably denounced.
In Matthew 6:7, Jesus condemns needless repetition in prayer, which savored of the heathenistic modes of magical incantation. "Do not repeat yourself (me battologesete) as the heathen." Unless such pagan contamination had been prevalent among the Jews of His day, the Saviour would not have deemed it necessary to give this warning. Repetitions of certain formulas were among the ancients, as among certain modern ascetics of India, considered efficacious in proportion to the number of times they were recited. The same spirit prevails among Moslem dervishes, who multiply their shrieks and whirlings, imagining the more this is done the greater is the power which Allah has over them. According to Herodotus, Battos, a Greek poet, stuttered and employed many repetitions; so the verb battologeo ("to prattle, babble, talk excessively") is mimetic, and very expressive.
The Book of Acts contains several striking examples of the clash of Christianity with magic. The first illustration is Simon, the magician of Samaria
(here we go again with the personal BTW. Im gonna include this one here as well only because someone a while back compared me to him, TY BTW, they said Christ was of Beelzebub too. Blessed are you when people speak badly of you on my sake etc...
Simon the Sorcerer
9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,
(I always make the point its nothing to do w me/us and everything to do with the power using us.)
10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money
(Had the spirit way before I ever had any $ yo, still dont really, others might disagree...movin on.)
19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
(WE know way better than to think it can be bought.)
20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!
(Its free for the choosing.)
21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.
(Whats gotta be right again?
"your heart")
22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”
24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
(So yeah, not quite like me/us, but Ty.)
The immediate occasion of the exposé of his demoniacal powers was the potent Samaritan revival under Philip's preaching. This sinister character is described as one "who beforetime in the city used sorcery" (prouperchen mageuon, "had been practicing magic") and had "amazed the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one" (Acts 8:9), pretending he was more than human."
(Two points
1) I always say its not me or us
that are great
but the power
that's using us
which is.
2) He was pretending,
we aren't.
2 Peter 2:10
This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh[a] and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings;
(See above about being called Simon the sorcerer.
From a pulpit ona Sunday no less.)
Jude 8
Likewise, these ungodly dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and slander celestial beings.
This world is more and more foreign to us everyday.
I have spoken and written extensively on those two verses as it is the only time that the word for celestial beings is used in the New Testament.
And its used twice.
In Jude, right before Revelation
and in 2nd Peter not that much in front of Jude.
And both of those books issue stern warnings
Everybody has their own opinion about who the celestial beings are, (because they are quite obviously from the context of the text not angels or humans. Its more like, humans imputed with angelic qualities, knowledge, understanding, wisdom etc). I'm on record as saying that those two verses are about the two witnesses and I have made it no big secret that we are them. Look at your world, you don't think the seven year tribulation period is about to start?
Israel just decapitated Hezbollah's command and control capabilities. I told you they are going after Irans nuclear program and you have to start there first, well they already have.
So thats a case you wanna make?
That the seven year tribulation period,
the last of Daniels 70 7's
isnt about to start?
As in it is Imminent?
Besides?
Psalm 91:11-12
For he shall give his angels charge over thee,
to keep thee in all thy ways.
Maundy Thursday
this past Holy week:
"He (Simon the sorcerer) Appears as a cunning
(Sly deception, deceit, planning to be deceitful)
exponent of evil supernaturalism, and as a malign instrument of Satan. He belongs to a class-all too common at the time-that of Jews trading on the mysterious religious prestige of their race and imposing on the credulity of the heathen, boasting, in addition to their sacred books, of spells, charms, and incantations which they alleged had come down to them from King Solomon.
(We know better than to think
spells, charms, and incantations
have anything to do with the power of the spirit.)
The mighty miracles attending Philip's evangelistic campaign (Acts 8:6-7) were performed to show the power of God, to attest the preaching of the truth, and to expose the counterfeit evil works of Simon. He, like the ancient Egyptian magicians, had to own the divine omnipotence (Acts 8:13).
The instance of Bar-Jesus, the magician of Paphos in Cyprus, is parallel to Simon of Samaria, and marks another vivid collision of Christianity with magic. Bar-Jesus is more fully and specifically identified than Simon, but both were of the same class: Jewish sorcerers, especially endued demonic emissaries of Satan. The former is designated as "a certain sorcerer" ("magos" or "magician"), "a false prophet, a Jew" (Acts 13:6), "Elymas, the sorcerer" ("the magos, the magician") (v. 8), "son of the devil" (v. 10), the latter term linking him directly and intimately with the prince of the powers of darkness.
The title "Magos," used of Bar-Jesus, is of pre-eminent interest and import because it is the identical word rendered "Wise Men" (Matt. 2:1, 7, 16), and descriptive of the distinguished visitors who came from afar to worship and present gifts at the feet of the infant Saviour. But in the case of these eminent sages the word is used in a good sense; whereas, in the case of Bar-Jesus the connotation is distinctly evil. Even in the days of Sophocles the bad signification had already begun to attach to it; he make Oedipus revile Tiresias under this epithet, as practicing magic. The Magi, even in Herodotus' time, had gained a reputation for magical arts. It is significant that the English word "magic" is derived from the name of the Magi, or Zarathustrian (Zoroastrian) priests. Magic is, hence, historically the art practiced in ancient Persia
(Modern day Iran BTW
by the recognized priests of that country. The term "Magi" is used in the Septuagint, by Philo, Josephus, and profane writers "alike in an evil and, so to speak, in good sense." In the former a case, the practice of magical arts is implied; in the latter, researches involving the study of the stars and the heavenly bodies, and other deep knowledge; though of course it was not untinged with superstition. To this latter group the Magi portrayed by Matthew must have belonged, and they may be thought of as the scientists of their day, the heirs of the learning of Babylonia and of the lore of ancient Persia.
It is not difficult to perceive how easy it would be, in an ancient age of unparalleled superstition, and in
lands unilluminated by divine revelation,
for such a noble calling
to degenerate,
in many cases,
into fraud, deception,
(Sounds like the pseudoscience of scientism that we got going on today if you ask me,
or even if you don't...
ask me that is.
Worshiping the gifts,
whether they be
vibrations,
frequencies,
science,
whatever
instead of worshiping
the giver of all things
is placing his creation
above him, and that is
IDOLOTRY
no lil idol
of a golden calf needed,
the result will be
exactly the same
it will place you
straight away in hell.
Teachers who knowingly teach falsehood?
Deeper in it.)
and every form of occultism; so that, as in the instance of Simon of Samaria and Bar-Jesus of Cyprus, the exponents of the Magi were little more than demon- possessed magicians. There is scarcely any doubt that the Magi of Bethlehem belonged to a class that had come in contact with the purifying revelation of God's truth-perchance, through the children of the captivities, either in Babylonia, Persia, or Assyria; and we may confidently believe that this salutary influence kept them from occultism, and if not, at least from the grosser deceptions and pollutions of evil supernaturalism, evident in Simon and Bar-Jesus.
The Jewish magician has two names. Bar-Jesus is his Jewish patronymic. "Elymas" (Elumas) is an appellative name, or title, describing his claims to wisdom and supernatural powers. Luke interprets it as meaning "the magician" (ho magos) in Acts 13:8. It is derived either, as is generally thought, from the Arabic alimun ("wise, learned"), or, according to the more likely opinion of Delitzsch, from the Aramaic 'alima" ("powerful").
The sinister and malign character of Elymas appears when he "withstood" Paul and Barnabas, "seeking to turn aside the pro consul from the faith" (Acts 13:8). Special tools of Satan, such as he, frequently come into view in the Book of Acts-generally, as here, when the gospel was being carried into some new unevangelized region. In Samaria it was Simon; in Macedonia, the demon- possessed damsel; here in Cyprus, Elymas the magician. Paul's scathing denunciation of him may be taken as the Bible's condemnation of all magic and traffickers in occultism in general:
"You who are full of every kind of craftiness and unscrupulous cunning-you, son of the Devil, and foe to all that is right, will you never cease to misrepresent the straight paths of the Lord? (Acts 13:10, Weymouth).
The Apostle Paul, warning of the grievous times of the last days when erroneous doctrine
and occultism would abound
and false teachers
(Five Reasons to Value Studying the End Times
(The link above used to work just a lil bit ago BTW.
Did I mention satanic bots have taken over the internet?
"...But I believe some of the most dangerous false prophets will be popular social commentators and media personalities who are dignified, good-looking, cool, caring, intelligent, and well-spoken. They will use dynamic and creative social media platforms to communicate to multitudes. They will promote a false narrative regarding what is happening—a deceptive narrative that will oppose the biblical narrative of what is unfolding across the nations."
"The social commentators will be very persuasive in their call for new values and perspectives on social, sexual, and financial issues—issues currently escalating quickly in the social conversation of many nations and identified as key topics in the cultural wars. They will come across as logical and loving to many who listen to them.)
as Jannes and Jambres, the magicians of Egypt, withstood Moses (II Tim. 3:1-12),
INCLUDING IT BECAUSE OF THE RELEVANCE TO OUR TIMES.
2 Timothy 3:1-12
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous,
boasters,
proud,
blasphemers,
disobedient to parents,
unthankful,
unholy,
3 Without natural affection,
trucebreakers,
false accusers,
(see Simon the sorcerer above)
incontinent,
fierce,
despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors,
heady,
highminded,
(Hello practitioners of scientism
).lovers of pleasures
more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness,
but denying the power thereof:
from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
(Theres a sermon right there, there is listed the state of Christendom right now: "captive silly women laden with sins" as opposed to the beautiful bride waiting for her bridegroom (Christ). And since we all know that perversion, corruption and dilution over time never leads to purity?
I think we know how that gets fixed.
Did I mention the seven year tribulation period about to start?
Times running out folks, the age of grace is coming to a close.
You should have been seeing what we were in the skies over here last night.
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
(Because they are to stiffed-necked, stubborn etc, to admit their worldly believe systems have been rendered obsolete to explain our world.)
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses,
so do these also resist the truth:
men of corrupt minds,
reprobate concerning the faith.
(That word is not just used in a sexual context obviously)
9 But they shall proceed no further:
for their folly shall be manifest unto all men,
(Materialism,
Naturalism,
Darwinism,
Reductionism,
Polytheism,
Panspermia,
Panpsychism,
Anunnaki,
Aliens
all that stupid shit etc?
Done, over, through, finished,
mission accomplished on that front,
now its just a matter of pounding those false concepts into the dust.
WHY HOLD ON TO AN OUTDATED
BELIEF SYSTEM THAT HAS BEEN DISCREDITED RIGHT IN FRONT
OF YOUR OWN EYES?)
as their's also was.
10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine,
manner of life,
purpose,
faith,
longsuffering,
charity,
patience,
(Resonates Big Time, for a reason!
And you know its true!
I mean what do I have to add or say to any of what was just said above?
WTF is wrong with people?
YOU WANT HELL?
THEN GO RIGHT AHEAD
CAUSE YOU ARE SURE
ACTING LIKE IT.
WRATH IS AN ATTRIBUTE OF GOD.
SORRY YOUR PREACHERS NEVER BROUGHT IT UP.)
11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured:
but out of them all the Lord delivered me.
(Notice he didn't get to avoid them
just that he got delivered out of them.
As did Joseph,
as did Daniel
on and on etc)
12 Yea, and all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution.
(So much for all that
"God doesn't want you to suffer"
nonsense you been taught.
Its how he draws you closer to him,
when you dont have anywhere else
and nobody else to go to,
So you go with HIM!
100% all in!
What other choice is there?
Hope or Despair?
Make a decision.)
declares that "evil men and impostors shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived" (II Tim. 3:13).
(Where are we at again?)
"Impostors" (goetes, from goao, "to wail, sigh, utter low mystical tones") is employed of a class of magicians who chanted magical formulas in a strange guttural voice. Herodotus mentions them as being in Egypt, and elsewhere. They are also referred to by Euripedes, Plato, and subsequent writers. The Hebrew New Testament of Salkinson and Delitzch render goetes by qosemím ("diviners"). "Sorcerers" would, perhaps, be the nearest English equivalent, and points to the subtle magical occultism to be encountered in the closing days of this age.
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