Spirit of Occultism

DeAnna Willman photo ta-focando@unsplash

“How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin” Job 13:23

Today we will discuss the Spirit of Occultism. We may think of this as being the same as witchcraft, but it is in truth different. Witchcraft is included within occultism, but occultism encompasses more. It is the counterfeit of what is true; it hides truth, and it is a looking to or participating in a power/force other than God. This includes magic, witchcraft, false religions, paganism, unrighteous oaths, and secret societies. It includes trusting in yourself, a good luck charm, a talisman, or an ability/person/drug/addiction/power instead of God; seeking information or help from spirits, crystals, idols, the dead, cards, horoscopes, etc. It is participation in activities or having items or symbols specifically used in the worship of false gods such as yoga, ouiji boards, sending wishes out into the universe, pentagrams, skulls, hexagrams, buddah statues, statutes of saints or virgin Mary, statutes of Jesus, etc. Games that deal with magic, superpowers, or controlling the outcome of another’s situation through manipulations, deceit, charms, force, magical items, are also part of the occult. This means that movies, music, and other entertainment that deal with any of these things is also included. There is also the use of, acquaintance with, or agreement with any spirit or force or power that is not of YHWH and His holy spirit.

There are two obvious examples I will use from scripture. The first example is in 1 Samuel 28. The Philistines had come up against Israel in war and King Saul was afraid. He tried getting counsel from God, but God had turned away from King Saul due to his rebellion much earlier. So, King Saul sought out a necromancer; one who speaks to the dead. He asked her to bring up Samuel. Now, it is interesting to note that when she realized it truly was Samuel, she was freaked out! She was used to dealing with evil spirits, not actual dead people. Anyway, Samuel made it clear to Saul that he should not have stooped to seeking help for the living from the dead, and that King Saul and his sons would die in battle so God could give the kingdom to one more righteous than Saul.

The second is found in 1 Kings 12:25-33. Because of King Solomon’s disobedience, specifically in erecting multiple idols and shrines for the idols, God tore the kingdom of Israel in two and took a large portion of it away from Solomon’s son, Rehoboam. He gave the northern portion of the kingdom to a man named Jeroboam, and promised that if Jeroboam kept God’s covenant, God would build up Jeroboam’s line to rule perpetually the kingdom of Israel, as the northern portion became known.

However, once Jeroboam became king, he decided that it was up to him to make sure he continued to have a kingdom to rule. So, he formed a counterfeit representation of YHWH (idol), counterfeit feasts, and counterfeit priests. He put a counterfeit in place of the truth. This led the kingdom of Israel to sin greatly and God took the kingdom out of the hands of Jeroboam’s descendants.

There are other examples in the scriptures such as King Nebuchadnezzar consulting bones for his decision, the oath of Japheth, the rampant idolatry both in Israel and in other nations, and more. Today, I am sure you can think of many areas where society is working to put the counterfeit in place of truth. Marriage, love, gender, regulations to override constitutional laws, the manipulation of language to hide the real meaning of what is said, “connections” rather than relationships, … it’s all over our internet, entertainment, and finding its way into our education, religion, medicine, even in our food! Wherever the truth is hidden, or a counterfeit is being offered/promoted, there is occultism. Anything in place of God and his power and word is not just idolatry, it is occultism.

Where might it be operating within your life? How might this lying spirit be taking up residence in your “house”? This one is sneaky. If you find yourself saying anything like, “that’s not what it means to me…that’s not how I define it…it’s just a game…I can't function/have peace without it...We don’t really mean anything by it…It’s just a bit of fun/pretend…truth is subjective…” you may be dealing with occultism. For it is not what it means to us, but what it means to God that matters. It is what He established and said that is truth. If it is at any time, by anyone, substituted for God, for anything in His word, for any truth, we need to run from it! May YHWH open give you eyes to see and ears to hear where conviction is needed within your life.

“Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O YHWH my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19