TRANSLATE

AD | all

#270: WITCHCRAFT AND IDOLATRY

WITCHCRAFT AND IDOLATRY

Throughout Israel’s history and also the whole world’s history, idolatry has been rampant. It continues to fill the earth since the fall of the first man. ...

Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. Then the word of the LORD came to me: ‘Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling-blocks before their faces. Should I let them enquire of me at all? Therefore speak to them and tell them, “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: when any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling-block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the LORD will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry. I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.”
‘Therefore say to the people of Israel, “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!
‘“When any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing in Israel separate themselves from me and set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling-block before their faces and then go to a prophet to enquire of me, I the LORD will answer them myself. I will set my face against them and make them an example and a byword. I will remove them from my people. Then you will know that I am the LORD. ‘“And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the LORD have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. They will bear their guilt – the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him. Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves any more with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign LORD.”’                   EZEKIEL 14:1-11.


At the time of Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, God instructed Moses to begin a new calendar, starting in “Nissan”: ‘This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year’ (Exodus 12:2). A Hebrew civil affair calendar usually begins in “Tishrei”, the seventh month (September or October) in the Bible, while a Gregorian calendar begins in January and ends in December. This new calendar marked a new start for the Israelites as an independent nation severed from slavery and idolatry in Egypt, heading for the promised land around 1446 BCE.

This year the first day of the Hebrew month of “Nissan” falls on Saturday 17 March and the feast of the Passover falls on 31 March, which was first observed by the Israelites in Egypt on the night when God’s judgment fell on all the gods of Egypt and God’s people were delivered from her bondage through the sacrifice of a lamb without blemish or defect for each household. Around two thousand years ago Jesus Christ died on the cross on the same day, 14th of “Nissan” as ‘the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’ to completely (once and for all) deliver sinners from the bondage of sin into eternal life through faith in Him, and a new era of salvation by this new covenant began.

Throughout Israel’s history and also the whole world’s history, idolatry has been rampant. It continues to fill the earth since the fall of the first man. In the Old Testament times God continually sent prophets to Israel and condemned idolaters and warned of impending, inescapable judgment. Nevertheless, as prophet Ezekiel depicted, while pretending to be religious and pious, even the elders conformed to multiple religions, whether obviously or secretly in their hearts. Acknowledging the fact that only God is able to judge what is in man’s heart, it is apparent that man cannot be saved by law-observing because it is impossible for man to follow all the law. If God had not sent Christ as His means of salvation for us, sinners, our destination after death would have been hell, eternal destruction and suffering.

Despite God’s continual warnings, the world is getting worse and worse, accelerated by the increase in a Godless society, of distortion of the truth and of idolatry, as prophesied in the Bible as being characteristic of the end times. According to Rabbi Nir Ben Artzi’s prediction last year, dark powers such as witchcraft and black magic are to re-emerge in the world, seeking to usurp God’s rule in the year of 2017 and 2018. He compared the spiritual condition in the present world to Egypt just before the Exodus of the Jews. The Breaking Israel News says that witchcraft and idolatry are actually increasing, ‘sometimes in insidious manners that present this ancient evil under a multitude of guises that make it appear benign, innocent, or even a positive cultural element’ (Line added), by presenting ten of its examples in the past years.

The following examples show how much UN, UNESCO and leaders of the seven largest economies representing more than 64 percent of the net global wealth are connected to pagan idolatry. The article points out: ‘The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization was formed to promote peace and security through science and education. Nowhere in its charter does it say the organization should deal in idolatry but last year, pagan gods featured prominently in two of its exhibitions (which are depicted in the following No.6 and No.7 )’(Line added). Biblical scholars associate the Lion Idol “Al-Lat” of No.7 with the goddess; ‘idol of jealousy’ in Ezk.8:5.

Due to the insidious ways in which idolatry and witchcraft are being re-introduced into this world, we need to keep watch, pray for discernment and God's protection so that we will not fall in the end times!         
〔Click on all above 10 links to get more information〕