THE SORCERY THAT DECEIVED THE NATIONS

I recently wrote on our “Repent! - What Is Sin?” page about testing the spirits because not all spirits are of God. There is a spirit of deception that has gone out into the world and, furthermore, into the church. What’s more, these deceptions are taught to people in place of the truth of the Word of God and it steals away the power and the victory because we put our trust in the lies instead of in God.

Hosea 4:6-9

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.

7 “The more they increased,
The more they sinned against Me;
I will change their glory into shame.
8 They eat up the sin of My people;
They set their heart on their iniquity.
9 And it shall be: like people, like priest.
So I will punish them for their ways,
And reward them for their deeds.

In this passage, and sadly, in the present day, priests, pastors, teachers, and people are rejecting knowledge and the Word of God. They’re replacing it with man-made doctrines and what the world calls wisdom. But if you reject God’s word it leads to destruction.

So what is this “sorcery that deceived the nations” thing? Let’s go to the source of truth, the Bible, to find out.

Revelation 18:23

The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.

The new testament was originally written in the Greek language so let’s take a look at the definition of the word sorcery written in this scripture.

According to the Strong’s Concordance the original word used here for sorcery is the word “pharmekia”.

Pharmakeia’s definition is this:

pharmakeia: the use of medicine, drugs or spells

Original Word: φαρμακεία, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: pharmakeia
Phonetic Spelling: (far-mak-i'-ah)
Definition: the use of medicine, drugs or spells
Usage: magic, sorcery, enchantment.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

STRONGS NT 5331: φαρμακεία

φαρμακεία (WH κια, so T (except in Galatians 5:20; cf. the Proleg., p. 88); see Iota), φαρμακείας, ἡ (φαρμακεύω);

a. the use or the administering of drugs (Xenophon, mem. 4, 2, 17).

b. poisoning (Plato, Polybius, others): Revelation 9:21 (here WH text Tr marginal reading φαρμακῶν; many interpretations refer the passage to the next entry).

c. sorcery, magical arts, often found in connection with idolatry and fostered by it: Galatians 5:20 (where see Lightfoot) (Wis. 12:4 Wis. 18:13; for כְּשָׁפִים, Isaiah 47:9; for לָטִים, Exodus 7:22; Exodus 8:18; for לְהָטִים, Exodus 7:11); tropically, of the deceptions and seductions of idolatry, Revelation 18:23.

So this passage says that ALL THE NATIONS were deceived by the use of medication, drugs, and spells! "Drugs" also include the most widely consumed psychoactive drug, caffeine. (Coffee, chocolate, certain teas, etc.) Yes, this is a very heavy topic to be speaking on today but the lies need to be exposed! People have made the medical industry, medications, and drugs their idol and their god. Even Christians run to the doctor or the hospital instead of believing in God’s healing power. They need that fix of caffeine before they can face the day. Their faith is in the sorcery that they’re given by the sorcerer, the druggist, and the pharmacist, not realizing that they’re coming into bondage.

I know many will want to tune me out at this point because there is such a stronghold of fear in so many people’s minds and lives concerning medical and so-called “health” industry issues.

Let me ask you something. What did Jesus come to do?

Isaiah 61:1

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

So He came to set the bound free. Does this sound like liberty to you?:

You go to the doctor, the doctor gives you a diagnosis and prescribes you a drug. This drug will not heal you but make your condition “livable” and you have to be on it for the rest of your life or you’ll die. This in turn causes fear. What will I do if I can’t get my medicine? What if I can’t afford it? The drug’s cost stacks up, it is more money than you can manage on your own and puts you in large amounts of un-payable debt. Down the road the side effects caused by these “miracle drugs” cause you to require MORE drugs just to manage the unnatural problems the first drug is now causing. That doesn’t sound like healing, liberty, or being set free to me. That sounds like bondage.

Let’s have a look at a woman in the bible who was going through this very issue.

Mark 5:25-34

25 Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, 26 and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.

27 When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. 28 For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”

29 Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. 30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”

31 But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”

32 And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. 33 But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. 34 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”

This woman had been suffering from constant bleeding for twelve years! Verse 25 says that she suffered many things from many physicians and spent ALL that she had and was no better. In fact, she was WORSE! Sounds a lot like my example above. It’s the story of many people. Many people go to the doctors because people who are regarded as being “wise” or as someone in authority tells them to use “wisdom” and go to the doctor. They say that God has set the medical system up to be our modern-day help and healer.

My next question to you, fellow Christians, is: Is the word of God true or not?

Is Jesus Christ truly the same yesterday, today, and forever as the Word says in Hebrews 13:8?

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If that answer is yes then why would you think you would need anything more than faith in Jesus to be healed? Jesus told the woman in verse 34 “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”

Why would God set up a system where we can leave Him out and no longer have to believe in the One whom He sent or seek Him for help?

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The woman with the issue of blood sought the physicians and was made worse, but as soon as she heard of Jesus and put her faith in Him, she touched His garment and was made well!

You might say, “But Jesus isn’t on earth anymore so we need doctors because we can’t touch Jesus’ garment.”

After Jesus died on the cross, rose again, and appeared to His disciples, He sent them out and told them of the signs that are supposed to follow those who believe.

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Those signs are told in Mark 16:17-18

17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

It very clearly states at the end of verse 18 that one of the signs that follow those who believe is that they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Jesus tells us in John 14:12

12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

If Jesus was going about healing people, then just as He did, we are to do so as well in His name. He sent His believers out to lay hands on the sick, not the doctors. He never told anyone to go to the physicians or go take medicine to be made well. In fact, the accounts in the bible of people going to the physicians instead of the Father or the Son ended badly. If you’d like to see another account of this you can read about King Asa in 2 Chronicles 16:11-14. He became diseased in his feet and it was severe; yet in his disease, he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians and he died.

Let’s go further into how this current medical industry is not from the Lord.

Let’s talk about symbolism for a few minutes. In Matthew 22:15-22 the Pharisees send their disciples to ask Jesus if it’s lawful to pay taxes to Caesar.

Matthew 22:19-21

19 Show Me the tax money.”

So they brought Him a denarius.

20 And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

21 They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

We can often tell to whom something belongs and its function by the image or symbolism that is attached. If somebody gives you some U.S. currency you’ll see the picture of one of our past presidents on the bill or coin. Therefore you know that the bill or coin belongs to the U.S. government.

When you see the skull and cross bones on a product. You know that’s a symbol associated with poison so you wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) drink or eat it.

Now how about the symbol used by the health industry? The two mating snakes wrapped around the rod with the wings that we so often see on ambulances and in hospitals, even on doctor’s credentials, prescriptions, and medicine bottles? It’s called a “Caduceus”.

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I used to think that this symbol was derived from the bronze serpent that God had Moses put up in the wilderness. Anyone who was bitten by a fiery serpent was supposed to look at it and would be healed. Although, even having that be the medical symbol would not have been good because the children of Israel started worshiping the bronze serpent by burning incense to it and calling it “Nehushtan” (2 Kings 18:4). Because it became an idol it had to be broken into pieces by king Hezekiah.

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The actual medical symbol, the Caduceus, is a symbol from Greek mythology. The symbol of the false god Hermes and it signifies commerce of all things, NOT health or healing. You can also see this symbol located in the lap of Baphomet, another false god. These images of false gods are idols that people worship.

1 Corinthians 10:19-20

19 What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? 20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.

This sign or symbol that was chosen to represent the medical industry is actually very fitting because it shouts the truth, although most people don’t want to see it. It’s saying, “We're in the business of commerce. Here we sell sorcery and are under the rule of a false god that is actually a demon.” By this symbol, the medical industry is proclaiming that they are under demonic rule. Anytime you see that symbol you are seeing a thing or a place that is under the sway of the devil.

The medical industry is actually a commerce industry. People are made worse like the woman with the issue of blood, and because they don’t know where else to go they keep going back, hoping for an answer this time. Hoping for help. It costs them more and more money because the industry just keeps pushing more of their products instead of making them well. They rely on the fact that people will be afraid to go without the medicines. The stock holder’s in the Pharmacy companies become richer. They worship the false god of money and either don’t care or don’t think about the cost of human life.

People are worshiping the medical industry, the doctors, the drugs because they think that’s where their help is supposed to come from. It has become like the bronze serpent that needed to be broken because the people were committing spiritual adultery with it. They had faith in it and not in the Creator and that’s what people are doing today.

What will you do if your faith is in the medical system and it shuts down?

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If God was able to create the world by His words, then why do people have so much trouble believing that He can heal everyone and everything whether the problem is physical or mental? Why do you put more trust in and give more credibility to man's ability to heal what he did not create rather than in the One who actually made you? Since He made you, He can certainly heal you without the help of any drug. Read about the people who came to Jesus for healing. He didn’t turn any away. He healed them ALL.

Matthew 12:15

15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.

The only times He couldn’t help someone was because they wouldn’t let Him and that was caused by their unbelief. Often the unbelieving ones were people from His own country.

Mark 6:4-6

4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” 5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.

Pastors, teachers, leadership, the fault lands heavily on these for not teaching the Word of God as the Word of God. Fearing man and what trouble you might get from them for teaching the truth does not excuse us for being disobedient to God and the punishment that comes with it. It’s time to turn and start teaching the truth so that God’s people aren’t destroyed by these things anymore.

People will not start coming away from the deceptive things that they’ve put their trust into for so long until they see that THERE IS BETTER HELP and AN ANSWER somewhere else. We need to start seeing the signs that follow those who believe so that people can see that JESUS lives in us and that HE IS THE ANSWER.

So leaders, fellow Christians, it’s time to repent, get the idolatry and spiritual adultry out of the church, out of our homes (That tv that spews garbage into your house every day), and out of our lives. It’s time to return to holiness, and righteousness in Christ Jesus. It’s time to put our faith back where it belongs. In the Father, In the Son, the Word of God. As we repent and turn THEN God can work in us and through us so that people can see the truth.

Psalm 146:3-9

3 Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
4 His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day his plans perish.

5 Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them;
Who keeps truth forever,
7 Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners.

8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord raises those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the strangers;
He relieves the fatherless and widow;
But the way of the wicked He turns upside down.