The Prevalance of Sorcery in “The Last Days”
The word “Sorcery”, in the Greek, is a term well-known by prophecy scholars: “Pharmakeia”. It refers to the employment of drugs for any purpose: “Sorcery, magic, enchantment, and even goes so far as to refer to poisons, amulets, charms, magic spells, witchcraft, or any other object or practice that makes someone susceptible to sin”. Drugs are used in association with “Sorcery” because they place the practitioner in an altered state of consciousness, whereby he or she becomes more open to contact with the demonic “Spiritual realm”.
REVELATION 21:7 – “He that OVERCOMETH shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son”.
REVELATION 21:8 – “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and SORCERERS, and idolators, and all liars, shall have their part in a lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death”.
REVELATION 22:14 – “BLESSED are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city”.
REVELATION 22:15 – “For without our dogs, and SORCERERS, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie”.
* WHY WOULD THE USE OF “SORCERY” BE SO PREVALENT IN “THE LAST DAYS” AND DURING “THE GREAT TRIBULATION “PERIOD?
* THE ANSWER IS MULTIFACETED, BUT THE HISTORY OF MODERN “SORCERY” IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE WESTERN CULTURE HAS BEEN PROPELLED BY:
(1) THE MASS DEATHS AND CASUALTIES OF WAR (MATTHEW 24:6-7).
(2) THE MASS DEATHS AND INJURIES, OF ILLNESS AND “PESTILENCE (PANDEMICS)” – (MATTHEW 24:7).
(3) THE DEPARTURE OF PEOPLE AND THE CULTURE – FROM TRADITIONAL BIBLE TRUTHS AND BIBLICAL MORALITY (2 THESSALONIANS 2:3).
REVELATION 18:23 – “And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in the; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: FOR THY MERCHANTS WERE THE GREAT MEN OF THE EARTH; FOR BY THY SORCERIES WERE ALL THE NATIONS DECEIVED”.
THE “GREAT MEN OF THE EARTH” – WERE THE MERCHANTS OF “SORCERY” – THAT “DECEIVED THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH”!
THIS I BELIEVE TO BE THE “LEGAL DRUG” MANUFACTURERS (THE CEOs OF DRUG COMPANIES) AND THE “ILLEGAL DRUG” MANUFACTURERS (DRUG CARTEL KINGPINS – LIKE “PABLO ESCOBAR”).
Historically, with widespread physical drug addiction and abuse, which alters people’s consciousness and opens people’s minds up to the demonic lies of Satan, and which leads to the “Occultic Sciences of Sorcery”, to come rushing in, to fill the vacuum, from the moral departure from the truth of God’s Word.
Drugs in the ancient world were used to dull the senses and induce a state suitable for religious experiences such as seances, witchcraft, incarnations, and conversing with mediums. It is at this point that we now turn to history to give us a plausible explanation as to why “Sorcery” will continue to increase and why it will be so widespread in the future.
We only need to look at World War I and its consequences to get some sort of understanding of the reason why “Sorcery” will be so prominent in “The Last Days”. It is generally accepted that World War 1, killed some 16 million people worldwide, of which military deaths constitute about 6.5 million, and it is also estimated that around 20 million were wounded, including 8 million left permanently disabled in some way. This was indeed a shocking toll for just 4 years. As if that were not enough, “PESTILENCE” would step in to claim an even greater toll, in the form of the 1918 to 1920 influenza epidemic – “The Spanish Flu”.
*AS THE CULTURE OF THE UNITED STATES AND IN THE “CHRISTIAN NATIONS” BEGAN TO MOVE AWAY FROM “BIBLICAL FAITH” – THOSE WHO WERE CONFRONTED WITH THE ENORMITY OF THE SUFFERING, OF THE DEATH TOLL, AND THE SUDDEN LOSS OF LOVED ONES, THE “LIVING” SOUGHT “HOPE” AMONG THE “DEAD”.
Enter: “Spiritualism”. “Spiritualism”, in hindsight, had a rather bizarre introduction to the world. It was sparked by the “Fox sisters,” Margarita Maggie Fox (14) and Kate Fox (11). Upon intercepting a neighbor on a late March day in 1848, the sisters claimed that every night around bedtime, they heard a series of raps on the walls and furniture, which seemed to manifest with a peculiar, otherworldly intelligence. Upon relocating to Rochester, to live with their sister “Leah”, the sisters eventually embarked on a professional tour to spread the word of their contact with the spirits. An editorial in the “Scientific American” scoffed at their newfound fame, calling the girls “The Spiritual Knockers from Rochester”.
Kate pursued “Spiritualism” with an intensity that her sisters did not share. Her business boomed during and after the American Civil War, as increasing numbers of bereaved family and friends found solace in “Spiritualism”.
Prominent spiritualist Emma Hardinge wrote that the war added 2 million new believers in the movement, and by the 1880s, there were an estimated 8 million “Spiritualists” in the United States and Europe. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, “Spiritualism” had become not only a source of solace, but also a form of “ENTERTAINMENT AND AMUSEMENT”. Large gatherings in theaters soon featured “Seances, where “Mediums” claim to be able to have contact with the dead. These “Mediums”, often women, thought to possess innate abilities, and used various methods to facilitate contact with “Spirits,” using, for example, possession, letter arrangements, and Ouija boards.
In fact, this practice has become so widespread, the front page of the “San Francisco Examiner”, on May 26th, 1918, ran the headline: “Can the dead talk to us”? In hindsight, the boom of “Spiritualism” and the Occult during and after World War I, was a multifaceted phenomenon, filled with unparalleled violence, social upheaval (The Roaring Twenties), combined with the decline of “Biblical values of morality” and with the beginning influence of “Movie Celebrities”, caused the influence of Christianity, to continue to decline.
The same tendencies can be found in World War II, which saw a sharp increase in legal drugs and eventually illegal drugs, and in the Vietnam War, we saw the sharp increase of “Synthetic Illegal Drugs” – as a sharp increase in everything that has to do with “Spiritualism” and the occult.
AS PEOPLE MOVED AWAY FROM GOD, THEY STILL WANTED TO BE GIVEN “HOPE”, FOR AN “AFTERLIFE”, WHICH “SPIRITUALISM” AND THE “OCCULT SCIENCES” SEEKS TO FULFILL.
One needs only to consider the “Harry Potter” phenomenon to observe how the foundation of the acceptance of sorcery continues to be laid for subsequent generations, who will have little reservation to participate in such Biblically forbidden practices.
Looking ahead, in “The Last Days” and “The Great Tribulation” period, it is not hard to foresee that people will once again search for answers, apart from the Word of God, particularly as they will be under the influence of widespread drug use and the force of darkness and the demonic realm.
During the awful days of “The Great Tribulation” period; the breakdown of law and order, will mean that there will be no more restraints on drug use, and this will only continue in the legalization of all drugs and for the nations of the world, to be able to tax “Legal” drugs, and to provide revenue for city, state, local and federal governments.
In 1915, Congress passed the “Harrison Narcotics Act”, which required anyone who imported, produced, sold, or dispensed narcotics to register, PAY A TAX, and keep detailed records. With the passage of this law in the United States, only caused more drug addiction to occur.
Furthermore, the coming dreadful judgments, in “The Last Days”, on the earth will only drive many to drugs, as a form of “ESCAPISM”. The “MERCHANTS” will gladly cooperate with the governments of the world because of the huge profits,
Interestingly, “Jezebel”, of the “Church of Thyatira”, apparently taught believers to experience “The depths of Satan” (REVELATION 2:24), much like her namesake, in the Old Testament practice of “Witchcraft” (2 KINGS 9:22). I believe, that “The Church of Thyatira”, can be seen as a type, for the Spiritual condition and practice of the “Church”, which enters “The Great Tribulation (REVELATION 2:21), whereas, those who “Overcome” and reject her teachings or receive the “Morning Star” (CHRIST JESUS). WILL HAVE “POWER OVER THE NATIONS” (REVELATION 2:25-27).
Those who practice “Sorcery” will have their part in the “Second Death” (REVELATION 21:8) and will never enter through the gates of the eternal city (REVELATION 22:14).
After the “Rapture” of the church, the world’s descent into spiritual darkness will be hastened. Once again, forces of darkness will rush in to fill the void, finding sympathetic hearts because wicked mankind loves darkness (JOHN 3:19).
It may appear too disparaging to think that the 21st-century “Enlightened” people of this age would entertain the possibility of a return to sorcery, but even in Western cultures, the enemy is preparing the minds of mankind for a worldwide return of these abhorrent practices. Evidence of this may be found in the abundance of music, movies, television shows, and books with demonic and occult themes, particularly coupling drug use, in the context of the “Unseen realm”.
LOOK WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT “SORCERY” AND THOSE WHO PRACTICE IT IN THE “LAST DAYS”:
REVELATION 21:8 – “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and SORCERERS, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death”.
REVELATION 22:14 – “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter into the gates into the city”.
REVELATION 22:15 – “For without (the city) are dogs, and SORCERERS, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie”.
REVELATION 22:16 – “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you THESE THINGS IN THE CHURCHES. I am the root and the Offspring of David and a bright and morning star”.
Sadly, as we witnessed in the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War eras, oftentimes, worldwide disaster causes mankind to seek refuge and “Darkness”, rather than “Light”.
But there is hope, and it is found in Christ Jesus. He said of Himself in JOHN 8:12: “I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. HE WHO FOLLOWS ME SHALL NOT WALK IN DARKNESS, BUT HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE”.
JUDE 24 – “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy”,
JUDE 25 – “To the only wise God and Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen”.
