Magic in the Bible
Many enemies of Judaism and Christianity refer to the Bible as a
book of magic. Consequently, since magic has been considered
either as charlatanism or as the work of the “devil”, they
dismiss the entire Book. What, then, is the difference between
“miracles” performed by magic and those attributed to faith in
God? Where do the miracles have their origin? Where does the
power for miracles reside? Is it in the soul and spirit of man
or in God? Is every man a magician in the making? Through the
following quotations from the Bible, which of course are not the
only accounts of magic therein, one may discern the truth.
“And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ‘When Pharaoh
says to you, “Prove yourselves by working a miracle”, then you
shall say to Aaron, “Take your rod and cast it down before
Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent”.’ So Moses and Aaron went
to Pharaoh and did as the Lord commanded: Aaron cast down his
rod before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.
Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and they
also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their
enchantments. For every man cast down his rod, and they became
serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.” (Ex. 7: 8-12)
This is a demonstration of magic powers before Pharaoh. Moses
and Aaron transformed a rod into a serpent. But Pharaoh’s wise
men and sorcerers did the same thing! If Moses and Aaron’s magic
powers were greater than those of the sorcerers, they should
demonstrate it by performing a greater miracle. And so they did.
Aaron’s rod (serpent) swallowed up the rods of the sorcerers!
Most Christians believe that in this demonstration of miraculous
powers we actually have a contest between God and Satan. I
firmly believe that God does not get involved in such shows. It
is people’s magic (occult) powers that perform the ‘miracles’.
No doubt Moses, who had grown up as a prince in the Egyptian
palace, had been initiated into the Egyptian occult arts. This,
in edition to his inherent exceptional psychic powers and his
faith in God, enabled him to become a great miracle worker, i.e.
a great magician.
“So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and
Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as
Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but
whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When
Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him
and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up - one on one
side, one on the other - so that his hands remained steady till
sunset. So Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge
of the sword.” (Ex. 17: 10-13)
By reading this story one wonders why Moses, a mighty man of
prayer, did not simply pray to God and ask him to give the
Israelites victory over the Amalekites. Why did he have to
employ two men in order to continuously hold his hands up? What
is in man’s hands that Moses knew and used accordingly?
Obviously Moses knew the magic secrets of how he could use his
palms’ energy centers as spiritual transmitters, for blessing or
cursing. This originally neutral energy could become positive or
negative, depending on the desire of the sender. So Moses
concentrated his will power and transmitted a great spiritual
energy from a distance in favor of the Israelites, who thus won
in the battle against the Amalekites.
“Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the
people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and
said, ‘We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you.
Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us’. So Moses
prayed for the people. The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and
put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and
live.’ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole.
Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze
snake, he lived.” (Num. 21: 6-9)
Did the Lord ask Moses to make a bronze snake and put it up on a
pole? I doubt it. Couldn’t God answer Moses’ prayer and remove
the snakes, since the Israelites had repented of their sins?
Surely the Almighty could do it, if he wanted, i.e. if by doing
so he wouldn’t violate any of His sovereign laws that brought
about the snakes in the first place. But apparently God didn’t
remove the snakes. So Moses devised a magic shortcut to solve
the problem. The next question is why a serpent of all other
creatures? If God supposedly cursed the serpent because it
deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden, why should Moses choose the
same in order to affect healing from the biting of real snakes?
Had Moses received some secret knowledge regarding snakes since
the time he held the magical rod that became a snake, when he
cast it on the ground in front of Pharaoh? Most probably, he
had. Besides, serpents were very popular in the myths of most
eastern religions and this couldn’t have been incidental.
It is believed that serpents represent the dynamic nature of
life. We also know that a stick, with a snake curled around it,
is the rod of Asklepios (Aesculapious), the ancient Greek
demigod of medicine. Indeed to this day the staff of Asklepios
is widely used as symbol of medicine. All this may have
something to do with Moses’ bronze snake that put up on a pole.
In any case, this is one more occasion where Moses uses magic in
order to overcome a problem. I have often wondered if the
dispute between the archangel Michael and Satan over the body of
Moses when he died (Jude 9) was due to such magical practices by
the prophet.
“Then the people of Israel set out, and encamped in the plains
of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. (…) And Moab was in
great dread of the people (of Israel), because they were many;
(…). So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of the Moabites
at that time, sent messengers to Balaam (…), saying, ‘Behold,
a people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the
earth, and they are dwelling opposite me. Come now, curse the
people for me, since they are too mighty for me; perhaps I shall
be able to defeat them and drive them from the land; for I know
that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is
cursed’.” (Num. 22: 1, 3a, 4b, 5, 6)
Balaam was known as having great psychic powers. Balak, the King
of the Moabites, had heard of him and he asked him to curse the
Israelites, so that he would be able to defeat them. He knew
that whomever Balaam blessed would be blessed and whomever he
cursed would be cursed. As the story goes, Balaam did not curse
the Israelites because he discerned that God had blessed them.
People with magic powers, whether they are aware of them or not,
have the potential to do good as well as evil. Such people
could, in effect, use their powers in white magic or in black
magic, for blessing or cursing, for healing or killing. Unless
such a person is totally devoted to doing good, a magician is
very dangerous to be around to.
We can, of course, be protected from someone’s negative energy
by faith in God and in ourselves and by building a strong,
virtuous and loving character. Then we are safely shielded and
nobody’s curses can harm us.
“You shall not permit a sorceress to live.” (Ex. 22: 18)
This was one of the judgments that Moses had set before the
Israelites, in the name of God. According to the scripture (Ex.
21:1), God had commanded him to do so. Women who practiced magic
should be exterminated. Moses knew very well that they were very
dangerous, if left to practice their black arts among the
people. They could harm them spiritually as well as physically.
” You shall not practice augury or witchcraft.” (Lev. 19: 26b)
According to the instructions God gave to Moses, the Israelites
should not get entangled in divination or witchcraft, for these
were pagan practices and they involved the invocation of evil
spirits. That’s why they were an abomination to the Lord. God
wanted the children of Israel to be holy (Lev.19: 1-2).
“So Saul died for his unfaithfulness; he was unfaithful to the
Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also
consulted a medium, seeking guidance, and did not seek guidance
from the Lord. Therefore the Lord slew him, and turned the
kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.” (1 Chr. 10: 13-14)
Very often during his kingship, Saul, the first king of Israel,
was disobedient and unfaithful to Jehovah’s directions through
His prophet Samuel. It is noticeable here that, of all Saul’s
sins, only his seeking guidance from a medium is particularly
listed. Such was the severity of that sin! So Saul died in his
transgression, falling upon his own sword, after being sorely
wounded by his enemies, the Philistines. And, as if this
humiliation wasn’t enough, the Philistines, when they found
Saul’s corpse, cut off his head and stripped off his armor,
which afterwards exhibited in the temple of their idols (1 Sam.
31). I am inclined to believe that it was Samuel’s curse that
determined the tragic end of Saul.
“Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that
town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you,
shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony
against them.” (Mark 6: 10-11)
This is a magic custom of heathen origin. Shaking one’s dust on
someone is a way to bring judgment against him/her. It is
surprising that Jesus should give such an instruction to his
disciples when, elsewhere, he exhorts them to bless and not
curse, since God shines his sun on the just and the unjust.
“But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its
streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our
feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom
of God is near’. I tell you, it will be more bearable on that
day for Sodom than for that town.” (Luke 10: 10-12)
St. Luke records the same instruction of Jesus (?) in more
details, i.e. a manner of curse on those who wouldn’t accept the
message of his disciples. No wonder where the Christian Church
derived its boldness to bring anathemas and curses against its
enemies…
“God did extraordinary miracles through Paul. Handkerchiefs and
aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their
illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.” (Acts 19:
11-12)
Here we have an incident of magic that serves as an excuse to
Christian idolatry even today. That’s why in the beginning of
this article I said that the borderline between magic and
unadulterated faith is not always very distinct. We need to ask
God for discernment, lest we defile our heart with magic and
idolatry.
“But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name)
withstood them, seeking to turn away the proconsul from the
faith. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy
Spirit, looked intently at him and said, ‘You son of the devil,
you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy,
will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?
And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall
be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.’ Immediately mist
and darkness fell upon him and he went about seeking people to
lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, when he saw
what had occurred, for he was astonished at the doctrine of the
Lord.” (Acts 13: 8-12)
St. Paul’s miraculous powers were greater than those of Elymas
the magician. So, when the latter obstructed Paul in his
mission, the Apostle didn’t hesitate to pronounce a curse
against him and leave him blind! When Sergius Paulus, the
proconsul, saw the ‘miracle’, he believed in Paul’s message…
Are we allowed to curse people even if they are “enemies of all
righteousness”? Do we have any right to inflict diseases upon
them in order to teach them a lesson? Is this the best way to
bring about God’s kingdom on earth? I don’t believe so. Love and
mercy are God’s ways. Any other way that harms another human
being, temporarily or permanently, has also severe negative
consequences on the soul of those who pronounced the judgment.
Sooner or later they themselves will be called to pay for it.
That’s why I don’t consider the entire Bible as God inspired,
neither all the actions of the prophets and apostles recorded
there as godly.
