The Occult Weakens

Anyone who thinks the occult brings help is deceived. According to the Bible, the occult weakens those who practise it. God made that plain to the children of Israel.

The Lord warned the nation of Israel in in Deuteronomy 18:9-12: "When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you."

God made it quite clear to the people of Israel that the ruin and downfall of the Canaanites were the result of their involvement in the occult. "For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you."

The Canaanites had appeared to be a formidable people to the Israelites. In fact, an entire generation of Israelites ended up perishing in the wilderness instead of going up against the Canaanites because of fear. As a preparation for advancing into Canaan, Moses had sent out spies to obtain intelligence about the condition of the land and the people. Most of the spies returned with a frightening report. "And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, 'the land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight'" (Numbers 13:32-33). The report paralyzed the people of Israel with fear and they refused to go up against the Canaanites.

Now a generation after, the Israelites were about to embark on the conquest of Canaan and the general atmosphere in their midst was one of immense confidence and optimism. And already the Lord was instructing them about their conduct of life when they would occupy the land of Canaan. So victory was divinely assured.

However, it was important for the Israelites to know the basis on which they would over-run the Canaanites. It was not any superior military resources or strategies on their part. God was exposing to them the interestingly insidious destructive element which had already undermined the strength of the Canaanites. It had permeated the cultural sinews of the Canaanite society deceitfully weakening the people before the advancing Israelites. What had become the Canaanites' dominant traditions and culture, what the Canaanites had come to regard as instruments of mysterious power, were subtly a debilitating poison which had weakened them against their imminent conquerors. The occult was a dominant culture in Canaan but it had generated the Canaanites' eventual domination by a foreign nation.

And so, the Lord was solemnly admonishing the Israelites about the pervasive danger of such a culture and how important it was for them to keep extremely far from it, if they were to maintain their position of strength in the land they would conquer. "When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations.... For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you."

It is today a tragic reality that in our modern enlightened era this over 3, 000 year-old warning about the occult is as relevant as it was then. Many are today turning to the occult deceived, like the Canaanites were, that it is just culture and it provides power, protection, and fortune. But the fact is the occult remains a subtle infectious custom that will weaken and destroy any individual or people who get involved in its practices.

Voice of Truth

Jesus said this: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me" (John 10:27).

Whose voice are you hearing and believing in your present situation? There are many voices out there in this noisy world of diverse advices, opinions, and judgments. They call out to us everywhere we go, whatever we do or even don't do. They whisper, they request, they entice, they shout, they command.

They want to capture our attention. They want us to hear what they say we are; what they say we can or cannot be, and can or cannot do. They want us to hear what they say we must do and must not do, where we must go and must not go. Sometimes it is just incomprehensible noise, but there are times they catch our attention. And then we hear.

The danger is that not all voices that seek our attention tell us the truth. Many today are victims of hearing and believing voices of lies and deceits. Voices that have crippled them. Voices that have extinguished their ambition. Voices that have melted their true potential and discounted their esteem of who they really are. Voices that have dampened their joy and inflamed pain and sorrow. Voices that have disturbed their peace and kindled guilt, shame, and condemnation. Voices that have banished love and stirred up hatred and bitterness. These are evil voices which they should have never listened to. But these voices are out there and they are relentless. We all must beware.

Paul warns us, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons" (1 Timothy 4:1).

But among the negative voices of evil and danger is the voice of truth. It is really the voice of God. The voice of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. It is good, positive, healing, comforting, and powerful. It makes us strong and bold.

This is the voice of truth. To hear it we must belong to God. We must be sheep of the Lord's fold. And when we hear it, we hear the truth of who we are, what we can be or do, and which way we must go. It dispels the cloud of depression and hopelessness. And it breaks the bondage of paralysis and sets us free with unlimited power and hope, giving us faith to believe we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

You will find the followiing words of Mark Hall in the song, Voice of Truth, very inspiring:

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand.

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed.
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again, "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

But the voice of truth tells me a different story.
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
And the voice of truth says, "This is for My glory."
Out of all the voices calling to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth.

Why the Idea of a Curse?

It's interesting how much influence our mindset has on our lives. Our mindset is the way we perceive or see things; what we believe. It is our entire process of reasoning. But is our mindset always true?

An important question in understanding our mindset is what informs or shapes our thinking. We need not dig into the depth of psychology to realize our mindset is shaped by ideas we have come to accept or believe. From the cradle to the grave we are loaded with information which we process and somehow come to accept or believe. And so it is necessary to examine or identify the nature and sources of the information and ideas we receive if we are to assess the soundness of our mindset.

Our mindset is usually framed by dominant ideas. Dominant ideas consist of information which has become established as truth or fact. They may be established as truth or fact not by our own personal examination of them but because others whose opinions we accept without question have accepted or declared them as truth or fact. Therefore, a dominant idea is generally a popularly accepted idea. This is why it is necessary for us not to be afraid or reluctant to examine the truthfulness of information which shapes our mindset.

Not all information that has become established as truth or fact is actually truth or fact. It may seem unbelievable to many today, but there was a period in time when the earth was considered flat. And it is even more unbelievable that with all the evidence now available about the earth being a sphere there are still people who will argue that the earth is flat.

The idea of a curse is a dominant idea which has existed in varying forms in nearly all the cultures of the world. With power and wealth being factors which have always been sought after universally, it can be understood why the idea of cursing which claims to offer both power and wealth has remained a dominant idea in most societies. But it can be argued the idea that any man can successfully invoke a curse on another is a real phenomenon begs for sound evidence and facts.

A curse is considered to be any kind of adversity thought to be inflicted by a supernatural power by means of a prayer, a spell, a spirit, witchcraft, or a god. Those who accept the idea of a curse use the idea to explain apparent misfortunes or adversities and to threaten their enemies. They believe that some people have power to impose adversities on others by invoking curses.

In most cultures the method used for invoking curses is the use of effigy, which is an image of the victim, or the person expected to be harmed. Effigies made with wax were common in ancient Europe, the USA, India, Africa, Persia and Egypt, and currently are still used. Effigies are also made of clay, wood and stuffed cloth (poppets). It is thought that the closer the effigy resembles the victim, the more the victim will suffer when the effigy is harmed or destroyed. The idea is as the effigy is harmed or destroyed, so the victim is harmed or destroyed.

It is clear that cursing involves some very weird practices with unproven success. Yet, there is no doubt that the concept of a curse is a dominant idea. But how real or true are curses invoked by man? In examining the truth of the concept of a curse, we need to ask if there is any evidence that anyone has successfully used curses to harm others. It is very unlikely that such evidence exists.

In a world where rich countries spend large sums of money to obtain weapons of destruction, and hatred among people is common, any such person with the power to do harm by means of a curse would be in high demand. And it is easy to imagine how swiftly hated dictators, unpopular political leaders, the disliked and even the envied would be eliminated.

Certainly, the nations of the world would have been showcasing their powerful witches rather than their military might. And in societies, sorcerers and not police would be dealing with criminals. People who claim to have power to inflict curses to do harm would not be operating in back alleys and dens but in lofty offices on main streets. And, of course, the inevitable problem would be to protect these evil practitioners against destroying each other.

Nonetheless, while there is a lack of evidence to support the idea that someone can do harm to another by the use of a curse, the evidence is those who believe in curses seem to be convinced about the effects of curses. What has shaped this unsubstantial mindset? Is this a case of turning a blind eye to contradicting evidence and focusing on mere coincidence to maintain one's belief?

Francis Bacon wrote: "It is the peculiar and perpetual error of the human understanding to be more moved and excited by affirmatives than by negatives." Psychologists refer to this error as confirmation bias. It is the tendency for people to take note of or look for what confirm their beliefs and ignore or set aside what contradict their beliefs.

For instance, one who believes in curses would ignore the many instances when people without being the object of curse rituals experience adversities, or people who are objects of curse rituals remain unscathed, but would take note of the relatively few coincidences when people who they know to be objects of curse rituals experience adversities. When we become blinded to evidence that refutes our beliefs, we become pitiful captives of superstition. This sort of selective thinking is the basis for most beliefs in psychic powers and the occult. And it is without doubt the basis for the idea one can do harm to another by a curse and the reason why the idea is a dominant idea in the mindset of so many people.

Since curses are thought to relate to the supernatural, the Bible should provide us sound information to frame our ideas about curses. The Bible contains numerous references to curses. But the Bible provides no reference to or support for the idea curses can be invoked by any one against another. What is clear in the Bible is no one can curse whom God does not curse.

Only God can curse. He reserves the power to curse to Himself. The evil and malicious intent of those who would use curses against others makes it obvious that God will not give such a power to any man over another, especially to evil, dark-minded people like sorcerers and witches. Balaam the sorcerer admitted: "How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced" (Numbers 23:8)?

People will continue to practice and believe in cursing. But the fact is cursing someone is a vain practice. It is based on deceitful information and a misguided mindset. The only reality about it is the misery belief in it inflicts on people who think they are cursed.

The truth is adversities are not synonymous with curses. It is those who are misguided by the idea that man has power to curse see every sore spot in their and others' lives as a curse. If we will count our blessings it will surprise us how even apparent evils and misfortunes are blessings in disguise.

And so, it is really the mindset - how we see things. But we can't go wrong by allowing our mindset to be framed and shaped by God's truth. The word of God informs us to see the good in everything. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

Furthermore, we are called upon to ponder and reckon properly and allow our mindset to be shaped by truth according to Romans 8:31-39: "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Truly He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he condemning? It is Christ who has died, but rather also who is raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, "For Your sake we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep of slaughter." But in all these things we more than conquer through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Whatever your lot today, why define it as a curse? Why the idea of a curse when God defines it all as blessings? If you are blessed by God, no man can curse you.

For all who have come to believe in Christ, we have the assurance God "has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3).

Read the book, G.A.N. James, The Myth of the Generational Curse (Xulon Press, 2007).

The Election of Barack Obama Exposes the Myth of the Curse of Ham

In the last post, the question raised was whether the curse of Ham would prevent African American, Barack Obama, from becoming a US president. Well, we woke up this morning on Wednesday 5 November to see worldwide jubilation that Barack Obama won the election by a wide margin over white contender John Mc Cain to become the first US African American president elect.

What does that do to the curse of Ham idea? It exposes it as a myth. It demonstrates the so-called curse of Ham is a figment of vain human imagination fuelled by superstition and racial prejudice.

The so-called curse of Ham states all black people are destined to be slaves. This implies black people lack leadership qualities and are confined naturally to servitude. Of course, no evidence has ever supported the myth. But the myth was used to justify the inhumane enslavement of African people by whites in times past and exists today merely in the pitiful minds of bigots.

The election of Barack Obama to lead the US and the subsequent jubilation by the world citizens who welcome him as a world leader add to the indisputable evidence that blacks can be effective leaders. This is particularly so when, in terms of the US election, Barack Obama had to contend with several well-qualified white aspirants to win the election.

So we congratulate Barack Obama on his election to the US presidency. The American people overwhelmingly showed they recognize his leadership ability to be far above that of his white contenders as they observed him closely in the run of the two-year campaign leading to the election. In so doing, they have exposed once again the myth of the curse of Ham.

This is God's doing. It demonstrates that no man can curse whom God does not.

In David's words in Psalms 75:4-7: "I said to the boastful, 'Do not deal boastfully,' and to the wicked, 'Do not lift up the horn. Do not lift up your horn on high; Do not speak with a stiff neck.' " For exaltation comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the Judge: He puts down one, and exalts another.

Read the book by G.A.N. James, The Myth of the Generational Curse (Xulon Press, 2007)