OFFICIAL SUNDAY OPEN THREAD

The End Times: Why Society Is Running Headlong Into Spiritism & Sorcery

Filler

alse prophets, psychics, mediums, and soothsayers: The rise of these things in our world today is a sign of the times. In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus said, “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:11-12).

The Bible says there will be an increase in false prophets—frauds and fakes who claim to have knowledge of the future. We see this today in the surge in sorcery, magic arts, psychics and witchcraft.

In the New Testament, we find the word “pharmakeia,” which is where we get our English word for pharmacy. The word “pharmakeia” refers to sorcery, magic, or spells, and it’s often translated that way. That word was also used in ancient Greek for poisoning people with the use of potions, charms, drugs, or mood-altering substances.

The word Pharmakeia is used twice in the Book of Revelation. It’s used in Revelation 9:21 during the trumpet judgments: “Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries pharmakeia nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”

That’s interesting. What is our world today dominated by? The murder rate and thefts are rising dramatically in major cities across America. We see all kinds of increases in sexual immorality. It’s interesting that listed among these sins is pharmakeia.

Revelation 18:23, speaking of Babylon, that great end-time city in the system dominated by the Antichrist, says: “And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; 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 pharmakeia were all nations deceived.”

The tribulation religious and economic system ruled by the Antichrist will be dominated by spiritism, sorcery and magic arts.

The Antichrist will be the greatest sorcerer of all time. He will receive his guidance directly from Satan and perform all kinds of signs, wonders, and miracles. It will be a mass campaign of demonic deception.

We can see a preview of this today as more and more people are turning to psychics, spiritualists, and soothsayers for guidance and information. Earlier this month, the New York Post, along with several other publications, wrote about a blind mystic named Baba Vanga.

Baba Vanga, an alleged Bulgarian clairvoyant or mystic, claimed to be able to see into the future. She was tragically left blind as a child by a tornado. Many claim that this woman was a modern-day “Nostradamus of the Balkans.”

She died in 1996 but has developed a cult-like following. The Bulgarian Tsar Boris III and the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev reportedly consulted her in person to find out about the future. She supposedly predicted the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1969, 9/11, that the 44th president would be black, and the exact date of her own death.

But as with a lot of these psychics and false prophets, they give a lot of supposed “prophecies.” In this NY Post article, it gives her yearly batch of predictions, and there are seven of them for 2024.

Among them include:

• An assassination attempt on the life of Russian President Vladimir Putin
• Terror and a biological attack from a major country
• A huge economic crisis in 2024 (Well, that’s not really that hard to predict)
• Weather troubles
• Cyber attacks
• Medical breakthroughs for diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer
• Great technological breakthroughs in quantum computing

Vanga also more broadly predicted:

• The resolution of the world hunger crisis between 2025 and 2028 (Well, if that’s going to come to pass, it’s going to have to happen pretty quickly)
• Communism will return to the world by 2026
• Humanity will achieve time travel by the year 2304
• The world will end in the year 5079

When I was growing up, there was a woman named Jean Dixon, and every year, she would issue her string of prophecies that were supposed to take place.

Now, what all of this shows is if you throw enough predictions against the wall, eventually, something will stick. Some of you may have heard my comparison between these false prophets and the phrase “a broken clock is right twice a day.” They get some things right here and there. It’s like the man who went to visit his psychic, and when he got there, there was a sign on the door that said: “closed due to unforeseen circumstances.”

We have to remember there are no unforeseen circumstances with God. The Bible has a 100%, 100% of the time, proven track record when it comes to the things that it predicts.

In fact, in Isaiah 46:10, God says, “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”

It’s sad that, as our world descends more and more into darkness, people turn to psychics, mediums, and other people to give them information when the Bible is the only 100% accurate source of knowledge for the future.

22% of Americans (1 out of 5) have consulted a psychic in their lifetime. It’s especially prevalent among the younger generation. They don’t like organized religion, but many of them don’t want to be atheists, so they turned to what we would call spiritualism or spirituality. According to a recent survey, 1/3 of non-religious Gen Zs and young millennials hold New Age beliefs.

On TikTok, there have been 3.8 billion views for #Astrology, 6 billion views for #AstrologyTickTock, and 79.4 billion views for #ZodiacSigns. It increased dramatically during COVID. Amid the lock downs, people were afraid. Now, 43% of Gen Z women say they would make a big decision based on astrology. 

An article this week asked, “Why do millennials and Gen Z love psychics?” The reason is people are searching for answers. There’s a fear of the future. People want guidance, but they don’t believe the Bible because people are more willing to exchange uncomfortable truth for comfortable lies.

They don’t have to submit to anyone or anything when they believe in spiritism or psychics. It’s all about self, and that’s the way people like it. They’re in charge of their life in the future. More and more counselors today are fusing therapy and psychic readings.

The New York Post published an article this week titled, “New Yorkers are ditching therapists for psychics.”

“A lot of people have just been seeking out more into the unknown and more kinds of healing from different modalities, including tarot, astrology and all the other ones,” the report quoted. “Somebody spoke to me as if they knew my soul, something that transcended any experience of therapy that I’ve ever had.”

They are told that they can find their “own internal compass.” People like that because they can be in control of their own life.

The Bible strictly forbids all kinds of witchcraft, mediums, tarot cards, and astrology. Deuteronomy 18:10-13 says, “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.”

There are dozens of verses like this. 1 Chronicles 10:13 says, “So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it.”

As believers in Jesus Christ, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. One person put it like this: “The Holy Spirit is resident, and he wants to be president.” He is resident in our lives, and he wants to guide and direct us. He knows your future and my future. 

John 16:13 says, “He will guide you into all truth…”

Romans 8:14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

We see the world around us falling increasingly for deception and spiritual seduction. This is another indication that the coming of Jesus is near. These prophecies He made about false prophets proliferating in the end times are coming to pass. With all we see in our world today, we have every reason to believe that the coming of Jesus is very near.✪