06/07/2025 Today’s church culture often not only condones magic, but sometimes seeks to advance it. I have found this very troublesome in my spirit because of conviction that people who do magic are calling on different “powers”, or at best are deceiving people. Both spiritual and natural people are susceptible to the ill effects of magic. My hope is to use 3 ideas straight from Scripture that speak to this, and though some may feel that the verses are too strict, I don’t feel its right say that any of them more strict than the next; we are taught “All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:16-17 NASB). The arguments I want to propose towards “magic” being more harm than good, more evil than tolerable, and more condemning that not, will be preceded by the verses below.

According to Oxford Languages, their dictionary states that “Magic is…

So, the literary educated world thinks of magic as being defined with these words: “The power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.”

No matter how polished, promoting magic is still promoting something or someone else’s kingdom. And very subtley sometimes, too.

I think that is the book Oxford dictionary definition is what I estimated the word to mean, but I also saw a definition that said something like “an item having powers”, “secret forces at work”, or “moving/changing/creating” from magic. If you google the term – that is search the definition on the internet, you will find that.

The first verse I wanted to explore by thinking it through was Leviticus 19:31 ESV

When I searched “Open Bible” website for the word “magic” in the Bible, I found this verse at the top of the list.

“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.” My first “bone to pick” with magic is that magic is seeking out an unknown god, or demon. Magic in the old testament was illustrated in different forms and various ways. The verse above says that (I paraphrase) God told His people, that they should not resort to mediums and necromancers, or seek them out. The idea of resorting to a spirit other than god implies to me that the people seeking mediums were waiting for an answer from God about something, growing impatient with that, or either just curious. This would mean that they sought out people who are known for worshipping other gods, and calling on other powers, and is a great insult to the God who created the world mystically and with a spoken word. They are harming themselves, and God knows it. They are not calling out to God in prayer, but to other gods. The first commandment in the delivery of the Ten Commandments, clearly dictates that we are to have no other gods before the true God, Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews; the God of the Bible; the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Old testament time of Leviticus teaching on this, it was a clear understanding that a person that called on a power other than God’s was into spiritism or into using a medium. (That is what I gathered, I don’t have a verse to prove it.) But it seems like the people, the Hebrews, who were reported in the Bible would be disciplined, cursed, or made unclean by consulting with mediums and spirits. 2nd Reason to Think Magic is Evil: When the verse says “and so make yourselves unclean by them; I am the Lord your God”, to me its obvious there that God rightfully and selfishly wanted the attention of people’s hearts, because He knows what is best for them. He had their best interest at heart, and he has ours at heart too. Someone may say “Well that was the Old Testament, and Jesus came and now things are different”. To that I would respond, that when God spoke about witchcraft, sorcery, and mediums in the Old Testament, He didn’t neglect to show us later the same message in the new testament. When Paul was disrupted by Elymas the sorcerer, as Paul was getting a chance to witness to a willing deputy, he cursed the sorcerer and said to him “O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord” (Acts 12:20 KJV). Evidently, when Elymas was there with them, he tried to pull the proconsul’s attnetion to teaching contrary to the apostles’ which is that of false spirituality, and even sorcery. Paul cursed him, because Paul was ready to respond with the true living, supernatural power of Jesus. I dare say we could do that too, if we were as filled up on God’s spirit!

Third Problem with Magic

Another passage in Acts 19 teaches that many who professed sorcery and practiced from magic books, came and burned their books, and confessed and repented of such sin. God brought great light that casted away the darkness. Whoa! Our God is not shying away from speaking against the evil of magic even in the life of apostle Paul. So, with the hour being late in the church, we cannot afford to shy away from speaking about it either. Even if we feel like we’re the only ones. This is because the word of God is living and active, and at the second death in the book of revelation, those who practice magic arts will be sent to that second death. I do not desire to be counted among them! (Revelation 20:14)