Witchcraft or Prophecy? Discerning True Spiritual Encounters
A certain element that goes along with deception is the issue of rebellion.
Rebellion is encouraged and taught as a good thing in much of today’s culture. The statement, “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,” gets quoted often but it may not be fully understood. Let’s briefly look at the following scripture reference and what this means in greater depth.
So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king” (1 Samuel 15:22-23).
When taking this scripture into context, we can ascertain a definition for the phrase, “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.” First, we need to recognize that rebellion is a violation of authority.
Violation of Authority
In the case of Saul and Samuel, it was a violation of God’s authority. But how is this tied together with witchcraft? The answer is man’s will over God’s will. When a man decides he will place his desires or actions above what God has instructed him to do, this is an act of rebellion. Regarding spiritual things, acts of rebellion are defined by a person who wants to access the realm of the spirit by their means.
Behavior such as this is tragic. Saul attempted to play it off; however, God was not pleased. Later, we see Saul stepping into witchcraft by engaging with the witch of EnDor to pull Samuel up from the grave. Saul’s action fulfilled what he started when he disobeyed Samuel’s words, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” The following is the account of Saul’s encounter with the witch of EnDor.
Witchcraft is an Unauthorized Use of Supernatural Power
We can see a glaring example of rebellion and witchcraft going hand in hand through the story of the Tower of Babel.
Nimrod was a ruler and built a city in the Valley of Shinar. One of the most infamous structures in history was fashioned in this location— the Tower of Babel, a tower to reach the heavens.
And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them” (Genesis 11:4-6).
Not only was this a wonder of the world at the time, but some accounts suggest it was a high tower well into the sky, while others suggest it may have been more of a ceremonial structure. As a ceremonial structure, it might have been a ziggurat, much like the Mayans and Aztecs utilized for their worship of deities.
Reaching Into A Different Dimension
What this story is talking about is a tower that was built to reach another dimension. Nimrod and his followers were looking to access the realm of the spirit without the permission of God. Therefore, God had to come down and strike the language. The Lord wasn’t concerned about mankind building a tower up into the sky and the heavens; instead, this was a tower to access the realms of the spirit or supernatural without God’s permission.
Nimrod—We Rebel!
An interesting point is found in the name of Nimrod. His name means “we rebel,” and that is what these people came together to do—rebel.
In this case, they wanted to encounter all things supernatural, only without God.
This Tower of Babel was likely part of their evil agenda. The watchers or angels with a wicked agenda also needed permission from mankind to access the natural realm fully. This could be the reason behind the tower being built.
As speculative as it sounds, something was taking place that was serious enough for God to intervene. It was all brought on by a rebellion that wanted to access the unseen realm without God.
Unauthorized Access to the Realm of the Spirit
Witchcraft is unauthorized access to the realm of the spirit. Those who do not obey authority in the natural and those who disobey on a spiritual level are the same. Both are unauthorized violations of authority.
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:8).
Many things could be taking place regarding those who claim things they likely have not truly seen or experienced. Here are three I have considered over the years that you may find helpful.
Fake encounters: Simply experiences contrived by misguided people’s imagination desiring the experience more than the truth.
Self-deception: As unique as it may sound, through my experiences with the prophetic, I have seen such a need for people to be validated that they will imagine encounters and call them real. It’s almost as if they give themselves to their imagination and call it visions, dreams, etc.
Demonic encounters: Demonic persuasion or experiences involving agents from the kingdom of darkness having access to the mystical through ignorance.
Keeping Prophecy Clean
Prophecy can be highly controversial because experiences are subjective to the one having them. It is imperative to the heart of the person delivering an experience to be very honest. If they are not, it begins a journey of self-deception, and it could even become the first step into becoming a false witness, false voice, and, God forbid—a false prophet.
How they communicate their revelation to others and what they are experiencing, even to themselves, is of the utmost importance. When laying hold of a revelatory moment, there is a process to how it should be conveyed to others, or even what you tell your heart about what is happening.
For those not reading the Bible and praying and not having an established foundation in the Word of God, there can be a fine line between prophetic encounters and a psychic/soulish mixture.
The Word of God Will Check You
You have an inner conviction of what is right and wrong. You have internal integrity for the truth. The Word of God, in your heart, will check you subtly, and it will check you directly. God’s Word will encourage you when you are walking in love and will make you wince at night or in the morning for having wrong thoughts or if you are disingenuous about something.
The Word of God will check your honesty with yourself and keep you on the rails. All issues that happen to prophetic people usually stem from not honoring the Word of God first. If you allow the Word of God to speak to you, it will keep you solid. When a person does have the Word in their mind and heart but chooses to violate what they know is true, that same person will develop a calloused heart.
Uncalloused Maturity
Years ago, I taught a series titled “Uncalloused Maturity.” The crux of the message stated is that you can know a lot, but unless it affects you at a heart level and manifests in how you treat people, you will remain immature.
If you violate self-honesty, others may not know you are confabulating an experience, but your heart knows it. You may fool others, but if you choose to continue pressing past honesty for the sake of sensationalism, your own heart knows it.
All believers, especially prophetic people, must learn faith with honesty. Why? Can you imagine if the Bible was written the way some people share their confabulated testimonies? We wouldn’t know what to believe. There would be no standard. I believe you are a person of integrity and will walk in the supernatural full of faith while keeping an intense love of the truth! It is God’s highest and best for you!
