With a Subtitle: What Scripture Reveals About Occultism, Idolatry, and the Spiritual Betrayal of God
A brief Excerpt: The Bible consistently forbids the occult, linking divination, idolatry, and mediums to rebellion against God and spiritual betrayal. Yet even here, God pursues the unfaithful and offers reconciliation through Jesus.
Last week we saw how the ancient Hebrew word for serpent, nachash, appears linguistically connected to divination.
Our human ancestors chose forbidden serpent wisdom over surrender to God.
From that point onward, the Bible issues clear and consistent warnings that the Creator opposes supernatural access that doesn’t run through Him.
This prohibition, however, has not kept humans from seeking power, status, or control through forbidden means.
In this post we’ll look at what specific practices are forbidden, the connection between idolatry and the occult, and the link with prostitution.
Let’s start with the broad group of occult practices that are off limits according to the Bible.
Forbidden Occultism in the Bible
Deuteronomy 18:10–11 lists forbidden practices for the followers of Yahweh.
- Offering sacrifices to deities is out. Any such sacrifice is forbidden, but child sacrifice is specifically mentioned as reprehensible.
- Interpreting omens and soothsaying is not permissible.
- Attempting to manipulate physical reality through witchcraft and sorcery (magic) is outlawed.
- Binding or cursing people or objects through charms and other spells is a no go.
- Seeking to channel non-human entities through mediumship or spiritism is not ok.
- Necromancy, the practice of attempting to contact the dead, is similarly outlawed.
Only the first one offends the modern sensibilities of many people today.
But to the Bible believer, even the practices that may sound harmless should be avoided.
That’s because they seek supernatural access through unsanctioned means.
Occultism as Unauthorized Power and Rebellion
Whether the aim is self-protection, controlling destiny, or gaining personal knowledge or power, occult practices aim to tap into something beyond the material world.
They reach for the supernatural.
Christians who affirm the regula fidei believe the only authorized supernatural access comes through Jesus.
Pursuing the transcendent without Jesus is endeavoring to walk a path that avoids a trusting relationship with God — the very purpose for which God made us and what He calls us into.
The Bible says that pursuing such power is ultimately self-destructive. And it names it as cosmic rebellion against Yahweh.
As Samuel said to Saul: For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft (divination), and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.¹
False gods = Real Spiritual Powers
According to the Bible Project, “Biblical monotheism” is the conviction that Yahweh alone is the supreme and uncreated Creator.²
It means God is alone as the Only One worthy of worship. It doesn’t mean there aren’t lesser, created spiritual beings (elohim) who also desire worship.
An idol alone is a powerless object. Yet the spiritual power behind an idol can be real, although still powerless in comparison to Yahweh.³ That lesser power can be simultaneously described as belonging to “false gods” or real elohim.
Deuteronomy 32 is one place where strange gods, demons, and no gods are explicitly linked.
They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded. [Deuteronomy 32: 16–17]
These elohim were created for a purpose in the service of Yahweh. But according to scholars like Dr. Michael Heiser and traditions found in Second Temple Judaism, they chose to take the path of the serpent and rebel.
This passage explains why rebellion, divination, and the worship of any false god are inextricably tied together in the Old Testament worldview.
The connection is in the New Testament too.
Paul makes this clear in his first letter to the Corinthian church.
20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. [1 Corinthians 10:20–21]
The Biblical worldview is that there are spiritual forces hidden behind these false gods / spiritual powers / demons.
This spiritual reality is why the Roman Empire’s demand that early Christians offer incense to the gods was such a sticking point. The Christians knew that they could not do so while maintaining loyalty to Christ.
It was a choice to maintain loyalty to Christ or deny His exclusive Lordship by honoring other gods.
They were gods who were thought to control access to love, power, status, revelry, war, financial prosperity, fertility, and more.
We often tend to worship the same gods today but with names like consumerism, sexuality, nationalism, and personal status.
Jesus, the One whose Name means Yahweh saves, calls His followers to a different view of the world. He calls His followers to seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness and says that the necessary things will be added to us.⁴
In other words, He doesn’t reject the necessity of food, drink, and clothing, but He reorders their priority. They are things that God will provide as we pursue life within God’s will.
Pursuing life apart from God is an entirely different worldview.
Here’s more of what the Bible has to say about rejecting a God-centered worldview and pursuing an occult-centric perspective.
Occultism in the Bible
The context of each reference is different, but the consistent thread shows these customs and rites violate relationship with Yahweh and ultimately harm the practitioner.
Child Sacrifice
Child sacrifice was not unknown in the Ancient Near East.
The Canaanites of the Mediterranean coast (the Phoenicians) were especially known for this in their mlk ritual. They later exported the practice to Africa when they became the people of Carthage.
Some scholars believe the god “Molech” is actually not a proper noun of a god, but is the generic name of the infamous mlk sacrifice. It was the offering of children to be burned alive that could be offered to various Canaanite gods.⁵
Whatever the spiritual focus, Yahweh is clear that He opposes child sacrifice in the strongest possible terms.
I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people; for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. [Leviticus 20:3]
Not that this meant Israel was immune to the practice.
King Manasseh of Judah not only “erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles,” but he was willing to offer up his own children to death to try and please the false gods.
6 He sacrificed his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, arousing his anger. [2 Chronicles 33:6]
Mediums
According to the Bible, consulting a Medium is seeking information from a forbidden spiritual entity.
Even if there is real information that comes through such an encounter, it is ultimately spiritually corrosive.
31 “ ‘Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God. [Leviticus 19:31]
We see the same picture in 1 Chronicles, which references Saul’s failure to remain faithful to Yahweh.
13 Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, [1 Chronicles 10:13]
In our modern context, psychics and mediums continue to be a part of life for many people.
In fact, the psychic industry in the United States increased by 52% from 2005–2020⁶ and it’s continued to grow.
While it may seem like harmless fun, the Bible paints a different picture.
It consistently uses language of sexual infidelity for anything in the hidden spiritual world. That’s because Yahweh refers to Himself as a spouse of His people.
Idolatry as Sexual Betrayal
Ever since the Garden, God has desired to be in a committed and trusting relationship with a people who are not always loyal.
So when the people wander and pursue other gods, Yahweh uses the language of a betrayed spouse.
For example, turning to a medium or spiritist is akin to prostituting oneself before Him.
6 “ ‘I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people. [Leviticus 20:6]
Here are a few of the other places where God uses language of sexual and marital betrayal to describe occult behavior.
- In Ezekiel 16:32 God describes Israel as a faithless spouse: “You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband!”⁷
- In Jeremiah 3:1 God tells His people “…you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers.”⁸
- In Jeremiah 3: 8 God says He gave “…Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries.”⁹ Those adulteries were with idols of “stone and wood” who had rebel spiritual powers behind them.
This is why God describes Himself as a “jealous God.”
Just like any spouse would be angered and betrayed by sexual infidelity, God feels anger and indignation when His people betray their covenant to Him.
14 Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. [Exodus 34: 14–15]
The sex metaphor could also be quite literal.
Scholars believe ancient Canaanite fertility religions worshipped Baal and Asherah through ritualistic sex acts. Ritual sex with temple prostitutes was thought to encourage agricultural growth.¹⁰ Worship of these strange gods consistently found its way into Israel and Judah despite the words of Yahweh and the warnings of the prophets.
By engaging in these rituals, Israelites were engaged in both literal and spiritual adultery.
What God Wants
God desires people to walk with Him and to trust Him.
As Adam and Eve showed, this is very hard to do. We want to do things that seem right in our own eyes.
God wants people to trust Him with their judgments and with their needs. To take our concerns to Him in prayer and submission.
This is what we were made for. The Bible says that rejecting this plan ultimately leads us towards darkness.
19 When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness. [Isaiah 8: 19–22]
Jesus highlights this utter darkness in Matthew 8:12, 22:13, and 25:30.
Instead of separation, God invites people into relationship with Him.
If you don’t know Him today, He is still inviting. Still pursuing. God doesn’t love mediumship, but He loves mediums.
He loves Satanists. He called, loved, and accepted a man named Riaan Swiegelaar who had once founded the South African Satanic Church.
There is nothing He can’t forgive. Like the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son, He is always willing to receive us if we will only repent and turn to Him.
A God Who is Loyal to the Unfaithful
We get a glimpse of God’s unfailing love through the prophet Hosea, who served Israel in the 8th century BC.
God commands Hosea marry a prostitute named Gomer to show His desire to be reconciled to a people who had been unfaithful to Him.
The first chapter of the book shows Hosea and Gomer have three children together.
But by the second chapter, Gomer has abandoned Hosea to seek other lovers and returned to her old life.
But Gomer is not abandoned.
In the third chapter, God commands Hosea to seek out his wife and save her from the ruin her choices had brought.
The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods [Hosea 3:1]
We are Gomer. All of us.
God pursues us for a relationship with Him. We run. He still pursues us.
This is how He feels about us. The name Hosea means “salvation.”¹¹ And the name Jesus means “Yahweh saves.”
Wrapping Up
The Bible describes occult power as betrayal of God, but God stands ready to reconcile with all who will turn to Him.
He is the author of life and the source of true spiritual power. And any other spiritual force is ultimately powerless before Jesus.
This is what Paul is writing about in his letter to the Ephesian church when he describes Jesus being seated at the right hand of the Father.
He includes a litany of spiritual forces that are subject to Him.
21 …far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. [Ephesians 1: 21–23]
Jesus defeated all opposed spiritual powers and delivered salvation for humanity through His sacrificial and victorious death on the Cross. Forgiveness of sin and victory in Christ is available for all who turn to Him.
Christ is King.
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This article is part 2 of a series on satan and malevolent spiritual forces. The bad guys.
Part 1: Deceptive Origins: The Secret Hidden in the Garden
⇢ The Triple Entendre Nahash
⇢ The Occult in the Bible
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Sources and References
1: 1 Samuel 15:23
2: No Other God: https://bibleproject.com/podcasts/theme-god-e2-no-other-god/
3: Some examples: 1 Corinthians 8: 4–6, Psalm 96:5, Isaiah 44: 9–20, Jeremiah 10: 3–5, 14–15
4: Mathew 6: 31–33
31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. [Matthew 6: 31–33]
5: Tophet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tophet#Carthage_and_the_western_Mediterranean
6: Psychic, Mediums & Tarot 2026: Best Statistics, Facts & Trends: https://www.mysticmag.com/psychic-reading/psychic-mediumship-tarot-statistics/
7: Ezekiel 16:32
32 “‘You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband!
8: Jeremiah 3:1
“If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him and marries another man,
should he return to her again?
Would not the land be completely defiled?
But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers —
would you now return to me?”
declares the Lord.
9: Jeremiah 3: 8–10
8 I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. 9 Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. 10 In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the Lord.
10: Canaanite Polytheism: Deities, Myths, and Influence on Ancient Near Eastern Religions: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383214195_Canaanite_Polytheism_Deities_Myths_and_Influence_on_Ancient_Near_Eastern_Religions
11: Hosea: https://www.thebump.com/b/hosea-baby-name
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
Distributed by – BCWorldview.org
This article appeared on Medium and is reprinted with modifications and by permission.