Monday 4 January 2010

israel forbidden to do witchcraft, divination and necromancy

in the king james version of the fifth book of moses, deuteronomy chapter 18, verses 9-22 it states:
9 ¶ When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
10 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,
11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
12 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.
13 Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.
14 For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
15 ¶ The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
16 According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
17 And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?
22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
here it is saying that the Lord God has given Israel a prophet instead of those listed in verses 10 and 11.

todo: check other translations

robert j. matthews, an lds professor in march 1974, made a compilation of scriptural references to witchcraft, etc in What the Scriptures Say about Astrology, Divination, Spirit Mediums, Magic, Wizardry, and Necromancy. it should be renamed to What the Bible Says about Astrology, Divination, Spirit Mediums, Magic, Wizardry, and Necromancy.

some more recent quotes can be found in an lds ensign (magazine) article about halloween:
Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles warned of such activities when he told young men and women, “A warning: there is a dark side to spiritual things. In a moment of curiosity or reckless bravado some teenagers have been tempted to toy with Satan worship. Don’t you ever do that! Don’t associate with those who do! You have no idea of the danger! Leave it alone! And there are other foolish games and activities that are on that dark side. Leave them alone!” (Ensign, May 1989, 54).

President James E. Faust, while a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, counseled Latter-day Saints to avoid becoming intrigued by Satan and his mysteries: “No good can come from getting close to evil. Like playing with fire, it is too easy to get burned: ‘The knowledge of sin tempteth to its commission.’ … The only safe course is to keep well distanced from him and any of his wicked activities or nefarious practices. The mischief of devil worship, sorcery, casting spells, witchcraft, voodooism, black magic, and all other forms of demonism should be avoided like the plague” (Ensign, Nov. 1987, 33).

in Entrance into the Kingdom of God, by Bernard P. Brockbank he writes:
According to the apostle Paul, the following works of the flesh will keep a person out of the kingdom of God: "Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: … they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal. 5:19–21)

bjarne christensen, in the lds ensign article of november 1972, the precarious age of aquarious, writes:
The first astrologers are believed to have been pagan priests in the ancient kingdom of Babylonia. In Biblical times, Isaiah, Daniel, and other prophets condemned those who told fortunes and practiced witchcraft as evil for calling on supernatural powers other than God.

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