Why Were WITCHES / SORCERERS Executed According to the Mosaic Law?
The Law of Moses commanded the Israelites:
“Do not allow a sorceress to live.”
Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
Exodus 22:18 (KJV)
A sorceress or witch in this context did not refer to a female dressed in cartoonish black apparel at a costume party, but rather a woman with supernatural power who practiced occultic activities, like witchcraft, divination and seances. In God’s holy nation of Israel — a nation consecrated from the world — engaging in witchcraft or black magic warranted execution. Why? Because it was a crime against the LORD since it sought the powers of spirits other than the Creator for selfish ends. In other words, it linked the practitioner up with evil spirits, aka demons, and the dark power and deceptions/corruptions thereof.
It was through such black arts that the Pharaoh’s sorcerers were able to mimic some of God’s miracles done through Moses, such as morphing their staffs into snakes and turning water into blood (Exodus 7:12 & 7:22).
Speaking of those male sorcerers, the law of Exodus 22:18 applied to males too and all manner of black magic practices, as observed here:
9When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. 13You must be blameless before the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 18:9-13
Since God didn’t want his holy nation to be corrupted, the sentence for engaging in witchcraft/sorcery was execution, which would deter this transgression and prevent its spread in the society (Deuteronomy 19:20, Ecclesiastes 8:11 & Romans 13:4). Another possible reason is that those involved in the occult would’ve naturally attracted evil spirits and the Hebrews had no way of exorcizing people of demons at that time due to their inferior covenant (Hebrews 8:6); so the quickest and most effective answer to the problem was to execute the transgressor.
Of course, these laws only applied to the nation of Israel under the Old Covenant. They don’t apply to a nation today, like the USA, where multiculturism is honored because America is (in theory) all about freedom. So, if a person wants to be a witch or warlock in the USA, they have the freedom to practice their religion, aka spiritual belief system. This explains why the US Air Force Academy made an $80,000 Stonehenge-like worship center in 2011 for druids, witches and Wiccans as a commitment to embrace all religions, which you can read about here. I don’t approve of this (since taxpayer funds were used for a religious center of the black arts), but it reflects the way it is in modern America.
So witchcraft or sorcery is evil because it’s conducive to mixing people up with the powers of darkness and thus negatively influences the society in question. It’s like cancer in the body: it must be cut out, which explains our key text (Exodus 22:18).
In light of this, I can understand why state church authorities circa 1300-1800 in Europe & America wanted to locate and stamp out witchcraft/sorcery in their communities to protect the populace. They simply applied Exodus 22:18 to their particular community. I don’t see the problem with this assuming those accused of witchcraft/sorcery were actually guilty and impenitent. If they were repentant, they would ideally be forgiven and exorcized, if necessary. Problem solved. They would then of course be monitored for a season to ensure that their penitence was genuine, like we do today with those on parole.
The number of people who were executed during this period under the accusation of being witches was up to 40,000, according to scholars. This is nowhere close to the grossly exaggerated 8 million cited at the opening of the infamous movie Mark of the Devil from 1970.
False Accusations of Witchcraft in Church History
Unfortunately, too many executions for witchcraft/sorcery during this era were injustices in the name of God, a scam to steal land, money, and other valuables from innocent people, not to mention rape women. These crimes were committed by dubious individuals who gravitated toward positions of power so they could abuse innocent citizens, fulfill their lusts, and further the corrupt political institution that fueled the injustice, usually the Roman Church. But not always in light of the witch trials in England, which involved the Anglican Church, and…
In the Puritan settlements of America, the notorious Salem witch trials of 1692-1693 involved a couple of hundred people being accused of witchcraft/sorcery and culminated in 30 individuals being found guilty, 19 of whom were executed by hanging (not burned at the stake, as is widely thought). Fourteen of these were women and 5 men. One other male died by pressing because he refused to dignify the proceedings via entering a plea; and at least 5 of those imprisoned died in the disease-plagued prisons. In the years after the trials, several of the key accusers admitted to fabricating the accusations, who were mostly teen girls at the time of the slander. By 1702, the General Court of Massachusetts declared the trials unlawful and the key victims were exonerated by 1711.
Needless to say, any executions or imprisonments due to false accusations of witchcraft/sorcery is a great shame and grievous blight in Christian history. But it really wasn’t ‘Christian history’ since the people who made such slanderous charges weren’t actually Christians. They were ‘Christians’ in name only. The Lord plainly said, “By their fruit you will recognize them,” i.e. those who are false believers (Matthew 7:15-23). And slandering people with the intent of having them put to death is the bad fruit of murder. Notice what the New Testament plainly says about such people:
Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
Related Topics:
Demonic Spirits — How to Deflect Them
DRUG OBSESSION (Idolatry) Is of the Flesh
Dealing With DEMONIC POSSESSION
What Is the UNPARDONABLE SIN (Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit)?
Why Do Unclean Spirits Seek Out DRY PLACES?
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