{"id":513,"date":"2013-10-25T07:56:15","date_gmt":"2013-10-25T13:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/?p=513"},"modified":"2013-10-25T08:33:25","modified_gmt":"2013-10-25T14:33:25","slug":"witch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/blog\/archives\/513","title":{"rendered":"WITCH"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"20.<\/a>\u00a0<\/b><\/em> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 WITCH<\/span><\/b><\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n

Round about the cauldron go;
\n<\/i>In the poison’d entrails throw . . .<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/i>Eye of newt and toe of frog,
\n<\/i>Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
\n<\/i>Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting,
\n<\/i>Lizard’s leg and owlet’s wing . . .<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/i>Double, double toil and trouble;
\n<\/i>Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shakespeare\u2019s MacBeth<\/i> conjures a picture of witchcraft that has prevailed through four centuries of literary imagination: three foul sisters hunker over a simmering vat in a dark cavern, brewing potions and casting powerful spells. This play was written during the translation period of the King James Bible (1604-11), and both texts use the word \u201cwitch\u201d\u2014coming from the Old English wicca, <\/i>relating to religion and the sacred. Current versions of Scripture instead use the word \u201csorcerer.\u201d<\/p>\n

But biblical reference to the magic arts includes a wide vocabulary of terms that are often interchangeable and undifferentiated in role, with no real distinction made between witches, wizards, sorcerers, and poisoners; lists also include the forbidden practices of astrologers, seers, mediums, and necromancers. The civilizations of Old Testament days abounded in divination and oracles, charms of protection, and interpretation of omens. It was from this occult worldview that God separated out a people to be His very own\u2014to worship Him alone. He condemned the practice of all such activity as idolatrous.<\/p>\n

The first mention of sorcery in the Bible shows Moses and Aaron in a standoff before Pharaoh and his Egyptian magicians (Exod. 7:8-13). Recorded shortly thereafter is God\u2019s absolute rejection (via capital punishment) of any fortunetelling or use of demonic power:<\/p>\n

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live (Exod. 22:18 KJV).<\/i><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

God\u2019s character mandated that His people follow a holy lifestyle, turning to Him rather than defiling themselves by seeking the supernatural \u201cwisdom\u201d of the surrounding cultures (Lev. 19:31; 20:6; Deut. 18:10-14). But time and again the Israelites turned away from the Lord, offering their children as burnt sacrifices to the gods and otherwise \u201cselling themselves to do evil\u201d (2 Kings 17:17), as we can see through the stories of some infamous Bible characters:<\/p>\n