WitchCraft

This sounds quite familiar. I think I have written something about it before. I can’t be certain. I know that when we think of witchcraft, depending on what part of the world you are in or from, you are probably thinking of three possibilities viz: Guys with brooms flying at night, Guys wearing black and red gowns with marks on their faces, or perhaps you think it’s all stuff that people have made up. Whatever is your persuasion, I can understand you.

In reality, though, witchcraft is a spectrum of sorts. Yes, we are talking about witchcraft. Recently I was studying the Bible, specifically the Gospel according to Mark, a particular verse caught my attention:

Mark 14:1
[1]After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.

I was interested in the part that said “… sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.”

The word for craft there also means decoy, trick, wile, subtilty. These word are very familiar. For instance, the very first attempt to gain an advantage via subtilty was carried out by the devil in the garden of Eden.

This is a classic go-to move of the devil, that he is also known as the deceiver. He has several of these kinds of moves. The Apostle Paul in his Clarion call to the church at Ephesus says:

Ephesians 6:11
[11]Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

You see, the idea of word wiles suggests that these devices captured herein, are well calculated, planned, specific, and sensitive in their designs. It’s a precise orchestration such that a man can build and run his entire life in such a wile and never have even the foggiest idea that he has been deceived. And we find that it is true. A whole lot of persons have been caught up by wiles and have been living a lie.

Remember that:

Revelation 12:9
[9]And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Thus, whenever you have found yourself employing schemes, make moves calculated at taking people by Craft, employing deception and subterfuge, using underhanded methods to take advantage of others, or if you see that in others, well, you have just seen witchcraft in practice. At a fundamental level, manipulation, deception, cunningness, and two-facedness are all expressions of the devil. When we engage them, we have in those moments become as the devil himself . This is witchcraft 101.