It is written:
“And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.” (Revelation 9:21)
The word translated here as “sorceries” is the Greek word pharmakeia. The NKJV has a footnote with the word that says, “drugs.” The word carries with it the idea of drug abuse.
“Witchcraft (pharmakeia). At the root of this word is pharmakon, literally “drug,” from which we derive our English word “pharmacy.” In classical Greek pharmakeia referred to the use of drugs whether for medicinal or more sinister purposes, e.g., poisoning. In the New Testament, however, it is invariably associated with the occult, both here in Galatians and in Revelation, where it occurs twice (Rev 9: 21; 18: 23). English translations usually render pharmakeia as “witchcraft” (KJV, NIV) or “sorcery” (RSV, NEB). These words correctly convey the idea of black magic and demonic control, but they miss the more basic meaning of drug use.“ (Timothy George, The New American Commentary: Volume Thirty-Galatians, 9724-9733 (Kindle Edition); Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group)
One of the ways that Satan and his forces work is through the agency of drug abuse. Nearly every drug addict that I have worked with has had encounters with the supernatural world. While many in the Christian community unfortunately immediately dismiss any claims of addicts with the demonic as unbelievable or materialistically explainable, the Bible clearly teaches the connection between drug abuse and occultism.
In recent years, scientists have been learning about the amazing intricate relationship between the brain and the mind (spirit) of man. One author has well documented:
“Increasingly, however, toward the end of the last century, even leading physical scientists such as physicists, chemists, physiologists—and especially neurologists—began to see that materialism did not explain the data that was coming in. Inescapably, it all pointed to a nonphysical source of thought. Mind had to be distinct from brain. Chemical and electrical reactions in the brain could not explain the whole person. Eccles pointedly observed, “It is not at all clear how ‘natural selection’ has somehow selected for Bach’s ‘Partitas’ . . . or for a system of justice that will let a thousand guilty men go free lest one innocent man be constrained of his liberties.” After extensive interviews in Europe and America, philosophy-of-science professor John Gliedman wrote: Several leading theorists have arrived at the same startling conclusions: their work suggests a hidden spiritual world, within all of us. . . . From Berkeley to Paris and from London to Princeton, prominent scientists from fields as diverse as neurophysiology and quantum physics are coming out of the closet and admitting they believe in the possibility, at least, of such unscientific entities as the immortal human spirit and divine creation. 31 Materialistic science has nothing to say about the mind (except to deny its existence), which famed neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield described as “outside [and] independent of the brain.” 32 Penfield, during his lifetime known as “the greatest living Canadian,” taught for years at Montreal’s McGill University and the Royal Victoria hospital. Obviously, anything governing human behavior that is outside and independent of the brain must be nonphysical—a scientific conclusion confirmed by many experiments that rankles materialists. Sir John Eccles confirms, with his own research, Penfield’s conclusions. He describes the brain as a machine that a ghost can operate, by which he ordinarily means the human spirit.” (Dave Hunt, Cosmos, Creator, And Human Destiny: Answering Darwin, Dawkins, And The New Atheists, 4358-4371 (Kindle Edition); Bend, Oregon; The Berean Call)
Since drug abuse seriously impairs the physical body, why is it so hard to believe that such couldn’t also make it possible for the brain-a “machine that a ghost can operate”-to be influenced by other ghosts/spirits?
Drug abuse is one of the most effective tools that Satan uses in the world today.
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