It is written:
“Likewise, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; prophesy against them, 18 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their sleeves and make veils for the heads of people of every height to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of My people, and keep yourselves alive?” (Ezekiel 13:17-18)
The Prophet here describes a terrible practice taking place in the land of Israel, where prophetesses were using “magic charms” on their sleeves and “veils” for the head in order to “hunt the souls” of people.
What is going on in this passage?
Is Ezekiel simply speaking metaphorically?
Not at all.
Indeed, there is a very dark overtone to this passage when we study it carefully.
“The Hebrew prophet Ezekiel made an important statement about “magic bands” (kesatot), which were cryptically used to dispel (magically eject) the souls of men in order to replace those spirits with resurrected ones from the dead (as in the Rephaim or dead Nephilim). Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save [Hebrew, chayah, “restore to life”] the souls alive that come unto you… to slay the souls that should not die, and to save [restore to life] the souls alive that should not live…? Wherefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against your [Kesatot, “magic bands” used for binding and loosing souls], wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly [Parach, “to fly away,” or alternatively “to sprout up from out of the ground”] and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly (Ez[ ekiel] 13: 18b–20). (emphasis added) The kesatot was a magic arm band used in connection with a container called the kiste. Wherever the kiste is inscribed on sarcophagi, it is depicted as a sacred vessel (a spirit prison?) with a snake peering through an open lid. How the magic worked and in what way a spirit was ejected and replaced with a spirit from the dead is a mystery (unless, again, modern occultists have these demonic incantations in their possession today). Pan, the half-man/ half-goat god that guarded the entrance to the “gates of hell” at the base of Mount Hermon—beyond which the Rephaim (dead Nephilim) were imprisoned—is sometimes pictured kicking the lid open and letting the snake (spirit?) out. Such loose snakes were then depicted as being enslaved around the limbs and bound in the hair of the Bacchae women, the servants of the demonic god Dionysus. Whatever this imagery of Pan, the serpents, the imprisoned spirits, and the magic kesatot and kiste actually represented, a noteworthy verification of the magical properties represented by them is discussed in the scholarly book Scripture and Other Artifacts by Phillip King and Michael David: In the closing verses of Ezekiel 13 the prophet turns his attention to magic practices whose details remain obscure. Two key terms are kesatot and mispabot.… The kesatot are worn on the arms, while the mispabot are made “on the head of every height” (?), which has been understood to mean “on the heads of persons of every height” [including those of great height; giants, offspring of the Watchers].… In modern times archaeological discoveries and texts from Babylonia in particular have shed further light on what might be involved: G. A. Cooke cited Hellenistic figurines from Tell Sandahannah (Mareshah) in Palestine with wire twisted around their arms and ankles… and a magical text from Babylonia that speaks of white and black wool being bound to a person or to someone’s bed.… J. Herrmann [notes] that both words can be related to Akkadian verbs, kasu and sapabu, which mean respectively “to bind” and “to loose.” Herrmann also drew attention to texts in which these verbs were used in a specifically magical sense.… This indicates that, whatever the objects were, their function was to act as “binders” and “loosers” in a magical sense, in other words as means of attack and defense [of spirits] in sorcery.[ 48]”. (Thomas R. Horn & Josh Peck, Abaddon Ascending: The Ancient Conspiracy at the Center of CERN’S Most Secretive Mission, 118-120 (Kindle Edition))
When we consider the pagan cultures surrounding the people of Israel at the time Ezekiel wrote this, it becomes even more clear what a very real danger this posed.
Could it be that there are practitioners of this form of occultism in our day and age?
I believe so.
Indeed, I have worked with people in Eastern Kentucky who have told me of groups which they were involved with whose goals (through sorcery and various forms of witchcraft) were to incarnate demons in the bodies of people and children. (One group that is located between Hazard and Jackson has been meeting together for over twenty years, with one of their goals to be “hunters”of churches). One gentleman I worked with told me the group was comprised of a large number of local satanists, and that he himself had been working to help a child whose body had been inhabited by a demon with his soul lingering in some kind of “purgatory.” (He himself had sold his soul to the devil, and had been given certain “abilities” as a result). These details were later confirmed to me through other means.
Make no mistake, my friends: the old occult religions of old are still in the world today. So also are the demons and evil powers behind these religions, which is why we must remember that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against powerful forces of darkness at work around us (Ephesians 6:10-12).
Here is another thing to consider: some of these people have no problem using force to try and deal with their enemies. Months ago, one occultist contacted his coven and told them my name and phone number, with the message to them (and I quote): “I Want Him Dead. I Want His Family Dead. I Want His House Burnt To The Ground.”
He and his coven refused to meet with me when I volunteered to meet with them and show them how I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that the Bible is God’s Word, and that the “gods” which they worship are simply fallen angels and demonic spirits pretending to be gods.
Everyone: Jesus is the Answer. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jon 14:6), and He died for every sinner on the Cross of Calvary (1 Timothy 2:6). He was buried, and over three hundred witnesses testify that He arose from the dead on the third day after His death (1 Corinthians 15:1-8).
To the person who has never been saved from sin: You have heard God’s Word (Romans 10:17). Why not today believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God (John 3:16), repent of your sins (Luke 13:3), confess Him as God’s Son (Acts 8:37), and be baptized to have your sins forgiven (Acts 2:37-38)?
To the child of God who has backslid: do you know that Jesus still loves you (Revelation 3:20)? He calls you to repent of the sin in your life and confess it to God in prayer (1 John 1:7-2:2), calling on your brothers and sisters to aid you so you don’t have to fight the battle alone (James 5:16).
To my enemies: God loves you and wants you to be saved, and so do I. Contact me and we will meet together and talk and study on these important matters. Don’t’ believe the lies that you aren’t loved by God and that you are too wicked to be forgiven.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Leave a Reply