The Witchcraft of Rebellion

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.

1 Samuel 15:23 (NKJV)

Today’s guest devotional is provided by Jon Walker –

Most of us would be shocked and angered if we found out a believer in our congregation was actively using a form of witchcraft to control people, places, things, and circumstances. In spite of our fear, we’d fight back once we learned that the witchcraft was so powerful it had entrapped whole families and small groups of people within the church.

In truth, such a form of witchcraft is present among many believers; it’s the incantation of rebellion. Why does the prophet Samuel say rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft?

It seems to me the similarity between the two is an attempt to control your circumstances independent of God. Witchcraft casts spells and summons spirits to alter the natural, and therefore, it assumes a role for which it has no authority. Rebellion uses disobedience, disharmony, and disunity to gain or maintain control of the situation.

Either way, you’re trying to rule from “I can,” rejecting any notion of “God can.” And when you do that, you’re becoming one with the enemy, aligned with the very things that are in armed rebellion against God.

These things oppose God’s order of things and his work in your life.

“Not doing what God tells you is far worse than fooling around in the occult,” says the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 15:23 MSG).

In that light and truth, will you let God rule, or will you rebel so you can rule yourself?