Lesson 1. Where It All Began. The “Hidden Occultism” course was compiled by Dmitriy Leo, senior pastor of Father’s Blessing Church, in 2010.
Occult organizations no longer hide as they once did and are coming into the open. They promote the occult everywhere: through films, clothing, toys, symbols, advertising, the opening of fortune-telling parlors, and more. Leaders of occult orders and secret societies now state in the media that they no longer need to hide as before—the world is already ready for the arrival of a single global order.
Where It All Began
The first description of occult practice that we find in the Holy Bible is Laban’s divination.
Gen. 30:27 And Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes! I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.”
According to Strong’s numbers, the word “learned” is translated as: to divine, practice sorcery, predict, and guess. Synonyms for this word include: sorcerer, magus, diviner, astrologer, occultist, wise man; to prophesy, practice sorcery, and foretell. In a modern Bible translation, the word is rendered this way: “I have learned through divination that the Lord blesses me because of you…”
And that was not all that Laban did. In the next chapter, Laban is the first person described in the Holy Bible as having household gods (idols). When Jacob fled with his wives, Rachel stole Laban’s idols.
Gen. 31:19 And when Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole the household gods that belonged to her father.
These idols were valuable to Laban. When he caught up with Jacob, he searched all his possessions to find them.
Jacob, however, did not know about the idols, yet troubles soon came upon his family. Shechem, the son of Hamor, raped his daughter Dinah.
Gen. 34:1 Now Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. Gen. 34:2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, lay with her, and violated her.
The next tragedy was Simeon and Levi’s revenge for their sister. They killed all the men of Shechem’s city with their swords and completely plundered it.
Gen. 34:25 Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly against the city and killed all the males. Gen. 34:26 They killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out. Gen. 34:27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city because they had defiled their sister. Gen. 34:28 They took their flocks and herds, their donkeys, and everything in the city and in the field. Gen. 34:29 They took captive all their wealth, all their children, and their wives, and plundered everything in the houses.
As a result of this incident, righteous Jacob, who had tried to live at peace with everyone, became hated by the inhabitants of that land.
Gen. 34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi: You have troubled me by making me hated among the inhabitants of this land, among the Canaanites and Perizzites. I have few men; they will gather against me, attack me, and I will be destroyed, I and my household.
Their sons’ actions deeply grieved Jacob. At the end of his life, when Jacob gave blessings to his sons, he gave no blessings to these two because of their cruelty.
Gen. 49:5 Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence. Gen. 49:6 Let not my soul enter their council; let not my honor be united with their assembly, for in their anger they killed a man and in their self-will they hamstrung an ox. Gen. 49:7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
God told Jacob to gather everyone and return to Bethel, but before setting out, Jacob did something very important:
Gen. 35:2 And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him: Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your clothes. Gen. 35:3 Let us arise and go up to Bethel; there I will make an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and was with me on the journey I traveled. Gen. 35:4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods in their possession and the earrings that were in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem. Gen. 35:5 Then they set out. And the terror of God was upon the cities around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
This was the first mention in the Holy Bible of someone commanding others to get rid of their gods (idols). By the way, while reading this passage of Scripture, I wondered why the people gave up their earrings along with the idols. I searched for the word “earrings” on Wikipedia and in the Russian Humanitarian Encyclopedic Dictionary, and here is what they say.
Wikipedia. Earrings first appeared as male rather than female adornments. As early as 7,000 years ago, earrings for men were made in ancient Asia. For the ancient Egyptians and Assyrians, an earring symbolized a homosexual status in society. In ancient Rome, an earring identified a slave. The ancient Greeks who wore earrings earned their living through prostitution. Wealthy Greek and Roman women gladly wore pearl earrings, displaying their homosexual status to those around them. Gay men from the highest nobility preferred the luxury and magic of brighter, more colorful stones, choosing earrings with topaz, garnet, or sapphire for social occasions.
Russian Humanitarian Encyclopedic Dictionary. Earrings are ornaments worn in the ears. In people’s minds, earrings possessed a special magical power, protecting a person from evil spirits. Therefore, no Russian woman went without earrings. As soon as a girl began to walk, her ears were pierced and earrings or rings were inserted.
Clearly, earrings were not merely ornaments in those days; otherwise, they would not have been given over along with the idols. Earrings were somehow connected with sin and idolatry.
Thus, the first idols were destroyed, and Jacob’s people were cleansed. However, as soon as they came to Bethel, Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel died from the severe pain of childbirth. She is the only woman described in the Holy Bible to have died in this way.
Gen. 35:16 Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel gave birth, and her labor was difficult. Gen. 35:17 And while she was suffering in labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have another son.” Gen. 35:18 And as her soul was departing, for she was dying, she named him Ben-Oni. But his father called him Benjamin.
The exact reason for her suffering and death is not described, but most theologians agree that it was because of the idols she had stolen from her father Laban, then hidden and brought into her husband Jacob’s household. At the same time, Jacob himself pronounced a death sentence on whoever had those idols.
Gen. 31:32 Whoever has your gods shall not live; in the presence of our relatives, identify what I have here and take it for yourself. Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
All Lessons
- Lesson 1. Where It All Began
- Lesson 2. What Is Occultism?
- Lesson 3. How to Get Free
