Exposing Occult’s Realm of Forbidden Knowledge
The word “occult” is associated with secret knowledge.
And nearly all occult practices are designed to enable one to pry his way into the spirit realm and, apart from God’s help, access the spiritual world in order to obtain information and knowledge. In short, the occult is man’s attempt to obtain insights about the future or to access the spirit realm on his own initiative.
But one should never forget that if you cross a threshold that is not opened by the initiative of God, it will likely open the door to evil dimensions. If one chooses to open the door to another realm by his own volition, he needs to know that the devil is happy to provide him with an experience that is diametrically opposed to the teachings of the Bible.
There is an example in Colossians 2:18 of believers who tried to pry their way into the spirit realm. In the city of Colossae, there was a group of leaders and believers who were infatuated and obsessed with angels, so they attempted to barge into other spiritual realms to interact with all sorts of angelic creatures. Paul referred to this when he wrote Colossians 2:18. In that verse, he wrote that they were engaged in the “…worshipping of angels [and] intruding into those things which he hath not seen….”
The word “intruding” is key in this verse. It is a translation of the Greek word embatauo, and it literally means to force one’s way into or to pry into or to intrude into a place where a person has not been invited. In the case of some in the city of Colossae, they were attempting to intrude or barge their way into spiritual realms that God did not open to them. As a result, a flood of deception came pouring through that open door and deception came into their midst.
For this reason, I urge you to be cautious of anyone who encourages you to willfully barge into realms that have not been opened to you by a gracious act of God. You need to understand that if you are willing to go into those places by your own volition, the devil will provide false experiences that enslave you with falsehood and deception. If you study the origin of most cults, you will find this is precisely how they got started.
Yes, God wants to supernaturally visit His people and give them divine encounters, but these will be events set in motion by His will and not produced by one’s own volition. In fact, if you study the entirety of Scripture, one fact will become clear to you by the stories of men and women who experienced divine encounters with God. In all of those experiences, there is one constant factor: In every instance — without exception — it was God’s initiative to invade that person’s world to give him a word, a revelation, or life-transforming experience. There is not a single example anywhere in Scripture in which any believer was encouraged to forcibly pry his or her way into another realm by himself.
But as believers live godly lives, keep their hearts open, and listen to the Holy Spirit, it prepares the soil of their spirit for God to supernaturally invade their world when an appropriate moment for it arrives. Our task is to follow Christ, live in obedience to God’s Word, pray in the Spirit, and thus enlarge our spiritual capacity to keep our spirit alert and sensitive to spiritual things. Our part to stay spiritually alert cannot be overestimated. We are to set our heart upon Him, but divine encounters and “heavenly invasions” are always initiated by God upon the hearts of those who are open to God’s movement upon them.
A wonderful example of how God initiates such divine encounters can be found in Revelation 1:10 where the apostle John writes about how he supernaturally saw Christ on the island of Patmos and how he received the vision of the exalted Christ and later wrote the book of Revelation. In that verse, John writes, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day….”
The word “was” is a translation of the Greek word ginomai. In this verse, this word describes something that happens unexpectedly or something that catches one off guard. This categorically tells us that John was not expecting this divine encounter, and when it occurred, it took him completely by surprise and caught him off guard. In a way he never could have anticipated or predicted, John suddenly found himself “in the spirit.”
The word “spirit” is capitalized in the King James Version, but in the original Greek, the phrase “in the Spirit” is actually a translation of the Greek words en pneumatic. Because the phrase lacks a definite article, it should therefore be translated, “In a way I never could have planned, predicted, or anticipated, I suddenly found myself IN SPIRIT on the Lord’s day.” In this context, the phrase “in spirit” is a term to describe another realm, another dimension, or a spiritual realm far different from the natural world that surrounded John.
The word ginomai depicts an element of surprise and gives a clear picture of what John experienced and how he felt when this event occurred. It is clear that when John experienced this divine encounter, he did not know it was about to happen. The apostle was going about his business, following Christ faithfully where he was, when suddenly — out of nowhere, taking him completely off guard and by surprise — he abruptly found himself no longer in the same physical place, but was, rather, standing in another dimension. He had somehow passed from the natural realm into the realm of the spirit and was now “in spirit,” or in a totally different realm.
Another vivid example of how God invades the lives of surrendered believers can be found in Acts 10:9,10. In those verses, we read that Peter went up to a rooftop to pray as he awaited lunch one day. It says, “On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: and he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance.…”
Peter didn’t go onto the rooftop to forcibly pry his way into the spirit realm that day so he could have a supernatural experience. He was simply waiting for lunch, and as he prayed, suddenly, something happened that completely took him off guard and by surprise. The words “fell into” in verse 10 is a remarkable translation of the Greek word ginomai, which is the same identical word the apostle John used in Revelation 1:10 to explain the surprising way Christ invaded his cave on Patmos and how he unexpectedly stepped into the spirit realm to see the exalted Christ and to receive what became the book of Revelation.
Now Acts 10:10 uses the word ginomai to describe the surprising way this supernatural vision came to Peter on the rooftop. It describes something that happens unexpectedly or something that catches one off guard. It could be translated, “In a way that could have never been planned, predicted, or anticipated, Peter fell into a trance.”
Think about it. While Peter prayed and awaited lunch, he had an experience that totally took him off guard as he slipped into a trance. The word “trance” is the Greek word ekstasis, a word that by itself means to stand outside of something. In this case, Peter found himself standing outside of his body in another dimension. But Peter did not forcibly pry his way into that realm. As is always the case when God moves supernaturally upon His people, it was God’s initiative to invade Peter’s world.
“Peter found himself standing outside of his body in another dimension. But Peter did not forcibly pry his way into that realm. As is always the case when God moves supernaturally upon His people, it was God’s initiative to invade Peter’s world.”
The reason this point is important is, Second Peter 1:20 states that no true prophet self-loosed, self-produces, self-propels, or self-generates prophetic words and prophetic movements at will. Peter stated clearly and adamantly that real prophetic experiences and genuine divine utterances are not self-loosed, self-produced, self-propelled, self-generated, nor do they come by the mere will of man. Although Peter was specifically referring to the prophetic utterance of Old Testament Scriptures, the principle of how God does not move — by the will of man — is true for all prophetic ministry.
We have seen earlier that the foremost task of a true prophet is to be before the Lord, and as he humbles his heart and sensitizes his spirit and mind, he does his part to prepare for spiritual movement if and when the Holy Spirit chooses to move upon him to communicate a message that he is to give to God’s people.
We’ve been studying in Second Peter 1:20 how true prophetic utterances do not come — they are never self-loosed, self-produced, self-propelled, or self-generated. They do not come by man’s whim or will.
