What is the Occult – a view from Acts

Ken Fish’s presentation, titled “Occult Spiritual Warfare,” defines the occult as relating to magic, astrology, or any system that claims to use secret, supernatural powers or agencies. It is a broad category beyond ordinary understanding, and can also refer to things that are hidden or disclosed only to an exclusive group. Ken Fish discusses two passages from the Book of Acts to illustrate his points about the occult:

• Acts 16: In this passage, a slave girl with a spirit of divination is able to tell fortunes, bringing her owners much gain]. She follows Paul and his companions, proclaiming that they are servants of God. This is disruptive and annoying, and she continues to do it for many days. Paul eventually commands the spirit to come out of her in the name of Jesus Christ, and it does so immediately. The girl’s owners, realizing that their source of income is gone, become angry and have Paul and Silas arrested. This passage shows that fortune telling is often empowered by a spirit. Ken notes that in his childhood, such occult activity was not common in his area, but it is now more prevalent See: [1:36 – 6:16].
• Acts 19: In Ephesus, Paul preaches about the kingdom of God, leading to a great revival. As a result, God performs extraordinary miracles through Paul, and people are healed, and evil spirits are cast out. Some Jewish exorcists try to use the name of Jesus to cast out spirits, but they are not successful because they do not have a true relationship with Jesus. Many of those who had become believers, but were still influenced by evil spirits, then confess their practices of magic arts and burn their books. This passage illustrates that the occult can manifest as powerful witchcraft and that deliverance may require the destruction of objects associated with it. Also, there was a ruling spirit over Ephesus, named Artemis (also called Diana, Rhea, and Gaia), who was a fertility goddess. These converts had to be freed from the influence of this spirit, which was broken down at the street level. See minutes [8:18-18:04].

The speaker then mentions that evil spirits are organized in a type of pyramid structure, with baseline evil spirits at the bottom, and above them are authorities, rulers, and then dominion-level spirits.

• Title: Occult Spiritual Warfare
• Speaker: Ken Fish
• Start time: 0:07
• End time: 18:04

Orbis Ministries – Link to Ken Fish’s Ministry material.