A warning against the occult (and other demonic hobbies)

Ricky Ketchum

Jul 10, 2026

Changing a Curse into a Blessing

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But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam and changed the curse to a blessing, for the Lord your God loves you.

Deuteronomy 23:5 (NET)

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We tend to forget the realities of the spiritual war going on around us.

I used to dismiss the hocus-pocus of witchcraft & sorcery that fringe people practiced.

I figured that God was more powerful than all of it, so what does it matter?

It matters a lot.

This story is an example of a king calling a sorcerer (prophet??) to curse a people. Which is apparently something Balaam (the sorcerer) had done for the king before.

Except this time he was trying to curse a people protected by God.

The result?

God transformed that curse into a blessing.

I’ve had a few rare dealings with some spiritual warfare, but nothing worth writing a movie about.

However, people I know and trust have told me stories of their own encounters, and it’s bone-chilling.

Yes, there’s a lot of comfort in knowing that Christ endured the ultimate curse on our behalf. Plus the Lord protects us as His children.

But that doesn’t give us permission to play around with sin & demonic powers.

Many of these seemingly harmless little occult hobbies or small sins are, in fact, gateways to darker domains.

Sin always carries chains with it, and I’ve seen too many people bound by those chains.

Christ came to set us free, so let us walk in this freedom, rather than volunteering ourselves for more chains.

— Ricky Ketchum

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV®Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright© 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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