Exodus 23:19b “Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
Cooking a young goat in its mother’s milk sounds brutally cruel. The Lord God specifically included this as a forbidden act in the Mosaic law as this was a pagan magical practice. Boiling a kid in its mother’s milk was a common Canaanite ritual involving magic spells. The Canaanites boiled the young goat alive in the milk of its mother as a sacrifice to the fertility gods. This superstitious practice was to increase fertility and productivity by magical arts. At the end of the harvest, the Canaanites would sprinkle this milk-potage, in a magical way, upon their gardens and fields, to make them more fruitful next year. Fertility, productivity, protection and multiplication comes from the Lord. Not, from magical superstitious practices.
There are a lot of superstitions that are practiced ignorantly and incantations uttered unconsciously. Incantation is a series of words said as a magic spell or charm. “Fingers crossed” is an incantation to wish good luck and wade away ill luck, is a common usage. We say “bless you” when someone sneezes as there is a superstitious belief that when one sneezes the soul separates from the body. To prevent the devil from stealing the soul, the incantation, “bless you” is chanted to release the soul from the clutches of the devil. “Friday the 13th”, “Making a wish on a wishbone”, “Bad luck comes in threes” are other common incantations that open the door for demonic activity in our lives.
Even boiling milk when we move to a new house and allowing the milk to spill over the sides symbolizes abundance of prosperity and food. Serving milk with sugar in a new home is another traditional superstition. Such unknown and unintentional errors must be repented and reversed.
Incantations verse confession:
1. Magic: It is important to preserve culture but it is more important to protect our families from any incantations, charms or traditional practices that have its root in magical practices. Do not recite charms or practice soothsaying (Leviticus 19:26). Repent of any incantations such as “fingers crossed”, “touch wood”. Our protection comes from the Lord of heaven and earth.
2. Mystical: A pathetic statistics states that 45% of Christians turn the newspaper to check their zodiac signs every day. Allowing the sun, moon, stars and the constellations to determine our moods, monetary and marriage decisions, rather than waiting at the feet of the Creator of the cosmos, is a despicable sin. “‘Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 19:31). Our future is in the hands of the Saviour not the stars.
- Mandate: The mandate to live godly lives, make good social and economic decisions are hidden in the pages of scripture. Rather than reading the horoscope, black art or necromancy, read and memorize the Word of God.
Stay away from incantations.
Isaiah 8:19 Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?”
Prayer: Father God, incantation, spells and lucky charms have morphed its way into our vocabulary. Make me spiritually alert to stay away from these. Amen.
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