Derek Prince - Curses Pronounced By Servants Of Satan And Occult Tokens
And then there are curses pronounced by servants of Satan. And there are various different words for such servants in different languages. In English I think we call them witch doctors. In America they call them medicine men. In Swahili it’s called umchawa. In the language of the Luo people it’s called juowki. And if I’m not mistaken, amongst the Mauris it’s called tomanga. Is that right? It’s the same thing in many different labels and guises.
I want to tell you very frankly such men have real supernatural power, don’t underestimate it. Don’t go, if you’re going to be a missionary, to some tribal people and say Satan isn’t real, demons are not real, because they know much better than you that they are. Your message is Satan is real but Jesus has more power. That they’ll listen to, especially if you can demonstrate it. I think I must give one example. Again, it’s from Zambia. This is given us in writing by the man who was the witness of it.
In an African Christian church two elders fell out with one another. And this may seem strange to you but it’s quite common in Africa. The one elder went to the witch doctor to get him to put a curse on the other elder. Okay? And when he did that the witch doctor was very happy to oblige because it was a Christian. See? And this is what he did. He went out somewhere into the bush, got some soil of a certain kind, brought it back, smeared it over a hand mirror and then he said to the elder: Now wipe the soil away and tell me what you see? And he looked in the mirror and saw the face of the man on whom he wanted to curse in the mirror.
Now the witch doctor said: Take a knife and cut it through the mirror. He did and when he did that, blood appeared on the mirror. And when the elder returned he discovered the other elder was dead. What would you call that? You couldn’t call it murder. Can you understand why the Bible prohibits witchcraft? This story is given in perfect detail by a man who’s a missionary, he’s about 70 years old and been a missionary ever since his boyhood. What I’m saying is don’t underestimate. That doesn’t mean you have to be afraid. Jesus said, Behold, I give to you authority over all the power of the enemy. He didn’t say the enemy doesn’t have power. He says, I’ll give you authority over that power. That’s the realistic approach.
Let’s look at one example in the Bible, Numbers chapter 22, verses 4 through 6. This is the story of Balaam. Numbers 22:4–6. The king of Moab sent for Balaam who was a witch doctor. And a very powerful one and a very famous one. And Moab said to Balaam: Look in verse 5, a people has come from Egypt (that’s Israel). See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.
Now that was, in a sense, the regular practice in warfare, and still is amongst tribal societies today. Not only is your tribe fighting another tribe, but your tribe’s gods are fighting their gods. And if you can get the victory in advance, you win the battle. There’s a document somewhere in the Middle East in which it records 77 nations on whom the kings of Egypt have pronounced curses. Because, if you can get your enemy cursed, then you can defeat him. That is the principle. Just one interesting example because this is something that’s unfamiliar to many westerners. In the conflict between David and Goliath, when David went out with his sling and no armor, Goliath was angry and insulted and this is what happened.
1 Samuel 17:43: So the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. Do you understand? Before they joined in battle he invoked his idol gods and David replied, I’m not coming to you in my own name but in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. See, it was a fight between gods. And you know who was victorious. But I just want to point out to you that Satan’s servants have power to curse. Again, I could illustrate it from examples of people that we personally have helped.
One final way in which a curse can come is stated in Deuteronomy 7:26. The previous verse says about the inhabitants of Canaan: You shall burn the carved images of their gods. You shall not covet the silver or gold that is on it. And then it says in verse 26: Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it; but you shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing.
So when you bring anything that’s associated with idolatry or the occult into your house, you’re opening the way for a curse to come into your home. Again, this is something we deal with frequently. I tell people after such a service as this if you believe you’ve need of deliverance from a curse, you better go home and check what you’ve got in your home. Check if there’s anything there that advertises any other god but the Lord Jesus Christ. My personal principle is I don’t want anything in my home that dishonors Jesus Christ.
Let me give one quick example. We often have cases where parents tell us that the children don’t sleep well at night, they’re restless, they cry, they’re frightened. right of access. You need to go through your house from top to bottom, clean out anything that’s associated with the occult. Any kind of superstitious thing. If you have horseshoes to ward off ill luck, that’s superstition. It doesn’t ward off ill luck; it opens the door for Satan.