Medication Is Not Witchcraft

 Here's an idea that you might not consider unless you found some of these fringe YouTube videos, the idea that medication is witchcraft.

You're thinking, "What?  Where in the Bible does it say that?"

Their Proof Texts

Firstly, my stance is that medication is NOT witchcraft, but first, let me give you the proof texts people use to prove that medication is witchcraft:

Galatians 5:19-20 (KJV)

19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

Revelation 9:21 (KJV)

21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Revelation 18:23 (KJV)

23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

Now, what do these three highlighted words have in common?  They are all from the Greek word "pharmakeia", which is where we get our English word "pharmacy."  And indeed, "pharmakeia" literally does mean medication, according to Strong's Dictionary:

From G5332; medication (“pharmacy”), that is, (by extension) magic (literal or figurative): - sorcery, witchcraft.

So, on the surface, it would appear as if medication of all types, even Tylenol, were evil.  In fact, the root word (G5332) (the people behind the "pharamakeia") is used in Revelation 21:8 as among those who go to Hell:

Revelation 21:8 (KJV)

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

So, does this mean that all pharmacists are going to Hell, simply because of their distribution of Tylenol, Advil, even Ozempic?

NO!

This is why.  

It's Not What Goes In, But What Comes Out

Look at Mark 7:14-23 (I will stop in between to give explainers):

Mark 7:14-23 (KJV)

14 And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:

15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

Look at v. 15.  There is NOTHING from without a man, that entering INTO him can defile him.  Let us continue to verse 19:

16 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

17 And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable.

18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;

19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?

Jesus gives the specific reason why most of the things you consume do not defile you.  It is because it doesn't go into the heart.  It goes through the stomach, and then is exited via #2! ("goeth out into the draught").  In and of itself, nearly nothing you put into your body can lead you to Hell (I'll get to the one exception in a moment).  

Now, yes, Jesus was mainly talking about food, and not medication such as Tylenol.  Still, Tylenol also does not enter the heart, but into the stomach, and some of it can come out as #2. (Not all food is expelled as waste either, but the context is mainly of anatomic geography).  Again, Jesus is not saying that "FOOD isn't bad because of where it goes".  He is saying that "Food isn't bad because of WHERE it goes".  Based on the context, it's not the KIND of thing that defines undefilement, it's the GEOGRAPHY of the thing.

It's like I Timothy 5:8, where Paul says that anyone who doesn't support their own family is worse than an unbeliever.  Again, Paul is stating FACTS based on the present application of widows.  You don't have to wait for your mother to be a widow to support her!  If you don't support her, even if her husband is still alive, you're STILL worse than an unbeliever!

So, Jesus' FACTS on where food goes can also apply to medication, because the geography's the same.  It is also a FACT that WHATSOEVER THING FROM WITHOUT (outside the body), and that means ANYTHING, cannot defile a man.  Not even dirt (Although I personally wouldn't recommend eating dirt, not a biblical teaching, just a personal opinion).

20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.

21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

This is where Jesus defines the concept of defilement.  v. 22-23 essentially list sins, you know, the things which, unless repented of, CAN ACTUALLY SEND YOU TO HELL!

This also where Jesus defines the heart when He mentions "evil thoughts".  Jesus was not talking about the blood-pumping organ, because a blood-pumping organ can't think (see v. 21).  If anything, the organ that is more closely associated with the "heart" is the brain, whose pre-frontal cortex literally thinks.  So, in this context, the heart is more of a thinking and perceiving thing. 

Mark 7:14-23 debunks the concept of modern medication leading you to Hell, because "the Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35).

Consuming Blood Still Forbidden

Now, I did mention one thing that can be consumed that, unless repented of, can ACTUALLY lead you to Hell: consuming blood.  The Law of Moses repeatedly forbade the consumption of blood, not at all because of anatomical geography, but because of something completely different.  Leviticus 17:14 says it quite clearly:

Leviticus 17:14 (KJV)

14 For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.

Be warned:  This is not some "Law of Moses" thing that can be done away with because we're under grace.  A REASON, a FACT is given why we should NEVER EVER consume blood.  Because THE BLOOD IS THE LIFE.  In fact, this command is repeated in the New Testament as a starter command to new believers:

Acts 15:28-29 (KJV)

28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

Now, in conclusion, I don't exactly know any evidence off the top of my head what "pharmakeia" really is, other than what the Bible translators rendered it is, whom most agree is witchcraft.  However, what I do know is that medication is not witchcraft, simply because of where it travels in the body.  If it is still witchcraft despite this fact, then Jesus is a liar, and you know that He is not.