no other Healer

False Prophets – How the Diviner Replaced the Healer

The deception of pharmakeia is not limited to drugs and potions. They are only one tool among many used by physicians to trap the suffering and fearful in idolatry. The serpent’s influence extends further – to the occult act of medical prognosis. In this chapter, we expose the modern physician’s role as a diviner, whose confidence in reading symptoms, signs, and foretelling disease outcomes mirrors the ancient forbidden practices of soothsayers, necromancers, and sorcerers. It was an abomination in the days of Moses – and it still is.

Most English readers assume that divination – like sorcery – is separately and explicitly condemned in the New Testament. Yet it appears only once, in Acts 16:16, where a girl is described as having a “spirit of divination.” Nowhere else is the practice of prognosticating or reading omens directly named. That absence is telling. The warnings against pharmakeia in Galatians 5 and Revelation 18 must be comprehensive – encompassing not only drug-based mixtures, but also the future-telling practices historically tied to them. Strong’s Concordance and Vine’s Expository Dictionary confirm that pharmakeia was used in the ancient world to describe a system of manipulation and divination through substances – an umbrella term for more than just “sorcery.” This explains why Paul and John do not name divination separately. It was already included in their condemnation of pharmakeia. Modern translators, by reducing pharmakeia to “sorcery,” cut the warning in half – and with it, the Church’s discernment.

Many will agree that “sorcery” is sinful and forbidden. But few realize that its cousin – divination through medical foretelling – has taken hold in the Church under the guise of science. Today, prognosis is the new prophecy. Physicians are trained in the reading of physical omens and offer “educated guesses” about what will happen tomorrow, offering not Yahweh’s Word but human prediction.

The Lie Started with Satan

From the beginning, Satan has claimed to offer healing apart from Yahweh. His very first lie was a false prognosis: “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). It was a declaration of independence from Yahweh’s Word. The same evil spirit animates today’s medical profession. It promises healing and long life by means of forbidden knowledge – symptom analysis, autopsy data, volumes of books (Acts 19:19), and statistical projection – offering patients false certainty where Yahweh calls for daily reliance on Him (Matthew 6:11).

Modern diagnosis is little more than divination. The physician interprets bodily “omens” (symptoms) to predict a hidden reality. The prognosis that follows is the physician’s prophecy – a declaration of the future absent divine authority. This mirrors the ancient work of astrologers and haruspices, condemned in Scripture.

This skill of prognosis has been taught, practiced, and perfected for over two millennia. Even Hippocrates urged his students to master the art of foretelling. He wrote:

…a most excellent thing for the physician to cultivate Prognosis … for by foreseeing and foretelling … so that men will have confidence to entrust themselves to such a physician.”  

The Serpent of Prognosis – From Eden to Emergency Room

This chart connects the ancient biblical identity of the serpent as a diviner to the modern medical symbols used in healthcare systems today. Each symbol bears the imprint of a serpent – reflecting its origins in divination, pagan healing practices, and spiritual rebellion against Yahweh’s authority as the true Healer.

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Chart: The Serpent of Medical Science

Symbol	Modern Use	Connection to Divination	Spiritual Warning
	Caduceus: U.S. military medicine, some hospitals	Hermes was a guide of souls and messenger of the gods -linked to occult knowledge	False authority over life and death; a counterfeit healing image ruled by deception
	Rod of Asclepius: Ambulances, AMA, WHO, health orgs worldwide	Asclepius received healing knowledge through dream-divination in temples	Healing through serpent power; denies the Name of Yeshua as sole source of healing
	Bowl of Hygeia: Pharmacies worldwide	Symbol of the mixing of potions by a divine priestess—often depicted with a serpent	Represents pharmakeia: healing through concoctions, not confession or Christ

Hebrew word for serpent (נָחָשׁ / *nāchāsh*): Root also means “to divine,” “to whisper an omen,” or “enchanter” (Strong’s H5175 & H5172). In Genesis 3, the serpent falsely prophesied (“You shall not surely die”) – a lying prognosis. Isaiah 47:12–13 warns of astrologers, stargazers, and monthly prognosticators – those who seek knowledge of the future apart from Yahweh.

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Prognosis Is Sin: Listening with Intention to Obey

In Deuteronomy 18:10-14, Yahweh condemns all forms of divination and warns, “You must not listen to them.” The Hebrew word shema means not simply “hear,” but “hear with the intention to obey.” To listen is to give them authority. To heed the doctor’s prognosis is to trust their judgment over Yahweh’s.

Worse still, when a prognosis is internalized, it becomes a self-fulfilling curse. The one who hears it begins to speak it, believe it, and live under its shadow.

(Author’s note: I last saw a physician – a dermatologist – in 2016 for a lesion on my upper back that I could not see. My wife saw it and was very concerned it was a melanoma. I made a mistake! To try and allay her fears I consent to a doctor visit and the recommended biopsy. Of course it came back positive. Worse, it was quite large and – according the dermatologist and pathologist – required a deep excision to remove all of it – and then possibly more. The prognosis came with the diagnosis. If removed – greater than a five-year survival rate. If not – obviously five years or less. That was 2016. This is 2025. It is there on my back and I am here in good health – no medicines – writing this. However, I will admit that the fear of dying of malignant melanoma has been present to some degree since. My wife’s fears were not alleviated, and I have lived under its shadow for 9 years – but thanks to Yahweh we are not ensnared into idolatry.)

So faith comes by hearing the Word of Yahweh – not by trusting the forecast of men.

Just as Yahweh expects His children to do what He instructs; the medical science practitioner expects the same level of obedience. He or she expects compliance – without which there should be no expectation of healing. “We are slaves to those we obey.” (Ro 6:16)

Modern Necromancy and Occult Science – Their Tools of the Trade

Ancient necromancers sought knowledge from the dead. Today, we call it forensic medicine -autopsies and corpse analysis to inform future medical practices. This is not science – it is divination disguised as data. The knowledge that belongs to Yahweh alone is being extracted from the lifeless and broadcast to the living.

Even the Latin root of the word “sorcerer” – sortiarius – means “one who casts lots” to divine the future. The early Bible translators were at least partially right in using this word. Today, by using unreliable¹ medical research statistics, the physician, dressed in a lab coat, does the same -forecasting survival or death with rituals cloaked in clinical language. 

These are all practices once called “occult sciences” – alchemy, astrology, and sorcery –disciplines that claimed hidden knowledge of the unseen to manipulate reality. Today, these occult sciences reemerge – even in churches – disguised as “evidence-based-medicinec,”² even welcomed into churches. The method hasn’t changed – only the branding. The modern physicians who attempt to foretell the future of any living creature is a false prophet.

“But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name that I have not commanded… that prophet shall die.” (Deut. 18:20)

“For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” (Mt 24:24)

Though cloaked in Latin and prestige, modern medicine still claims knowledge it cannot possess: the future of the body, the root of disease, the certainty of healing. But true knowledge begins with the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7), not the false prophecies of pharmakeia. The stethoscope has replaced the magician’s wand, but the deception is the same.

Healing Monopolized, Faith Displaced

Before the 20th century, pharmacists could freely dispense remedies. But healing was soon monopolized. Only licensed doctors – armed with government approval – were permitted to speak. They became the gatekeepers of life and death. People stopped calling on Yeshua. They began waiting for the physician’s verdict.

Today, the doctor has replaced the healer. But worse – he has replaced the prophet, the priest, and the elder. Instead of obeying James 5, we now run to men for their diagnoses, prescriptions, and death sentences – or just as bad, false promises of a full lifespan.

This is not healing. It is divination. And it must be exposed.

To listen to the prognosis of a secular healer is to submit to their authority. It is to trust in flesh. It is to reject the voice of Yahweh.

The Old Testament is clear: those who seek answers apart from Yahweh are condemned. No matter how “scientific” or compassionate it appears, prognosis is nothing less than a modern form of sorcery – and its power depends on the misplaced faith of the one who receives it.

The Tragedy of King Ahaziah

In 2 Kings 1, King Ahaziah falls sick and seeks a prognosis – not healing – from Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron. Yahweh rebukes him through Elijah:

“Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub?… You will surely die.”

He sought a forecast, not forgiveness. He was not punished for seeking healing elsewhere, but he died – not because of the illness, but because of where he turned.

Whose Report Will You Believe?

Fellow Christians, we who are sick are commanded to call for elders – not forecasters. We are told to confess sins – not symptoms or worrying signs. We are to seek healing through repentance – not humans or false gods who use predictions “so men will have confidence to entrust themselves to such a physician.” 

Regrettably, the Name of Yeshua is rarely invoked when sickness strikes. In its place, the physician-diviner in the white coat is summoned – a cunning imposter. The serpent of old (now the Dragon) wears a stethoscope – once a tool of diligence – has become a modern ephod³, worn for recognition, ritual, and the illusion of discernment. In fact, it frequently misses deadly diseases – even when used for the many minutes intended by most guidelines!

Until the Church forsakes the diviner’s report, we cannot fully return to the Healer’s promise.

We must rise and ask, as Isaiah once did:
“Whose report will you believe?”
And we must answer without hesitation:
“We will believe the report of the Lord.”

Footnotes:

1. It’s important to note that medical forecasts often rely on data from clinical trials and studies that are vulnerable to researcher bias, selective reporting, and pharmaceutical funding interests. Many “evidence-based” predictions are shaped to support the use of specific treatments or reinforce public trust in the medical establishment. Without spiritual discernment, these projections—no matter how statistically grounded—can become false prophets, steering patients into fear, dependence, or false hope. As with all things, the believer must ask: Who is being trusted—Yahweh or man?
2. No church—whether traditional, evangelical, charismatic, or Messianic—has biblical authority to declare belief in “medical science.” Such a statement has no foundation in Scripture and stands in direct contradiction to the Gospel of healing in the Name of Yeshua. To formally affirm trust in the systems of man, while preaching salvation through Christ, is to speak with a divided tongue. It is not a confession of faith—it is a confession of compromise. [I have personally attended churches—across multiple traditions—that included belief in medical science in their written doctrinal statements. This is not hypothetical. It is happening now. And it must be corrected.]
3. The ephod—originally ordained for priestly service—later became associated with divination and unauthorized oracular practice (Judges 8:27; 1 Samuel 23:9–12). In this light, the modern stethoscope has become a kind of medical ephod—worn not merely for utility, but for the illusion of discernment. It offers symbolic authority to those who interpret bodily signs, often without meaningful intervention or accountability. Like the ephod of old, it gives the appearance of divine insight while masking rebellion against the true Healer. In recent years—particularly since COVID—evidence has grown that even routine medical instruments like the stethoscope can serve as vectors of iatrogenic (physician caused) harm and nosocomial infection. See Kumar S, et al. “The stethoscope: a potential vector of nosocomial infection post-COVID-19.” J Family Med Prim Care. 2023;12(5):826–830. PMC10324409.