Les Feldick teaches that 'sorceries' in Revelation 9:21 refers to drugs, from the Greek word pharmakia, the root of the English word 'pharmacy.'
He shows that the KJV word 'sorceries' is translated from pharmakia, which points to drugs. Reading it that way, the verse describes a world saturated with drug culture, where murder, theft, and gross immorality accompany drug addiction. He also connects the same Greek word in Revelation 18:23 to a tremendous end-time drug culture that deceives all nations.
Revelation 9:21 — This is the verse in question and the passage Les Feldick uses to show the Greek word pharmakia behind 'sorceries.'
Revelation 18:23 — Les Feldick points here to show the same Greek word for 'sorceries' is used to describe Babylon's deception of the nations.
Revelation 9:21 says, "Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." The verse places sorceries alongside murders, fornication, and thefts as sins the people did not turn away from after God's judgments. Revelation 18:23 uses the same English word in a description of Babylon: "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." These verses themselves do not define the Greek word behind 'sorceries,' but they use it in contexts of human wickedness and deception.
Les Feldick points to the Greek word pharmakia (spelled E-I) and notes that the English word 'pharmacy' comes from it. Since a pharmacist's main role is drugs, he says the word 'sorceries' in Revelation 9:21 refers to drugs. He reads the verse as, "Neither did they repent of their murders, nor of their drugs, nor of their immorality, nor of their thefts." He then explains that this describes a typical drug culture: wherever drugs are present, murders follow, people steal to support their habit, and gross immorality grows. He sees the same Greek word in Revelation 18:23, saying there will be a tremendous drug culture during the Tribulation and that by these drugs all nations are deceived. Even after God's judgments have been poured out, Les says the survivors still will not change their attitude about these sins.
Les asks what English word comes from the Greek word pharmakia and answers "pharmacy." He then says a pharmacist's main role is drugs. This leads him to interpret 'sorceries' in Revelation 9:21 as drugs rather than the common idea of sorcery, reading the verse as a description of drug culture.
Les says that wherever drugs are present, the other sins in the verse follow. He points to murders, thefts from needing to support a habit, and gross immorality that comes when morality means nothing. In that way, Revelation 9:21 paints a picture of the drug culture as a whole.
Les points to Revelation 18:23 where the same Greek word is translated "sorceries": "for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived." He says this shows that throughout the Tribulation, or at its end, there will be a tremendous drug culture, and by those drugs all nations will be deceived.
What the Bible Says About Sodom, Lot, and Judgment (Romans 1)
But he continued to overlook it. But he was vexed with the filthy conversation or manner of living, behavior. Those are all words that are out of the Greek. Vexed with a filthy conversation of the wicked. And now look at verse 8. For that righteous man. How in the world can you call Lot righteous? He was a believer. He was a believer. He had believed what Jehovah said, as Abraham had believed.
The Greek Word Pharmakia
Les reveals that the word 'sorceries' in Revelation 9:21 comes from the Greek word pharmakia, and he asks what English word derives from it.
Revelation 18:23 Sorceries
Les connects the same Greek word in Revelation 18:23 to a tremendous drug culture that deceives all nations.
The Drug Culture in Revelation 9:21
Les identifies pharmakia with pharmacy and drugs, showing that the verse describes a typical drug culture characterized by murder, theft, and gross immorality.
No Repentance After Judgments
Les notes that even after all the judgments already poured out, the people still will not change their minds about their murders, drugs, immorality, and thefts.
What Really Happens at Armageddon — Revelation 16 & 19
Now verse 18, "...another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth. For her..." What's the next word? "...grapes are fully ripe." Now the word fully in the Greek means overripe. In other words, it's really past harvest time.
What Really Happens at Armageddon — Revelation 16 & 19
Revelation 14, verse 14, "...and I looked, and behold, a white cloud. And upon the cloud one sat, like unto the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle." Now, I have to feel that this is an allusion to Christ. He is the one that is about to reap this harvest. Now come in the next verse. "...
Noah’s Ark: How Did All the Animals Fit? (Genesis 6-7)
Revelation 14, verse 14, "...and I looked, and behold, a white cloud. And upon the cloud one sat, like unto the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle." Now, I have to feel that this is an allusion to Christ. He is the one that is about to reap this harvest. Now come in the next verse. "...
Revelation 9:21: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
This verse lists the sins from which the people refused to repent, and is the verse Les Feldick examines.
Revelation 18:23: 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.
Les Feldick uses this verse to show that the same Greek word for sorceries refers to drugs in the end-time setting.
Les Feldick says the Greek word is pharmakia, which is the root of 'pharmacy.' It refers to drugs rather than what people commonly think of as sorcery, and he teaches that the verse describes a drug culture.
The English word is 'pharmacy.' Les notes that a pharmacist's main role is drugs, which is how he connects pharmakia to drug use in Revelation 9:21.
Revelation 9:21 says they did not repent of murders, sorceries, fornication, and thefts. Les observes that even after God's judgments have been poured out, the survivors still do not change their mind about these sins.
Watch the Teaching: What the Bible Says About Sodom, Lot, and Judgment (Romans 1)