When the Ephesians believed on Christ, they examined the moral nature of each aspect of their lives. This led them to burn their curious arts books.
Those who meddle with astrologers and sorcerers (and like practices) put themselves on a collision course with God's judgment.
Many unsaved people practice astrology (i.e., horoscopes) and other unscriptural use of the signs in the heavens. Believers should reject these practices.
Today's verse deals with a period of time prophesied to shortly come to pass called the time of Jacob's trouble. Fortunately, if you are born again by the grace of God, you will not be here during any part of this period (1 Thessalonians 4:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:9) when the Antichrist will have his way on this earth. Although Christians will be absent, we still remain responsible to study the word of God concerning this future time. In doing so, we learn from Daniel chapter 11 that the Antichrist will use flattery to obtain his kingdom. As a “vile” leader, he will come in peaceably and say nice things to other leaders in order to get them to agree to associate with him. Ultimately, he plans to take full control. Since we are told that the Antichrist of the future will use these methods, we should consider that the Devil likewise devours believers today using the same modus operandi.
