What is Divination?
Introduction. Whenever we stand at an important crossroad, we seek all possible information to make the right decision. Marriage, career, or lifestyle: Do we go this way or that way? God has offered His word to give us the wisdom to make sound decisions and prayer to seek His counsel and help. If we “trust in the Lord with all our heart” and “don’t lean upon our own understanding”, that is enough.
But we have all been exposed to the exciting and intriguing idea that we can do more. Some people say we can plan our future based on signs seen by specially trained or gifted people (e.g., horoscopes, palm readers, mediums), “telltale” events, or alleged “answers” to prayer. In an attempt to insulate us from this illusive “rumor,” God has revealed many times the future is only known to Him.
Divination Via The Occult. Consequently those who use “divination,” practice “witchcraft,” “or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead” are worse than useless. Not only do they deceive with worthless predictions, they disgust and revolt God. “For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD” and “the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so” (Deut 18:10-14).
God seeks a firm conviction in His people to come to His word to seek answers. When we waver in this trust, we reveal a crack in our trust. “And when they say to you, Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter, should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isa 8:19-20).
Since God did not create any substance, circumstance, or incantation to make us “lucky,” “unlucky,” or “see the future”, it is all an illusion! There is no drug to open eyes, there is no message written in the stars, and “the dead do not know anything” (Ecc 9:5). There is something infinitely better! The “living and active” word which “effectively works in you who believe” (Heb 4:12; 1Th 2:13).
Divination Via Events. When we “walk by faith and not by sight,” relying solely upon His Word, we walk confidently. When we rely on other things we can become confused or make a wrong turn. We must always keep in mind that “the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life” (Mt 7:14). The only map is the Word.
Even those who never read a horoscope or seek a medium, still face temptations to “divine.” “He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.” These are people at the crossroad who seek which way to go. But no one knows “the works of God who makes everything.” Hear God’s own advice: “in the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both alike will be good” (Ecc 11:4-6). Two things stand out in this verse. First “you do not know,” so there is no way to know. Second, it is God’s will that even without knowledge we should confidently move forward and not be tossed to and fro by our own superstitions.
Even the most certain indicators of the future can fail to bring about our expectations. “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happens to them all.” (Eccl 9:11-12).
There is nothing to deduce either from events or from outcomes! The same sun will “rise on the evil and the good.” The same rain falls “on the just and unjust.” Surely if anything could affect outcome it would be this! But “time and chance” scramble even the most obvious indicators we could reasonably use to predict the outcome. Job’s life reveals how foolish it is to look at events for wisdom or guidance. The loss of his “hedge” slanted and skewed all deduction. What should the three friends have deduced from the events in Job’s life? NOTHING! Even Job’s deductions based on events and circumstances only “darkens counsel by words without knowledge” (Job 38:2).
Divination Via Prayer And Providence. Devout servants reject these things and trust fully and only in God’s word, God’s providence, and the power of prayer. Yet this too can become an insidious temptation to “practice divination.” When we pray for something and receive a positive or negative answer, is there something to interpret? Are we positive it is a sign from God if we get what we want? Are we sure it is a sign from God if we do not get what we want? Does time and chance operate in the realm of prayer and providence? Are there things that would have occurred whether we prayed for them or not? Is there anything in Scripture that offers us some insight here? How about “The secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever” (Deut 29:29) or “Trust in Jehovah with all thy heart, And lean not upon thine own understanding” (Pr 3:5)?
It is dangerous to “lean on our own understanding” of how God works in the unfolding of our life. Regardless of how blessed or cursed, we must still rely only on God’s word. Certainly we can delight in God’s power and mercy. We can praise Him for the things we receive in prayer. But to go further is to “practice divination.”
The Psalmist was “wiser than mine enemies,” had “more understanding than all my teachers,” and “understands more than the aged,” because “I love thy law.” It was “your commandments” “your testimonies,” “your precepts,” and “your word” that made it possible (Ps 119:97-101).
When the king of Babylon “stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook the arrows to and fro, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in the liver” (Ezek 21:21), but they told him nothing. They had no answers. What about us? What do we rely on when we stand at the parting of the way? We are no different from this king if we rely on the shifting sands of events. Our choice is clear. We stand firmly on the bedrock of God’s word. All wisdom and understanding is based solely on God’s revealed will. If it is not “the Word and the Testimony” then there truly is “no light in them.
Conclusion. Is any skeptical of this conclusion? Are we limiting the wonder and beauty of God’s interaction in our life? Not at all. We can all enjoy these things, but not beyond what is written. Any Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, Jew, or Muslim can use such principles. Doesn’t that make it safe? The only reliable indicator of God’s favor or sound decision is the Word and the Testimony - nothing more.
But we have all been exposed to the exciting and intriguing idea that we can do more. Some people say we can plan our future based on signs seen by specially trained or gifted people (e.g., horoscopes, palm readers, mediums), “telltale” events, or alleged “answers” to prayer. In an attempt to insulate us from this illusive “rumor,” God has revealed many times the future is only known to Him.
Divination Via The Occult. Consequently those who use “divination,” practice “witchcraft,” “or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead” are worse than useless. Not only do they deceive with worthless predictions, they disgust and revolt God. “For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD” and “the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so” (Deut 18:10-14).
God seeks a firm conviction in His people to come to His word to seek answers. When we waver in this trust, we reveal a crack in our trust. “And when they say to you, Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter, should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isa 8:19-20).
Since God did not create any substance, circumstance, or incantation to make us “lucky,” “unlucky,” or “see the future”, it is all an illusion! There is no drug to open eyes, there is no message written in the stars, and “the dead do not know anything” (Ecc 9:5). There is something infinitely better! The “living and active” word which “effectively works in you who believe” (Heb 4:12; 1Th 2:13).
Divination Via Events. When we “walk by faith and not by sight,” relying solely upon His Word, we walk confidently. When we rely on other things we can become confused or make a wrong turn. We must always keep in mind that “the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life” (Mt 7:14). The only map is the Word.
Even those who never read a horoscope or seek a medium, still face temptations to “divine.” “He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.” These are people at the crossroad who seek which way to go. But no one knows “the works of God who makes everything.” Hear God’s own advice: “in the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand; for you do not know which will prosper, either this or that, or whether both alike will be good” (Ecc 11:4-6). Two things stand out in this verse. First “you do not know,” so there is no way to know. Second, it is God’s will that even without knowledge we should confidently move forward and not be tossed to and fro by our own superstitions.
Even the most certain indicators of the future can fail to bring about our expectations. “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happens to them all.” (Eccl 9:11-12).
There is nothing to deduce either from events or from outcomes! The same sun will “rise on the evil and the good.” The same rain falls “on the just and unjust.” Surely if anything could affect outcome it would be this! But “time and chance” scramble even the most obvious indicators we could reasonably use to predict the outcome. Job’s life reveals how foolish it is to look at events for wisdom or guidance. The loss of his “hedge” slanted and skewed all deduction. What should the three friends have deduced from the events in Job’s life? NOTHING! Even Job’s deductions based on events and circumstances only “darkens counsel by words without knowledge” (Job 38:2).
Divination Via Prayer And Providence. Devout servants reject these things and trust fully and only in God’s word, God’s providence, and the power of prayer. Yet this too can become an insidious temptation to “practice divination.” When we pray for something and receive a positive or negative answer, is there something to interpret? Are we positive it is a sign from God if we get what we want? Are we sure it is a sign from God if we do not get what we want? Does time and chance operate in the realm of prayer and providence? Are there things that would have occurred whether we prayed for them or not? Is there anything in Scripture that offers us some insight here? How about “The secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever” (Deut 29:29) or “Trust in Jehovah with all thy heart, And lean not upon thine own understanding” (Pr 3:5)?
It is dangerous to “lean on our own understanding” of how God works in the unfolding of our life. Regardless of how blessed or cursed, we must still rely only on God’s word. Certainly we can delight in God’s power and mercy. We can praise Him for the things we receive in prayer. But to go further is to “practice divination.”
The Psalmist was “wiser than mine enemies,” had “more understanding than all my teachers,” and “understands more than the aged,” because “I love thy law.” It was “your commandments” “your testimonies,” “your precepts,” and “your word” that made it possible (Ps 119:97-101).
When the king of Babylon “stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook the arrows to and fro, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in the liver” (Ezek 21:21), but they told him nothing. They had no answers. What about us? What do we rely on when we stand at the parting of the way? We are no different from this king if we rely on the shifting sands of events. Our choice is clear. We stand firmly on the bedrock of God’s word. All wisdom and understanding is based solely on God’s revealed will. If it is not “the Word and the Testimony” then there truly is “no light in them.
Conclusion. Is any skeptical of this conclusion? Are we limiting the wonder and beauty of God’s interaction in our life? Not at all. We can all enjoy these things, but not beyond what is written. Any Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, Jew, or Muslim can use such principles. Doesn’t that make it safe? The only reliable indicator of God’s favor or sound decision is the Word and the Testimony - nothing more.