Before I
became a Christian, I would regularly check my horoscope to see what a given
day in my life might bring. Sometimes, it seemed as if it would even be
correct. But the fact was, as I figured it out, I could have written down a
list of generalities and predicted them myself. I had no idea what God thought
about what I was doing, nor did I know what I was dabbling in, until I became a
Christian and began to study the Word of God for myself. Men and Women have
longed to know their futures since the beginning of time. From the Old
Testament to the New Testament there are examples of people evoking mediums and
soothsayers in hopes to find out important information that they believe will
help them and give them hope. While God’s Word tells mankind to place their
hope only in Him, we know that throughout the ages, men oftentimes seek after
other gods, in hopes that they will get the answers that they want. When one
god fails them they move on to find new ones. The Bible strongly condemns
spiritism, mediums, soothsayers and any form of the occult. It gives strong
warning against seeking psychics, or even dabbling in horoscopes, tarot cards,
astrology, palm readings, fortune tellers, séances or any other form of
witchcraft, in order to predict their futures. These practices are based on the
concept that there are different types of gods, spirits, or deceased loved ones
that can give advice and guidance. While they are very real, these channels are
demonic false gods that give false hope, and are demonic spirits that
masquerade as messengers of kindness, truth and hope according to 2 Corinthians
11:14-15. In Acts 16, the Bible tells of a certain slave girl possessed with a
spirit of divination who Paul and Silas met. She had brought her masters much
profit by her fortunetelling. The girl followed them around for many days
shouting out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who
proclaim to us the way of salvation”. Paul became so troubled with her that he
turned to her and said to the spirit in her, “I command you in the name of
Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And at that very moment the evil spirit came
out and when her owners saw that their hope of making money off of her was
gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the
authorities. They later were arrested, beaten and thrown into prison for
delivering a slave girl from the evil bondage that possessed and controlled
her. Satan and his army of demons will always pretend to be kind and helpful to
those that he sees as gullible and ignorant of the Truth. While he tries to
appear as something good, his ultimate goal is the same as with the slave girl,
to entrap his victims and hold them captive in hopes that through his deception
they will not turn to the truth because they are deceived into thinking that
they already have the truth. As for how soothsayers and mediums get their
information, the scripture teaches that satan and his band of evil demons give
their psychics or channels, information about a person in order to get that
person hooked into spiritism; something that God forbids. It appears innocent
at first, but soon people can find themselves addicted to psychics and in the
end, unwittingly allow satan to control and destroy their hopes, dreams and
very life. Some people cannot start their day until they know what their
horoscope warns against or predicts for them. Peter proclaimed, “Be
self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring
lion looking for someone to devour” in 1 Peter 5:8. In some cases, the psychics
themselves are deceived, not knowing the true source of the information they
receive. Whatever the case and wherever the source of the information, nothing
connected to spiritism, witchcraft, or astrology is a godly means of
discovering information. God’s plan for how we are to discern His will for our
life is simple, powerful and effective. It is simply to study the Bible according
to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and to pray for wisdom in the things that are unknown to
them, James 1:5.
It is a proven
fact that there have been many exposures of psychics as frauds. It has also
been proven that psychics can gain tremendous amounts of information on someone
through an ordinary means. However, it is undeniable that some psychics or
mediums sometime knows things that may be impossible for them to know and it is
true that they get this information from another source. But you should also
know and be very aware that their source according to the Bible is from satan
and demons and if you claim the name of Christ, then be very aware that you
will be held responsible for leading others down the wrong road if you are
perusing it yourself or encouraging others to take part in them. For their end,
the Bible predicts will be what their actions deserve according to 2
Corinthians 11:15. For Isaiah 8:19-20 says to the child of God, “When someone
tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not
a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not
speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” While there are many
scripture references warning us to stay away and to have no part in them, I
would share these few and pray that they shed light on any darkness that you
are in concerning them. They are found in Leviticus 19:31 – Do not turn to
mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the
LORD your God. Leviticus 20:6 – As for the person who turns to mediums and to
spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that
person and will cut him off from among his people. Leviticus 20:27 – Now a man
or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death. They
shall be stoned with stones, their blood guiltiness is upon them.” Det.
18:10-12 warns that these things are detestable practices and God hates them
and anyone who does them is detestable before God. In I Samuel 28 we find a
distraught and bereaved King grasping for answers because he had refused the
truth from God and God’s prophet prior to his current situation. At that point
God was no longer speaking to Saul. Out of fear from his enemy the Philistine
army, Saul hoped that he could gain help through another source, which was the
witch of Endor. Because he had expelled all the mediums and spiritist from the
land and none of them were around or would trust him, he disguised himself and
consulted her to bring back the spirit of the deceased prophet Samuel. Having
no idea that he was the King, she began her conjuring up the spirit of Samuel,
God in the meantime was about to take Saul to the woodshed….the old witch was
so horrified from what she was seeing, knowing that it was not of her powers or
spells, she screamed and told Saul that he had deceived her. She was seeing
something that only God is able to reveal… For while Saul and the witch may
imply an authentic appearance of the dead, it is very clear that it was not a
result from her witchcraft, for she herself was horrified and scared by what
she saw. Instead, it was God’s final means of bringing a word to a king who
insisted on going his own way to get an answer apart from God. Saul sought
answers the wrong way and in the end, got the same results. He lost the battle
and he died.
The story of
Saul seeking the help of a medium also revealed who ultimately has control over
even the demons and hell itself. Everything else is only counterfeit to what
God can do. Another story in scripture concerning communicating with the dead
is the story about Lazarus the beggar. He was a poor man who was featured in
one of the parables that Jesus told about in Luke 16:19-31. Lazarus, a diseased
beggar, laid at a rich man’s door, longing for scraps from the rich man’s
table. The beggar died and was carried by the angels to heaven. The rich man
also died, and his soul went into hell. There, in torment he saw Lazarus in the
far distance with Abraham. He begged Abraham for pity to have Lazarus come and
dip his finger in water to cool his tongue because of his agony in the fire.
But Abraham said to him, son remember that during your lifetime you had
everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is being comforted
and you are in anguish. And besides, there is a ‘great chasm” separating us,
and anyone wanting to come to you from here is stopped at its edge and cannot
cross over, and no one over where you are can cross to us. He responded to
Abraham by asking him to please send Lazarus to warn his family so that they
would not come to hell, surely he said, if someone from the dead would go to
them they would listen and repent. Abraham told him that if they did not
respond to the prophets that brought them the truth then nothing would change
their hearts to believe. These were men that had already died and had become
part of eternity. Like Saul seeking the answers that he wanted, he found that
in the end, it was too late. He had already been warned by the very man or
prophet that he was seeking to have conjured up. The rich man found himself in
the same situation, because he too had had the opportunity to believe the
prophets concerning God’s will for his life. He simply opted to reject it. God
clearly gives us an example in the scriptures that once life is over, it is
over, no coming back. Unless it is ordained of God to do so, for His good will
and purpose; but it is not something
that is allowed and that we are to seek, I can assure you! So while people that
are living may think that they are speaking to their deceased loved one or some
other deceased person, they are in reality speaking to demons that are
counterfeiting or masquerading as messengers of kindness, truth and hope. God’s
Word tells us that the devil himself roams the earth seeking whom he may
devour. Be aware and stay away from the things that will draw you to him. My
heart’s desire in this devotion is to
point out the warnings that are in scripture,
that tell us to stay away, avoid and not to tempt our God by running
after other gods. There is only one true God, He is the Alpha and Omega, the
Begging and the End ….anything or anyone else is simply a counterfeit of Him
and His truth; and should not be trusted. Study the Word of God for yourself,
and know the Truth….for one day, you will have to answer for it!
Loving on
today,
Bren
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