ONLY THE BEST INFORMATION
Opening Prayer
Open my eyes to Your words to me today, loving Savior.
Read Deuteronomy 18:9–22
Occult Practices
9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God.
The Prophet
14 The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so. 15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”
17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”
21 You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Can any harm come from horoscopes and séances? Surely they are just a bit of fun? Absolutely not! God has a much better plan…Humans in every culture have always been fascinated by the idea of information “from beyond.” God was clear that his people were not to indulge in any of the fortune-telling practices of the nations around them (9–14). These practices sought to manipulate the gods and the future. There was witchcraft, fortune-telling and consulting the dead. God put a big “Forbidden!” sign across them all.
So, did God want his people to have access to information from the spiritual realm? Actually, yes he did. However, he wanted them to get their information from a trustworthy source that would not lead them astray. From verse 15 we find the description of the great prophet God would send. This coming prophet, like Moses, would be sent by God; he would be Jewish; he would speak God’s words—God wanted them to hear him (15,18).
As a protection mechanism, God ordered Israel to kill any false prophets that came to them. A false prophet promotes another god or makes predictions that do not come true. We are not expected to kill false prophets today, but be sure not to listen to them!
Apply
Is it hard for you to trust God with your future? Look up some of the promises of God and write them down. Pray that God will help you to truly believe his promises for your past, present and future.
Closing prayer
My God, I trust You. Write Your promises on my heart so that I can rest in You for my future.
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