Included in God’s promises to Abraham was the prophecy Israel would leave Egypt when the iniquity of the Amorites was full (Gen 15 16) Israel had wandered in the wilderness 40 years and now they were about to enter the promised land Circumstances would radically change from the wilderness and new problems would face them It is to address this need that the exhortations and laws contained m Deuteronomy were provided.
The inhabitants of the land of Canaan were engrossed in many abominable practices Since Israel might easily become entrapped in them, God severely warned them “When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations” (Deut 18 9) If God’s word had been heeded, Israel would have been spared much grief.
Among the forbidden evils were human sacrifice, superstition and magic (Deut 19 10-11) These wicked and foolish obsessions had become widespread in Canaan “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer” (Deut 18 10,11)
It is difficult to understand how anyone, let alone one of the people of God, could sacrifice his child by passing him through the fire This act of idolatry is so callous it seems beyond man’s brutality Yet some Israelites became involved in this abomination Both Kings Ahaz and Manasseh sacrificed their children m this way and other Israelites apparently imitated their sins (II Kings 16 3, 21 6).
Thankfully, this cruel custom has long since been abandoned Or has it? We can also sacrifice our children to the idols of the world by allowing them and even encouraging them to give their lives over to worldly ambitions to the exclusion of the word of God.
Canaanites believed that through divination men could foresee future events If vital information was needed in advance, an observer of times (soothsayers) might be consulted.
A similar practice is popular today Daily horoscopes can be found m most newspapers Even famous statesmen are said to rely on such predictions Tabloid prophets offer vague descriptions of future events which occasionally turn out to be “correct” In fact their error rate is such that no one dare act upon such predictions m contrast to our ability to place complete confidence in the infallible word of God.
Deuteronomy provides a means of identifying a false prophet “When a prophet speaketh m the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously ” (Deut 18 22) Only one such false prediction warranted the death penalty.
Using this scriptural assessment of a prophet, the late Jeanne Dixon and her like fail to impress Not only do their words not come from the LORD, many of their predictions fail to occur Divination is not a skill that man possesses and he cannot predict the future with any consistency Instead of dabbling in such practices, let us heed the Psalmist’s words “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psa 90 12)
Throughout Israel’s history there were many false prophets In Jeremiah’s time, these charlatans prophesied to Israel, “Ye shall not see the king of Babylon” (Jer 27 9) Although such advice was attractive, it was wholly false and the false prophets ultimately paid with their lives.
Besides the soothsayers, enchanters and witches operated m Canaan These connivers whispered magic spells or interpreted omens In many cases, their messages were attributed to the departed spirits of the dead The medium (necromancer, familiar spirit) could supposedly summon the dead to learn helpful information about present and future events A parody of a medium’s performance is found in Isaiah “Thou (Jerusalem) shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust” (Isa 29 4)
Sadly, Saul, the first king of Israel, flaunted God’s commands to his hurt Although he initially banished those with familiar spirits from Israel, when God did not answer him, Saul sought one out himself (I Sam 28) By assuring the woman she would not be punished, the “witch” agreed to bring up Samuel Much to her utter astonishment, Samuel seemed to appear and convey a message to Saul.
Some have suggested the woman managed to fool Saul into thinking Samuel was there This seems an unlikely explanation for the following reasons The witch cried out with a loud voice when she saw Samuel, being both surprised and afraid when the unexpected took place The conversation between Saul and Samuel is filled with specific details and repeated reference to the Lord The woman would not likely know as much detail about Saul’s life as indicated by Samuel’s words nor would she likely supply the king with such a distressing prophecy, which was perfectly fulfilled.
The consequences of Saul’s consultation confirm that God’s warning to Israel was a serious one “So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it” (1 Chron 10 13)
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One