Divination is a practice mentioned multiple times in the Bible, often associated with idolatry and pagan rituals. It is a controversial topic that believers are warned against. In this blog post, we will explore Bible verses about divination, analyze what God says about it, and examine its spiritual implications.
What Does God Say About Divination in the Bible?
God explicitly warns His people against divination, emphasizing its incompatibility with worshiping Him. Divination seeks to uncover hidden knowledge or predict the future using supernatural methods, which often leads to reliance on spirits or powers other than God.
- Deuteronomy 18:10-12 clearly states: “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, or casts spells… These practices are detestable to the Lord.”
This passage highlights God’s stance: divination is an abomination because it involves turning to ungodly sources for guidance.
- Isaiah 8:19-20 adds: “When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God?”
This verse urges believers to seek God, not occult practices, for wisdom and understanding.
Why Does the Bible Say No to Divination?
The Bible forbids divination because it leads people away from dependence on God and into spiritual deception. Engaging in divination often means placing trust in spirits or powers that oppose God’s truth. Such practices open doors to spiritual bondage and confusion.
- Leviticus 19:31 warns: “Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.”
Here are key reasons the Bible forbids divination:
1. It challenges God’s sovereignty: Seeking answers through divination implies dissatisfaction with God’s timing and wisdom.
2. It invites spiritual corruption: Divination often involves demonic influences disguised as wisdom.
3. It undermines faith in God: Turning to other sources for guidance can lead to idolatry.
Characteristics of the Spirit of Divination
The spirit of divination is a counterfeit of God’s prophetic gift. Its characteristics can be discerned through Biblical examples and its modern manifestations. Here are some attributes:
1. Deceptive in Nature:
- The spirit of divination often provides partial truths to entangle people in spiritual deception.
- Acts 16:16 describes a slave girl with a spirit of divination who earned money for her owners through fortune-telling. Though she proclaimed truth about Paul, her source was demonic.
2. Manipulative and Controlling:
- It aims to enslave its victims by making them dependent on false revelations or supernatural experiences.
3. Opposes God’s Truth:
- Divination seeks to mimic God’s prophetic gifts but lacks the Spirit of God, leading people astray.
4. Profit-Oriented:
- Throughout history, divination has often been used for personal gain, as seen in Acts 16:19.
Examples of Divination in the Bible
The Bible provides several examples of divination to illustrate its dangers and consequences:
1. King Saul Consulting the Witch of Endor:
- In 1 Samuel 28, Saul, desperate for guidance, consults a medium despite knowing it is forbidden. This act of disobedience results in further alienation from God.
2. The Magicians in Pharaoh’s Court:
- In Exodus 7:11-12, Pharaoh’s magicians attempt to replicate God’s miracles through divination and sorcery but are ultimately overpowered by God’s power.
3. Balaam’s Divination:
- Numbers 22:7 mentions Balaam being paid to curse Israel. While Balaam initially seems obedient, his heart is swayed by greed, and he becomes an example of divination’s corrupting influence.
4. The Apostles Encountering Simon the Sorcerer:
- Acts 8:9-24 recounts Simon practicing sorcery and later trying to buy the power of the Holy Spirit, demonstrating his misunderstanding of God’s work versus divination.
30 Bible Verses About Divination
Here are 30 powerful Bible verses that address divination, its dangers, and God’s command to avoid it:
1. Deuteronomy 18:10-12
- “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, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 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.”
2. Leviticus 19:31
- “Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.”
3. Isaiah 8:19-20
- “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.”
4. 2 Kings 17:17
- “They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing His anger.”
5. Micah 5:12
- “I will destroy your witchcraft, and you will no longer cast spells.”
6. Jeremiah 27:9
- “Do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who tell you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’”
7. Acts 16:16
- “Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.”
8. Ezekiel 13:6
- “Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. Even though the Lord has not sent them, they say, ‘The Lord declares,’ and expect him to fulfill their words.”
9. Zechariah 10:2
- “The idols speak deceitfully, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd.”
10. 2 Chronicles 33:6
- “He sacrificed his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing His anger.”
11. Deuteronomy 29:29
- “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”
12. Leviticus 20:6
- “I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people.”
13. Isaiah 47:13
- “All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you.”
14. Daniel 2:27
- “Daniel replied, ‘No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about.’”
15. 1 Samuel 28:7
- “Saul then said to his attendants, ‘Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.’ ‘There is one in Endor,’ they said.”
16. 2 Kings 21:6
- “He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing His anger.”
17. Nahum 3:4
- “…all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft.”
18. 1 Chronicles 10:13
- “Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance.”
19. Isaiah 44:25
- “Who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense.”
20. Exodus 22:18
- “Do not allow a sorceress to live.”
21. Ezekiel 21:21
- “For the king of Babylon will stop at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He will cast lots with arrows, he will consult his idols, he will examine the liver.”
22. Hosea 4:12
- “My people consult a wooden idol, and a diviner’s rod speaks to them. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.”
23. Deuteronomy 13:1-3
- “If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, ‘Let us follow other gods’ (gods you have not known) ‘and let us worship them,’ you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
24. Jeremiah 29:8
- “Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have.'”
25. Exodus 7:11
“Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts.”
26. Isaiah 47:9
“Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells.”
27. Daniel 1:20
- “In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.”
28. Matthew 24:24
- “For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”
29. Revelation 21:8
- “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
30. Galatians 5:20
- “Idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions.”
Conclusion
The Bible’s teachings about divination are clear: it is a practice that leads believers away from God. Instead of seeking hidden knowledge through ungodly means, Christians are called to rely on God’s wisdom and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Let these Bible verses about divination remind us to stay vigilant in our faith and trust in the Lord for all understanding.
