Reference: Divination
American
The Eastern people were fond of divination, magic, and the pretended art of interpreting dreams and acquiring a knowledge of futurity. When Moses published the law, this disposition had long been common in Egypt and the neighboring countries; and to correct the Israelites inclination to consult diviners, wizards, fortune-tellers, and interpreters of dreams, it was forbidden them under very severe penalties, and the true spirit of prophecy was promised to them as infinitely superior, Ex 22:18; Le 19:26,31; 20:27. Those were to be stoned who pretended to have a familiar spirit, or the spirit of divination, De 18:9-12; and the prophecies are full of invectives against the Israelite who consulted such, as well as against false prophets, who seduced the people, Isa 8:19; 47:11-14; Eze 13:6-9. A fresh impulse to these superstitions was gained from intercourse with the Chaldeans, during the reign of the later kings of Judah and the captivities in Babylon, 2Ki 21:6; 2Ch 33:6. See MAGIC, SORCERERS.
Divination was of several kinds: by water, fire, earth, air; by the fight of birds, and their singing; by lots, dreams, arrows, clouds, entrails of sacrifices, pretended communication with spirits, etc., Eze 21:21.
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Thou shalt not preserve alive a sorceress.
Ye shall not eat with the blood: ye shall not take auguries, and ye shall not practise magic.
Ye shall not turn to necromancers, and to wizards ye shall not seek, to be defiled by them: I Jehovah your God.
When a man or a woman shall be among them a necromancer, or a wizard, dying, they shall die: with stone shall they stone them: their blood is upon them.
When thou comest to the land which Jehovah thy God gave to thee,. thou shalt not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found in thee him causing his son or his daughter to pass through in fire, divining divinations, practicing magic, and taking omens and a sorcerer, read more. And charming a spell, and asking of a necromancer, and a wizard, and seeking to the dead. For every one doing these things is an abomination to Jehovah And on account of these abominations, Jehovah thy God destroys them from thy face.
And he caused his sons to pass through in fire, and he practiced magic, and took auguries, and made necromancy and a wizard spirit: he multiplied to do evil in the eyes of Jehovah to irritate.
And when they shall say to you, Seek ye to necromancers and to wizards peeping and panting: shall not a people seek their God among the living for the dead?
And evil came upon thee; thou shalt not know its dawn, and ruin shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to expiate it, and desolation shall suddenly come upon thee; thou shalt not know. Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries in which thou didst labor from thy youth; perhaps thou wilt be able to be of use, perhaps thou wilt cause fear. read more. Thou wert wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Shall those searching out the heavens, those looking upon the stars, causing to know concerning the months, now stand and save thee from what shall come upon thee? Behold, they were as straw; the fire burnt them; they shall not deliver their soul from the hand of the flame:. not a coal for warming, light to sit before it
They saw vanity and a divination of falsehood, saying, says Jehovah: and Jehovah sent them not: and they waited to raise up the word. Saw ye not a vision of falsehood, and ye said, a divination of a lie, and saying, says Jehovah; and I spake not read more. For this, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because ye spake falsehood and saw a lie, for this, behold me against you, said the Lord Jehovah. And mine hand shall be upon the prophets seeing falsehood, and divining a lie: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, and they shall not be written in the writing of the house of Israel, and to the land of Israel they shall not come in; and ye knew that I am the Lord Jehovah.
For the king of Babel stood at the mother of the way in the head of the two ways, to divine a divination; he shook with the arrows, he asked in the family gods, he looked in the liver.
Easton
of false prophets (De 18:10,14; Mic 3:6-7,11), of necromancers (1Sa 28:8), of the Philistine priests and diviners (1Sa 6:2), of Balaam (Jos 13:22). Three kinds of divination are mentioned in Eze 21:21, by arrows, consulting with images (the teraphim), and by examining the entrails of animals sacrificed. The practice of this art seems to have been encouraged in ancient Egypt. Diviners also abounded among the aborigines of Canaan and the Philistines (Isa 2:6; 1Sa 28). At a later period multitudes of magicians poured from Chaldea and Arabia into the land of Israel, and pursued their occupations (Isa 8:19; 2Ki 21:6; 2Ch 33:6). This superstition widely spread, and in the time of the apostles there were "vagabond Jews, exorcists" (Ac 19:13), and men like Simon Magus (Ac 8:9), Bar-jesus (Ac 13:6,8), and other jugglers and impostors (Ac 19:19; 2Ti 3:13). Every species and degree of this superstition was strictly forbidden by the law of Moses (Ex 22:18; Le 19:26,31; 20:27; De 18:10-11).
But beyond these various forms of superstition, there are instances of divination on record in the Scriptures by which God was pleased to make known his will.
(1.) There was divination by lot, by which, when resorted to in matters of moment, and with solemnity, God intimated his will (Jos 7:13). The land of Canaan was divided by lot (Nu 26:55-56); Achan's guilt was detected (Jos 7:16-19), Saul was elected king (1Sa 10:20-21), and Matthias chosen to the apostleship, by the solem lot (Ac 1:26). It was thus also that the scape-goat was determined (Le 16:8-10).
(2.) There was divination by dreams (Ge 20:6; De 13:1,3; Jg 7:13,15; Mt 1:20; 2:12-13,19,22). This is illustrated in the history of Joseph (Ge 41:25-32) and of Daniel (Da 2:27; 4:19-28).
(3.) By divine appointment there was also divination by the Urim and Thummim (Nu 27:21), and by the ephod.
(4.) God was pleased sometimes to vouch-safe direct vocal communications to men (De 34:10; Ex 3:4; 4:3; De 4:14-15; 1Ki 19:12). He also communed with men from above the mercy-seat (Ex 25:22), and at the door of the tabernacle (Ex 29:42-43).
(5.) Through his prophets God revealed himself, and gave intimations of his will (2Ki 13:17; Jer 51:63-64).
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And God will say to him in a dream, I knew also that in the uprightness of thy heart thou didst this; and I also will restrain thee from sinning against me: for this I suffered thee not to touch her.
And Joseph will say to Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh, one: this which he did; God announces to Pharaoh. The seven good heifers, they are seven years; and the seven good ears, they are seven years: this dream one. read more. And the seven heifers, thin and evil, coming up after them, they are seven years; and the seven ears, thin, blasted by the east, shall be seven years of famine. This the word which I spake to Pharaoh: what God did, he showed Pharaoh. Behold, seven years coming of great plenty, in all the land of Egypt And seven years of famine arose after them, and all the plenty was forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine consumed the land. And the plenty shall not be known in the land on account of the famine after this; for it shall be exceedingly heavy. And because of the repeating of Pharaoh's dream twice, that the word was prepared from God; and God is hastening to do it
And Jehovah will see that he turned aside to see, and God will call to him from the midst of the bramble, and he will say, Moses, Moses! And he will say, Behold me.
And he will say, Cast it upon the earth. And he will cast it upon the earth and it will be into a serpent, and Moses will flee from before it
Thou shalt not preserve alive a sorceress.
And I was known to thee there, and I spake to thee from above the cover, from between the two cherubs which are upon the ark of the testimony, all which I shall command thee to the sons of Israel.
A burnt-offering of continuance for your generations at the door of the tent of appointment before Jehovah, where I will meet with you there, to speak to thee there. And I met with the sons of Israel there; and it shall be consecrated by my glory.
And Aaron gave lots upon the two he goats; one lot for Jehovah, and one lot for the goat set apart. And Aaron brought the he goat which upon it came up the lot for Jehovah, and he did it for the sin. read more. And the he goat which upon it came up the lot for the goat set apart, shall stand living before Jehovah, to expiate upon him, to send him for a goat set apart to the desert
Ye shall not eat with the blood: ye shall not take auguries, and ye shall not practise magic.
Ye shall not turn to necromancers, and to wizards ye shall not seek, to be defiled by them: I Jehovah your God.
When a man or a woman shall be among them a necromancer, or a wizard, dying, they shall die: with stone shall they stone them: their blood is upon them.
But by lot shall the land be divided; according to the names of the tribes of their fathers, they shall inherit According to the lot thou shalt divide his inheritance between the many to the few.
And before Eleazar the priest, he shall stand, and he asked for him in the judgment of the Lights before Jehovah: at his mouth they shall go out, and at his mouth they shall come in, he and all the sons of Israel with him, and all the assembly.
And Jehovah commanded me in that time to teach you laws and judgments for you to do them in the land which ye are passing over there to possess it And watch ye greatly to your souls, for ye saw not any appearance in the day Jehovoh spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
When there shall arise in the midst of you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he gave to thee a sign or a wonder,
Thou shalt not hear to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams: for Jehovah thy God tries you to know whether ye are loving Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
There shall not be found in thee him causing his son or his daughter to pass through in fire, divining divinations, practicing magic, and taking omens and a sorcerer,
There shall not be found in thee him causing his son or his daughter to pass through in fire, divining divinations, practicing magic, and taking omens and a sorcerer, And charming a spell, and asking of a necromancer, and a wizard, and seeking to the dead.
For these nations which thou shalt possess them, they will hear to those practicing magic, and to those divining: and thou, not thus, gave Jehovah thy God to thee.
And there arose not any more a prophet in Israel as Moses, whom Jehovah knew him face to face.
Arise, consecrate the people, and say, Be ye consecrated for the morrow: for thus said Jehovah the God of Israel, A devoted thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou shalt not be able to rise up before thine enemy till your removing the devoted thing from the midst of you.
And Joshua will rise early in the morning, and he will bring Israel near according to his tribes; and he will take the tribe of Judah. And he will bring near the family of Judah; and he will take the family of the Zarhites: and he will bring near the family of the Zarhites according to the men; and Zabdi will be taken. read more. And he will bring near his house according to the men, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, to the tribe of Judah, will be taken. And Joshua will say to Achan, My son, set now, honor to Jehovah the God of Israel, and give to him confession; and announce now to me what thou didst; thou shalt not hide from me.
And Balaam son of Beor, divining, the sons of Israel slew with the sword to those being wounded by them.
And Gideon will come, and behold, a man recounting a dream to his neighbor; and he will say, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a round cake of barley bread rolling into the camp of Midian; and it will come even to the tent, and it will strike it, and it will fall and will turn it over, so that the tent fell.
And it will be when Gideon heard the recounting of the dream and its breaking, and he will worship, and turn back to the camp of Israel, and he will say, Arise, ye, for Jehovah gave into your hand the camp of Midian.
And Philisteim will call for the priests and for the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of Jehovah? make known to us in what we shall send it to its place?
And Samuel will cause all the tribes of Israel to come near, and the tribe of Benjamin will be taken. And he will cause the tribe of Benjamin to come near by his families, and the family of Matri will be taken, and Saul son of Kish will be taken: and they will seek and he was not found.
And Saul will disguise himself, and will put on other garments, and will go, and two men with him, and he will come to the woman by night: and he will say, Divine to me now, by necromancy, and bring up to me whom I say to thee.
And he will say, Open the window eastward. And he will open. And Elisha will say, Shoot. And he will shoot And he will say, The arrow of salvation to Jehovah; and the arrow of salvation against Aram; and strike thou Aram in Aphek, till finishing.
For thou didst cast out thy people the house of Jacob, for they were filled from the east, and practicing magic as the rovers, and they will strike hands with the children of strangers.
And when they shall say to you, Seek ye to necromancers and to wizards peeping and panting: shall not a people seek their God among the living for the dead?
And it was as thou finishedst to read this book, thou shalt bind upon it a stone and cast it into the midst of Phrath And thou saidst, Thus shall Babel sink, and shall not rise from the face of the evil which I bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Even to this the words of Jeremiah.
For the king of Babel stood at the mother of the way in the head of the two ways, to divine a divination; he shook with the arrows, he asked in the family gods, he looked in the liver.
Daniel answered before the king, and said, The secret that the, king asked, not the wise men, the enchanters, the sacred scribes, the diviners, shall be able to show to the king;
Then Daniel, his name Belteshazzar, was astonished for one moment, and his thoughts terrified him. The king answered and said, Belteshazzar, the dream and its interpretation shall not terrify thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream to those hating thee, and its interpretation to thine enemies. The tree that thou sawest that increased and was strong, and its height will reach to the heavens, and its sight to all the earth, read more. And its foliage beautiful, and its fruit great, and food for all in it; under it the beast of the open field will dwell, and in its branches the birds of the heavens will dwell: It is thou, O king, who increased and wert strong: and thy greatness increased and reached to the heavens, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. And that the king saw a watcher and a holy one came down from the heavens, and said, Hew down the tree and destroy it; but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, and with a band of iron and brass in the tender grass of the open field; and with the dew of the heavens it shall be wet, and with the beasts of the open field its portion, even till seven times shall pass over him; This the interpretation, O king, and this the decree of the Most High, that came upon my lord the king: And for thee driving from men, and with the beasts of the open field to be thy dwelling, and they shall feed to thee grass as oxen, and wetting to thee from the dew of the heavens, and seven times shall pass over thee till that thou shalt know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and to whom that he will, he will give it And that they said to leave the stump of the roots of the tree; thy kingdom being sure to thee, from when thou shalt know that the heavens rule. Wherefore, O king, my counsel shall be pleasant to thee, and break off thy sins by justice, and thine iniquities in compassionating the poor; if it shall be a lengthening to thy peace. All came upon Nebuchadnezzar the king.
For this, night to you from a vision, and darkness to you from divining; and the sun went down upon the prophets, and the day was dark upon them. And they seeing were ashamed, and they divining were disgraced, and they covered over their lip, all of them; for no answer of God.
Her heads will judge for a gift, and her priests will teach for hire, and her prophets will divine for silver: and they will lean upon Jehovah, saying, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? he will not bring evil upon us.
And reflecting upon these things, behold a messenger of the Lord appeared to him saying, Joseph, thou son of David, thou shouldest not fear to take to thyself Mary thy wife: for that begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit.
And having received intimation of the divine will in a dream not to turn back to Herod, by another way they went back to their own country. And they, having gone back, lo, the messenger of the Lord appears in a dream to Joseph, saying, Having risen, take to thyself the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt, and be there till I speak to thee; for Herod is about to seek the young child to destroy him.
And Herod having died, behold a messenger of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
And having heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea, instead of Herod his father, he was afraid to go there; and having received intimation of the divine will in a dream, he turned back into the parts of Galilee.
And he gave their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was voted together with the eleven sent.
And a certain man, Simon by name, was before in the city using magic, and astonishing the nation of Samaria, saying himself to be somebody great:
And having passed through the island to Paphos, they found a certain magician, a false prophet, a Jew, the name to him Barjesus:
And Elymas the magician withstood them, (for so was his name interpreted,) seeking to turn the proconsul from the faith.
And certain of the wandering Jews, exorcists, undertook to call over them having evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul proclaims.
And sufficient of them having done unnecessary things, having brought books together, burned before all: and computed their prices, and found fifty thousand of silver.
Send forward zealously Zenas pertaining to the law, and Apollos, that nothing fail them.
Fausets
Eze 13:7. Used in Scripture of false systems of ascertaining the divine will, such as are allied to idolatry: as necromancy, which evoked the dead (1Sa 28:8); prognostication by arrows (Eze 21:21). The arrows marked with names of places to be attacked were shaken (for "He made His arrows bright," translated, "He shook") together in a quiver; whichever came out first intimated the place selected; or else threw them in the air to see in alighting which way they inclined, toward Jerusalem or Ammon. Inspecting entrails. The healthy or unhealthy state of the sacrificial entrails intimated success or failure. In the Nineveh sculptures the king is represented with a cup in his right hand, his left hand resting on a bow, also two arrows in the right hand, possibly for divination. The "magicians" of Egypt in Ge 41:8, (chartumim, from cheret "a style" or pen,) were sacred "scribes" of the hieroglyphics, devoted to astrology, magic, etc.; else from Egyptian chertom, "wonder workers," or cher-tum, "bearers of sacred spells."
Daniel was made "master of the magicians" (Da 5:11); chokmim, wise men, our wizards (Ex 7:11);" sorcerers" (mekaskphim), "mutterers of magic formulae" (Isa 47:9-12). Jannes or Anna in Egyptian means "scribe," a frequent name in papyri of the time of Rameses II. Jambres, the other name of an Egyptian magician preserved by Paul (2Ti 3:8), means "scribe of the south." The earliest prohibition of witchcraft is Ex 22:18, "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." Witchcraft was an appeal to a power alien from God. So it was accounted rebellion against Jehovah. Saul's disobedience and rebellion against God's will led him, though zealous to extirpate witches so long as God's law did not interfere with his impatient self-will, at last to consult the witch of Endor; Samuel's words as to his disobedience in the case of Amalek proving prophetic, "rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry" (1Sa 15:23; compare 1Sa 28:3-20).
So Saul died for his transgression (Hebrew shuffling evasion of obedience) ... and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it (1Ch 10:13). "Wizards," yid'oniym, from yaada "to know" (Le 19:31). Consulters of "the dead," 'oboth (Le 20:6), "those having familiar spirits" which they consulted to evoke the dead; literally, "bottles" (leather) inflated by the spirit; compare Job 32:19, "my belly is as wine which hath no vent ... ready to burst like new bottles." The pythonesses (margin of Ac 16:16) spoke with a deep voice as from the belly; by ventriloquism (Septuagint so translated "them that have familiar spirits," ventriloquists) they made a low voice sound ("peep and mutter") as from the grave or departed person's spirit (Isa 19:3; 29:4).
Scripture has written for all ages (Isa 8:19-20):"when they shall say, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits; and unto wizards that peep and that mutter, should not a people seek unto their God? (should they seek) for the (good of) the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony ... if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." This tests and condemns modern spiritualism, the sign of "the latter times and the last days" (1Ti 4:1), "seducing spirits and doctrines suggested by demons" (2Ti 3:1-8). The phenomena seem supernatural and Satanic, and the communications often lying, as was to be expected from "the father of lying" (Joh 8:44). The Angekoks, Esquimaux sorcerers, when converted, have declared that their sorceries, when they were heathen, were not mere impostures, that they were acted on by a power they could not control; but when they believed in Jesus they had neither the will nor the power to do what they used in their pagan state.
Brainerd states the same as to the Indian diviners, namely, that all their former powers of divination departed the moment the word of God entered their souls. Satan's design in spiritualism is, judging from the alleged spirit communications, to supersede Scripture with another authority (namely, spirit communications) in matters of faith. Satan and his demons are the real speakers in these pretended communications from the spirits of the dead. The "associate spirit" of spiritualism answers to the Scripture "familiar spirit" of the wizards. The pythoness and the witch of Endor were each a "medium" between the consulters and the powers of darkness. The consulters are put en rapport with the latter, not really with the departed dead. Scripture (Ec 9:5-6, "the dead know not anything ... neither have they any more a portion forever in anything done under the sun"; 2Ki 2:9; Lu 16:19-31) implies that it is not the spirits of the dead that make the alleged communications, though these communications assert that it is; this assertion is from a lying spirit, such as was in Ahab's prophets (1Ki 22:22).
The dead do not return, they are personated by evil spirits. Spiritualism is virtually condemned in De 18:10; 2Ki 17:17; 21:6. "Sorcerers" are especially mentioned as about to abound with "lying wonders," and to be adjudged to damnation, at the Lord's coming again (2Th 2:9-11; Mal 3:5; Re 21:8; 22:15). The three frog-like demons out of the mouths of the anti-trinity, the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, shall "work miracles" to tempt the ten kings under Antichrist to the last battle for the kingship of the world, against Christ, in "the great day of God Almighty" (Re 16:13-14; compare Zec 13:2; Mt 24:24; Re 13:14-15). Paul was "grieved," so far was he from seeking and welcoming like spiritualists the pythoness' testimony to him (Ac 16:17-18); for the Spirit of Christ and the spirit of divination cannot dwell together in the same soul.
God condemns those who "remain among the graves and lodge in the monuments" (Isa 65:4) for necromancy, to consult the dead. The warning in Isa 8:19-20; Mr 5:3, applies to all times. The witch of Endor was "mistress of a spirit by which the dead are conjured up" (1Sa 28:7, ba'alath 'owb). Saul's request, "bring me him up whom I shall name," explains the previous "divine (qacomi) unto me by the familiar spirit." The witch's recognizing Saul as soon as Samuel appeared proves that her art was not mere jugglery: "Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul"; she was in a state of clairvoyance. On the other hand, her "crying with a loud voice," startled at the sight of Samuel, shows that his appearance differed essentially from anything she had ever by demon art effected before. She tells Saul, "I saw gods (a supernatural being) ascending out of the earth ... an old man covered with a (prophet's) mantle" (me'il).
Saul apparently did not see Samuel's person, but recognized the "mantle." Saul's inconsistency is convicted by Samuel: "wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?" If God was departed from him he should have been the more afraid to increase Jehovah's displeasure by breaking the laws in consulting the dead, as if they were less under God's control than the living. Abject superstition never reasons. Samuel's prophecy of his and his sons' death on the morrow, and Israel's defeat by the Philistines, proves Samuel's appearance to have been of God, and not by demoniac agency nor an illusion (Sir 46:20). God for special reasons awakened His servant out of his repose ("why hast thou disquieted me," etc.) to appear, not at a conjuring call which He forbids, but to show the witch and the king the terrible penalty of disobedience and witchcraft, as he (Samuel) had long ago declared in more general terms when alive (1Sa 15:23; 28:17-19).
Jehovah's principle is (Eze 14:4,7-8), "every man that setteth up his idols in his heart and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him that cometh, according to the multitude of his idols, that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart ... I will answer him by Myself" (by My own special interposition), answering the fool according to his folly, making the sinner's sin his own punishment. In Egypt books containing magic formulae belonged exclusively to the king,
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And it shall be the girl to whom saying to her, incline now thy bucket, and I will drink; and she said, Drink, and I will also give thy camels to drink; thou didst appoint for thy servant Isaak; and by it I shall know that thou didst kindness with my lord.
And it will be in the morning, and his soul will be troubled; and he will send and call all the sacred scribes of Egypt, and all his wise; and Pharaoh will relate to them his dream; and none interpreting them to Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh also will call to the wise men and to the magicians; and the sacred scribes of Egypt, they also will do so with their enchantments.
And Pharaoh also will call to the wise men and to the magicians; and the sacred scribes of Egypt, they also will do so with their enchantments.
Thou shalt not preserve alive a sorceress.
Thou shalt not preserve alive a sorceress.
Ye shall not turn to necromancers, and to wizards ye shall not seek, to be defiled by them: I Jehovah your God.
And the soul which shall turn to necromancers and to wizards, to commit fornication after them, and I gave my face against that soul and I cut him off from the midst of his people.
There shall not be found in thee him causing his son or his daughter to pass through in fire, divining divinations, practicing magic, and taking omens and a sorcerer,
There shall not be found in thee him causing his son or his daughter to pass through in fire, divining divinations, practicing magic, and taking omens and a sorcerer,
For the sin of divination, rebellion; and deceit, and the family gods of stubbornness. Because thou didst reject the word of Jehovah, and he will reject thee from being king.
For the sin of divination, rebellion; and deceit, and the family gods of stubbornness. Because thou didst reject the word of Jehovah, and he will reject thee from being king.
And Samuel died, and all Israel will lament for him; and they will bury him in Ramah, and in his city. And Saul took away the necromancers and the wizards from the land. And the rovers will gather together, and will come and encamp in Shunem: and Saul will gather together all Israel, and they will encamp in Gilboa. read more. And Saul will see the camp of the rovers, and he will fearr and his heart will tremble greatly. And Saul will ask through Jehovah, and Jehovah answered him not, also in dreams, also in Lights, also in the prophets. And Saul will say to his servants, Seek out for me a woman, mistress of necromancy, and I will go to her and inquire of her. And his servants will say to him, Behold, a woman mistress of necromancy in the Fountain of Dor.
And Saul will say to his servants, Seek out for me a woman, mistress of necromancy, and I will go to her and inquire of her. And his servants will say to him, Behold, a woman mistress of necromancy in the Fountain of Dor. And Saul will disguise himself, and will put on other garments, and will go, and two men with him, and he will come to the woman by night: and he will say, Divine to me now, by necromancy, and bring up to me whom I say to thee.
And Saul will disguise himself, and will put on other garments, and will go, and two men with him, and he will come to the woman by night: and he will say, Divine to me now, by necromancy, and bring up to me whom I say to thee. And the woman will say to him, Behold, thou knewest what Saul did who cut off the necromancers, and the wizards, from the land; wherefore art thou laying snares for my soul to kill me? read more. And Saul will swear to her by Jehovah, saying, Jehovah lives, if iniquity shall pierce thee upon this word. And the woman will say, Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he will say, Bring up to me Samuel And the woman will see Samuel, and she will cry out, with a great voice: and the woman will say to Saul, saying, Why didst thou deceive me? and thou Saul. And the king will say to her, Thou shalt not fear: What sawest thou? And the woman will say to Saul, I saw gods coming up out of the earth. And he will say to her, What his form? And she will say, An old man coming up, and he covered with an upper garment. And Saul knew that he Samuel, and he will bow his face to the earth and worship him. And Samuel will say to Saul, Why didst thou disturb me to bring me up? And Saul will say, Distress to me greatly: and the rovers warring against me, and God departed from me, and he answered me no more, also by the hand of the prophets, also by dreams: and I will call to thee to make known to me what I shall do. And Samuel will say, Why wilt thou ask of me, and Jehovah departed from thee and he will be thine enemy? And Jehovah will do for him as he spake by my hand, and Jehovah will rend the kingdom from thy hand and give it to thy neighbor, to David.
And Jehovah will do for him as he spake by my hand, and Jehovah will rend the kingdom from thy hand and give it to thy neighbor, to David. As thou heardst not to the voice of Jehovah, and didst not the anger of his wrath against Amalek, for this, Jehovah did this word to thee this day.
As thou heardst not to the voice of Jehovah, and didst not the anger of his wrath against Amalek, for this, Jehovah did this word to thee this day. And Jehovah will give also Israel with thee into the hand of the rovers; and to-morrow thou and thy sons with me, also the camp of Israel Jehovah will give into the hand of the rovers.
And Jehovah will give also Israel with thee into the hand of the rovers; and to-morrow thou and thy sons with me, also the camp of Israel Jehovah will give into the hand of the rovers. And Saul will hasten and fall with the fulness of his stature to the earth, and he will fear greatly from the words of Samuel: also strength was not in him, for he ate not bread all the day and all the night
And it will be after this, and David will ask in Jehovah, saying, Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah? and Jehovah will say to him, Go up. And David will say, Whither shall I go up? and he will say, To Hebron.
And David will ask in God, and he will say, Thou shalt not go up: turn about behind them and thou shalt cover against them from before the weepings
And he will build twenty cubits from the thighs of the house with ribs of cedars, from the bottom even to the walls: and he will build for it from within for the oracle to the holy of holies.
And he will say, I will go forth and be to him a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he will say, Thou shalt deceive, and thou shalt be able: go forth and do thus.
And Ahaziah will fall through the lattice in his upper chamber which was in Shomeron, and he will be sick: and he will send messengers, and say to them, Go seek in Baal the fly god of Ekron, if I shall live from this disease. And the messenger of Jehovah spake to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to the meeting of the messengers of the king of Shomeron, and speak to them, Is it because there is no God in Israel ye go to seek in Baal the fly god of Ekron? read more. And for this, thus said Jehovah, The bed where thou wentest up there, thou shalt not come down from it, but dying, thou shalt die, and Elijah will go And the messengers will turn back to him, and he will say to them, Why this ye turned back? And they will say to him, A man came up to our meeting, and he will say to us, Go, turn back to the king who sent you, and speak to him, Thus said Jehovah, Is it because there is no God in Israel thou sentest to seek in Baal the fly god of Ekron? for this the bed where thou wentest up there, thou shalt not come down from it, for dying, thou shalt die.
And it will be as they passed through and Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee before I shall be taken from thee. And Elisha will say, Now shall the mouth of two in thy spirit be to me.
And he caused his sons to pass through in fire, and he practiced magic, and took auguries, and made necromancy and a wizard spirit: he multiplied to do evil in the eyes of Jehovah to irritate.
And Saul will die in his transgression which he transgressed against Jehovah, against the word of Jehovah, which he watched not, and also for asking to a sorcerer to seek out;
Behold, my belly as wine it will not open; it will break open as new wine skins.
Hear the voice of my supplications in my crying to thee, in my lifting up my hands to the oracle of thy holy place.
For the living know they shall die: and the dead know not any thing, and no more to them a reward; for their remembrance was forgotten. Also their love, also their hatred, also their envy perished already; and no more portion to them forever in all which was done under the sun.
And when they shall say to you, Seek ye to necromancers and to wizards peeping and panting: shall not a people seek their God among the living for the dead?
And when they shall say to you, Seek ye to necromancers and to wizards peeping and panting: shall not a people seek their God among the living for the dead? To the law and to the testimony if they will not speak according to this word, because no morning is in them.
To the law and to the testimony if they will not speak according to this word, because no morning is in them.
And the spirit of Egypt was emptied in its midst, and its counsel I will destroy: and they sought to the vanities and to the mutterers, and to the necromancers, and to the wizards.
And thou being brought down, thou shalt speak from the earth, and thy word shall be depressed out of the dust, and thy voice as a necromancer from the earth, and thy saying Shall peep from the dust
And these two shall come to thee suddenly, in one day, bereavement and widowhood: as finished they came upon thee, in the multitude of thy sorceries, and in the great numbers of thy enchantments. And thou wilt trust in thy wickedness: thou saidst, None saw me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge it caused thee to turn away; and thou wilt say in thy heart, I, and none yet besides me. read more. And evil came upon thee; thou shalt not know its dawn, and ruin shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to expiate it, and desolation shall suddenly come upon thee; thou shalt not know. Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries in which thou didst labor from thy youth; perhaps thou wilt be able to be of use, perhaps thou wilt cause fear. Thou wert wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Shall those searching out the heavens, those looking upon the stars, causing to know concerning the months, now stand and save thee from what shall come upon thee?
Dwelling among the graves, and they will lodge among the watchers, eating swine's flesh, and broth of unclean things in their vessels.
Saw ye not a vision of falsehood, and ye said, a divination of a lie, and saying, says Jehovah; and I spake not
For this, speak to them and say to them, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: A man, a man of the house of Israel who shall bring up his blocks upon his heart, and shall set up the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and coming to the prophet, I Jehovah answered to him coming according to the multitude of his blocks;
For a man, a man of the house of Israel, and of the stranger who shall sojourn in Israel, and he shall separate himself from after me, and shall bring up his blocks into his heart, and shall set the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and coming to the prophet to seek out to him for me; I Jehovah will answer to him for me: And I gave my face against that man, and I set him for a sign and for parables, and I cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye knew that I am Jehovah.
For the king of Babel stood at the mother of the way in the head of the two ways, to divine a divination; he shook with the arrows, he asked in the family gods, he looked in the liver.
And the king will say to call to the sacred scribes, and to the enchanters, and to the sorcerers, and to the Chaldeans, to announce to the king his dreams. And they will come and stand before the king.
There is a man in thy kingdom that the spirit of the holy gods in him; and in the days of thy father, his light and his understanding and wisdom according to the wisdom of the gods was found in him; and king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king thy father, set him up leader of the sacred scribes, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, the diviners:
My people will ask in their counsel, and with their rod they will announce to them: for the spirit of fornications caused to err, and they will commit fornication from under their God.
And it was in that day, says Jehovah of armies, I will cut off the names of the images from the land, and they shall be remembered no more: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
And I came near to you for judgment: and I was a swift witness against those practicing magic, and against those committing adultery, and against those swearing to falsehood, and against those oppressing the hire of the hireling, the widow and the orphan, and those turning aside the stranger, and they feared not me, said Jehovah of armies.
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my things? Or is thine eye evil because I am good
For false Christs, and false prophets, shall be raised up, and give great signs and wonders; so as to deceive, if possible, also the chosen.
Who had a dwelling among the monuments; and neither with chains could any one bind him:
A certain man was rich, and was clothed in purple and fine linen, being daily splendidly gladdened: And there was a certain beggar, Lazarus by name, who was cast at his gate, having been wounded, read more. And eagerly desirous to be fed from crumbs falling from the rich one's table: but also the dogs, coming, licked off his wounds. And it was, the beggar died, and was carried by messengers into Abraham's bosom: and the rich one died also, and was buried; And in hades, having lifted up his eyes, being in torments, he sees Abraham from far off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he having called out, said, Father Abraham, pity me, and send Lazarus, that he might dip his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Child, remember that thou didst receive thy good things in thy life, and Lazarus likewise evil things: and now here is he comforted, and thou art tormented. And besides all these, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed: so that they wishing to pass through thence to you could not; neither could they cross over from thence to us. And he said, Then I ask thee, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he might testify to them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham says to him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if some one from the dead go to them, they will change the mind. And he said to him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither if any rise from the dead, will they be persueded.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the eager desires of your father will ye do. He was slaying men from the beginning, and stood not in the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he would speak a lie, he speaks of his own things; for he is a liar, and the father of him.
This is he having been in the church in the desert with the messenger speaking to him in Mount Sina, and our fathers: who received the living oracles to give to us:
And a certain man, Simon by name, was before in the city using magic, and astonishing the nation of Samaria, saying himself to be somebody great: To whom attended from little to great, saying, This is the great power of God. read more. And they attended to him, because for a sufficient time they were astonished by magics.
And having passed through the island to Paphos, they found a certain magician, a false prophet, a Jew, the name to him Barjesus:
And Elymas the magician withstood them, (for so was his name interpreted,) seeking to turn the proconsul from the faith.
And it was we going for prayer, a certain young girl having the spirit of Python met us, who furnished much gain to her lords, prophesying:
And it was we going for prayer, a certain young girl having the spirit of Python met us, who furnished much gain to her lords, prophesying: She having followed Paul and us, cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, who announce to us the way of salvation. read more. And this did she for many days. And Paul, having been exercised, and having turned back to the spirit, said, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out the same hour.
And certain of the wandering Jews, exorcists, undertook to call over them having evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul proclaims.
And sufficient of them having done unnecessary things, having brought books together, burned before all: and computed their prices, and found fifty thousand of silver.
Much according to every manner: for truly first were they trusted with the oracles of God.
Idolatry, charm, enmities, strifes, jealousies, wraths, intriguings, seditions, sects
Whose arrival is according to the energy of Satan in all power and signs and wonders of falsehood, And in all deceit of iniquity in the lost; because they received not the love of the truth, for them to be saved. read more. And for this, God shall send them the energy of error, for them to believe in falsehood:
And the Spirit says expressly, that in later times some shall be removed from the faith, holding to deceitful spirits, and doctrines of evil spirits;
And this know, that in the last days difficult times shall interpose. For men shall be self-lovers, lovers of money, boastful, proud, slandering, disobedient to parents, unthankful, wicked, read more. Devoid of natural affection, not observing treaties, accusers, ungoverned, wild, not loving the good, Traitors, rash, haughty, devoted to pleasure more than loving God; Having a form of devotion, and having denied its power: and these renounce. For of these are they going into houses, and taking captive little women heaped up with sins, led away with various eager desires, Always learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. And as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so also these have withstood the truth: men corrupted in mind, not tried concerning the faith.
And as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so also these have withstood the truth: men corrupted in mind, not tried concerning the faith.
And they repented not of their slaughters, nor of their charms, nor of their fornications, nor of their thefts.
And he deceives them dwelling upon earth by the signs which were given him to do before the wild beast; saying to them dwelling upon earth, to make an image to the wild beast, who has the blow of the sword, and he lived. And it was given him to give spirit to the image of the wild beast, that the image of the wild beast might speak, and might make as many as should not worship the image of the wild beast that they be killed.
And I saw out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the wild beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are the spirits of demons, doing signs, to go out upon all the kings of the earth and of the whole habitable globe, to gather them together for the war of that great day of God, the Omnipotent Ruler.
But to the cowardly, and unbelieving, and to the abominable, and murderers, and to fornicators, and charmers, and to idolaters, and to all the lying, their part in the lake burning with fire and sulphur: which is the second death,
And without, dogs, and charmers and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and every one loving and doing a lie.
Hastings
Morish
The numerous references in scripture to the various forms of occult science, as it is now called, and the strong denunciations against the Israelites having anything to do with it, show that it was a dangerous reality, however much deception might at times have been associated with it. We read of it first in Ge 41:8, when Pharaoh called for all the magicians, chartummim, of Egypt and the wise men, to interpret his dream. All their resources failing, God's man in the prison was called forth to show the dream, and this proved the occasion of working out God's purposes respecting Joseph. Doubtless the above class of men were eminent for their learning, as those were at the court of Babylon, over whom Daniel was made chief. Da 4:7,9.
Among those in Egypt there were some at least who were able to exercise powers beyond what they obtained by human learning. When Moses was endeavouring by means of signs to convince Pharaoh of the power of God, the magicians of Egypt were able to turn their rods into serpents, and to simulate the first two plagues with their enchantments. Ex 7:22; 8:7. These plagues were 'turning the water into blood' and 'bringing up frogs upon the land.' This was beyond mere human power, and certainly the magicians did not work by the power of God; it must therefore have been by the power of Satan. We know not the nature of the enchantments used, the word is lat, and signifies 'secret, magic arts.' Satan can suggest what incantations to employ, if man is willing, and can exercise his powers as far as permitted by God. After the first two plagues the power was stopped, and the magicians had to own, when lice were produced, "This is the finger of God."
In De 18:10-11 there is a list of things bearing on our subject which were denounced by the Lord:
1. DIVINATION, qesem, 'prediction.' A remarkable passage in Eze 21:21-22 gives some instances of how the heathen divined. The king of Babylon had come to two roads, and wanting to know whether he should take the road to Rabbath or to Jerusalem, resorted to divination. First 'he shook his arrows' (as it should be translated). Doubtless two or more arrows were marked each with the name of one of the cities, and shaken in the quiver, whichever arrow was taken by the right hand decided which road was to be taken. Jerusalem fell to the right hand. Perhaps the king was doubtful, so he consulted with images, teraphim; it is not known how these were used for divination: cf. Zec 10:2. The king still sought another guide: 'he looked in the liver.' By certain set rules the intestines of a sacrifice were said to be propitious or the reverse. The king using three sets of prognostications shows that he had no great confidence in his divinations: he may have been often deceived by them previously. How different from an answer from God vouchsafed to Israel!
Other means of divination are named, as, 'divining by the cup.' Ge 44:5,15. This was practised by the Egyptians and Persians and is thus described: small pieces of metal and stones, marked with signs were thrown into the cup, and answers gathered from the marks as they fell. Sometimes the cup was filled with water, and, as the sun fell upon the water, images were seen or fancied on its surface. Another reference is "My people ask counsel at their stocks and their staff declareth unto them." Ho 4:12. The Arabs used two rods, on one of which was written God bids, and on the other God forbids, these were shaken together, and the first that fell, or was drawn, was taken for the answer; or one rod was thrown up and the direction in which it pointed when it fell was answer. It will be seen here that a 'stock' or god was invoked that what the staff declared should be controlled by him. So in all divination, incantations were used, and the gods invoked to let the replies given be the most favourable. Behind all this we know there were demons who controlled the results given, so as to work out the purposes of Satan.
In the Acts we find a damsel possessed with a spirit of divination, or of Python. This was the prophetic oracle at Delphi, held to be the centre and focus of Gentile divination. An evil spirit connected with that oracle possessed this young woman. The testimony of the evil spirit to the servants of the most high God is remarkable: it may have been compelled to speak thus when brought face to face with the power of God (as the demons owned Christ): but the apostle could not tolerate commendation from such a source
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And it will be in the morning, and his soul will be troubled; and he will send and call all the sacred scribes of Egypt, and all his wise; and Pharaoh will relate to them his dream; and none interpreting them to Pharaoh.
Is it not this which my lord will drink in it, and divining he will divine in it? ye were evil in which ye did.
And Joseph will say to them, What this deed ye did? knew ye not that divining, a man shall divine such as I?
And the sacred scribes of Egypt will do so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh's heart will be strong, and he heard not to them as Jehovah spake.
And the sacred scribes will do so with their charms; and they will bring up frogs upon the land of Egypt
There shall not be found in thee him causing his son or his daughter to pass through in fire, divining divinations, practicing magic, and taking omens and a sorcerer,
There shall not be found in thee him causing his son or his daughter to pass through in fire, divining divinations, practicing magic, and taking omens and a sorcerer, And charming a spell, and asking of a necromancer, and a wizard, and seeking to the dead.
And charming a spell, and asking of a necromancer, and a wizard, and seeking to the dead.
And charming a spell, and asking of a necromancer, and a wizard, and seeking to the dead.
And he caused his sons to pass through in fire, and he practiced magic, and took auguries, and made necromancy and a wizard spirit: he multiplied to do evil in the eyes of Jehovah to irritate.
And he caused his sons to pass through in fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: and he practiced magic and used divination, and offered prayers, and made sorcerers and wizards: he multiplied to do evil in the eyes of Jehovah to irritate him.
Which will not hear to the voice of enchanters, charming with enchantments from wisdom.
And they will be bound to Baalpeor, and they will eat the sacrifices of the dead.
And when they shall say to you, Seek ye to necromancers and to wizards peeping and panting: shall not a people seek their God among the living for the dead?
And when they shall say to you, Seek ye to necromancers and to wizards peeping and panting: shall not a people seek their God among the living for the dead?
And the spirit of Egypt was emptied in its midst, and its counsel I will destroy: and they sought to the vanities and to the mutterers, and to the necromancers, and to the wizards.
And thou being brought down, thou shalt speak from the earth, and thy word shall be depressed out of the dust, and thy voice as a necromancer from the earth, and thy saying Shall peep from the dust
And these two shall come to thee suddenly, in one day, bereavement and widowhood: as finished they came upon thee, in the multitude of thy sorceries, and in the great numbers of thy enchantments.
Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries in which thou didst labor from thy youth; perhaps thou wilt be able to be of use, perhaps thou wilt cause fear. Thou wert wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Shall those searching out the heavens, those looking upon the stars, causing to know concerning the months, now stand and save thee from what shall come upon thee?
Thou wert wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Shall those searching out the heavens, those looking upon the stars, causing to know concerning the months, now stand and save thee from what shall come upon thee?
For the king of Babel stood at the mother of the way in the head of the two ways, to divine a divination; he shook with the arrows, he asked in the family gods, he looked in the liver. In his right hand was the divination of Jerusalem, to set battering-rams, to open the mouth in breaking in pieces, to lift up the voice with a loud noise, to set battering-rams against the gates, to throw up a mound, to build a watch-tower.
At that time the sacred scribes, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the diviners, coming in: and I told the dream before them: and its interpretation they making not known to me.
O Belteshazzar, leader of the sacred scribes, for I knew that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and my secret pressed not upon thee; the visions of my dream that I saw, and its interpretation, say thou.
My people will ask in their counsel, and with their rod they will announce to them: for the spirit of fornications caused to err, and they will commit fornication from under their God.
From the multitude of the fornications of the fair harlot, the beauty of the mistress of sorceries, selling the nations by her fornication, and families by her sorceries
For the family gods spake vanity, and the diviners saw falsehood, and they will speak dreams of falsehood they will comfort in vain: for this, they removed as a flock, they were afflicted for there was no shepherd.
And a certain man, Simon by name, was before in the city using magic, and astonishing the nation of Samaria, saying himself to be somebody great: To whom attended from little to great, saying, This is the great power of God. read more. And they attended to him, because for a sufficient time they were astonished by magics.
And having passed through the island to Paphos, they found a certain magician, a false prophet, a Jew, the name to him Barjesus:
And Elymas the magician withstood them, (for so was his name interpreted,) seeking to turn the proconsul from the faith.
And it was we going for prayer, a certain young girl having the spirit of Python met us, who furnished much gain to her lords, prophesying: She having followed Paul and us, cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, who announce to us the way of salvation. read more. And this did she for many days. And Paul, having been exercised, and having turned back to the spirit, said, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out the same hour. And her lords having seen that the hope of their gain went out, taking Paul and Silas, they drew to the assembly to the rulers,
And sufficient of them having done unnecessary things, having brought books together, burned before all: and computed their prices, and found fifty thousand of silver.
Idolatry, charm, enmities, strifes, jealousies, wraths, intriguings, seditions, sects
Let none condemn you being willing in humility and religious worship of angels, going into what he has not seen, vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh,
Since therefore the young children participated in flesh and blood, he also likewise participated with them; that by death he might leave unemployed him having the strength of death, that is, the devil;
And they repented not of their slaughters, nor of their charms, nor of their fornications, nor of their thefts.
And the light of the lamp no more should shine in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, should no more be heard in thee: for thy wholesale merchants were leaders of the earth: for with thy charms were all nations led astray.
And death and hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
But to the cowardly, and unbelieving, and to the abominable, and murderers, and to fornicators, and charmers, and to idolaters, and to all the lying, their part in the lake burning with fire and sulphur: which is the second death,
And without, dogs, and charmers and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and every one loving and doing a lie.
Smith
is a "foretelling future events, or discovering things secret by the aid of superior beings, or other than human means." It is used in Scripture of false systems of ascertaining the divine will. It has been universal in all ages, and all nations alike civilized and savage. Numerous forms of divination are mentioned, such as divination by rods,
divination by arrows,
divination by cups,
consultation of teraphim,
1Sa 15:23; Eze 21:21; Zec 10:2
[TERAPHIM]; divination by the liver,
See Teraphim
divination by dreams,
consultation of oracles.
Moses forbade every species of divination, because a prying into the future clouds the mind with superstition, and because it would have been an incentive to idolatry. But God supplied his people with substitutes for divination which would have rended it superfluous, and left them in no doubt as to his will in circumstances of danger, had they continued faithful. It was only when they were unfaithful that the revelation was withdrawn.
etc. Superstition not unfrequently goes hand in hand with skepticism, and hence, amid the general infidelity prevalent throughout the Roman empire at our Lord's coming, imposture was rampant. Hence the lucrative trade of such men as Simon Magus,
Bar-jesus,
the slave with the spirit of Python,
the vagabond jews, exorcists,
Lu 11:19; Ac 19:13
and others,
etc., as well as the notorious dealers in magical books at Ephesus.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Is it not this which my lord will drink in it, and divining he will divine in it? ye were evil in which ye did.
And the sign or the wonder come which he spake to thee, saying, We will go after other gods which we know not, and we will serve them, Thou shalt not hear to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams: for Jehovah thy God tries you to know whether ye are loving Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
And Gideon will come, and behold, a man recounting a dream to his neighbor; and he will say, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a round cake of barley bread rolling into the camp of Midian; and it will come even to the tent, and it will strike it, and it will fall and will turn it over, so that the tent fell.
For the sin of divination, rebellion; and deceit, and the family gods of stubbornness. Because thou didst reject the word of Jehovah, and he will reject thee from being king.
And Saul will ask through Jehovah, and Jehovah answered him not, also in dreams, also in Lights, also in the prophets.
Bring near your cause, Will say Jehovah; draw near your strong defences, will the king of Jacob say: They shall draw near and announce to us what shall happen: shewed they the former things, what they were, and we will set our heart, and we shall know their latter state; or did we hear things coming? read more. Announce the things coming hereafter, and we shall know that ye are God: also will ye do good or will ye do evil, and we shall look around for help and see together. Behold, ye are from nothing, and your work no more: an abomination he will choose in you.
And who as I shall call and announce it, and set it in order for me from my placing the people of old? and the things coming and that shall come, they shall announce to them.
Behold me against them prophesying dreams of falsehood, says Jehovah, and they will recount them, and will cause my people to wander by their falsehoods and by their boasting; and I sent them not, and I commanded them not; and helping, they shall be of no profit to this people, says Jehovah.
For the king of Babel stood at the mother of the way in the head of the two ways, to divine a divination; he shook with the arrows, he asked in the family gods, he looked in the liver.
For the king of Babel stood at the mother of the way in the head of the two ways, to divine a divination; he shook with the arrows, he asked in the family gods, he looked in the liver.
For the king of Babel stood at the mother of the way in the head of the two ways, to divine a divination; he shook with the arrows, he asked in the family gods, he looked in the liver.
My people will ask in their counsel, and with their rod they will announce to them: for the spirit of fornications caused to err, and they will commit fornication from under their God.
For the family gods spake vanity, and the diviners saw falsehood, and they will speak dreams of falsehood they will comfort in vain: for this, they removed as a flock, they were afflicted for there was no shepherd.
And if I by Beelzebnl cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast. out? for this shall they be your judges.
And a certain man, Simon by name, was before in the city using magic, and astonishing the nation of Samaria, saying himself to be somebody great:
And having passed through the island to Paphos, they found a certain magician, a false prophet, a Jew, the name to him Barjesus:
And it was we going for prayer, a certain young girl having the spirit of Python met us, who furnished much gain to her lords, prophesying:
And certain of the wandering Jews, exorcists, undertook to call over them having evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul proclaims.
And sufficient of them having done unnecessary things, having brought books together, burned before all: and computed their prices, and found fifty thousand of silver.
And evil men and impostors shall proceed to worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
And the wild beast was seized, and with him the false prophet having done signs before him, with which he deceived them having received the stamp of the wild beast, and them worshipping his image. Living, were they two cast into the lake of fire burning with sulphur.
Watsons
DIVINATION, a conjecture or surmise, formed concerning future events, from things which are supposed to presage them. The eastern people were always fond of divination, magic, the curious arts of interpreting dreams, and of obtaining a knowledge of future events. When Moses published the law, this disposition had long been common in Egypt and the neighbouring countries. To prevent the Israelites from consulting diviners, fortune tellers, interpreters of dreams, &c, he forbade them, under very severe penalties, to consult persons of this description, and promised to them the true spirit of prophecy as infinitely superior. He commanded those to be stoned who pretended to have a familiar spirit, or the spirit of divination, De 18:9-10,15. The writings of the prophets are full of invectives against the Israelites who consulted diviners, and against false prophets who by such means seduced the people.
2. Different kinds of divination have passed for sciences, as
1. Aeromancy, divining by the air. 2. Astrology, by the heavens. 3. Augury, by the flight and singing of birds, &c. 4. Cheiromancy, by inspecting the lines of the hand.
5. Geomancy, by observing cracks or clefts in the earth. 6. Haruspicy, by inspecting the bowels of animals. 7. Horoscopy, a branch of astrology, marking the position of the heavens when a person is born. 8. Hydromancy, by water. 9. Physiognomy, by the countenance. 10. Pyromancy, a divination made by fire.
3. The kinds of divination, to which superstition in modern times has given belief, are not less numerous, or less ridiculous, than those which were practised in the days of profound ignorance. The divining rod, which is mentioned in Scripture, is still in some repute in the north of England, though its application is now confined principally to the discovery of veins of lead ore, seams of coal, or springs. In order that it may possess the full virtue for this purpose, it should be made of hazel. Divination by Virgilian, Horatian, or Bible lots, was formerly very common; and the last kind is still practised. The works are opened by chance, and the words noticed which are covered by the thumb: if they can be interpreted in any respect relating to the person, they are reckoned prophetic. Charles I. is said to have used this kind of divination to ascertain his fate. The ancient Christians were so much addicted to the sortes sanctorum, or divining by the Bible, that it was expressly forbidden by a council. Divination by the speal, or blade bone of a sheep, is used in Scotland. In the Highlands it is called sleina-reached, or reading the speal bone. It was very common in England in the time of Drayton, particularly among the colony of Flemings settled in Pembroke- shire. Camden relates of the Irish, that they looked through the bare blade bone of a sheep; and if they saw any spot in it darker than ordinary, they believed that somebody would be buried out of the house. The Persians used this mode of divination.
4. Of all attempts to look into futurity by such means, as well as resorting to charms and other methods of curing diseases, and discovering secrets, we may say, that they are relics of Paganism, and argue an ignorance, folly, or superstition, dishonourable to the Christian name; and are therefore to be reproved and discouraged.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
When thou comest to the land which Jehovah thy God gave to thee,. thou shalt not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found in thee him causing his son or his daughter to pass through in fire, divining divinations, practicing magic, and taking omens and a sorcerer,
A prophet from the midst of thee, from thy brethren, like me Jehovah thy God shall raise up to thee; to him shall ye hear.