Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 12-13; 18:9-22
6. Honoring God’s Word
Please read Deuteronomy 18:9-22 for the background to this section.
If people don’t know the true and living God and don’t have His Word to guide them, they have to find substitutes to help them make decisions and face up to the demands of life. Instead of worshiping the true and living God, the people in Canaan worshiped dead idols (Psalm 115), and for the Word of God they substituted superstitious practices that linked them to Satan and his demonic forces. No matter what the experts in “comparative religions” might say, pagan idolatrous religion is Satan worship (1 Corinthians 10:14–22; Revelation 9:20). The explosion of the occult that we’ve seen in recent years is evidence that people are seeking in the wrong direction for the spiritual help they need. Visit any large secular bookstore and you’ll find shelves of books devoted to Satan, demons, black magic, and allied themes. People who refuse to love the truth must end up believing lies (2 Thessalonians 2:7–12), and only Jesus Christ can deliver them from the bondage that these occult practices bring to their lives.
The abominations of Satan (verses 9–13). God forbids His people to have anything to do with occult practices. Moses had already mentioned some of these “abominations” [“detestable practices,” NIV] (verses 9, 12) and warned Israel not to meddle with them (Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 17:7; 19:26, 31; 20:6, 27), so this wasn’t an entirely new theme; but here he went into greater detail. The false prophet Balaam discovered that no sorcery could work against Israel (Numbers 23:23), but the Jews could ensnare themselves if they investigated these dangerous practices and got themselves involved. One reason God commanded Israel to wipe out the nations in Canaan was because of their evil occult practices (Deuteronomy 18:14), and why should the conqueror follow the religion that brought judgment to the conquered?
Lest we conclude that these warnings about the occult don’t apply to Christians in this “enlightened age,” we need to be reminded that idolatry and witchcraft are listed among the sins of the flesh in Galatians 5:19–21, and that the Book of Revelation teaches that occult practices will be very widespread in the end times (Revelation 9:20–21; 18:2). In fact, those who engage in such things are among the ones destined for the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8; 22:14–15).
In Deuteronomy 18:10–11, Moses listed the practices that were forbidden by God, beginning with sacrificing children, a subject we’ve already discussed (Deuteronomy 12:31). If you want to worship Satan, you have to pay the price he demands. He will give you what you want if you give him what he wants. He offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world in return for one act of worship (Matthew 4:8–10), and he sneered at Job and claimed that he worshiped God only because the Lord rewarded him (Job 1–2). There are poems, novels, and plays in ancient and modern literature telling about people who sold themselves to Satan, received their rewards, and then regretted they had ever entered into the bargain.
The second forbidden practice is divination, which is seeking to get secret knowledge, especially about future events. Divination was widely practiced in the ancient world in various ways, including interpreting omens, consulting the stars, inspecting various animal organs, using divining rods, interpreting dreams, watching the movement of the water, and contacting the dead (1 Samuel 28). In some way, the sacrificing of children was also involved in divination. Mediums, necromancers, and spiritists consulted the dead with the hopes of learning forbidden things about the future.
The diviner wants to know the future, but the sorcerer wants to control people and the future by using various forms of magic, witchcraft, and spells. By being in league with the demons and casting spells, magicians and witches seek to influence people and events to achieve their own selfish purposes. People in today’s “scientific world” may scoff at these things, but any evangelical missionary can tell you of the demonic influence that has held many backward peoples in bondage and fear. Certainly demonic forces are at work in the “modern” Western world today, but they operate with greater subtlety and aren’t always easily detected. Those who would deny the influence of demons in the church today will have to explain the prevalence of demonism when Christ was here on earth and His victory over demons. They must also consider our Lord’s commission to His disciples (Mark 3:14–25; Luke 9:1) and their experience ministering to the demonized (Luke 10:17). And what about the ministry of Paul (Acts 19:11) and what Paul wrote about demons to believers in the churches (1 Corinthians 10:20–21; Romans 8:37–39; Ephesians 6:10–18)?
If any Jew ever considered getting personally acquainted with these wicked practices, he would have to consider Moses’ closing admonition, “You must be blameless before the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 18:13 NIV). “Blameless” implies, not sinless perfection, but a heart totally devoted to the Lord. It speaks of integrity and an undivided heart, what David meant when he wrote, “I will walk within my house with a perfect heart” (Psalm 101:2). The Jewish “Shema” declared, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5).
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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