Meaning of DIVINATION

Condemned with the death penalty in the Law (Lev. 20:27, etc.). The numerous references in the Scriptures to the various forms of occultism, as it is now called, and the strong denunciations against the Israelites having any participation in such a thing, show that it was a dangerous reality, however much the deception that could sometimes have been included in it.

We first read about divination when Pharaoh summons all the magicians, "chartummim," of Egypt, and the wise men, to interpret his dream (Gen. 41:8).

All his attempts having failed, the man of God who was in prison was called to interpret the dream, and this became the occasion for carrying out God's purposes regarding Joseph.

There is no doubt that the former class of men were eminent in their store of knowledge, as were those in the court of Babylon, over whom Daniel was made ruler (Dan. 4:7, 9).

Among the magicians of Egypt there were some, at least, who could exercise powers beyond those obtained by human knowledge.

When Moses was trying to convince Pharaoh of God's power through signs, the magicians of Egypt were able to turn their staffs into serpents, and simulate the first two plagues with their incantations (Ex. 7:22; 8:7).

These were the transformation of water into blood, and the plague of frogs. This was beyond merely human power, and it is evident that the magicians did not work by the power of God; It must have been then by the power of Satan.

The nature of the incantations used is unknown; The word is "lat", and means "secret, magical arts."

Satan can suggest what charms to employ, if man is willing, and can exercise his powers as far as God permits. After these two plagues, the power was restrained, and the magicians had to admit, when the lice were formed, "This is the Finger of God."

In Deut. 18:10-11 a list of things having to do with divination that were denounced by the Lord is given:
(a) Divination, "qesen", "prediction".

A notable passage in Ez. 21:21-22 gives some examples of how the pagans divined. The king of Babylon had reached a crossroads; Desiring to know whether he should take the road to Rabbah or Jerusalem, he resorted to divination.

First, he "shaken the arrows out of him." There is no doubt that two or more arrows were inscribed with the names of the cities, shaking them in the quiver; The arrow taken with the right hand would decide which path to take.

Jerusalem fell to the right hand. It is possible that the king still had doubts, so it is unknown how these were used in divination; cp. Zac. 10:2. The king looked for yet another guide: "he looked at the liver."

There were certain rules by which the entrails of a sacrifice were said to be conducive to something, or not. That the king used three different ways of divination shows that he did not have great confidence in them; It is possible that he had been deceived by them before. What a difference from an answer that God granted to Israel!

Other means of divination are mentioned, such as “divination by the cup” (Gen. 44:5, 15). This was practiced by the Egyptians and Persians, and is described as follows: small pieces of metal and pebbles, marked with signs, were thrown into the cup, and responses were obtained from them as they fell.

Sometimes the cup was filled with water, and as sunlight fell on the water, images were seen or imagined on the surface. Another reference is: "My people ask their wooden idol, and the wood answers them" (Hos. 4:12).

The Arabs used two sticks, on one of which was written "God wants it," and on the other "God forbids it." They flailed together, and the first to fall, or to be pulled out, was accepted as the answer; or a stick was thrown, and the answer was given by the direction in which it fell.

It will be seen here that a "wooden idol" was invoked, and that what "the log", or the rod, said, was controlled by him. So in all divination incantations were used, and the gods were invoked
so that they would give the most favorable answers.

We know that behind all of this were demons who controlled the given results, to carry out Satan's purposes.

In Acts we find a young woman possessed by the spirit of divination, or Python. This was a prophetic oracle at Delphi, considered the focal center of pagan divination.

An evil spirit related to that oracle possessed this young woman. The testimony of the evil spirit towards the servants of the Most High God is notable; she may have been forced to speak thus when faced with the power of God (as the demons recognized Christ in fear);

However, the apostle could not tolerate recommendations coming from such a source: the spirit was cast out by a higher power. Here his divination ended, and his d