I have a co-worker who keeps telling people that the three wise men were astrologers because "they read the signs in the heavens and followed the North Star." I cringe every time I hear her say that, and I have, on several occasions, corrected her. Why she insists on perpetuating this lie is anybody's guess, but apparently she heard it in some Bible study, and therefore it must be true. Unfortunately, she's not the only one who's doing it. There are many people are out there spreading misinterpreted gospel, and the bottom line is, it's dangerous.
I believe one of the biggest problems with Bible interpretation attempts is that many people don't really know Jesus, and don't have the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide them - yet they're ready to either espouse their uninformed opinions whenever possible, or swallow whatever nonsense they hear from others who are equally ignorant about the Bible. They might know ABOUT Jesus, but they don't have a personal relationship with Him and are, consequently, still "walking in the way of the world," using their human mindsets to try to interpret God's word. They are what a pastor friend of mine calls "fence straddlers." With one leg in the spiritual realm and one leg in the "carnal" world, they refuse to budge from either one. Granted, they might run to church every Sunday, or be involved in all kinds of church activities, but they wouldn't know Jesus if they fell on Him because they never try to dig deeper. They're just a bunch of people sitting at the edge of God's swimming pool, so to speak, getting their big toes wet, rather than just jumping in and immersing themselves with the whole Truth.
The other problem in our modern day world is that there is a garden variety of kooks with their own websites clogging up the Information Superhighway, sharing whatever muck is in their twisted minds. To wit, one astrological website I recently accessed boldly proclaims that "When the Bible talks about 'the stars', it is talking about Astrology."
Is that so? Let's examine what the Bible REALLY says. The following verse from Isaiah shows God addressing Babylon about the sins they are committing, including the seeking of guidance from astrologers....
Isaiah 47:13-14 (NIV translation): 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. Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame. Here are no coals to warm anyone; here is no fire to sit by.
There are many other scriptures about astrology/witchcraft, and interpreters of omens. How anyone (even those who don't know the Bible very well) can misinterpret God's word on this issue is beyond me:
Deuteronomy 4:19 (NIV): And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.
Leviticus 20:6 says God will separate himself from those who go after mediums and spiritists.
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says that practicing witchcraft, sorcery, soothsaying, interpreting omens, making spells, and being a medium or spiritist, are all terrible sins to God.
Daniel 2:27-28 talks of how God kept King Nebuchadnezzar's dream and its interpretation secret from the astrologers, magicians or dream interpreters, and soothsayers. However, he revealed it to his prophet Daniel.
Acts 16:16-18 talks of a girl who was possessed by an evil spirit that enabled her to be a fortune teller. Paul commanded the evil spirit to come out of her in the name or authority of Jesus, and the spirit left her.
In Deuteronomy 18:9-11, Moses informs the Israelites: When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his 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. (Deuteronomy 18:9-11 NIV).
2 Chronicles 33:5-6 (NIV): In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts. He sacrificed his sons in [a] the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced sorcery, divination and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger.
Throughout the entire Bible God allows only His prophets to accurately interpret any kind of "signs."
With so many people insisting on using their human mindsets to interpret God's word, is it any wonder we have so many "religions" and weird beliefs and false prophets today? Someone once told me they don't like the fact that Jesus referred to people as "lambs" or "sheep" in need of a shepherd. Well, we ARE like sheep. We all follow something or somebody. Those who are desperate to know their future follow astrology or tarot card readers or whatever (never mind the fact that God is in charge, whether they realize it or not!); the Germans followed Hitler, even after they became aware that he was off his rocker; history repeated itself with Milosevic in Kosovo when his followers went along with his efforts at ethnic cleansing in that region; the Hollywood jet set are following the false teaching of Scientology because it caters to their need to deify themselves; many Americans of the Clinton era gladly followed their illustrious prez down a path of immorality, dissecting the meaning of the word "is" along the way; hundreds died for Jim Jones and David Koresh, and the leader of that weird asteroid cult who dressed in purple and laid down to die while waiting for the mother ship to beam them up; American school children copy and mimic the dress, hairstyles and actions of their favorite movie stars and rock bands; Shirley MacLaine follows her belief in being born again, and again, and again....
Instead of listening to God and what He wants, most people simply turn their backs and do their "own thing" because it's easier to be "in and of the world".
We all have the choice to believe whatever we want and however we want - but we'd also better be prepared to explain "why" on Judgment Day, because God isn't going to let us off the hook:
Revelation 3:16 (NIV): So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
In Matthew 7:22-24, Jesus said: Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (Matthew 7:22-24 NIV).
Astrologers, Satanists, witches, psychics, and all those who are dabbling in magic of some kind - take heed: Man's efforts to predict omens and tell the future through magic are always fruitless. These "gifts" come from Satan, not from your Creator. Dabbling in these will only result in certain spiritual death. God says so.
Anonymous
(c) 2005 Doug Britton (Permission granted to print for personal use)
Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 19:31).
Many people, including Christians, think it's harmless to look at astrological charts or engage in various forms of spiritism. They think it is fun or entertaining.
Others look to astrology, divination, and mediums for guidance, not just entertainment.
But God clearly warns against such practices in many Bible verses. Some reasons the Scriptures warn against engaging in any form of the occult:
The Israelites often made the same mistake and turned from God, although God clearly warned them about this.
- We are opening ourselves up to spirits other than God's.
- We are not looking to God for guidance, but to the occult.
- We are turning away from true faith in Jesus.
- We are disobeying God's Word, the Bible.
When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his 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 who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God. The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so (Deuteronomy 18:9-14).New Testament Christians turned from sorcery. Let their example serve as an inspiration and a warning.
Saul, Israel's first king, started out well. He expelled mediums and spiritists from the land, yet then violated God’s word and his own conscience by consulting a medium (1 Samuel 28:3-25). His end was tragic (1 Samuel 31:1-6).Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power (Acts 19:18-20).These verses are given to us as warnings. God wants us to learn from the examples he gives in the Bible, and to avoid making the same mistakes. He loves us and wants us to turn from anything that will get between us and the joyful life he offers!
Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 19:31).
I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people (Leviticus 20:6).
When men tell 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? (Isaiah 8:19).
And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven (Deuteronomy 4:19).
... and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars of the sky (Deuteronomy 17:3).
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. Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame. Here are no coals to warm anyone; here is no fire to sit by. That is all they can do for you—these you have labored with and trafficked with since childhood. Each of them goes on in his error; there is not one that can save you (Isaiah 47:13-15).
Hear what the LORD says to you, O house of Israel.This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them" (Jeremiah 10:1-2).
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 (Daniel 1:20).
Do not practice divination or sorcery (Leviticus 19:26).
Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms; I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds (Ezekiel 13:20).
The idols speak deceit, 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 (Zechariah 10:2).
"So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty (Malachi 3:5).
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me (Exodus 20:4-5).
Watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below (Deuteronomy 4:15-18).