A New Hearing From God

9 “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, 14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune- tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this. 15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen (Deuteronomy 18:9-15 )

    The issue at hand in these verses is not so much the matter of divination per se, so much as it is how one hear and discern the voice of God. With any people this matter is critical. But with Israel it would be crucial. In their new land they would be surrounded with people that would be consumed with the occult; believing that God speaks personally and individually, through signs and wonders, etc.; the main matter being that the source of revelation was entirely subjective. This was not to be the case with Israel. Their interaction with God was rooted in an objective reality, that is, in a real encounter with a God Who actually spoke to them in time and space; as Francis Schaeffer said, "A God Who is there."

     The nations that were around Israel in the land relied upon their intuition upon which to interact with "god" as they perceived him. "They worshiped god as they understood him". Surely, they pursued Him with zeal, cutting themselves, passing their children through the fire, and using other such zealous pursuits. But because these practices were coupled with a lack of genuine knowledge they had "a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness." (Romans 10:2-3).

    God speaks in no uncertain terms here. He is very clear as to his feelings about the practices of those who were in and around the land that He was giving to the Israelites. The religious practices of those people were unacceptable to him. Those "abominable practices"

• ...Onw who burns his son or his daughter as an offering,
• ...Anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer
• ...A charmer or a medium, A necromancer or one who inquires of the dead,
• ...Fortune-tellers and diviners of the future

    All of those had to do with inquiry of the "world beyond". God desired Israel to rely upon his revelation, given through his vessel, the prophet of God, for information concerning those matters. That's why this section is followed immediately by an endorsement of Moses as the prophet of God.

    Notice that this section also uses words like "abomination" to underscore the seriousness of what He is saying. This is no small matter! These are matters that God takes very very seriously. He spoke of the idols and practices of Egypt in the same fashion! And we know what he did to them! Israel certainly didn't want their God to have to take similar action with regard to them.

     Note that God tells them that He has "not allow them to do this". There are many who insists on their "right" to approach God in whatever fashion they desire to approach him. This is only another expression of Cain's desire to approach God in the fashion in which he desires to approach Him. And God reacts no better than he reacted to Cain. Men do not have the right to approach God in whatever fashion they desire to approach. It is God who sets the terms upon which man may approach at all! Men are beset by sin; they are soiled, and God in his grace, has provided a way for them to approach. That avenue is by means of the Lord Jesus Christ and his precious gift of grace on Calvary's mountain. There is no other way that is acceptable to God.