“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their 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 18:10-11 (NIV)
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their 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.
www.biblegateway.com
“There must not be anyone among you who passes his son or daughter through fire; who practices divination, is a sign reader, fortune-teller, sorcerer, or spell caster; who converses with ghosts or spirits or communicates with the dead.”
-Deuteronomy 18:10-11 (CEB)
There must not be anyone among you who passes his son or daughter through fire; who practices divination, is a sign reader, fortune-teller, sorcerer, or spell caster; who converses with ghosts or spirits or communicates with the dead.
www.biblegateway.com
“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 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead,”
-Deuteronomy 18:10-11 (ESV)
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 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead,
www.biblegateway.com
Three different translations here:
NIV says not to
consult the dead.
CEB says not to
communicate with the dead.
ESV says not to
inquire of the dead.
Don’t consult, don’t communicate, don’t inquire of the dead.
If God is saying don’t do these things, then God himself is acknowledging that it is possible to do these things. Otherwise, He wouldn’t bother telling people not to do it, if it’s not actually possible to do it.
God doesn’t tell people not to do things when it’s not possible to do them.
God doesn’t tell people, “don’t take a bite out of Jupiter”. He’s not going tell people not to do that, because it’s not actually possible to do that.
God doesn’t tell people, “don’t ride the flying unicorns.” Because it’s not actually possible to do that.
God doesn’t tell people, “don’t push the Moon out of orbit, lest it mess up the tides.”
He doesn’t say not to do that, because it’s not actually possible for us to do that.
God doesn’t command people, “don’t invent a time machine and travel back in time and prevent your parents from meeting each other, lest you prevent your own birth.”
God doesn’t say not to do that, because it’s not actually possible to do that anyway.
God doesn’t command people, “don’t make a sword so sharp that it cuts through the fabric of time and space.”
God doesn’t command people, “Don’t steal Tinkerbell’s fairy dust and fly to Never Never Land.”
God doesn’t command people, “don’t turn off the Sun,” or “Don’t slide down the rainbows,” or “don’t stomp on the North star” or “Don’t feed the Mermaids.” Because it’s not actually possible to do those things.
When God commands people not to talk to the dead, He is acknowledging that it IS actually possible to communicate with the dead. That’s why He’s saying not to do it, because it’s actually possible to do it. And Saul knew it was possible to do it, which is why he sought out someone who could do it, because he knew it was possible for it to be done.
To say that this example in Samuel 28 is a one-off instance where God made it happen this time but doesn’t normally happen…that’s not consistent with the message of the Bible.
God acknowledged that the Canaanites were doing these things, and so he commanded the Israelites not to do these things.
