Bible Studies

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God has a general plan for each dispensation of human history, and an individual part in that plan for every born-again believer to play.

The mind of Christ (1) desires that all souls be saved, and provided the means for that to take place (2). God calls all born-again believers to participate in the Great Commission, and provides the means for that to take place (3).

The Church Age Army of God is an all-volunteer outfit. God does not force salvation or discipleship on anyone, but makes it clear what the consequences for rejecting either one will be. The lake of fire awaits those who choose not to believe in the unadulterated Gospel Message (4). The salvation that all born-again believers have ALREADY received, remains secure (5), but the 1Cor. 3: 14 reward, and the Rev.2 and 3 privileges will be forfeited by born-again believers who choose not to respond to the post salvation call to discipleship.

If you say I never heard God calling me to either salvation, or post salvation discipleship, I would suggest that perhaps you just did. His voice is not usually (e.g. 1Sam.3: 4-8) audible through our natural ears, but is clearly heard by the ears of the soul when He calls.

I have never heard the audible voice of God, yet He speaks to me each and every day in my walk with Him.

“My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me (John 10:27 NASB2020).”

I have never heard the audible voices of the devil or a demon, but I can discern them when his spokespersons do his bidding. Many who do the devil’s bidding are very “religious” and sincere, but like the Pharisees of Matt. 15: 14, they have been deceived and are unwittingly promoting the devil’s agenda.

A bullet fired in ignorance can be just as lethal as the one fired with malicious intent. As French Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux once said, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

Teaching others that they can be the devil’s spokesperson (6) will likely draw a John 8: 59 response.

“Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and left the temple grounds (John 8: 59 NASB2020).”

Discovering that one has been taking his or her guidance from the devil’s spokesperson can be a horrifying experience, especially when that spokesperson turned out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Seeking guidance from any other source or means than what God has provided, gives the devil a platform from which he or his spokespersons can speak. Divination (fortune-telling) can be one of those means.

Note that prior to acknowledging the one true God, the sailors cried out to their god(s) in the midst of a life-threatening storm at sea, and used divination (casting lots) to determine who was responsible for their situation (7). Note that God allowed this practice to identify Jonah as the reason for their predicament (8). Jonah confirmed their discovery, and told them to throw him overboard into the raging sea.

Perhaps Jonah acknowledged his own guilt and responsibility, and didn’t want to take others down with him. But after acknowledging that the hand of the one true God being involved, they prayed to the God of Jonah for guidance. Perceiving that the hand of God was in control of all that was happening, they tossed Jonah into the raging sea (9).

This resulted in their own deliverance and the means through which Jonah would be enabled to go and do the work that God had given him to do.

The fact that some predictions made by diviners come true is because what was foretold turns out to be what God had in mind all along.

The difference between diviners, false prophets, and the prophets of God, is that the true prophets of God NEVER get it wrong. During the Old Testament dispensation, getting it wrong just once was enough to have a false prophet executed.

Satan uses the “successful” record of fortune tellers as bait in the traps that he sets for our ultimate destruction. Note that Acts 16: 16 – 18 NASB2020 records that the fortune teller had in her a spirit of divination that enabled her to engage in fortune telling. She lost that ability after the spirit came out of her.

There are many con artists who claim to have fortune telling abilities who utilize many schemes and devices to gather information to later reinforce their claim. Blindfolding, or having their target close their eyes) and then telling them to think of some personal information is one of them. What is actually going on is that the “seer” is reading their lips. Such con artists have no abilities and do what they do to scam their followers.

The Acts 16 incident clearly links actual fortune-telling abilities with supernatural activity. For an advancing disciple, it’s not a matter to what extent (if any) that diviners can predict future events. The question is rather or not one should seek its council or support in the first place. For an advancing disciple, the answer is no.

Can Satan provide overt good fortune to individuals in order to promote his agenda? Is not the earthly prosperity of the ungodly (10) one of the hardest hurdles to overcome along the road to spiritual maturity?

Satan offered the humanity of Christ all the glory of the future kingdoms here on Earth. Jesus did not debate the devil’s claim of being able to make good on his end of the bargain (11).

Would it be too far of a stretch to conclude that Satan, to the extent that God allows, can arrange for events to take place that would seem to give credibility to fortune-tellers? Does not Matt. 24: 24 speak of signs and wonders being performed to deceive the elect?

Jesus turned the devil’s offer down, but every day, many who claim to be Christians, compromise their walk with the Lord, seeking what the devil’s world has to offer.

The devil will make use of whatever means he can, to have us focus on our plans, and not God’s. This does not mean that we aren’t to share professional, social, and recreational activities with other people.

In fact, it is there and then that God intends for us to be His ambassadors, participating in the Great Commission (12) Matt. 28: 19, 20.

As a member of the Church that God designed, EVERY born-again believer has been commissioned to participate in sharing the unadulterated Gospel Message with unbelievers in his or her personal periphery. As an advancing disciple, every born-again believer has been given a spiritual gift and an accompanying ministry (area of service) to serve the spiritual needs of OTHER people.

Fortune tellers will often make general predictions, while avoiding too many details that might raise questions when their predictions fail to materialize. In the USA alone, providing fortune telling and psychic services is a two-billion dollar industry. Sad to say, it has the financial support of many who consider themselves followers of Christ.

Consider the potential good that could be achieved if the same time and money were invested in ministries that promote the Great Commission (13). Jesus taught that wherever one’s money goes, that is where his or her heart is (14).

Attempting to foretell the future through any unholy means is to spend time and money in the devil’s playground. If you have been born-again and have a compelling desire to provide people with accurate information of what the future holds for them, perhaps you have been given the gift and ministry of an evangelist.

The devil lives for the day when he can deny God the glory by influencing His children to seek alternative means of guidance in their daily decision-making processes. This is where the sin of divination comes into the picture.

Being successfully distracted from seeking and executing the plan and guidance of God, such individuals prioritize carrying out of their own plans in order to receive earthly prosperity. They will usually participate in enough “religious” activity to “keep the door in the door,” but their heart is not with Him (15). They have “gone their own way (16), doing, or at least seeking, what pleases themselves.

Often times, it is the sincere, well-intending, but deceived people that the devil will use to lead others astray. The woman (later named Eve) was deceived into thinking that she would improve things (making her wise) by eating the forbidden fruit (17). For whatever reasons Adam had in mind, just look at the consequences that were the result of Adam choosing to go along with his deceived spouse (18).

“So take care how you listen; for whoever has (a level of spiritual maturity), to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have (much spiritual maturity), even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him (Luke 8: 18 NASB)”

Luke 8: 18 is NOT talking about the loss of salvation. It is talking about reversionism. Reversionism takes place when one starts to go in reverse along what had been the road to spiritual maturity. Reversionism results in loss of interest in the willingness to apply the principles that he or she had learned, opening the door to a lack of Matt. 13: 22 production and or spiritual disaster.

Salvation remains secure, but one is either going forward or is in reverse along the road to spiritual maturity at any given time. What does God have to say about the devices used to embrace negative spiritual activity? Consider the message being conveyed in Acts 19: 18, 19.

“Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver (Acts 19: 18, 19).”

Perhaps this is the time that God is calling you to repentance (change of mind) regarding your participation or promotion of fortune-telling.

Some attempt to legitimize seeking the guidance of fortune tellers, publishers of horoscopes, tarot card readers, palm readers, and the like, citing personal experiences or observations where such predictions did in fact come true.

I remember my mother telling me that when she was a young girl, a fortune teller at an amusement park told her that she would later marry, have three sons, but die young. She pointed out that she did in fact marry, and have three sons, but jokingly wondered if the third prediction (of an early death) would materialize. Not many years thereafter, she passed away at the age of 48.

Many people will claim to have had positive experiences as a result of following the advice of various forms of divination. Rather or not there is a connection between such foretelling and outcomes is open for debate in the minds of many individuals. But one thing is certain, the devil and the forces of evil WILL use such “corroborating evidence” as bait in a trap that is set to take captive the minds of those who choose to follow their guidance.

TTBoth true and false prophets have existed throughout the course of human history, and so has various forms of divination. Both divine and evil sources of power have produced (19) Exodus Chapters 7 and 8), and will produce (20) supernatural activity, signs and wonders, to promote the credibility and predictions of their spokespersons.


Advancing disciples will not so much concern themselves with the  miraculous activity. It is the accompanying message that is being promoted that best reveals its divine or evil source.

It is often wise to get second or third opinions when seeking the counsel of secular professionals (doctors, lawyers, tradesmen) concerning questions for which they are supposed to be knowledgeable. But should their advice be contrary to what Scripture has to say, the alarms that should go off in our edified soul structure (21) Matt. 7: 24-27) must not be ignored.

Whatever “gains” there are to be received by doing things by the ways of the world sets the stage for spiritual disaster (22).

As for me, seeking guidance (concerning spiritual issues) from any other source than God is not an option. At the end ofthe day it amounts to  spiritual adultery.

As one spiritually matures, he or she will see the spiritual side of virtually everything under the sun.

Anything that does not bring us closer to the things of God will be used by the devil and/or the Eph. 6: 12 forces of evil to pull us further away. Like many of the ancient Hebrews that wanted to return to Egypt, former fortune tellers and some of their clients will want to later return to such activity, noting the loss of such “benefits” they once had when they were participants. The devil will be right there to welcome them back, and may even prosper them more for doing so.

No one should ever say that there isn’t something, at least initially, to be gained by embracing what the world has to offer. There are living examples of it all around us.
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What I am saying is that fortune telling is an area of spirituality that an edified, advancing, disciple will choose not to participate. Jesus made it clear that there is a cost associated with discipleship (23), and the wisdom of investing in eternity and not in the things of this world (24).

Many who consider themselves to be Christians (followers of Christ) can tell you to the penny what the balance of their earthly bank accounts are, but have no clue about what you are talking about if you were to ask them about their eternal bank account (25).

Paul reiterated the same cost of discipleship. He should know, having been ship-wrecked, jailed, flogged with rods, assaulted by mobs, stoned, left for dead, deserted, and ultimately beheaded.

If the only results for being a Christian were limited to what we experience during our time here on Earth, then Scripture says we are to be pitied more than any other group.

“If we who are [abiding] in Christ have hoped only in this life [and this is all there is], then we are of all people most miserable and to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15: 19 AMP).”

Not on Earth, but in Heaven, there is so much more awaiting the advancing disciples who put God and the things of God first on their list of daily priorities and activities (26). Advancing disciples do not serve God to be rewarded, but God has made it clear that such believers will not only be rewarded, but that their reward in Heaven will be great (27)!

If the ones seeking guidance from fortune tellers spent as much time seeking godly guidance, they would be amazed about the changes that would come about.

Here on Earth, God is not the only source of earthly prosperity. In fact, earthly prosperity may not even be a part of the individual plan that God has in mind for many of His servants. God places His ambassadors in every walk of life, sharing the same blessings or adversity as the ones with whom they serve.

Jesus did not dispute Satan’s (28) claim of being able to prosper anyone he wants. Offers and actualization of such prosperity is the bait in the devil’s trap. The long-term objective of this trap is to deny God the credit and the glory that He deserves, and to take one’s trust and confidence in the Lord and place it elsewhere.

God has a way of taking what was intended as evil and turning it into something good. Saul, later named Paul, whose intent it was to wipe the developing Church off the face of the earth, became one its greatest promoters.

Those who participate in seeking or providing guidance from sources other than God, can repent (change their minds), and forsake such activity. If so, they can THEN be greatly used of God to rescue others who are on the same path where they had been.

In this God would be well-pleased.

In closing, consider the unambiguous words of Micah 5: 12.

“I will eliminate sorceries from your hand, And you will have no fortune-tellers (Micah 5:12 NASB2020).”

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(1) 1Cor. 2:16 (2) 1John 2: 2/John 3:16 (3) John 15:5/2Pet. 3: 18 (4) Rev. 20: 15 (5) Romans 8:1 (6) John 8: 44 (7) Jonah 1: 5, 7 (8) Jonah 1: 7 (9) Jonah 1: 14 -15) (10) Psalms 73 (11) Luke 4: 6) (12) Matt. 28: 19, 20 (13) Matt. 28: 19, 20 (14) Luke 12: 34 (15) Matt. 15: 8 (16) Isa. 53: 6 (17) Gen 3: 6 (18) Gen. 3: 17 (19) Exodus Chapters 7 and 8 (20) Matt. 24: 24 (21) Matt. 7: 24-27 (22) Mark 8: 36 (23) Matt. 16: 24 (24) Matt. 6: 19, 20 (25) Matt. 6: 19-21 (26) 1Cor. 2: 9 (27) Matt. 5: 12 (28) Luke 4: 6

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