Deuteronomy Chapter 18
In this sermon given by Moses, God made it very clear to the people of Israel that proper worship of Him and Him alone is the only thing that is acceptable. He warned them ahead of time what type of people they would come up against in the promised land. Their worship was an abomination to God and He did not want His children to have anything to do with it. That is why they were to drive them out of the land.
I think it is important to look at the definition of each of these words so that we know clearly what it is that causes God to say that these things are an abomination to Him.
Witchcraft – any practice of contacting the demonic or dark spiritual world.
Soothsayer – astrological type of divination seeking future guidance from the stars, planets or clouds. Astrology, such as horoscopes, is an occult art.
Omens – fortune tellers or psychics who use aids to tell the future or to cast omens. Examples today would be tarot card readers, crystal ball use, crystals, ouija board use, or tea leaf reading.
Sorcerer – those who use drugs or potions to conjure up fortune telling or to cast spells or to gain spiritual knowledge.
One who conjures up spells – they use charms to supposedly cast good or bad spells upon others.
Medium – one who stand between the physical world and the spiritual world by using demonic spirits. They often profess to speak with the dead.
Spiritist - those who claim unique occult or psychic knowledge and powers. An example today would be people who speak on psychic hotlines.
Necromancer – one who conjures up or calls up from the dead.
All of these things are an abomination to the Lord.
Let's Reflect
1. The chapter begins with Moses recounting what God instituted as spiritual leadership in Israel for the proper worship of God. God instituted priests from the tribe of Levi. According to verse 5 what responsibility had God given to the priests?
2. God wanted His people to take care of the priests. Name one way in which the people were to take care of the Levitical priests?
3. One very clear command they were given when they encountered the people who inhabited the promised land was not to follow their spiritual practices. The first thing God mentions that was an abomination to Him was the practice of a specific sacrifice these people did. What did they sacrifice to their god?
4. Moses told the people exactly why the inhabitants of the land were being driven out by God. They worshipped satan and all that is evil. We must learn what is evil in this world so that we can avoid it and teach our children to avoid it. According to verse 13 why does God want us to avoid such practices?
5. Moses had the title of being a prophet of God. God spoke through him and the things that he said came to pass. What did God say is a sure sign that the prophet who speaks to us is a false prophet?
6. Moses told us that another prophet was coming. He would be like Moses in that the things He said would come from God and would come to pass. Moses was referring of course to Jesus. According to verse 19, God said that those who would not listen to His prophet (turn their backs on Him and deny that He is God), that God would do what to those who rejected that prophet?
7. According to verse 18 where would this prophet come from?
“Men and brethren, if our hearts were right, the moment it was announced that God would speak to us through Jesus Christ there would be a rush to hear him. If sin had not maddened men, they would listen eagerly to every word of God through such a Mediator as Jesus is.” [Spurgeon]
