WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT PSYCHICS

 WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT PSYCHICS

Being the beginning of a new year, some will be thinking about going to a psychic to see what’s up for their future. What does God say? He says don’t do it!

 

When the Israelites were entering into their new home, after being rescued from Egypt, God warned them about a few things and gave them instructions on how to live well. In Deuteronomy 11 Moses delivered God’s message:

 

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, always” (v.1). “That ye may be strong. . . that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth” (v. 8, 21).

 

Then Moses goes on to tell the Israelites all the great stuff God has in store for them, and then warns them:

 

“Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; a blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: “And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known” (vv. 26-28).

 

Then God gets into specifics: Deut. 18:9-11

 

“When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,

 

“Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer” (Deut. 18:9-11).

 

A consulter with familiar spirits is a person who gets information from a demon that is familiar with your life; they’ve probably been around you since you were a child, similar to a guardian spirit, but on the enemy’s side. They know all about your habits, and what makes you happy and what scares you, and they communicate this information to a psychic, who then can tell you things about your life that you’ve never told anyone, and then it seems like the psychic is totally tapped in. But you can’t trust them!

 

The word “necromancer” comes from two words, “necro” which means “dead body,” and the Greek words “mantis” and “mainesthai” which mean “a seer, a diviner, related to passion and spirit.” I like to say they are ones who “romance the dead.” These psychics communicate with demons, specifically the familiar spirits, of the client and the dead person the client wants to hear from.

 

The ability of psychics is not make-believe. It’s real. but it’s not God’s will that any of His people consult with psychics, and He shows us why in the story of Saul with the psychic of Endor.

 

1 Samuel 28:3: “Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.”

 

Saul started off as a good king. He had the prophet Samuel to help him with spiritual and governmental decisions, and so Saul put the psychics and others out of the land. But now Samuel wasn’t around, and Saul’s enemies, the Philistines, figured they could now take over Saul’s kingdom.

 

“And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not” (v. 6).

 

I think we’ve all experienced times when it seems like God isn’t answering us. But that’s not a reason to give up on Him. He’s got a reason for not answering, and we need to just be trusting and patient. But Saul got all in a flurry and did the most foolish thing. He decided to seek the counsel of a psychic.

 

“And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee” (v. 8).

 

This woman knew how to connect with familiar spirits, so of course she could see right through his disguise, and she knew he had thrown the psychics out of the land, so she didn’t really want to talk to him at all. But he convinced her it would be okay, and who did he want her to bring up, but his old dead friend Samuel!

 

Samuel was dead, but the psychic could bring up a familiar spirit that knew Samuel and could easily imitate his voice, his way of acting, etc. You probably already know that demons can materialize, and that’s what happened here. Saul totally thought he was talking to the real Samuel.

 

And here is where God shows us the most true nature of what psychics do. I know that they often will speak of good things, but somewhere in the mix is something negative about the client’s future, or something that will trigger a slightly negative thought that will inspire an action that results in sadness at least, and most likely worse. In Saul case, God wants to show us the endgame of a psychic’s mission.

 

“The woman said unto Saul, ‘I saw gods [spirits] ascending out of the earth.’ And he said unto her,’ What form is he of?’ And she said, ‘An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle.’ And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself” (1 Sam 28:13,14). It wasn’t Samuel, but Saul listened to him as if he was.

 

“And Samuel said to Saul, ‘Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up?’ And Saul answered, ‘I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more. . . therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.’

 

“Then said Samuel, ‘Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? For the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David: because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, . . . therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day.

 

“Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me [dead]: the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines” (vv. 15-19). 

 

There was not one positive message coming from the familiar spirit the psychic invoked, and that is their ultimate goal, as it says in John 10:10, “to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” Everything in Saul’s message came to pass. Saul was hit by an arrow in the battle with the Philistines “so Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together” (! Sam. 31:6).

 

So if you feel like God isn’t talking with you, please keep trusting and be patient. Keep away from psychics and tell your friends too.

 

Love, Carolyn