“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 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. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God.
The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.” (Deuteronomy 18:9-15 NIV)
“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand” (Mark 3:24). That’s what Abraham Lincoln liked to say during the Civil War: “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” That’s true! Of course, President Lincoln didn’t come up with that on his own. Who said that? Jesus! Was he talking about the Civil War? No! Jesus was talking about an even bigger war: The war between God and Satan. As Jesus drove out demons, people accused Jesus of being on the devil’s side. Jesus said, “That’s impossible. You can’t play both sides. You can’t be on God’s side and on the devil’s side. A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.”
That was exactly what God told the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land of Canaan. Moses said, “When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.” In other words, “When you get to your new home, don’t be like everybody else!” Isn’t that hard? Peer pressure is a powerful thing. It seems like the wisest, easiest, best thing to just be like everybody else, right? No! God said, “Do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.” God’s people are always to be countercultural.
In what way? Well, there was something that was detestable to God. What was it? “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.” What is that all about? The occult. Dark magic. The devil. Moses lists eight different activities that had to do with the devil. God’s people were not to be sorcerers or witches or mediums or spiritists or to sacrifice their own children to false gods. All occult stuff.
Maybe we think, “Were the Israelites really attracted to those dark, devilish things?” What’s the answer? Absolutely! As the Old Testament goes on, it’s sad to read how the Israelites did all these things. King Saul—the first king of the Israelites—went to a medium and asked her to consult the dead spirit of the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 29). Really? Yes! It’s scary. At least two kings of Judah sacrificed their own children to false gods: Ahaz (2 Kings 16:3) and Manasseh (2 Kings 21:6). What did God call those things? Detestable! But the Israelites did them all.
Those ancient people were crazy, right? Who would do such things? Actually, things haven’t changed much. Our world is still fascinated with the devil and demons, isn’t it? Think of all the movies and shows with witches and dark magic and sorcerers. Look around at Halloween. The Bible warns, “Watch out!” The devil isn’t someone to mess around with. I’ve talked with two people right here in our area who have been tormented by demons—by evil spirits. Watch out!
And there’s so much more. Have you checked your horoscope recently? Does that seem harmless? It’s not. Have you ever played around with tarot cards or palm readings? Do they seem harmless? They’re not. And they’re growing like crazy. In 2023, there were over 97,000 psychics in the United States, and they brought in $2.3 billion in business. More people believe in the power of psychics than go to church weekly. Have you tried a Magic 8 ball? Just an innocent game, right? Except, there are only two powers: God’s power and the devil’s power. Whose kingdom are you in? Ancient Canaanite religion is alive and well in the United States.
It’s even a part of how we talk. “It’s your lucky day. Good luck.” Do you use those words? Who’s missing in the world of “luck”? God. “Knock on wood.” Do you ever say that? In other words, “I hope that doesn’t happen, so I’ll knock on wood.” Really? When you see a black cat, what crosses your mind? “I hope it doesn’t cross my path!” When Friday the 13th shows up on the calendar, what do you think? The occult—the dark world of the devil—is ingrained in our culture. If there’s God, and there’s the devil, who’s side are we on? Divided, aren’t we? Divided.
Why? Why in our scientific world where we human beings claim to be rulers of our own destiny is the supernatural such a big deal? Because every single person deep down knows there is something more. Because every single person deep down wants something more. We’re not just physical beings. We are all spiritual beings with a soul. God our Creator has put into our souls a God-sized hole that needs to be filled with more than food or physical pleasure. Everybody realizes it. Everybody is spiritual. It’s just that by nature we want to fill that hole with anything other than God. It’s amazing what we human beings will believe, as long as it’s not in the Bible!
I think there are two big reasons why people look for answers outside of God. First, we long to know the future. Don’t you? We want to know what’s going to happen. Why? Because we don’t like having to trust in God. We don’t like having to wait for God. When there is a decision to be made, I want someone to tell me what’s best. I don’t want to have to pray about it over and over. I don’t want to have to trust that God can work things out for my good. I want someone to just tell me what I should do. Don’t you? Who do you turn to so that you don’t have to trust in God?
Here’s another reason: We want to cover all our bases. Doesn’t that seem wise? I mean, it’s good to check the “God” box, but you might as well check some other boxes too, right? If you’ve got Jesus, it can’t hurt to mix in some horoscopes and good luck and vibes from your ancestors. It might be good to be in touch with some spirits too. Who knows what’s really true, right? It’s good to cover all your bases. Can you hear the problem? What’s implied? “You can’t trust God!”
Did you hear what God says about all this? “Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD; because of these same detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you.” What does God call all these occult things? “Detestable.” Don’t you want to say, “God, that’s a little strong. You shouldn’t talk like that. If someone wants to use horoscopes, that’s a perfectly viable option, right?” No! It’s detestable. Psychics are detestable to the LORD. Card reading is detestable. Covering all your bases with New Age religion is detestable. You can’t have both. That’s what Jesus said! “If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand.”
Actually, Jesus said something even stronger: “Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin” (Mark 3:28-29). These are powerful words. All sin is dangerous. Jesus died on the cross for all sins. But when a person turns away from the Holy Spirit, when a person rejects the Word of God, when a person calls good “evil” and calls evil “good,” how can they be saved? If, like those people in Jesus’ day, you call God “the devil” and you call the devil “God,” you’re rejecting the only way to be saved. If you turn away from the Word of God and listen to psychics, there’s no way for the Holy Spirit to work in your heart.
So, God commanded his people: “You must be blameless before the LORD your God.” When I hear the word “blameless,” I usually think of pure or spotless. That’s true. But there’s a deeper meaning. The word “blameless” means complete. Whole. Undivided. The devil wants to divide your attention. He gives you lots of devilish options. God wants you to be undivided. Not part Christian and part New Age guru. Not trusting in Jesus and trusting in tarot cards. Not believing God’s Word and believing Zen proverbs. No! Undivided. Are you? “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” “You must be blameless before the LORD your God.”
It is right here at this point, in the middle of such strong words against occult practices, that God had Moses give his people a promise. It’s one of the greatest promises in the Bible. Moses said: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.” The Israelites weren’t supposed to pay any attention to witches and sorcerers and mediums, because one day, the LORD would raise up a prophet for them to listen to. Whom was Moses talking about? Jesus. 1,500 years later, Jesus told the Jewish leaders, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me” (John 5:46). Jesus is the one true Prophet who tells us everything we need to know about God’s grace and salvation.
Know what Jesus preached? “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). New Age religion, which is really old ancient pagan religion, says, “You need spiritists and mediums and dead people…” And Jesus says, “No, you just need me. I am the way…” No one can connect you to God except Jesus. You don’t need a fortune teller. You have the one who determines fortunes: Jesus! You don’t need to call on dead people. You have the One who rose from the dead: Jesus! He is all we need. “You must listen to him.”
Jesus fills that spiritual hole in our souls. He said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). How? Here’s the next verse: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). How much of himself did Jesus give for us? All of himself. His life was shattered on the cross to put our lives together. He takes our divided hearts and makes them whole again. He picks up the pieces—the doubts and fears and sins and regrets and guilt—and he invites us, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). When God calls on us to be blameless—to be whole and undivided—he makes us blameless through Jesus’ cross. Jesus covers all our bases for us.
But what about the future? What’s going to happen? Don’t we need to know? Jesus said, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Listen to him! “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). Your life isn’t a product of your decisions. It doesn’t hinge on you doing all the right things. It depends on Jesus. Jesus is molding you. Jesus is forming you. I know what’s going to happen to you tomorrow: Jesus will be with you. I know how your life is going to turn out: In heaven!
Hundreds of years after Moses, the prophet Isaiah picked up on Moses’ words in Deuteronomy: “When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God?… Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn” (Isaiah 8:19-20). Undivided. It makes sense doesn’t it? Why would we go anywhere but to Jesus? Why would we trust anyone other than Jesus? Want to be countercultural? Live your life undivided for Jesus.
(To listen to this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior podcast, please click HERE. To watch this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior YouTube channel, please click on the link below.)
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