Fortunetelling, the art of forecasting the future by supernatural means, is an ancient practice that has recently experienced a resurgence in popularity. Today it is common to see popular celebrities on infomercials endorsing psychic hotlines. Meanwhile, psychic parlors are becoming common place in metropolitan communities across America. Quite often the person practicing fortunetelling believes that their ability to forecast the future is a gift from God. We must ask ourselves if God really gives this gift to people or if this gift comes from some source other than God. If this gift comes from God we would certainly expect it to be listed in the Bible with all of the other supernatural gifts that God gives to His believers (i.e. the gifts of healing, the working of miracles, etc?). Furthermore, if this gift comes from God we would expect the Bible to encourage believers to seek after and practice this gift. However, when we search the Scriptures we not only find that this gift is not enumerated with the other spiritual gifts that God gives, it is condemned by God in the strongest terms possible. Would God condemn a practice and then give someone the ability to perform that practice? Such logic flies in the face of reason.

In the Bible fortunetelling is also called divination and the one who practice this is known as a diviner. The diviner makes use of many devices to receive his supernatural knowledge. These devices include palmistry, cartomancy (tarot cards), mirror mantic, and psychometry (being able to tell someone's future by holding something they own). What exactly does the Bible say about divination? Listen to the warning that Moses gave to the people of God in his day (All quotations from the New International Version unless otherwise noted. Emphasis added).

Deuteronomy 18:10-12

"Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his 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,

and because of these detestable practices the LORD your

God will drive out those nations before you."

Notice that divination, instead of being grouped with spiritual gifts that come from God, is grouped with other occultic practices (such as sorcery and spiritism) that God strongly condemns. If divination is a gift that comes from God then why did Moses say, "Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD"? Would God say something is detestable and then give someone the ability to do the thing He detests? The one thing we can be certain about with God is that He never contradicts Himself and for God to condemn something and then give it as a gift to someone is definitely a contradiction. Certainly God would not give an ability as a gift and then call that ability a sin. Yet in 1 Samuel the prophet Samuel is speaking to King Saul and calls divination a sin.

1 Samuel 15:23

"For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."

If the ability to foretell the future came from God then why does He say that he makes fools of the diviners? Would God give somebody a gift and then make a fool of them for using it? Listen to what God says as He speaks through the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah 44:24,25

"This is what the LORD says-- your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and
makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense."

In 2 Kings we find the history of a king of Judah named Manasseh. This man was the most evil king to rule over the people of God in Biblical times. Notice that in 2 Kings 21:6 divination is again associated with many other forms of occultism and God considers all of these practices to be evil.

2 Kings 21:6

"He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination,
and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes
of the LORD, provoking him to anger."

The Lord speaking through Jeremiah warns us not to listen to the deceptions of the diviners even if they claim that their power comes from God.

Jeremiah 29:8, 9

"Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says:

"Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you.

Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They

are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not

sent them," declares the LORD."

Paul the Apostle reveals the source of these spiritual powers when a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future confronts him.

Acts 16:16-18

"Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by

a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She

earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.

This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are

servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be

saved." She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so

troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name

of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that

moment the spirit left her."

The following versus tell us what God thinks of the practices of the occult that are so closely associated with divination.

Exodus 22:18

"Do not allow a sorceress to live."

Leviticus 20:27

"A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be
put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads."

Leviticus 19:31

"Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled
by them. I am the LORD your God."

Leviticus 20:6

"I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists
to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people."

Listen to the advice Isaiah gives to those who want to use the world of the occult to foretell the future. He contrasts those who consult a spiritist with those who inquire of God.

Isaiah 8:19

"When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter,
should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?"

While Paul the Apostle was traveling on his missionary journeys Elymas the sorcerer confronted him. Note that Paul under the direction of the Holy Spirit calls Elymas a "Child of the Devil".

Acts 13:6-10

"They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos.

There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,

who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The

proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he

wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is

what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul

from the faith. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the

Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, "You are a child of

the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all

kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right

ways of the Lord?"

In the Book of Revelation, John tells us the final destiny of those who practice the magic arts (i.e. sorcery, spiritism, divination, etc?).

Rev 21:8

"But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually

immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their

place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

With the Bible using such strong language against fortune telling we can only conclude that Christians should never practice it even for fun. On the contrary this is a dangerous practice that should be avoided at all costs. We can also conclude that fortune telling is not a gift from God because God so strongly condemns the practice and claims that he has not sent the diviners to us (Jer 29:8,9). Furthermore, we can conclude that divination is closely associated with spiritism, witchcraft, sorcery, and many other damnable occultic practices that only lead us away from God.

Glenn Robinson