> Ezekiel 21:18-23 > > New American Standard Bible 1995 > > The Instrument of God’s Judgment > > 18 The word of the Lord came to me saying, 19 “As for you, son of man, > make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of > them will go out of one land. And make a signpost; make it at the head > of the way to the city. 20 You shall mark a way for the sword to come > to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem. > 21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the > head of the two ways, to use divination; he shakes the arrows, he > consults the household idols, he looks at the liver. 22 Into his right > hand came the divination, ‘Jerusalem,’ to set battering rams, to open > the mouth for slaughter, to lift up the voice with a battle cry, to > set battering rams against the gates, to cast up ramps, to build a > siege wall. 23 And it will be to them like a false divination in their > eyes; they have sworn solemn oaths. But he brings iniquity to > remembrance, that they may be seized. The Ezekiel 21:18-21 bible passage is interesting , and a bit strange. The reason being is that in Ezekiel 21:18 states God’s command to the Prophet Ezekiel to somehow prophecy and proclaim that the Babylonian king will attack the cities of Rabbah, Ammon and Jerusalem, Judah(Southern Israelite Kingdom). It’s sort of interesting that the immediate subsequent Ezekiel 21:21-22 indicate that the Babylonian king will “use divination”, “consults the household idols”, etc., which are all pagan practices & rituals of divination. However, Ezekiel 21:21-22’s bible passage seems to suggest that the Israelite God’s Will sometimes is manifestly prophetically expressed via divination pagan rituals & practices. Please understand that my question posting is in **No** way an indication of support and/or acceptance of practices & rituals of Nonbelievers, NonChristians &/or pagans. However, the Ezekiel 21:18-23 bible passage is interesting for Christians in today’s world because it gives Christians an idea as to how the Israelite God may at times guide/communicate with Nonbelievers, NonChristians &/or pagans who naively &/or unwittingly just do Not know &/or do Not understand Him. What can the bible reader infer from Ezekiel 21:18-23? Within the context of Nonbelievers, NonChristians &/or pagans who naively &/or unwittingly just do Not know &/or do Not understand the Israelite God, could it be that Israelite God does occasionally allow for His Will & Prophecies to be manifestly prophetically expressed via divination pagan rituals & practices?

In my country, the dominant religion promotes astrology a lot. But I have heard that it is a sin in Christianity. I was very stressed lately and spent a lot of money on astrologers. I never got any reasonable answers. I have been in serious trouble earlier in life due to guidance by astrologers. The origins of astrology are extremely dubious! Why is astrology considered a sin in Christianity?

Joseph's words resonate with my experience a lot, except that Joseph received information about hidden things from God via dreams, while other men discover hidden things through demonic means, such as sending spirits to people's homes (I have been a victim of this). So when Joseph said he could use divination to uncover hidden things, did he mean that he has always done this through prayer to God or did he encounter some supernatural things at the Pharaoh's palace? This is because this land was Egypt and later we saw how the Pharaoh had witches who could uncover hidden things using demonic means. *Genesis 44:15* >Don't you know that a man like me can find things out by divination? So did he mean he could do it by prayer or was he using what was rumored of those who worked in the presence of Pharaoh (divination) to threaten his brothers?

In the book of Acts Chapter 1:v 4-5 regarding an earlier speech of Jesus, it is written >On one occasion,while he was eating with them he gave them this command:Do not leave Jerusalem,but wait for the gift my father promised,which you have heard me speak about. 5:For John baptised with water but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy spirit. ---------- When the disciples were choosing one of their own to replace Judas,it is written Acts 1:v23-26 >So they proposed two men:Joseph called Barsabass (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24:Then they prayed,"Lord,you know everyone's heart.Show us which of these two men you have chosen 25: to take over this apostolic ministry,which Judas left to go where he belongs." 26:Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias;so he was added to the eleven apostles. ---------- If they were to baptised by the Holy Spirit in a few days time,then why did they use a form of divination by casting lots to discover who to choose?

Acts 16:16-18 (ESV): > 16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by **a slave girl who had a spirit of divination** and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18 And this she kept doing for many days. **Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour**. Are there published testimonies from people who received deliverance from a spirit of divination or a similar spirit, as in Acts 16:16-18? I'd like to read or watch a first-hand account, told from the perspective of a person who used to have a spirit of divination or similar spirit influencing them, about (1) their experiences prior to the deliverance, (2) the deliverance itself and (3) how their life changed after the deliverance. __________________ Related questions: - [Do Christians believe in witchcraft and the occult?](https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/84082/50422) - [How often do missionaries report encounters with demonic activity while deployed to countries belonging to the 10/40 Window?](https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/82874/50422) - [How do Christians approach the evangelization of individuals who have had profound spiritual experiences in other religions?](https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/84362/50422)

Does the Roman Catholic Church have a stance on the use of horoscopes (such as for the twelve astrological signs , e.g. Gemini, Virgo, Scorpio)? Specifically, I'd like to know if the Church has taken a stance on: - Believing that horoscopes can predict one's future - Reading horoscopes for fun, but not taking them seriously Given that horoscopes have traditionally been used for divination, I am curious if that means that faithful Catholics shouldn't use them, since only God knows the future. Also, has any modern stance been taken for the less serious horoscopes in today's daily newspapers?

In Acts 16, why was Paul annoyed with the slave girl who had a spirit of divination and kept shouting *"These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation."*? Isn't what she is saying the truth? Why would Paul be annoyed by it and cast out the spirit? > **Acts 16:16-18 ESV** As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, **having become greatly annoyed**, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

There is a very good-hearted aunt, she is a Chinese and also a Christian, who is constantly persuading me to start following Feng-Shui (a Chinese system of geomancy). The time has come for my family to buy a new house - now she is trying to persuade me to follow this system of Feng-Shui even more in order to choose the most "fortunate" house. She even stared visiting some specialists of Feng-Shui (which to me are really not a far cry from fortune tellers) who consult her (of course not free of charge) on the matter as to where I should buy this new house. The other day she really got me and I had a conflict with her. I told her, "Are you really a Christian? Don't you know that this is in fact a kind of abomination before the Lord?" She confronted me with her kind of logical argument: "This system has already helped a lot of people. If it's good why should we not make use of something which is good? Don't you make use of visiting your dentist every half a year? Don't you make use of doing physical exercises every morning? So why not make use of something good here? And how can you be sure that this system is not from God either? How can you be sure that this system is not allowed by God to exist and help humans?" Today she even came up with some examples from the New Testament. First she cited the fact that the Apostles in the book of Acts used a technique in choosing Matthias which is very similar to that used in Feng-Shui (in fact it's a kind of divining using some objects like coins, turtle shells, etc.) She also said that those magi that came to see baby Jesus were following the star, which is also very similar to Feng-Shui. She even said that since I exercise every morning, while Paul said that physical exercises is not so useful (1 Tim 1:8), which means that I am not really faithful toward the Bible in this regard, why not try something that proved to be good long before even the NT was written? She kind of surprised me with these argument. I think some of those Feng-Shui experts gave her them, because I know that she hasn't yet completed reading the New Testament. So, what places from the NT can I quote to her?

Are there verses in the Bible, especially the New Testament, forbidding believers from consulting fortune tellers, palmist and astrologers?

Being on this site has given me an opportunity to reflect and investigate more my beliefs and gain a greater understanding of the beliefs of other Christians. I was raised being taught that astrology was a pagan practice that went against Christian beliefs. Is that a view that is widely held by other Christians? I've heard counter views that astrology is another way in which God speaks to man, while others say there is no validity to it at all, and it is just a harmless form of amusement. Is there a Biblical point of view on astrology?

I've seen many conflicting biblical statements that have been interpreted as condemning psychics and others that promote using "gifts from God". How can a psychic reconcile such a gift without conflicting with biblical teachings? For that matter, if one is psychic, how can you tell if it's a gift from God or somewhere else?