Recovery Devotional 292 The Offense of Not Being Asked

JMD Devotional 292 2 Kings 1:2-4 The Offense of Not Being Asked

[King] Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and lay sick. He sent messengers, saying, Go, ask Baal-zebub, the god of [Philistine] Ekron, if I shall recover from this illness. But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king in Samaria and say to them, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore the Lord says: You [Ahaziah] shall not leave the bed on which you lie, but shall surely die. And Elijah departed.

I am amazed by the resurgence of interest in the occult in our society. There are at least five television programs featuring necromancers (people who claim to speak with the dead). Growing up, I never used a Ouija (‘weejee’) board, but I was lead astray briefly by someone showing me how to interpret the motion of a key on a string to obtain ‘hidden knowledge’. If, as Paul said, that demons are behind idols to obtain worship, how much more demonic involvement would there be with any divination? The truth has but one source; any ‘knowledge’ obtained through occult means will be tainted. Going to the enemy for information is treason with God.

Deuteronomy 18:9-15 (AMP) When you come into the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of these nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire, or who uses divination, or is a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a medium, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and it is because of these abominable practices that the Lord your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless [and absolutely true] to the Lord your God. For these nations whom you shall dispossess listen to soothsayers and diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet (Prophet) from the midst of your brethren like me [Moses]; to him you shall listen.

Dear God,

The people of Moses’s day were afraid to hear Your voice, lest they died; but I want to hear You. The foolish depravity of mankind wants to master and control the truth; and the enemy is glad to promote counterfeits; but the Truth is a person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ. May we have nothing to do with the Father of Lies and the wicked devices of divination; may our actions not be begging the question, “Is there no God, that I would consult such as this for truth?” May God forbid!

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

*New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

I originally produced these blogs between 2006 and 2007, which were then published in my book, JMD Recovery Devotionals. In 2010, I am sending these out to a few people as I review them and see if my point of view has changed.

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