Do Psychics Have Real Power?
Jeremy Northrop
One of the more popular attractions in current western culture is the paranormal. Tarot card readers, palm readers, sorcery, the use of mediums, and other such things seem to be taking this nation by the masses. Interestingly, God has a word for such practices: abomination. An abomination is something that is loathsome, detestable, dangerous, and repulsive. In Deuteronomy 18:9-14, Moses gave instructions about such things to the Israelites before they were to go into the promised land:
When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you.
Further, Leviticus 20:27 shows the prescribed punishment for people who practiced such under the Old Law: “A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.”
These things are an abomination to God for a variety of reasons. The first and perhaps the most obvious reason is found in the text: God forbids such practices.
Further, some of the things listed in Deuteronomy 18 (sorcerer, spiritists, one who calls on the dead) might include calling on false gods. Thus, the first commandment should ring clear: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). God makes it plain. He will not tolerate such. Micah prophesied, “I will cut off sorceries from your hand, And you shall have no soothsayers” (Micah 5:12). Paul admonished the churches of Galatia to have no part in wicked things, which included sorcery, saying that those who practice such will not inherit Heaven in the life to come (Galatians 5:16-21).
They are also an abomination because such practices are often associated with human sacrifice. This is certainly the concept of the first part of Deuteronomy 18:10. In this case, the sixth commandment is the thrust: “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). The application of the latter two reasons for present day is the fact that these commands are eternal moral principles. They were commanded in the Old Testament and continue to be commanded in the New Testament. Those who practice such things are seeking out sources other than God. In other words, Christians today need not to have any part or portion in such practices.
It is also interesting to observe that the words used for many of the practices listed in Exodus 18 are used to refer to something that is phony or fake. For ‘sorcerer,’ for example, W. E. Vine uses words like pretender and professor. Time has often shown that those who practice such things are not real. While there are many today who profess to practice such things, time and investigation will prove such to be false. God told the Israelites to give no regard to them indicating that they are not real (Exodus 19:31a). Each person must regard things that are real albeit he or she must regard it holy or an abomination. Yet, God said, “give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits.”
It is often difficult to reject things that many people are following or that have the appearance of being real. In the first case, understand that the majority are accepting a path which will lead them to a place they do not want to be (Matthew 7:13-14). In the second case, faith must be practiced. Regardless of how real those who practice paranormal activities may seem, God said give no regard to them. The child of God must trust his or her Father to guide him or her down the right path.
Do psychics have real power? In the sense that those who claim such are persuading the masses and have a great following; yes, they have power. However, are they are doing anything real or reasonable? No, they do not have real power.
