Question
Where is it that God forbids prophesying via the stars?
Answer
Yes, God does forbid His people from worshipping and prophesying by the stars or any other created bodies. When the Law of Moses was given, Israel was warned not to be deceived by worshipping the stars and the heavens that Had been created by God.
DEU 4:19 “And beware, lest you lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
Then, when God foretold the fall of the Babylonian Empire, He warned them not to trust in the astrologers who predicted events based upon the stars. No matter what these false prophets said, God would destroy that empire. And, ironically, He would use the description of the stars falling from heaven to describe the coming destruction of Babylon.
ISA 47:13 “You are wearied with your many counsels; Let now the astrologers, Those who prophesy by the stars, Those who predict by the new moons, Stand up and save you from what will come upon you.
ISA 47:14 “Behold, they have become like stubble, Fire burns them; They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame; There will be no coal to warm by, Nor a fire to sit before!
ISA 13:10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises, And the moon will not shed its light.
ISA 13:11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud, And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.
ISA 13:12 I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold, And mankind than the gold of Ophir.
ISA 13:13 Therefore I shall make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the Lord of hosts In the day of His burning anger.
ISA 13:14 And it will be that like a hunted gazelle, Or like sheep with none to gather them, They will each turn to his own people, And each one flee to his own land.
ISA 13:15 Anyone who is found will be thrust through, And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
ISA 13:16 Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces Before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished.
ISA 13:17 ¶ Behold, I am going to stir up the Medes against them, Who will not value silver or take pleasure in gold,
ISA 13:18 And their bows will mow down the young men, They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb, Nor will their eye pity children.
ISA 13:19 And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
ISA 13:20 It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.
Today, we should not sin by trusting in the stars as having any power to control our lives. The power they have was given by God so they might bring forth light and provide geographical direction for humanity. Is is God that we must look to for how we should live our lives and the only way we can find this most important information is through His Word.
By Gary Hunt
