3/8 Deuteronomy 18 - God's Word on the Occult

Our world clamors after spiritual guidance from sources like horoscopes, fortune tellers, even the occult. Today we’ll unpack Deuteronomy 18 which lays out, in clear terms, God’s view on the occult. Plus, it tells us WHO we should be listening to and HOW we can know if it is God speaking through them. Join us for another powerful lesson from the key chapters of God’s Word!

DISCUSSION AND THOUGHT QUESTIONS:

1. The opening verses of Deuteronomy 18 speak about the financial provision of the priests. Why did the Lord say that the priests were to have the Lord as their focus? What was the principle behind this instruction? How does this tie into Jacob’s prophecy regarding Levi in Genesis 49:7?

2. How was the act of child sacrifice similar to our modern abortion? Why did God condemn these practices?

3. Verses 10 & 11 prohibit various kinds of occult practices. Why was it wrong to seek guidance by these means? Will the Lord ever guide us by them? How are these practices still part of our world today? What place should they have in the life of the Christian?

4. Why were Joseph’s or Daniel’s or any true prophet’s prophecies different from divinization?

5. When Saul went to the Witch of Endor in 1st Samuel 28, what happened soon afterwards? How was that a fulfillment of the warning here in verse 12?

6. Verse 14 says that the nations listen to people who practice these kinds of things. Why do people seek guidance by these means? How does this show a lack of fellowship with the true God?

7. Why is there no shortcut to learning to walk with God and follow His will? What did the podcast suggest goes into knowing God’s will for our life?

8. In verses 18 & 19, what will happen to those people who do not listen to God’s true prophets?

9. According to verses 20-22, how can we determine if a person is a true prophet? How can we determine who is a false prophet?

10. According to Matthew 24:11, what will false prophets do more of in the end times? Why? How will this cause confusion in the world? According to Matthew 24:23, should we believe them?

11. The podcast ended by encouraging Christians to not try to find God’s will by looking at omens. What should we do instead?

The Key Chapters Bible Podcast is a daily, 15ish minute podcast that goes over the key chapters of the Bible, one per day, explaining how it fits into the overall message of God and how it relates to our lives now. Jump in today or start back in Genesis 1!

To see our dedicated podcast website with access to all our episodes and other resources, visit us at: www.keychapters.org.

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Also for regularly being awarded "Podcast of the Day" from PlayerFM.

Special thanks to Joseph McDade for providing our theme music.