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Divination: is a "foretelling future events, or discovering things secret by the aid of superior beings, or other than human means." It is used in Scripture of false systems of ascertaining the divine will. It has been universal in all ages, and all nations alike civilized and savage. Numerous forms of divination are mentioned, such as divination by rods, Ho 4:12 divination by arrows, Eze 21:21 divination by cups, Ge 44:5 consultation of teraphim, 1Sa 15:23; Eze 21:21; Zec 10:2 [TERAPHIM]; divination by the liver,
Eze 21:21 divination by dreams, De 13:2,3; Jud 7:13; Jer 23:32 consultation of oracles. Isa 41:21-24; 44:7 Moses forbade every species of divination, because a prying into the future clouds the mind with superstition, and because it would have been an incentive to idolatry. But God supplied his people with substitutes for divination which would have rended it superfluous, and left them in no doubt as to his will in circumstances of danger, had they continued faithful. It was only when they were unfaithful that the revelation was withdrawn. 1Sa 28:6; 2Sa 2:1; 5:23 etc. Superstition not unfrequently goes hand in hand with skepticism, and hence, amid the general infidelity prevalent throughout the Roman empire at our Lord's coming, imposture was rampant. Hence the lucrative trade of such men as Simon Magus, Ac 8:9 Bar-jesus, Ac 13:6 the slave with the spirit of Python, Ac 16:16 the vagabond jews, exorcists, Lu 11:19; Ac 19:13 and others, 2Ti 3:13; Re 19:20 etc., as well as the notorious dealers in magical books at Ephesus. Ac 19:19
See Also: Teraphim
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