Tag Archives: Astrology

Who Do You Trust?

Posted on by under Christian Living, Doctrine

3254678299_5c69afdc60_o    According to horoscope.com for a certain day, my outlook says, “A close friend or your partner could propose an impromptu trip and you might decide to go. You’re restless for adventure. . .” Many people may read that and become excited and think that they are going on a grand adventure! However, do the stars actually know anything about my destiny for today?

     The Bible tells us much about in whom and/or where we should place our trust, and the bodies of the cosmos are clearly not the answer. In the kingdom of Judah the kings who were good and pleased God placed their trust in Him. Manasseh was not one of these kings. Scripture tells us that Manasseh did evil in the sight of the Lord, much like the surrounding nations that the Lord removed from Palestine (2 Chron. 33:2). He built altars to other gods, he made idols, he worshiped the host of heaven (the moon, sun, starts, etc.), he practiced soothsaying and witchcraft, and he consulted with mediums and astrologers (2 Chron. 33:3, 5-6).

     Manasseh’s poor example led others astray in Israel, so that they did “more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel” (2 Chron. 33:9b). Because Manasseh trusted in everything imaginable besides God, and because Manasseh led the nation of Israel astray in so doing, God was going to punish the kingdom of Judah. Due to God’s wrath, they were going to have to suffer in Babylonian captivity for a period of 70 years. The transgressions that were committed under Manasseh made this a certainty, so that even when a good king like Josiah came along, the fate of Israel was sealed (Zeph. 1:2-6). God was going to wipe out “those who worship the host of heaven” from Israel (Zeph. 1:5a). Their trust in the stars was misplaced. They should have trusted in the Lord.

     Where and in whom are we placing our trust? Is it in our daily horoscope, to see what the stars have in store for us? Or do we place our trust in the Almighty God? Having our trust placed firmly in God is the only way that man can be pleasing to Him (Psalm 4:5; 9:10; 18:30; Prov. 3:5). There is no need for us to ‘hedge our bet’ by trying to trust God, but also consulting mediums, soothsayers, and astrologers. Trusting in the cosmos caused Israel much harm, caused God much grief, and caused God to be angry with them. We certainly don’t want God to be angry with us, regardless of what the stars may say.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Wise Men

Posted on by under Article

CrystalBall_thumb      Perhaps you have heard of or seen a magician, who as part of their act reads the mind of a member of the audience.  If so, you know how impressive this seems on the surface.  Just how is it that a man can read the thoughts of another human being?  Later, when you find that there is some sort of trick or gimmick to explain the ‘magic,’ you realize that man just does not have the ability to read minds.  This, however, is not a new discovery.

     In the second chapter of the book of Daniel, we have recorded for us that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had a most troubling dream.  He called for all of his wise men to come to him and tell him what the dream was and what it meant.  The wise men of Babylon were perplexed.  Without any sort of clues, or without Nebuchadnezzar telling them about the dream, there was no way for them to determine what the dream even was, not to mention what it might have meant.  They correctly stated that, “There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean.  It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh” (Daniel 2:10b-11 NKJV).  They understood that the power to know what was in the mind of a man was not something that another man had the ability to discern.

     This same truth holds today as well.  We are told in the New Testament, “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11).  Man cannot read the thoughts of another man.  That is what makes Daniel’s description and interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream that much more impressive.  Daniel was only able to tell the king of his dream and what it meant, because God made that information known to Daniel in the first place (Daniel 2:19-23).

     This event should prove to us that there is a God who knows all things.  Only such a God could be able to tell Nebuchadnezzar through His servant Daniel the details of his dream.  Likewise, there are things about God Himself that man can only know because God has revealed those things to us.  It is in God’s word, the Holy Bible that we can find out about who God is and what He is like.  Let us not neglect the great volume of information that we have at our fingertips about our God and about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.