HoHum:
Francis MacNutt quotes Walter Wink in his book “Deliverance from Evil Spirits" writes: "...if you want to bring all talk to a halt in shocked embarrassment, every eye riveted on you, try mentioning angels, or demons or the devil. You will quickly be appraised for signs of pathological violence and then quietly shunned. Angels, spirits, principalities, gods, Satan – these along with other supernatural realities, are the unmentionables of our culture."
WBTU:
Exegesis of Isaiah 48:1-15
Vs. 1-2
These verses are the most confrontational against the gods of the nations. But the Lord here is not talking to the heathen nations, He is talking directly to the Israelites. They should know better than to worship heathen gods and idols. After the exile, they did not.
Their outward expressions of faith are hollow and untruthful. The Lord Almighty can neither be deceived by nor tolerate such hypocrisy.
Vs. 4, 8- These verses tell us in what ways the Israelites are full of hypocrisy.
Stubborn or stiff necked: “Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.” Deuteronomy 9:6, NIV.
Rebel: ““Far be it from us to rebel against the LORD and turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifices, other than the altar of the LORD our God that stands before his tabernacle.”” Joshua 22:29, NIV.
Vs. 5-7
God makes his predictions so precisely so that when the events occur, it would be impossible to say that some idol god performed the actions.
In Vs. 6 the prophet turns to the future. He will predict new things that have not been heard before. God can do new things, something the idols cannot do. He is the Creator and can therefore say and do things that have never happened before. He is doing this so precisely so that no one can “defame” him by comparing Him to an idol and so that no idol may share his “glory” - Vs. 11
Vs. 12- 15
These verses sharpen God’s appeal to his people. Three times they are commanded to listen. Also these verses recap why the people should listen
God is the sole Creator (Vs. 12-13) before everything and after everything.
He is the Lord of history (Vs. 14-15). Just as he summons the stars of the heavens and they obey (vs. 13), so he can also summon a Persian king, who will do what God has purposed all along (Vs. 14).
No idol can predict such a thing in advance as God has because they are captive to the cycles of time and chance. They can only do what they have always done.
This whole case is built upon the idea that God is the only one who can accurately predict the future. However, is God the only one who can predict the future?
Jeane Dixon made hundreds of predictions in the 1950s, ’60s and ‘70s. Dixon was most famous for foreseeing the assassination of John F. Kennedy — in 1956 she said a Democrat would win the 1960 election and die in office.
The Amazing Criswell, a pop-culture fixture of the 1960s, appeared on The Jack Paar Program in March of 1963, and predicted that tragedy would strike President Kennedy in November.
Most disturbing is the account of Edgar Cayce. Almost every day, several times a day, for more than forty years, Cayce would induce himself into an altered out-of-body state of consciousness and reveal profound information on various subjects. But it was the information that Cayce revealed about the future for which he is probably most known.
Cayce's Visions of the Future That Already Have Come True
Foresaw the Stock Market Crash and Great Depression
Foresaw the rise and fall of Adolf Hitler.
Foresaw both the beginning and the end of World War II.
Foresaw the deaths of two presidents of the US in office, not giving their names but indicating the proper time frame for them. FDR and JFK
Foresaw the collapse of Soviet Union and communism.
Foresaw the rise of major technological industries- 10 to 30 years in while ideas were still in their novelty stage, Cayce advised his clients to focus on all aspects of radio, telegraphy, telephones, communications and electronics industries. A man named David Kahn made millions of dollars with this information.
On January 1, 1945, came his most disturbing prediction. Cayce announced that he would be buried in four more days. This prediction proved to be true.
How do we explain this? Must understand that all of these people predicted a lot of things that did not come to be. Experts on Nostradamus say (if we can interpret his writings properly) his predictions are less than 10% accurate. 90% of the time he and others like him are not accurate. How do we explain the 10% accuracy of things that are difficult to predict?
In the Bible we are warned not to get involved with witchcraft, sorcery or divination. “Let no-one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,” Deuteronomy 18:10, NIV. Why? Behind this are demons and God does not want us to get involved with demons.
Worst case is King Saul. He wanted to get a prediction about the future so we went to a witch. “Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so that I may go and enquire of her.” This is what Saul did. The medium or witch accurately predicted two things: that King Saul was the one before her and she brought up out of the ground Samuel who predicted that “The LORD will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me.” 1 Samuel 28:19, NIV. This is exactly what happened.
Now whether this Samuel was the real one or not, we are seriously warned not to do this.
Kenneth Boa- “God had said that those practicing divination (foretelling the future) and witchcraft were "detestable" and the same applies today even to such "harmless" things as reading your horoscope.” Does the same thing apply to the fortune cookie at the Chinese restaurant? Maybe a little much but we need to take warning. This stuff is dangerous.
Thesis: How do demons know the future?
For instances:
Demons do have a much greater knowledge of the past and present than we do
Their beginning was before ours and they have been at work on this earth since the Fall.
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44, NIV.
We know that Satan was there at the first sin. From that point until now at work in the world. Gathering a lot of information on us. “Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming through the earth and going to and fro in it.”” Job 1:7, NIV.
On this knowledge and experience, it is possible for them to make projections about the future that are likely to be much more accurate than human predictions. “Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.” Acts 16:16, NIV.
But even this knowledge is fallible. Even though some of their predictions may be accurate, more often than not they are in error.
Remember the test of a true prophet: “You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?” If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.” Deuteronomy 18:21, 22, NIV.
Demons know what they plan to do in the future so they can announce this
They can announce something that they plan to do and then cause it to happen.
Demons and the Kingdom of Satan have great power. “to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God’” Acts 26:18, NIV. Power there.
Satan and His Kingdom do not have unlimited power, they cannot be everywhere at once, and they do not know everything. They are created, limited beings.
God is all-powerful, everywhere present, and all-knowing.
Evidently Satan and His Kingdom did not have a clear understanding of Jesus Christ and His mission of the cross. “No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” 1 Corinthians 2:7, 8, NIV.
God may permit demons to glimpse the future for God own purposes.
Read Deuteronomy 13:1-4. Strange but not foreign to the Bible.
This will happen at the end of the age. “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect--if that were possible.” Mark 13:22, NIV.
Conclude with Acts 19:13-20
