ASTROLOGY

Astrology is another doctrine that is widely accepted in the world. People often say that an individual's behavior and opportunities are determined by the month in which he was born - by the position of the stars at the time of one's birth. God says differently:

[Dt 4:19]:

"And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars - all the heavenly array - do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven [for the regulation of seasons - not worship, etc] ."

Isaiah 47:12-15

Here God was particularly judging the Babylonians who were strongly involved in this.

(v. 12) "Keep on, then, with your magic spells and with your many sorceries, which you have labored at since childhood. Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror.

(v. 13) All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you.

(v. 14) Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame. Here are no coals to warm anyone; here is no fire to sit by.

(v. 15) That is all they can do for you-- these you have labored with and trafficked with since childhood. Each of them goes on in his error; there is not one that can save you."

God addresses Babylon about the sins they are committing, including the seeking of guidance from astrologers. God is saying here that they are going to be so consumed by the fire that they won't even be worth a coal to warm over. They are going to go up fast in smoke. That's God's attitude toward astrology, star gazing, monthly predictions. That's fairly clear! No Christian has any business in any sense, under any circumstance fooling around with that. It simply opens your mind to demonic suggestions. And if you listen to that suggestion, it isn't that the horoscopes will tell you what you're like, they will simply make you into what they want you to be. People who listen to astrologists begin to pattern their life after what he/she says and, literally, they become transformed into their horoscope.

Deuteronomy 17:2-5 in the Old Testament says that those who worshipped the sun, moon, or stars were to be stoned.

Deuteronomy 17:2-5 says, "If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of His covenant, and contrary to my command has worshipped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars of the sky, and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, take the man or woman who has done this evil to your city gate and stone that person to death."

If Jean Dixon had been alive in the time of Israel, they would have stoned her to death! That's how strong the word of God speaks against anything connected with the worship of or seeking to know the revelation of some divine mind through the sun, the moon, or the stars of heaven! It was an offense that was detestable to God. And I would hasten to add that anything that used to be detestable to God is still detestable to God. Whatever was detestable to His character is still detestable to His character because His character has not changed one bit! And that's a very clear word.

Leviticus 20:6 says God will separate himself from those who go after mediums and familiar spirits.

Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says that practicing witchcraft, sorcery, soothsaying, interpreting omens, making spells, and being a medium or spiritist, are all terrible sins to God.

In Daniel 1:20 it says, "In all matters of wisdom and understanding, the king of Babylon inquired of them and found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers in his whole kingdom."

When he consulted God's people he found them TEN times better, and that's an understatement. Chapter 2 talks more about the astrologers and the sorcerers and shows that they were inadequate, they were in error, they were helpless, and they were hopeless. So, no Christian is to have anything to do with them at any time at all! Don't even fool with that. Don't even play around with it. It just opens up an avenue for Satan to influence you.

Daniel 2:27-28 talks of how God kept King Nebuchadnezzar's dream and its interpretation secret from the astrologers, magicians or dream interpreters, and soothsayers. However, he revealed it to his prophet Daniel.

There are others Scriptures, such as in Acts 7:41-43 where it mentions the tabernacle of Molech and the star of their god, Rephan. This is the worship of Saturn and it is again mentioning the worship of the stars. So this is something that is completely and totally forbidden in the Word of God. And the reason is the stars can't tell your future, they can't tell your present, NO WAY! The revelation of God alone is involved in telling the truth. That's just a demonic way to capture the fancy of people so the demons can persuade them toward a certain behavior.

Acts 16:16-18 talks of a girl who was possessed by an evil spirit that enabled her to be a fortune teller. Paul commanded the evil spirit to come out of her in the name or authority of Jesus, and the spirit left her:

Deuteronomy 18:9-11: "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..."

2 Chronicles 33:5-7: "He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced sorcery, divination and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger."

Throughout the entire Bible God allows only His prophets to accurately interpret any kind of "signs". It is important to realize that, when the Bible talks about signs in the stars, heavens, or whatever, they're usually literal signs:

Luke 21:24-26 says, "There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.

Yes, there will be many "signs" in the heavens in the end-times: asteroids crashing to earth and causing certain upheaval, weird weather patterns, stars "blotted out" probably as a result of nuclear bombs, etc. But, make no mistake, these signs have nothing whatsoever to do with astrology. God does not mince His words as to how He feels when it comes to man-made hoodoo-voodoo and hocus pocus, so how can anyone possibly misinterpret what He said?

On the other hand, God says one's destiny is closely tied to what God ways in His Word:

For example, an individual's eternal destiny depends NOT on when he was physically born but on whether he has experienced at some time during his physical life a spiritual birth. This spiritual birth can occur at any time and it is not tied into the time when one is physically born:

[Jn 3:5-6]:

(v. 5) "Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water, and Spirit."

["born of water and Spirit" = 'gennEthE ex hudatos kai pneumatos' = born out of water - water being here a symbol referring to the Holy Spirit, (Ez 36:24-32), and born out of the spiritual realm.

(v. 6) Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

[So it is a spiritual birth which is accomplished by God the Holy Spirit in the spiritual realm which determines ones eternal destiny and not when one is physically born or some power contained in the stars. And that spiritual 'rebirth' is ACCOMPLISHED and COMPLETED at the moment an individual expresses his faith alone in Christ alone]:

[Jn 3:14-16]:

(v. 14) "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert,.........

[so that men who were bitten by deadly poisonous snakes could look up at the bronze snake on the pole believing they would live and then they indeed would survive because of their belief, Num 21:6-9]

(v. 14 cont.) "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so [in the same way of requiring only faith] the Son of Man must be lifted up,

(v. 15) that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.

(v. 16) For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

And it is God Who determines the destiny of all men - not some kind of power relative to the stars and ones birth sign:

[Pr 16:9]:

"In his heart a man plans his course,

but the Lord determines his steps."

[Pr 20:24]:

"A man's steps are directed by the Lord."

[Jer 10:23]:

"I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not his own;

it is not for man to direct his steps.

[God is completely and exclusively sovereign over the destiny of all men even to the extent that before the creation of the universe even, God determined the specific works which each individual was to do]:

[Eph 2:10]:

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

[Ps 139:16]:

"Your [God's] eyes saw my unformed body,

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book before one of them came to be."

A great window of opportunity occurs when an unbeliever asks what sign one is born under. There are many creative and at the same time Biblically correct answers to this question. A believer might want to start out with something like, 'I missed being born under a sign.' And then follow up if an explanation seems to be in order with something on the order of, 'God determined my destiny when I trusted in His Son for eternal life.'