This is the last Sunday of the month and the last Sunday before Halloween.
Halloween began in pagan Ireland and was brought to America as the Irish immigrated.
Several parts of the original demonic celebration are still visible today including dressing in costumes, trick or treating, jack-o-lanterns, witches, ghosts, demonic activities like Ouija, Magic, seances, tarot card and palm readings.
Satan has worked hard to insult God.
God is a holy being, and yet we have lost our understanding of what holiness means.
Simply put, holiness is separation from the impure and unholy.
Today people believe God's grace is permission to be intentionally unholy.
But today people have gone further than just being intentionally unholy, they practice intentional wickedness.
We justify our sin by calling it just a game or some type of entertainment.
The life of a Christian is supposed to shine the light of Christ into the dark world and not reflect the image of the world.
Our reading:
Deu 18:9 KJV When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.note
14 For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
Pray
If you look again at our reading you find the word, "abomination" used 3 times.
Abomination is a Hebrew word
Transliteration: tô‛êbah tô‛êbah
Phonetic: to-ay-baw'
It means:
1. a disgusting thing, abomination, abominable
A. in ritual sense (of unclean food, idols, mixed marriages)
B. in ethical sense (of wickedness etc)
Strong's Definition: Feminine active participle of H8581; properly something disgusting (morally), that is, (as noun) an abhorrence ; especially idolatry or (concretely) an idol: - abominable (custom, thing), abomination.
This term comes from another Hebrew word:
Transliteration: tâ‛ab
Phonetic: taw-ab'
BDB Definition:
1. to abhor, be abominable, do abominably
A. (Niphal) to be abhorred, be detested
a. in the ritual sense
b. in the ethical sense
B. (Piel)
a. to loathe, abhor, regard as an abomination
i. in the ritual sense
ii. in the ethical sense
b. to cause to be an abomination
C. (Hiphil) to make abominable, do abominably
a. in the ritual sense
b. in the ethical sense
When man was created, he was created in the image of God.
There are certain things we were created to enjoy and certain things that are disgusting.
When man sinned what should be holy became increasingly disgusting and those disgusting things man should hate became attractive and fun.
To the point that now we have to be warned
1Jn 2:15 KJV Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Our flesh has been corrupted to the point that the disgusting has become something to play with.
My wife and I were blessed by God to be given 8 children to raise into adulthood.
And now we have been blessed to see 24 grandchildren born to them.
Some of those grandchildren are maturing out of their diaper stage into their potty stage.
That Hebrew word for abomination reminds me of an event that happened with more than one of our children.
We sometimes left our children to play in their playpen only to come back to a disgusting mess of that child playing with their own poop.
If left to continue it would quickly become a source of disease.
The child was blissfully ignorant of how disgusting that action was, they just enjoyed how it felt like a type of gooey play dough
In fact we had to teach our children that playing with poop was a no-no, even though they did not understand why.
One day, when they were more mature, they would understand, but for now they just have to know not everything that is fun, is good.
Christians are in all kinds of maturity levels.
Some Christians are very immature and like a spiritual baby, enjoy playing with things that are disgusting to God.
God knows the final outcome of playing with disgusting things, but many Christians are having too much fun to give it up.
With that illustration in your mind let us go back to our reading
Deu 18:9 KJV When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.note
14 For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
Remember when you were a kid, and your parents did not want you to do something
And your reply was, all the other kids are doing it.
This is what God says to us.
Deu 18:9 KJV When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
There are some places God does not want His children to go.
There are some things God does not want His children to do.
God does not want us doing what the Devil's children are doing.
Deu 18:10 KJV There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
The people were taking their infant children and burning them on an altar as a gift to a false god.
Praise God we have not gone that far, but every year the people of our land are killing their unborn children for their own convenience.
In America we sell poisons called, "Plan B" or "the morning after pill" that will cause the intentional death of a unborn child and teach people that it is a quick and easy way to solve an inconvenient problem.
Sadly there are some Christians saying, why can't we do that too?
Notice the other things listed in this verse
Deu 18:10 KJV There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
Divination means to share information you have obtained from a demonic source.
An observer of times is translated into sooth sayers, or a sorcerer. These are people trying to read supernatural events by reading signs in nature, or situations, or people,
Enchanter is a person like a palm reader, tarot card reader, aura reader, bone casting, tea leaf reader
A witch is a spell caster they try influence outcomes and events by casting spells, or by potions, or by chants, or mantras, crystals, or positive energy
I was shocked to see an active Southern Baptist deacon proudly post pictures of his daughter getting married and in the wedding ceremony the groom and bride were spell casting.
I could not believe what I was seeing.
This deacon was not even trying to hide it out of shame.
In fact, he was proud of it.
Deu 18:11 KJV Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
A charmer is a person that officiates the binding and the spell casting event.
A consulted with familiar spirits are crystal ball gazers, leaders of seances, channelers, users of ouija boards, users of charms,
Wizards are people that are demonically influenced and try to gain influence and information by their demons.
A necromancer is someone that claims to converse with dead people, ghosts, spirits
These things sound fun and exciting especially around Halloween time but God says:
Deu 18:12 KJV For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.note
14 For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
Eph 4:17 KJV This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:note
19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But ye have not so learned Christ;
21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Eph 5:1 KJV Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.note
7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
END
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