I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 18-20.

    God warned the people of Israel not to imitate the detestable customs of the people who were living in the land He was about to give them. The very first of those detestable practices which He singled out was that they were not to sacrifice their children. In many ways, all of the other practices He condemned here are intrinsically tied to that. All of the practices which are condemned here are attempts to warp the world around to serve our selfish desires. They are attempts to become gods, if only in a small way. I think in some ways we gain an understanding of this by comparing a prophet sent by God to those practicing the divination practices which were forbidden. The prophet sent by God is given a message from God concerning some future event so that his (or her) audience will more closely follow God’s will (Joseph received a prophetic message from God so that he would take Mary and Jesus to Egypt). The diviner seeks seeks to determine specific information about the future so that he, or those consulting him, can use it to their advantage. There are times when the line is a bit blurry, such as when we seek God’s guidance in making a decision, but even there we should be seeking to make the decision which most clearly adheres to God’s will, not the one which advances our desires. Sometimes that is the same thing and the closer our walk with God the more that will be true. More and more today I see people adopting the detestable practices God described here, practices which led God to drive the people living in the Promised Land out.