Deuteronomy 18:10
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, 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 verse forbids sacrificing sons and daughters by making them pass through the fire to Moloch as part of idolatrous worship. It forbids all dealings with evil spirits and all attempts to gain supernatural knowledge or power apart from God, including divination, observing of times, enchanting, witchcraft, sorcery, and seeking unto wizards and those with familiar spirits. Under the Mosaic law violation by sorcery, witchcraft, necromancy and dealing with familiar spirits was punishable by death, as seen when apostate Jews secretly practised sorcery and when Saul in knowing rebellion resorted to the medium at Endor and came under Satan's control. Spiritualism is a revival of that condemned witchcraft in a new disguise, appearing today in spirit mediums, seances, clairvoyants and fortune-tellers and in claims that the dead return to speak with the living, worked by Satan and fallen angels appearing as messengers from the spirit world to mislead minds away from Scripture and God. Even to investigate Spiritualism from simple curiosity ventures on forbidden and dangerous ground and brings a person into the deceiver's power, so the only safety is in trusting implicitly and following faithfully the instruction of the word of God.
Child Sacrifice and Setting
There shall not be found among God's people any who sacrifice to Moloch by making a son or daughter pass through the fire as part of idolatrous worship. The fire-passing forbidden here was an Egyptian idolatrous ordeal known while Israel was in bondage surrounded by idolatry. With pomp and ceremony its worshippers erected altars to their gods and required even their own children to leap over the burning altar through the fire before an idol.
If the child passed through without being burned, it was treated as proof that the god accepted the offering and favored that person. Such a one was then loaded with benefits and greatly esteemed, and was never allowed to be punished however great his crimes. If the one leaping was burned, it was taken as proof the gods were angry and could be appeased only by that victim's life, so he was offered up as a sacrifice upon the idol altar.
This prohibition belongs to statutes and judgments that are wise, understanding, righteous and compassionate, given by a God who is nigh to Israel and judges without partiality. Its purpose was to deliver and keep Israel from the abominations and destructive customs that wrought havoc in the surrounding idolatrous nations. Some Israelites degraded themselves to adopt this cruel heathen custom, though not to the full length of the heathen. God showed His displeasure and deprived them of their children by causing the fire to consume them in the act of passing through it.
Under Israel's divine theocracy the command forbids having dealings of any kind with evil spirits. It forbids adopting the divinations and superstitious practices of other nations, including the Philistines. Israel was not to seek guidance from diviners or soothsayers, because God would make His will known through His appointed prophets.
Violation of the ban on sorcery, witchcraft, necromancy and dealing with familiar spirits was punishable by death under the Mosaic law, which commanded that wizards and those with familiar spirits be put to death. The ban was violated when apostate Jews secretly practised sorcery. It was violated when Saul in desperation resorted to the medium at Endor, an act of knowing rebellion against a fully known prohibition that placed him under Satan's control.
The instruction given to ancient Israel remains profitable today, calling God's people to sanctify themselves and be holy and to keep His statutes, for the Lord sanctifies them.
Forbidden Occultism Today
The verse forbids divination, witchcraft, sorcery, and seeking unto wizards, defiling oneself by communion with those who have familiar spirits, including every attempt to gain forbidden knowledge or supernatural knowledge or power apart from God. It expressly forbids necromancy and inquiring of a woman that hath a familiar spirit, condemning that oracle as an abomination and an unholy art. Spiritualism is a revival of the witchcraft condemned in the verse, presented in a new disguise and in a different form, and changing the form does not change the deception.
Its warning applies to modern spirit mediums, seances, clairvoyants and fortune-tellers as new forms of the heathen oracles and sorcery of earlier times, and to the mysticism of Christian Science, Theosophy and other Oriental religions, which can lead people away from God's word and Spirit. Seeking light, hidden knowledge, or guidance from the dead through mediums is the same kind of forbidden practice, and claims that the dead return from their graves, appear to the living, and speak with them are Spiritualism and heathen superstition. The doctrine of natural immortality prepared the way for modern Spiritualism by teaching that the dead are conscious in the presence of God and holy angels with knowledge far greater than they had on earth, so that those who believe in consciousness in death have no ground to reject what comes as divine light from glorified spirits.
What is regarded as a sacred channel for enlightening and instructing the living is Satan working to accomplish his purposes, with fallen angels doing his bidding and appearing as messengers from the spirit world, professing to bring the living into communication with the dead while exercising a bewitching influence upon their minds. Their claims and disclosures mislead people away from Scripture and God, and their supposed healing power is of Satanic influence. The verse forbids investigating Spiritualism even from simple curiosity, without real faith in it and without any intent to become a medium, since such investigation ventures on forbidden and dangerous ground. It brings a person fast into the toils of the deceiver and into his power as his most abject slave, with nothing able to deliver but the power of God, so the only safety is in trusting implicitly and following faithfully the instruction of the word of God as the only chart marking the narrow path that shuns the pitfalls of destruction.