Divination

Divination

Divination is “foretelling future events, or discovering things secret by the aid of superior beings, or other than human means”. It is used, in Scripture, of false systems of ascertaining the divine will. It has been universal in all ages, and all nations alike, both civilized and savage.

Numerous forms of divination are mentioned, such as
divination by rods, Hos_4:12,
divination by arrows, Eze_21:21,
divination by cups, Gen_44:5,
consultation of teraphim (images), 1Sa_15:23; Eze_21:21; Zec_10:2,
divination by the liver, Eze_21:21,
divination by dreams, Deu_13:2-3; Jdg_7:13; Jer_23:32, and
consultation of oracles. Isa_41:21-24; Isa_44:7.

Moses forbade every species of divination, because, a prying into the future, clouds the mind with superstition, and because, it would have been an incentive to idolatry. But God supplied his people with substitutes for divination which would have rendered it superfluous, and left them in no doubt as to his will in circumstances of danger, had they continued faithful. It was only when they were unfaithful that the revelation was withdrawn.

Smiths Bible Dictionary