As this topic ir rather risque, risk of making me wearing yet another hat of apostasy and being labelled as an occult while in truth, I am not, or technically no longer am.
.....
But, to be honest, what are they? Aren't they supposed to be the same thing, same meaning, different choice of wordings?
Well in short, they are not.
What I'm talking here about is not them horoscopes, ouiji, spirit beckoning, or zodiacs and stuffs. They are not what I'm talking about.
But for a start let me open this topic with a simple laying of a foundation as our common ground.
I believe that what makes a human as human, is the components that built them physically and the inner quality that only a human possess, which cannot be found from another being on earth.
The common argument used for explaining this qualities is a thinking mind, and a soul.
Some philosopher combined thinking mind with soul, while some didn't.
For simplicity sake, a human is consisted by this 3 components. A physical body, a mind, and a soul.
Thats the aim and center for my explaining this topic about, very well thank you... so I'm going to discuss something around this components quality, and of what made it capable of producing a sort of 'fore-knowledge'. Yes, that'll be the word I'm using for paraphrasing this precognitive things.
Our body is a lump of cells of accumulations based on all the food we consumed in whole of our life.
A body, is what we see and perceived with naked eyes, and we recognize each other based on what we see. And that's about it, if we are discussing about biological life, then it's another topic all together that I'm not aiming to discuss here despite I might be able to present you with a thick paperwork describing and arguing all about it if you may. What do you expect from a nerd who delved years on philosophies and theological argumentation? Anyway...
Anyone can argue about this, that a mind is complex. And some might argue that animals also had mind.
But I'm not gonna talk about it, maybe not in this life.
But mind is indeed completely complex. We feels sensation through the five senses in our body and we translate the information inside our brain and based upon it, the arousal those sense brought to our brain and interpretation the brain made, will transformed into feelings, and because we feels, we think.
The mind, is tasked to multitask on everything in our live that made us 'us'.
The mind is responsible to build and store memories, knowledge, regulates the emotion and produce our behaviour. A mind is everything to a human so much so if the mind is gone, we are left with a vegetative lump of what used to be us.
The mind is the collection of data and storages of memories that build us as us. It's an accumulation of all the information unique to our brain's interpretation.
We are the accumulation of what we learn in the span of this life.
Some may argue me about it that this isn't what their textbook says about blabla, for now let's do this for simplicity sake. Not everyone is doctorate in philosophy, anthropology, or psychology here. Some are chemist, some are chefs some are mechanics. So let's not believe every the books said. What is real is what you see and feels before you. That is the basis of all arguments in science, albeit this too prone for subjectivities. But if we go honestly eager to try making comparison and experiments repeatedly with no prejudice whatsoever, then a non-bias reasoning might be there to greets our conclusion.
But not everyone is me, and not anyone going to abandon their initial beliefs just to proof this belief is wrong and his is right, because they must had some sorts of inclination and prejudices about what beliefs they're going to experiment with.
And no sane Christian will practice divinatory magic just to proof my theory is wrong.
But since I am already in the know before my repentance to Christianity, I may provide you with some kind of better ground for reasoning to give you a better in-depth of knowledge, at least, better than most average Christians. I promise despite this opinion is solely on my own reasonings and based upon my own findings, they might still provide an un-biased perspective that some traditional Christians might missed normally.
But hey, I'm not trying to establish a claim that I know better, but it's just during my time, I am not a Christian by birth, so I had some leeway of another weighing perspective beside Christianity alone, so I tend to not be fanatical and blindly believe all, but I for a fact, did try my best to test and weight the things they taught me before accepting them as my ideology.
I'm just saying even Christian tend to give a stubborn cold-shoulder to everything they didn't know and it's easier to blame rather than to seek out for truth.
Why am I discussing this?
Because Christians is and are, too, relied on some sort of divine message, or rather, an insight, which we got through our prayer.
Some, abuse what those things about to their benefits, some misinterpret whatever that is and believe that is a divine message, whilst it isn't.
Some, perhaps a mother with child struggling with poverty.
Some, perhaps is a pastor, and preached what he believed is a revelation from God, while it's not.
Some even dare enough to say, this is a prophecy and this kind of turbulence is such and such, so do this and that.
Scary? Yes indeed.
But no school in Christianity theological body, that will teach you how to translate and produce an oracle or revelation or prophecy.
So to each is their own. And that's what scary about subjectivity.
And Christianity is so quick to point finger and label everything as apostasy rather than to lower their ear and listen first without prejudice before really going to give their final verdict to believe or to reject.
This isn't a holy inquisition, so relax. And this isn't a school of witchcraft, lower your pitchfork please, and somebody, douse that torch with water, it's scorching my eyebrows, please...
Where was I?
Ah right.
A human have mind. And not all mind think the same, hence we are unique to ourselves and we are what we called an individual because we are not all the same in mind.
So, a soul is what bring us to the preface.
If, we are only a brain and a body, then we are not that different from the dog barking at fluttering leaves in the backyard, or some pig snorting it's grub and swimming in a puddle of mud.
But because we humans, contain, or host an aspect we called as a soul, that is what made us capable of having this inner dialogue. We can reason, and argue, within our mind, with ourselves.
It is the capacity of God. Because we know, that the Bible tells us, when God created man, He breathed into his nostrils, and hence giving him life.
This animation of our physical and biological reaction we called as life, is possible because of a soul.
Which showcase itself even more in the inner quality of self-reasoning.
We learn from our mistakes, unlike an animal that return to their habitual tendencies. That is what a soul is all about.
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Now, because a human, contains a soul. This soul is not god, but it is showing some degree of godly qualities.
We can think, we can reason, we can argue, we can create things, this mind is driven because the soul is soo good that it's able to invent things, conceptualise a theory and establish a train of reasonings to support the theory.
A soul possessed some trait of godly qualities. We can self-counsel and self-analyse many thing.
Just like the God from Bible discuss with Himself about many things. One example is during the angels visitation to Abraham, where God discussed among Himself wether to hide about Sodom and Gomorrah judgement from Abraham or not.
Even the very beginning of Bible also described about this, when God counsel among Himself and said "Let us create this and that, Let us create man according to Our image. Etc."
Because we are alive from the breathe of God, we possess a spirit, a soul so to say I, which also shows the same qualities that God has because, we are created, in His image.
See what I mean here?
This soul is the culprit of what make us capable of having some sort of 'fore-knowledge'
And not all is the universal truth.
Now, not all believe in Jesus, to be honest and fair with you, yet all people claim they can some sort of producing "foreknowledge"
Even several years back, the world claimed that a certain octopus can give a prediction for the winning team in football league.
It's such a vague and vast territory, too uncharted for Christians, while in truth we are the only one who posses the genuine capacity and qualities for receiving an oracle, since the One True God is within us.
I'm not saying that they are wrong, we are right, nor the opposite.
Nor am I claiming precognition is exclusive to Jesus alone and the rest is false. That may be in some certain degree of cases, but not everything is the same.
So before we fight and you pulled my hair, let's establish a technical terminologies.
First, is an oracle.
Oracle, without trying to be so technical and quoting some sorts of objective perspective.
Let me simplify it as such:
Oracle is message. A person claim to receive something from another realm, which supposedly assumed to be higher plane than ours. And those authors of message gives this message as either a sign, a warning or gifts for the benefit of either themselves or many other humans.
Simple right? I'm not blowing smokes nor pulling rabbit from any hat.
Until that point, let's just accept that for simplicity sake. I'm not making school, once again.
Then,
Prophecy, is, despite claimed by another religion nowadays, but for justice to it's terminology, I will say it despite the controversy inducing aspect.
Is limited to prophets, and real prophet, only came from Israeli by birth, not by spirit, and no, not even the third biggest religion. So be it, like it or not.
Navi (נָבִיא), is the exclusive coined term only for Jewish community.
You cannot rip the word navi from Israeli tribes, and hence, a prophet, or prophecy is exclusive from and for Israeli people alone.
Not even that religion arising in 6th century that now wreak havoc everywhere in this modern age. That's just long overdue politics heresy thank you.
A prophecy, came from God, or elohims in some other pagan beliefs. So in the Bible we read sometime a prophet of God argues with prophet of Baal. Baal is an elohim, smaller god that bigger possibilities is a demon pretending to be a god, hence, false god.
Now, they both received their prophecy likewise, but in the end of story, we know which one is the truth, and which is false.
Despite we do acknowledge that the Bible also sourced out from Jewish scriptures, hence there might be room for subjectivities, but we can set aside the suspicion by cross comparing thousands of years of scripture literatures authoring. Not one person write the whole scriptures unlike that other one. Hence, many authors prone to had conflicted ideas. But, if despite the message is different way and perhaps the approach were different, the point is still the same, the essence is still under one big picture. Hence, supporting it's innerancy, un-error possibilities, and proven the subjective fallacy unproven.
So, let's move onward.
We got prophecy, we cover oracle, now divination.
Despite its name containing divine, and close linking to some sort of divinities.
Divination is not exoteric, it's not something coming from some supreme beings, nope.
Divination, is an art developed based on religious text, or natural phenomenons to built a sort of prediction.
So, to be very honest with you, a divination is only a crude statistical data prediction in its crudest form, which heavily doused with tribal religion beliefs, and forced to be linked with deities for some sort of guarantee.
Why do i say this?
Am I being superlatives and absurd?
I am not.
I do, can honestly claim my expertise in this topic, as I did in fact learn more than one or two discipline in the divinatory art.
I am quite good in Tarot, I know I-Ching, the go to for every taoism divination textbook (I-ching, translate as: the book of change, it's explaining the world changes and heaven interactions with the world, by utilising the baqua, eight cardinal diagrams of heaven and earth, etc. It's a book that will make you nosebleed just to memorize it, and some stomachache to digest it, and multiple migraines for the sake of understanding it).
I also know some pre-religion way of divination, some were human, some inhuman, like the rain summoning divination in ancient Korea, where they put a small child inside a earthen vessel, and sealed the container, consecrated it for the dragon king in the east, etc. And let the poor child died of hunger and suffocation. And used that as base of divination of when the rain will come.
Human sure is scary in many ways.
That's why witchcraft is a sin.
Not to mention, ancient Mesopotamian also did the similar kind of goresome, like the Dagon worship sacrifice.
Dagon is a bull headed elohim worshiped by the Canaanite as their chief deity.
A worship to dagon is usually involves with child sacrifice.
Most dagon statues were made like dagon is standing with either arm crossed or the arms were spreaded forward.
Dagon statue serve as a vurnace and fire will be lit on the lower part, and when the rituals done, the parents will placed their child, alive, on dagon's arm. And watch until their child died by fire.
You think I'm joking? But, I'm sorry that's I'm not. That is how sinful a witchcraft and what a scary thing a paganism is.
Oh no, today's paganism isn't like that anymore. The Hinduism for example, blablablah.
Not technically so.
Do you know what? In Hinduism is one sect of Shiva worshippers, the Bhaivaran. They worship the aspect of Shiva as the destructor of life. And there is one practice that you never will realise that it's still here in this modern age. The Aghori, is a group of Shiva monastic who still practice Bhaivaran theology.
They ate corpse flesh for short.
You can find their iconic unkempt features if you think about the ascetic of India. That nakes old men with white chalky face, and some braided rastafarian style hair.
Tell you what, that is not chalk on their face, it's a leftover cremation ashes, meaning, human bone powder.
The believe by doing that practice, they are keeping themselves close to death, and because destruction of life is death, and by doing that practice, they are getting closer to Shiva by doing such.
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Divination, is fully man-made. That is for sure.
Let's not discuss some scary stories.
The point is, divination is a combination of techniques, statistics, imagery, trance inducing, and spiritualities, and lastly but most important, deductions.
Hence, many divination is rarher vague, and too general.
Hence, today's astrology horoscope you find in some teens magazine, or those chinese zodiacs. Were divination, made with statistics, mnemonics, and deduction.
They are not necessarily occult, but because rhe practicioner often involves some sort or rituals and maybe, substances in producing the divinatory guidance. It's not a good one either.
But you will get very surprised if I tell you even some pastors used this divination technique using predictions and deductions to produce a some sort of divine message.
Why do I say that?
Well, working for 9 years in a stock brokerage has teach me how to predict the economy using macros aspect to predict the flow of world current. That, involved wars middle-east, or even the pandemic to predict the next economic development even to 2027 or even more.
Now, pastors nowadays are modern pastors. They to sometimes invest in stocks and such.
They used the trend in the world, to also build their analysis and this decuction is what they will preach as some divine messages.
That's divination, just be honest with it and be done with it. No need to sell Jesus name cheap to convince your congregation.
I may not be a clergyman fully standing in the world ministry, but at the very least I am not completely ignorant. More than over, divinatory, oracle and this kind of thing is my expertise.
Hence, any smallest hint of movements is fully noticed by me. So I know, really know, like driving in my backyard blindfolded, that is how familiar I was and am with this kind of tricks.
I'm not overly criticizing that divinatory way is completely miss the mark.
You see, even Bible verse quotes as such: dice being thrown and the results is God's sovereign. (Proverbs 16:33). A lot is cast, and it's still God disposed the results.
Even ancient Jews, the priest also had a backup plan if God didn't give any oracle or prophecy. Urim and Tummim, which arguably and speculated to be a sort of two stoned which will answer a yes or no question.
Then, was it occult? It's not really an occult act, since it was written in Leviticus properly, and was directly given as instructions to the priest by God.
It's a deduction based of lot casting sort of way of asking God, during the time of silence, meaning that probably in that age there is no prophet or God choose not to send prophecy to any available prophets.
So you can imagine this make up scenario.
Imagine, if it's about a drought, or perhaps about a siege, but if there is no prophecy came. It is the duty of head-priest to asked before God what His decisions will be.
Imagine this Urim and Tummim, maube this stones shined in a yes or no question, or maybe it was thrown in a sort of lot cast way, and which faced up is the yes or not.
And the priest will asked several questions that deduce the meaning of God.
This above is my full speculations okay, they are built on similar practice back in that time period, they can be fully missed the true practice. So who know for sure.
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Now, let us return to my purpose of bringing this topic.
I'm a Christian, and I lived my life by depending on God for favor and solely depend on His mercy and sovereign wills. I do everything as if it's for God, and in every individual circumstances I prayed to ask God for help, and I raise from my prayers to do something about those circumstances. And if they succeed to a good fruition, I acknowledged them to be the workings of God.
Does that cover all Christian lives on general?
But there is this grey aspect, an unknown territory. Where some time, not always, but we cannot despise them as nonexistent, there is this possibility for a direct intervention, which we believe firmly is God giving mesage, some sorts of signals, to directly lead us to what to choose, where to go, what to do. This so called insight, is divine, it is what they so abused and it is hard to differentiate nowadays.
And this very aspect is what make an honest pastor, blinded so much so, and lead their congregation toward the unknown, far away from God's true aim. That is not Christ exalting situation, yet the pastor believe so much that it is God's hand that is leading him/her. And they are in turn sinned toward God for leading His people astray.
But the person in question will be to quick to anger and not seldom, turn to tackle the person trying to counsel and maybe warn them of this missteps. And then, your typical missuse of governance and some abuse of authority story will get in to play.
I watched it with my eyes, here and there, despite its not involving me. But that, is not an imaginary story. During my seminary years I get to know some story told by the person involved, their victims mostly, and some pastors turned to be a victim because their congregation and elders turned their back from him because of the or that.
That is happening already, and they are not new.
I'm leaving astray for a sec there, I apologize, for getting my nerves took the place there.
In my life as a Christian and my life as a whole, both a born again Christian, and an occult, and an ex-occult practicioner who spend his life in regret with this big mountain of useless rubbish for an occult knowledge Which is so ungodly and not Christ exalting situation.
So hear my plea and my woes.
I experienced first hand in multiple occasions, of what a genuine revelation is, of what a true divine intervention supposed to work like. I too struggle with differentiating the true and the fake oracle, my fair portion. And I too, if I wanted to, can deceive a make-up divination with my expertise of knowledge, if I want. Note that part.
So, a genuine oracle, let's use that word and identify that with the Divine message from God of the Bible a Christian follows, a real Christian. That sort of real divine intervention. Let's identify this with an oracle for this explanation sake.
A true and genuine Oracle, is always according to what God's heart. And God's heart is fully and adequately revealed specifically in the Bible.
In the begining is Word, and Word is together with God, the Word is God, and Word is light of men, Word becomes flesh and took the form of servant.
The Word of God is Jesus. And hence the Bible, is all about Jesus, from Genesis to the last words of the Revelation. It's all about Jesus. It contains and described about Jesus, it glorifies and magnifying Jesus.
Hence, that unique and exclusive revelation of Jesus, is everything God is going to talk about, in accord to how us, Jesus's followers to lived our lifes. And of course the aim of being a Christian is to get to know Jesus and lived in gratuity and follow His footsteps, like a true disciple supposed to act. Tracing His footsteps and follow in obedience.
And sometimes, intervention came, because Jesus is in fact, still alive, and He lives for eternity, because God is eternal.
Of course He understand and He know what is happening with us, His people.
Of course it is in His sovereign will to choose wether to intervene in something or to wait and slowly guide.
So, number 1.
It must be in accordance to what the Bible about.
It must be glorifying Jesus, it must make Jesus become the center spotlight. Making Him look good, and great. It bring people more closer to Jesus.
That's rule of thumb, and supposedly a no-brainer. No need to think further and argued about. If it exalting Jesus. It's genuine.
God is Love, and in Love, there is no hatred. God is Light, and within Light there is no shadows of doubt.
It is in God's nature to be genuinely pristine and true, and merciful.
So rule number 2.
If it's speaking of a Truth, which is good and kind and centering about Truth for specific. It is genuine.
Mind me so far, it's not about one from the other. But they goes hands in hand. The first one must be fulfilled, then the second, then the next criterias.
Not this only or that only. They all must be fulfilled for saying this kind of intervention is genuine or not.
So don't claim you come with a divine message, an oracle and quoting your Bible verses, and then state: by then let's raise up, gather your weapons and let eradicate this people, let's kill their men, loot their possession, and bring their women as captives.
No, brethren, that's what you found only on that one religion, the third biggest, the one who raises their praises to what the called 'god' one true 'god' five times a day. That is not how a Christian oracle supposedly be.
There are many other aspects and consideration for differentiate a genuine oracle. But I am setting them aside for a subjective oracle. While let's use the last criteria for the third and the last aspect of consideration for the case of General Oracle, or Congregation Revelation.
"The spirit of The Lord is upon me, for He had anointed me, and sent me to preach good tidings unto the poor, that I might bind up the wounded hearts, that I might preach deliverance to the captives, and open the prison them that are bound."
This is the first verse from Isaiah 61, and also the first passage Jesus used to reveal Himself as the Messiah.
It can be said to be a good pattern to dictate the true purposes of Jesus mission. Hence, also a good one for considering wether an Oracle is true or not, is if that in accordance to Jesus missionary task.
To preach the good new to the poor, to heal the wounded hearts, to bring deliverance, and to set us free from our bindings.
This is a very identical to the undoing the force of darkness from human life.
So, if this so called oracle is very much bringing deliverance and against the force of darkness, where it builds the congregation up. It encourages the brokenhearted, it bring a salve for the wounded, bringing a remedy for the ailments of life pain.
It is genuine.
It is easy when you know where to look.
Yet it's also hard because the discerning capacity is only results of Holy Spirit in work. As gifts of discernment is indeed, a fact, gift of the Holy Spirit.
So, if you discerning something to be genuinely from God, it's also serves a double edged purpose by ensuring you that the Holy Spirit is in fact, works within you.
A church congregation is a dynamic and beautiful harmony within its body. One gift is complemented by another, where one builds another, and the other encouraged each other to serve God better, with final aim to glorify Christ in everything, and make new passion grows to pursue more Christlikeness.
An Oracle is given in fact, to build the church. Where each message from Divinity is aimed to build and better equipped the laymen for them to fight sins in their daily lives and to fanned the holy fire within their heart so they will be diligent in their daily lives and personal relationship with God, and sometimes bring up a holy jealousy to one another, "if that person is anointed by God to do this and that, I too, Lord, wanted for You to use me as a blessing for my brethren."
That's is the purpose of a gift of prophecy, the oracle that I am talking all about through this long entry.
So, no, if your pastor say he received an oracle, and say to sell your house so he can buy Lamborghini. That is surely not a real one.
Or if you church members say that one day she receives God's message toward the church, that you all need to eat your spinachs and broccoli, and exercise some more. That may be good for the whole church, but that's not necessarily came from God. Your doctor's pamphlet also state the same intention as their message of us avoiding sugar and life a healthy balanced life.
That is why, wisdom is not a natural occurrence for human, and they don't instantly come with age as a 1+1 bargain deal.
But wisdom come from the fear of the Lord. And fear upon the Lord come hands in hand with obedience to the Bible.
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And if you're still wondering why we are capable of receiving an oracle.
It's is solely because we are believer of Christ.
All human had this innate potential, to crave for divinity, and that thirst is what dictate our life pattern.
That thirst is what people this days try to filled with sex, drugs, alcohols, substances, food, gambling, and sins.
All to no avail since it can only be filled with Jesus.
No religion on earth, no good morality, nor any humanitarian good cause can fill up that void which only Jesus can fills.
And that very part of a human soul, is the one that when we turned back towards God, is finally fixed and establish a connection directly heading to God's heart.
We pray and read our Bible daily because we need to lessen the interference from this channel of direct connection.
Sin, blurred the signal, but obedience bring it back.
That's all, I believe..
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