During the First Intermediate Period of Egyptian history (ca. 2200–2050 B.C.) a son put an inscribed jar stand in his father’s tomb. The message on the stand had several requests that the son hoped the father would intercede with the gods in the afterlife about, including a plea that a healthy male child would be born to the son. The son told his deceased father, "As you live for me, may the Great One [perhaps the goddess Hathor] favor you and the face of the Great God be kindly disposed toward you and he give you pure bread from his two hands."1

The passage hauntingly reminds us today of the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24–26. That is because Israel did not live in a vacuum. It shared much with the pagan world, but in some things it should not have. Like the ancient Egyptian son, many Israelites also accepted the widespread ancient concept that the dead could act as intermediaries with the supernatural, helping or harming them and disclosing what the future would be. They, too, sought to enlist the aid of the dead.

The prophet Isaiah warned against consulting "the dead on behalf of the living, for teaching and instruction" (Isa. 8:19, 20). He declared that such practices would only lead to gloom and despair (v. 22). Many in the Western world might consider the passage irrelevant to us today. The fascination with the occult is something that modern reason and science has dispelled. But those who work in the third world and elsewhere recognize the narrow boundary between the natural and the supernatural in many cultures. Occult-like practices–especially those seeking to determine the future–crop up even among Seventh-day Adventists in many parts of the world. Missions scholars have seriously discussed how the Adventist Church needs to deal with such supernatural activities.

But there is still another aspect of Isaiah’s warning that even Westerners need to consider. Mesopotamians believed that impersonal fates determined events. The stars and other celestial objects could reveal what was going to happen, however, thus the rampant fascination with astrology. Other ancients thought that their gods governed what happened. Biblical religion did teach that a divine power shaped history. But that power was the God of Israel.

One of the major themes of the book of Isaiah is a polemic against idols (see particularly Isa. 40:18–20 and 44:9–20). At first glance, it might not seem to have any connection with the book’s warning against consulting the dead. That is because modern readers too often miss what Isaiah regards as the true difference between God and idols. According to the prophet, the fundamental distinction between the God of Israel and the idols of the nations is that Israel’s God is Creator.

When we think of him as Creator we usually focus on his formation of the physical universe and of life. The Lord, for example, stretches out the heavens (Isa. 40:22). But that is only one part of God’s creation. He is also the creator of history. Verse 23 immediately adds after the reference to physical creation that he has power over human rulers. God links his creation of life and matter with his ability also to control political and other events. These two complementary aspects of God’s creative power run throughout the entire book.

Speaking of the nation of Assyria, God declares, "As I have designed, so shall it be; and as I have planned, so shall it come to pass" (Isa. 14:24). "For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?" (v. 27). Just as he brought the world into being, in the same way he makes human history. "I work, and who can hinder it?" (Isa. 43:13).

In Isaiah 46:5, God asks, "To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me as though we were alike?" Is it an idol (vs. 6, 7)? The Lord answers his own question when he proclaims, "I am God, and there is no one like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ’My purpose shall stand, and I will fulfill my intention,’ …. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have planned, and I will do it" (vs. 9–11; compare Isa. 44:7, 8).

The difference between God and an idol is that God can predict the future because he makes that future come to pass. He is not only creator of heaven and earth, but also of the future, able to block false predictions and to fulfill those of his messengers (Isa. 44:24, 25). He can predict the rise of Cyrus (v. 28), for example, because he is the one who calls the Persian leader, prepares the way for him, and enables him to accomplish everything he does (Isa. 45:1–6; notice how the rest of chapter 45 weaves physical creation with God’s shaping of history).

Why does God through Isaiah condemn consulting the dead in Isaiah 8? Because the only one who can reveal the future is the one who creates it. And the only one who can help human beings is the living God who guides events—not the dead. Israel must go to the God who creates history to learn of unfolding events, to discover what they need to do in the future. Only he is totally trustworthy when it comes to the future, especially that of his people.

Most Christians do not seek aid or information from the dead. But can we imitate these ancient Israelites in other, more subtle ways? Many Christians, for example, argue over whether or how God knows the future. However we answer such questions, we must first begin with the fundamental realization that God is at work in history, that he himself actively fulfills his promises and predictions. (Sadly, almost no one mentions this biblical teaching in the often-heated discussions.)

History, especially salvational history, does not happen of itself. It is not just the result of sociology, economics, politics, or blind fate. Nor is it something that once set in motion inevitably works itself out. (Notice how the angel who came to Daniel to help him understand the vision of Daniel 10 [Dan. 10:10–14] had to return to the struggle to make it sure it would be fulfilled [v. 20].)

Other Christians have become so fascinated with the predictions of prophecy that they start to forget the One who brings them to pass. The prophecy becomes more important than God himself. God rules history, not prophetic charts. Thus prophecy is not the account of the inevitable—it is the story of a mighty God working out his awesome intentions. Something is predestined only because the Lord guarantees through his continual personal intervention that it will actually take place. The fact that God alone is in charge of prophecy has tremendous implications for how we should approach and understand it.

Some in Israel sought to find out the future and what they needed to do about it through the peeping and muttering of the spirits of the dead. They depended on false help and insights instead of the God of the future. Others sought to guide the future through human efforts.

Isaiah apparently confronts Ahaz while he is inspecting Jerusalem’s water system and other strategic defenses (Isa. 7:3). The king also sought political alliances with Assyria. He would through his own actions determine what would happen to God’s people. Ahaz placed his confidence in anything and everything except the God who promised to work out Israel’s future. He should have depended on the God who makes history and not tried to control it his own way.

God’s people today must base their response to all that happens in history on the guidance of the One who is continually shaping that history. He is the only power in the universe that is totally trustworthy.

Notes and References

1. Letters From Ancient Egypt, ed. Edmund S. Meltzer, trans. Edward F. Wente (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1990), 213.

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