Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Astrologers
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Genesis 3:1
In this first message to mankind, Satan sows seeds of doubt as to whether God can be trusted. Satan's very first words were, "Has God indeed said. . . ?" Spoken or not, this sentiment that God is untrustworthy, and that His Word is suspect, has been a regular feature in mankind's relationship with God ever since. The Gnostics were no exception—in fact, they are a prime example. In its most basic sense, Gnosticism is knowing, but its knowledge, while sometimes including the Word of God, does not have it as its foundation. Instead, more than what was contained in Scripture, Gnostics valued what they experienced, what elders told them, or what they learned from "angels," astrology, or chemistry (alchemy). Thus, we see elements of Gnosticism in Galatians: a mixture of "lucky days," to which they ascribed spiritual significance (part of their worship prior to conversion) and a belief, brought in by Judaizers or perhaps even an "angel" (Galatians 1:8), that justification could come by works of the law. Judaism, though it has its roots in the Old Testament, sees God's Word through the lens of Hellenism (Greek thought) and the traditions of Jewish scholars and teachers through the centuries. The Galatian Christians gave God's Word lip service, but did not depend on it as the source of their beliefs and practices. If they had, they would not have returned to pagan "days, months, seasons, and years," nor believed that justification could ever result from good works—a concept that is read into the Old Testament, but not actually found there. Similarly, the Colossian Christians were affected by an ascetic form of Gnosticism that included "ordinances" (KJV) or "regulations" (NKJV) that are not found in God's Word but were the commandments and doctrines of men (Colossians 2:20-23), as well as demons, the "basic principles of the world" (Colossians 2:8). This same distrust of God's Word is readily seen in today's Catholicism and Protestantism. The Catholic Church holds that Scripture is only one of three sources from which its dogma is derived—the other two being divine revelation and the writings and traditions of previous Catholic saints. The Bible, while generally utilized as the source of doctrine, can be easily overridden by the words of a Pope or other theologian, living or dead. Once again, human words and traditions are considered more trustworthy than God's. In some respects, Protestantism has a higher regard for Scripture. However, it, too, accepts the traditions of men in such beliefs as the Trinity, the immortality of the soul, going to heaven, observing Christmas and Easter, and venerating the first day of the week (which the Catholic Church rightly points out makes sense only if one accepts Rome's authority, for there is no scriptural authority for keeping any day holy but the Sabbaths). Modern Gnostics who believe in "progressive revelation" have also succumbed to this first of Satan's ploys. While God does reveal things to us, the critical point is that what is revealed—if it truly comes from Him—will never contradict what He has already revealed in His Word. "God is not a man, that He should lie" (Numbers 23:19). Yet progressive revelation advocates believe that their revelations are more authoritative than the Bible, rather than complementing and harmonizing with it, making them ripe for satanic influence under the guise of God revealing something new to them. They may sincerely believe that God speaks to them, yet they simultaneously mistrust what He has already said in inspired Scripture. They tend to shy away from Bible study, concluding that they do not need it since God speaks directly to them, and if there is anything important, God will let them know. Romans 10:17 tells us that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." But Satan knows this too and believes that, if he can undermine the trustworthiness of God and the validity of His Word, he can destroy the faith necessary for salvation. Currently, the Bible's legitimacy is undergoing an intense assault. Due to popular Gnostic writings like the Gospel of Judas and the Gospel of Thomas, as well as The Da Vinci Code book and movie, many people are questioning why we have the Bible that we do and wondering if something in the ancient apocryphal writings, if it were known, would change Christianity as we know it. Rather than quibbling about this or that point of doctrine, Satan seems to be gunning for the whole package by asserting that the Word of God is subject to the whims of men and thus cannot be trusted. At every turn, faith founded in God's Word is being undermined.
David C. Grabbe
Whatever Happened to Gnosticism? Part Three: Satan's Three Heresies
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Isaiah 47:12-13
Modern, end-time Israel, like ancient Babylon, is deep into the occult and spiritism, both in terms of worshipping demons as a matter of religious observance, as well as high-ranking political figures seeking their guidance in national affairs. It was published in the United States that President Dwight Eisenhower consulted astrologers during World War II about such things as the timing of the Normandy invasion. Also circulated were accounts of Nancy Reagan consulting astrologers and then advising her husband, the President. If it is done in the White House, it is most assuredly done elsewhere in government.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Beast and Babylon (Part Ten): Babylon the Great Is a Nation
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Matthew 2:1-3
The first "magi myth" that we should question is the tradition of "we three kings." The Bible nowhere states how many magi visited the infant Jesus. Although Matthew mentions three types of gifts they presented to the Son of God, there may have been two, three, or more of them. Some have even thought there might be as many as twelve! Regardless of how many there were, the question remains, "Who were they?" Because the wise men saw and followed a "star," many believe that they were pagan astrologers. However, throughout Scripture, God soundly condemns astrology. Notice a few quite pointed examples: » And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, and you feel driven to worship them and serve them. (Deuteronomy 4:19) » If there is found among you, within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you, a man or woman who has . . . gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven which I have not commanded, . . . then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones. (Deuteronomy 17:2-3, 5) » Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators stand up and save you from these things that shall come upon you. Behold, they shall be as stubble, the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame. (Isaiah 47:13-14) In addition, the wise men who visited Jesus knew in advance who they were going to visit and that the purpose of their visit was to worship Him (Matthew 2:2, 11). It is highly unlikely that heathen, idolatrous astrologers would go to the great effort to travel many, many miles to give honor to the son of a deity they did not worship. With this evidence, we can be quite certain that these magi were not pagan astrologers.
Staff
Who Were the Wise Men?
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Matthew 2:1-2
Where did these wise men come from? As explained in Francis W. Upham's book, The Wise Men (1869), there are two Greek expressions for "East" used in Matthew 2:1-2, 9. Firstly, in verse 1: "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem." "The East" is ton anatolon, the common Greek expression for "eastern regions," particularly those far distant. Secondly, in verses 2 and 9: "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East, and have come to worship Him." . . . When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. In both verses, "the East" is te anatole, literally, "the rising," which could mean either that the magi saw the star when it first appeared—at its rising—or that they saw it from their vantage point east of Jerusalem, the direction in which the sun rises. The latter is more natural and to be preferred. The magi, while in a place east of Jerusalem, saw the star, and it led them west. The more important expression, then, appears in verse 1. The magi were from "the East," a land or lands far away from the Judea of 4 BC. This could not mean Arabia for two reasons: 1) The New Testament explicitly identifies Arabia in Galatians 1:17, so why not here as well? 2) Though we know Arabia is east and south of Palestine, commonly expression of the time considered Arabia to be in the south, not the east. Further, any nearby country would have been named specifically and does not qualify as "distant." In the distant east lay the Parthian Empire, little known today, but it rivaled the Roman Empire for hegemony of the world at the time. Parthia included all the conquered lands of Babylon, Persia, Bactria, and many other countries on the east side of the Euphrates River. It was to these lands that the Assyrians had exiled some of the ancient house of Israel, and many of their descendants had remained in the region. The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature by John J. McClintock and James Strong, in its article "Magi," says that some of the ancient magi claimed Abraham as their ancestor. If this were true, it would add evidence that the magi were Israelites who were desirous to honor the One who could be their rightful King, especially since the miraculous star made His birth so auspicious. (For more on the magi being Israelites from Parthia, please see The "Lost" Ten Tribes of Israel . . . Found! by Steven M. Collins, pp. 205-278.) Altogether, this biblical and historical evidence indicates that the magi of Matthew 2 were not pagan astrologers whose observations of the heavenly bodies led them to the infant Jesus. Rather, they were probably God-fearing descendants of the exiled house of Israel who were led to Bethlehem miraculously, likely by an angel, just as they were "divinely warned" to flee back to their homeland after their visit (Matthew 2:12). Once again, we see that if we are willing to break free of the bonds of the world's traditions, the historical evidence backs up the Bible record and leads us to the truth.
Staff
Who Were the Wise Men?
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Colossians 2:8
Colossians 2:8 reads, ". . . according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world . . .." A corresponding phrase in Galatians 4:9 reads, ". . . the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage . . .." Many in this world claim that these phrases describe the law of God. However, their claim is not true at all. Can we imagine an apostle of God calling the Old Testament "weak and beggarly"? It is ridiculous even to think that. Instead, the apostle Paul is appealing to his readers with all of his heart to recognize and turn away from something so wrong that it could only have come from the mind of Satan. Daniel 2 contains a vision of a great statue, an idol Nebuchadnezzar dreamed about. It had a head of gold, the shoulders and upper body of silver, the belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay. We understand that, as a whole, it represents the system the Bible calls "Babylon," which has spread worldwide. These great empires—seen in the various body parts and metals—have spread Babylonish thinking, organization, social systems, economics, education, and religions all over the earth. The golden head, Nebuchadnezzar himself, symbolized Babylon (Daniel 2:37-38). The head contains the brain, where thinking takes place. That body part dominates and directs the rest of the body. In this vision, God is revealing that Babylonish thinking and systems spread from Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon to Medo-Persia, to Greece, to Rome, to medieval Europe, and eventually into modern nations. It is everywhere. Each culture has put its own identifiable stamp on it, so that, say, the Japanese culture, while Babylonish at its roots, has traits that make it distinctive from Chinese, Indian, Russian, European, or American culture. Their Babylonish roots provide enough similarity among them to understand and interact with one another, but they all have cultural peculiarities that make them different. It is a simple picture, but it explains a truth missing from this world's thinking. At the very least, Daniel 2 indicates that the overarching philosophies that dominate life on Earth have mainly come and spread from Babylon. However, Paul's phrases in Colossians 2:8 and Galatians 4:9 show that a taproot goes even deeper than Babylon. In William Barclay's commentary, The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, pages 136-137, he explains the Greek word stoicheia, which has been translated as "the basic principles of the world" in Colossians 2:8 and "the weak and beggarly elements" in Galatians 4:9. He writes that the word has two basic meanings: (a) It means literally things which are set out in a row. It is, for instance, the word for a line of soldiers. But one of its most common meanings is the letters of the alphabet, no doubt because they form a series which can be set out in a row. Because stoicheia can mean the letters of the alphabet, it can also very commonly mean elementary instruction in any subject. We still speak of learning the A B C of a subject, when we mean taking the first steps in it. It is possible that this is the meaning here. . . . (b) Stoicheia has a second meaning. It means the elemental spirits of the world, and especially the spirits of the stars and planets. There are still people who take astrology seriously. They wear signs-of-the-zodiac charms and read newspaper columns which tell what is forecast for them in the stars. But it is almost impossible for us to realize how dominated the ancient world was by the idea of the influence of the elemental spirits and the stars. Astrology was then, as it has been said, the queen of the sciences. (Authors' emphases throughout.) The Interpreter's Bible, volume 11, pages 191-193, commenting on Colossians 2, similarly reads: Paul now comes to the cardinal error of this "philosophy": it teaches men to propitiate the elemental spirits of the universe instead of giving their allegiance to Christ. The word [stoicheia] has a very wide range of meaning . . .. The word may be taken (a) in the sense of "the elementary things," the "A B C's" . . .. [Or it] (b) indicates that Paul is here speaking of the stoicheia as rivals of Christ, objects of human allegiance who are set in the place that belongs to him alone. . . . The doctrine which Paul combats, then, appears to involve (a) an exposition of the nature of the physical world and man's place within it in terms of astrological determinism; and (b) instruction in the cult practices (asceticism, taboos, angel worship) which will propitiate these astral spirits and enable the devotee to attain fullness of life. The apostle Paul is warning God's people that human reason aided by demonic inspiration—elemental spirits—is the source of the philosophies that undergird our societies. If one is searching for truth about life and its purpose, that philosophy is not the place to look for it. The fullness of truth is to be found in Jesus Christ. As Interpreter's says, the particular philosophy in view in Colossians 2 is that things are astrologically determined. What is the result of believing this? If a person's nature and destiny are determined by the elements that comprise the physical world, then human personality and direction in life are not spiritually free and self-determining. A person simply does not have free-moral agency. This philosophy is still alive today. Are people not still reading astrological charts? Are not New Age religions preaching that the harmonics of crystals divine the course of life? Is science not repeatedly telling us that moral choices do not determine character and personality but particular combinations of genes and hormones? This idea is still alive today. Nothing has changed! If a person uses astrological determinism, both the senses of guilt and forgiveness vanish. Why? Because, under this philosophy, the individual is not responsible for his actions. One can say, "The stars made me do it," or even, "Satan made me do it." Human nature is very quick to grab onto this deception—or self-deception. They can blame every problem or sin on their hormones or their genes or the constellations or circumstances beyond their control. Satan wants to lead people in this very direction. He wants them to feel comfortable with their lives. We can now see the fundamental difference between philosophy and the true religion. With philosophy, the final arbiter is human reasoning. With the true religion, the final arbiter is God's revelation.
John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)
Truth (Part 1)
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