Why do you think the Old Testament of the Bible has such severe prohibitions against divination?

Answer 1

One of the most important components of interpreting the Bible (or really any ancient text) is to consider who the original audience was, and who the original message was intended for. Once the original audience has been established, the reader must then examine the differences between the original audience and a contemporary or modern audience. There may be plenty of similarities, but there may also be vast differences. In this case, the original audience for whom the Old Testament was written were the Israelites. The lessons, the laws, the parables, and the prohibitions were supposed to be guidelines for how to be a people set apart for God. This extended to the ten commandments, the regulations outlined in Deuteronomy, as well as many verses that are popularly quoted from Leviticus. The problem is, these are often taken so far out of the original context that the meaning of the text itself gets warped. The prohibitions against divination point directly back to the first of the 10 commandments: "I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have any strange gods before Me" (Exodus 20:2-3). The prohibitions against divination were specifically to keep Israel from idolotry and blending God's laws with the practices of other polytheistic systems held by the lands surrounding where Israel occupied. When Israel fought for their land and the populations integrated, God wanted Israel to stay "set apart", hence, prohibiting divination and seeking guidance from other spiritual forces. The message that could send to a contemporary audience would largely depend on that audience's spiritual relationship/belief system.