I don’t know how it is where you live, but in North Texas, you can’t go farther than twenty miles without seeing some kind of advertisement for a palm reader. Or a Tarot card reader. Or a psychic.
They’re all over the place, and despite numerous evidence to their lack of inefficiency, still seem to attract a wide array of devotees. The industry itself does over two billion dollars a year, and shows no sense of slowing down.
And why should it? Psychics have been around forever, even dating back to the days before Deuteronomy. God explicitly outlaws them, stating that the nations that they will eventually “dispossess” listen to them all the time. Israel, on the other hand, is not to give them even a second thought.
The reason why God forbids it is to prevent anyone from determining divine will from anyone besides Himself. You don’t need to go to Ms. Cleo to see if you should take that job; instead, pray about it.
But this devotion to psychics also keys in on another one of the anxieties that humans display—that of the desire to control the future.
Military leaders have long sought (and paid good money) for signs to promise them good fortune in the campaign to come. Most notably, Ahab himself was angry when he heard a dissenting voice in his own throne room (1 Kings 22:8). Ahab argues that “he [Micaiah] hates him” and “never prophesies any good” concerning him.
This creates a vicious cycle, then: Man wants to control the future, employs a psychic to tell him what he wants to hear, and then uses that information to control the environment around him. If the psychic decides to counter him, for whatever reason, he will most likely lose his head. The incentive is strong to help the king get his way.
This is no different than the way people view psychics today, although most “spiritualists” are adept at masking their prophecies in really vague interpretations that, in reality, tell the listener nothing. They make broad promises and talk about the future in ways that are hard to argue against, because there’s nothing of substance.
Deuteronomy’s point here is to get people to turn towards God for spiritual advice instead. Want to know the best course of action? Ask your elders. Want to see your spouse healed? Pray about it. Want to know what kind of life you should live? Read your Bible.
These things aren’t hard, but they require us to give up control. If we’re not willing to do that, no god—self-made or otherwise—will tell us what to do.