HEBREW WORD STUDY – PREDICT THE FUTURE – ‘ANAN ענן Ayin Nun Nun
Deuteronomy 18:14-15: “For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so [to do]. (15) The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;”
“Thou shalt not hearken unto observers of times and unto diviners. The word for observers of times is ‘anan which has many different renderings. NIV – those who practice sorcery, NLB – consulting sorceress, ESV – fortune tellers, Berean Study Bible – conjurers, NASB – those who practice witchcraft, NKJV – soothsayers, KJV – observers of times, CSB – listening to fortune tellers, CEV – practice magic, Good News – follow the advice of diviners, NET – Omen readers, God’s Word – practice black magic, ASV – practice augury and Young’s Literal – observer of clouds. The Jewish interpretation for ‘anan is astrology.
Then you have the word diviners. Some translations just lump diviners in with ‘anan. However, the word for diviners is qasem which means divination and soothsaying. Divination is the practice of trying to foretell the future through supernatural events. A soothsayer is a person who foretells the future.
‘Anan which means everything from witchcraft to conjurers comes from a primitive root for cloud covering. It Semitic root it has the idea of the sky. It is also a word used for weather predictions. It has the idea of trying to foretell the future through natural events in the sky like astrology. I believe the Jewish interpretation is the best, this passage is speaking of astrology and soothsaying. That is trying to predict the future through supernatural and natural events.
We learn in verse fourteen that we are not to consult these people who try to predict the future through various occultist means. Instead, verse fifteen tells us that God will raise up prophets to tell us the future when the need arises. God will do nothing without first revealing it through His prophets Amos 3:7. The Bible does say that the test of the prophet is that his prophecy comes true or not. Well, Jonah’s prophecy did not come true, does that make him a false prophet? This verse is found in Jeremiah 28:9 The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, [then] shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly sent him. The context is a challenge between the false prophet Hananiah and Jeremiah. If Hananiah’s prophecy of peace comes true, then he is the true prophet of God and Jeremiah is a phony but if Jeremiah’s prophecy comes true of the destruction of Jerusalem, then Jeremiah is the true prophet. In other words this is addressing a specific situation and is not a blanket statement meant for all prophets, like Jonah.
The Bible does not say that Jonah announced to the city of Nineveh that in 40 days they will be destroy unless they repent. He only said that in 40 days the city would be destroyed yet the people repented and God did not allow the city to be destroyed. Jonah was a little upset with that. It made him look like a false prophet. You see the difference between a qasem or ‘anan is that these fortune tellers cannot change the future. They may tell you the future and give you advice but their advice is worthless to change the future. Only God can control the future.
I was reading in Jewish literature about this and I offer it only for your consideration. But the Jewish belief is that God can control the future. The future is not set in stone. The problem is that we can’t wrap our brains around the fact that God lives outside time. Past, present and future are outside His realm. God has complete control to change the past, present and future. Can He change the past? There is something called the Mandela Effect. Thousands of people swear Nelson Mandela died in prison, they even describe the funeral to the last detail, yet history shows he left prison and accomplished great things. Did God change the past but some still have memories of a past that changed. How many remember Jiffy Peanut Butter. I just purchase a jar of Jiff Peanut Butter. I and thousands of others baby boomers clearly remember Jiffy Peanut Butter but Jiff Peanut Butter has no record of being Jiffy. Maybe like my study partner says I am thinking of a cake mix called Jiffy. Maybe, but why can’t God change the past? I only offer that for your consideration. But can it hurt to pray for the past? I once woke up in the middle of the night burden to pray for someone. I didn’t pray and that person suffered a catastrophic event. I returned to God in tears begging forgiveness for not prayer when I was called to prayer. I prayed very hard for that person but all the time thinking it was too late. Years late when I met this person he had no memory of a catastrophic event in his life. Maybe I dreamed it all, I don’t know. Maybe the old professor finally snapped his cap. But did it hurt to pray?
Clearly the Bible is condemning any fortune telling by astrology to crystal balls, to palm reading. God will reveal the future to His prophets and if it is bad God will have a way of escape unlike the predictions of those outside God’s control.
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