We find the Lord accusing them of doing such things as we near the end of Chapter 8. "When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?" (Isaiah 8:19)
We know that King Ahaz, to whom Isaiah was sent in Chapter 7, is an idolatrous man. A number of the people of Judah in Isaiah's day are either dabbling in idolatry or have forsaken the Lord in favor of it. I would suggest that the person who mixes idolatry with their worship of the Lord is actually the most dangerous. Why is that? For one thing, they know better. This makes them a danger to themselves because they know that the Lord forbids participating in such things but they are deliberating choosing to disobey Him in this matter. Because they know better, they are more responsible for their sins than a heathen who has never heard of the God of Israel.
Another reason they are a danger to themselves (and to others) is that they have one foot in the church and one foot in the occult. This puts them in a position to fall very far from the Lord and to influence others to fall from the Lord. A person who mixes their worship of the Lord with occult practices is a "lukewarm" believer, and we know that in Revelation 3:16 the Lord said lukewarm religion makes Him sick. He compared His distaste for lukewarm faith to the sensation of taking a big gulp of water, expecting it to be refreshing, but finding it to be at a disgusting temperature that makes a person want to spit it out. Cold water is refreshing. Hot water can be pleasant as well, for it is soothing to a dry and scratchy throat. But lukewarm water feels disgusting in the mouth, making a person want to spit it out rather than swallow it.
Lukewarm believers think they are alright. They think that because they have knowledge of the Lord, they are free to dabble a bit in things they shouldn't. This is a dangerous state to be in. It's a state where a person tells himself or herself, "The Lord understands. He will forgive me if this isn't something He wants me to do." But the Lord isn't an irresponsible Father; He must step in and take action when a person fools around with occult practices. That person is hurting himself or herself and will usually end up being a bad influence on those close to them as well.
The Lord asks the people of Judah something like, "Why would you forsake the living God in favor of having a medium call upon the dead? How can the dead help you? While they were still alive, they didn't possess the power to deliver you from your enemies. How does being dead imbue them with a power they didn't have while on the earth? It doesn't! Only the living God can help you! Only the living God has the power to deliver you from your enemies!"
The vast majority of people who claim to be able to contact the spirit world are charlatans. They are in the business of taking advantage of people. At best, a person will waste their money consulting them. t worst, they will be drawn into something spiritually dark and dangerous. In the small percentage of cases where a person is in contact with the unseen realm, I believe they are in contact with demons, not with our dead relatives. I do not believe the Bible supports the idea that mediums are actually talking to the souls of departed humans. For example, the medium in Acts 16 was possessed by a demon. She was a slave girl whose owners were taking advantage of her demon-possessed state by having her tell fortunes for money. The Apostle Paul cast the demon out, at which point the young lady could no longer perform this service for her masters, causing them to have Paul and his friend Silas beaten and arrested. Anyone who consulted this young woman for the purpose of divination was receiving a message from a demon, not from their deceased loved ones.
Even in the case of the medium consulted by King Saul in 1 Samuel 28, when Saul asked her to call upon the spirit of the prophet Samuel, there is no proof that the woman actually saw Samuel. She claimed to see a man dressed in a prophet's robes and she passed along a dire message to Saul---the type of message we would expect Samuel to speak to him because of Saul's sinful ways---but we cannot be certain the woman actually saw or heard anything. The Bible does not say that Saul saw the man and we don't know whether the woman saw anything either. Even if she did, the Lord forbids His people to attempt to contact the spirit world, and that commandment should be enough to prevent us from doing it. Supposing we really could speak to the dead (or that a medium could do it for us), the Lord has said not to do it and that should be the end of the matter. There is no way we could be certain whether we were speaking to our departed loved one or whether a demon was masquerading as that person. There is never a good reason to open ourselves up to a demonic influence.
The believer is to consult the word of God when making decisions. The believer is also allowed to seek counsel from people who are demonstrably living godly lives, but with the caveat that those people's advice must be tested against the word of God. If their advice conflicts with His word on any point, it must be disregarded. No matter how much a person may love the Lord and how much they strive to be obedient to Him, all human beings make mistakes. A person could give bad advice without intending to lead anyone astray. "Consult God's instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn." (Isaiah 8:20)
The one who consults the powers of darkness for direction will end up in disastrous circumstances. The one who eschews the Lord in favor of worldly advice will also miss out on what is best for them. They will stumble aimlessly through life like a person lost in the desert. Sadly, many will miss the Lord altogether because they prefer darkness to light. "Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness." (Isaiah 8:21-22)
The concluding verses of Chapter 8 remind me of these words of King Solomon: "A person's own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the Lord." (Proverbs 19:3) Solomon lived centuries before the prophet Isaiah but he had observed the same attitude in his time that Isaiah observed in his day: people were making foolish choices (choices that went against the word of God), then they were blaming God when their bad choices led to unhappy circumstances. It's not too late for any of the people of Judah to turn away from the practices that led them to make foolish choices. It's not too late for them to turn back to the living God and see what He says in His holy and perfect word. Most of them will not do this, but the Lord is offering the opportunity.
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