The conversation after church shocked me. If he had been a new Christian, perhaps I wouldn’t have been quite so taken aback. But he had been saved for several years, and church leadership apparently considered him to be spirituality mature.

When he mentioned his horoscope, I couldn’t believe my ears! And he said it so casually, as if it was all very normal for a Christian to read horoscopes and give a little credence to astrology. After all, he wasn’t overly invested in the practice. It was an amusement that maybe had enough credibility to warrant his attention.

How a Christian could hold such an opinion baffled me then and continues to baffle me 23 years later.

Since then, I’ve encountered a few other evangelicals who saw no problem with entertaining a mild interest in astrology. I suspect it happens because fewer and fewer churches teach the whole counsel of God. Scripture is twisted into feel good snippets that bear little resemblance to the authoritative Word of God.

But the Word of God in fact condemns astrology. Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord pronounces judgment against Babylon because of their astrology.

¹² “Stand fast now in your spells
And in your many sorceries
With which you have labored from your youth;
Perhaps you will be able to profit,
Perhaps you may cause trembling.
¹³ “You are wearied with your many counsels;
Let now the astrologers,
Those who prophesy by the stars,
Those who predict by the new moons,
Stand up and save you from what will come upon you.
¹⁴ “Behold, they have become like stubble,
Fire burns them;
They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame;
There will be no coal to warm by
Nor a fire to sit before!
¹⁵ “So have those become to you with whom you have labored,
Who have trafficked with you from your youth;
Each has wandered in his own way;
There is none to save you. ~~Isaiah 47:12-15 (NASB)

As Marcia Montenegro points out in her article, Astrology: What It Really Is, the Babylonians developed astrology as a system in which the stars and planets determine the destinies of people. Prior to becoming a Christian, Ms. Montenegro was a professional astrologer, and therefore has the credentials to expose astrology as being in opposition to Scriptural worship. She rightly identifies astrology as part of Babylon’s heathen religion. It deviates from the worship of the true God.

Long before Isaiah, the Lord used Moses to condemn divination (fortune telling) in general. Astrology falls under this umbrella. Several Scriptures warn God’s people to avoid divination, and Ms. Montenegro lists each of them in the article mentioned above. But allow me to quote just one:

⁹ “When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. ¹⁰ There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, ¹¹ or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. ¹² For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you. ¹³ You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. ¹⁴ For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so. ~~Deuteronomy 18:9-14 (NASB)

To those who might object that this command is specific to Israel, let me direct your attention to verse 12. In many English translations, that word “detestable” is rendered “abominable.” An abomination differs from something that was merely unclean under Jewish ceremonial law; an abomination violates God’s universal law.

So divination of any kind violates God’s universal law, just as murder and stealing do. Christians, consequently, have absolutely no business toying with astrology. Newspaper horoscopes, while seldom the work of real astrologers, dangerously generate an interest in astrology that could seriously damage a Christian.

I lost touch with almost everyone in the church I attended in the early part of 1997, so I don’t know if that man has since renounced horoscopes. I pray he has. And I pray that if any of you dear readers flirt with astrology, the Lord will use this article to encourage you to study God’s Word on the topic. Please remember that Jesus saved you for holiness.

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