I will never forget when I was in high school, back in the late 1960’s, that a group of us went on a class field trip hundreds of miles North to upstate New York. We arrived late at night and when I got out of the bus I looked up into the sky and saw literally hundreds of stars. Being from New York City, where you rarely see many stars because of the air pollution, I stood in awe at the brilliant star-filled sky that I had only seen before in a planetarium.
From the beginning of time man has always had a fascination with the sun, moon, planets, and especially with the stars. (Genesis 1:14) tells us what the original purpose of these celestial bodies were. In addition to providing us with light and warmth (the sun) the stars, along with the sun and moon were given for “signs” and “seasons” and to help us mark time. For we read: “Then God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years.’” Also, the stars, down through the centuries, have served as navigational aids to help men chart their courses around the globe.
But as with anything beautiful, like stars, man has used these wonderful beacons of light to create darkness and perversion through the occult practice of astrology. Just what is astrology? According to the website GotQuestions.org “Astrology is the ‘interpretation’ of an assumed influence the stars (and planets) exert on human destiny.”1 Astrology began as a form of fortune telling or divination. In fact, the actual word for astrology means ‘divining the heavens’ in the Hebrew. And divination is an occult practice that is used to foretell future events or reveal secret knowledge by signs, such as the stars, and omens.
The practice of astrology or divination is expressly prohibited throughout Scripture. The following verses are as clear-cut as possible on this issue. (Leviticus 19:26): “Do not practice divination or seek omens.” (Deuteronomy 18:9-13): “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God.” And (Leviticus 20:27): “A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.”
The Bible clearly states that all occult practices, including astrology, are wrong and that we should not seek out fortune tellers, mediums, and practitioners of the occult for advice. And here is the main reason God strictly forbids Christians to entertain astrology and horoscopes because when we do this we are seeking occultic advice over the advice of God. And since the occult is the realm of Satan what the Christian is actually doing is elevating the advice of Satan over the advice of God.
A proper understanding of why the stars and other heavenly bodies were created can help us not to allow astrology and the other occult practices to ever gain a foothold in our lives. In addition to the heavenly bodies being used to give light and warmth (the sun) and for “signs” and “seasons” as stated above, the stars show God’s power and majesty. (Psalm 19:1) shares this thought beautifully: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” The stars should awaken wonder at God’s power and wisdom and cause us to worship our Creator.
Finally, if we start to follow astrology we may even begin to worship the stars (the creation) and not the Creator. (Deuteronomy 4:19) spells this out quite clearly: “And beware not to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.” Always remember that the stars were created to point to God – not away from Him.
1 What does the Bible say about astrology and the zodiac? Is astrology something a Christian should study? | GotQuestions.org