Until the last two centuries of human history, hardly anyone alive on the earth doubted the existence of higher beings who control man's destiny. Primitive man has always believed that powerful spirits lurk in nature, inhabiting the trees, rivers, and mountains. But civilized man has always put his deities on a higher plane. If he has not known the true God, he has worshipped animals, natural forces (such as the lightning and thunder), celestial bodies, or even deities essentially human in appearance and personality. However man has visualized his gods, he has looked to them for blessing and guidance.

Every society in the past had an arsenal of methods for determining what the gods wanted. The Bible shows us which methods were popular in ancient Babylon. When King Nebuchadnezzar was greatly troubled by a dream he could not interpret, he called for his magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and Chaldeans (Dan. 2:2). These specialized in different magical arts. The Chaldeans, for example, lived in their own quarter of the city and devoted themselves to the systematic study of celestial bodies. Their purpose was less scientific than practical, for they believed that through the medium of astronomical events, the gods revealed the fortunes of rulers and nations. What kind of magic the other wise men employed is uncertain. It is likely, however, that all of them practiced divination; that is, the interpretation of signs and omens. The literature of Mesopotamia abounds with texts containing long lists of omens together with their expected consequences.

Professional diviners had various techniques for discerning the future. One type of specialist looked at the patterns made by oil poured on water. Another read the smoke rising from burning incense. Yet another opened up dead animals and made prognostications based on irregularities in the viscera. The prophet Ezekiel describes the occult methods favored by Nebuchadnezzar (Ezek. 21:21). "He made his arrows bright" should be rendered, "He shakes his arrows." Ezekiel is referring to belomancy, the use of arrows for casting lots. Someone seeking divine direction by this method tagged headless arrows so that each represented an option under consideration. He then placed them in a quiver, shook them, and spilled them out. The first to fall gave him the answer. The "images" ("teraphim") may have been small idols in human form that supposedly delivered oracles through a human medium. The livers that Nebuchadnezzar examined were taken from dead sheep. Peculiarities in color or marking were interpreted as omens.

We mention the superstitions that have held men in bondage so that we will better appreciate the light of true religion. Because we know the true God as He is revealed in His Word, no occult religious system, with its priesthood speaking mumbo-jumbo, can oppress us with false promises and false answers, giving Satan a hold on our minds. We can dispense with vain methods and determine the will of God very simply, by prayer and Bible study.

Principles of Knowing God's Will

Seven principles enable us to clear away the fog and determine exactly what God wants.

1.  God's will is always consistent with His Word (the principle of divine truthfulness).

If God urged or approved any course of action that contradicted the Bible, He would be guilty of breaking His word—that is, lying. But God cannot lie (Rom. 3:4; Psa. 146:6). Therefore, we can be confident that anything in violation of God's Word is also contrary to His will. We said in an earlier lesson that God did not hear David's plea to spare his infant son because He had already said that the son would die (2 Sam. 13:15-9).

Yet Christians have often deceived themselves that something unscriptural was really OK, or even highly spiritual.

1. In recent years some in the anti-abortion movement have decided that it is an act of Christian justice to bomb an abortion clinic or shoot an abortion doctor. They are blind to the real dynamics of their own behavior. They do not see that they, like the abortion providers, are sheltering nasty violence under the claim of doing good. But to do violence outside the law is against the teaching of Scripture. Scripture gives the authority to punish wrongdoers solely to officers of government (Rom. 13:1-4). It teaches, moreover, that we should love our enemies, not kill them (Matt. 5:44).
2. Some who profess to be Christians have adopted a radical anti-government philosophy which condones not paying taxes. Yet the Bible says specifically that we should give Caesar his due (Matt. 22:21; Rom. 13:6-8).
3. I once heard a preacher argue that we need not drive within the speed limit. He said that the real speed limit was whatever the police chose to enforce. His advice cannot, however, be reconciled with Scripture (1 Pet. 2:13-5).
4. In years past there were many in the so-called Bible belt who believed that the Bible supported racism and even slavery. The text usually cited was Genesis 9:25. But this is referring not to black people, but to the Canaanites—the people Israel dispossessed from the land of Palestine. The Bible tells us that within the church we should not discriminate according to a person's race, gender, or social condition (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11; James 2:1-9—of course, it is not discrimination to insist on gender-appropriate roles). If we should not discriminate in the church, how can we justify discrimination in society at large?

2.  God's will is always consistent with His character (the principle of divine holiness).

God is absolutely free of iniquity (Deut. 32:4). He "is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works" (Psa. 145:17). Therefore, we can be sure that anything with an immoral or unethical tinge must be against His will.

1. He is true. Therefore, He will never approve of anything false, deceitful, or underhanded.
2. He is holy. Therefore, He will never approve of anything unholy or impure.
3. He is love. Therefore, He will never approve of anything unloving, hateful, mean, or injurious.
4. He is just. Therefore, He will never approve of anything unjust or unfair.

This second principle implies that living for God never requires us to compromise our ethical convictions, or to engage in anything questionable. The ethical complexity of some problem may frustrate our attempts to discern the best solution. But we will never go wrong if we always chart a course assuring that if we do err, we will err on the safe side (that is, on the side of moral safety). A course closer to the line might look more promising of success. But God is in control. He is a solicitous Father, who dearly wants to teach His children a love of doing right. Therefore, He will never punish them or withhold blessing simply because they have been overcautious. Indeed, if caution should lead them astray, He can easily stop them and send them in a better direction.

As Christians, we must never slip into a strictly pragmatic mentality, supposing that the end justifies the means. With God, the end never justifies the means. His chief end is to uphold righteousness.

3.  We do not determine God's will by looking at chance outcomes (the principle of appropriate methods).

Old Testament methods. Looking at chance outcomes was permissible in the days before Christ. The Old Testament endorses three methods of this kind.

1. The Urim and Thummim (Ex. 28:30). Upon presenting a question to the Lord, the high priest discovered the answer by consulting the Urim and Thummim. Scholars have long debated what these were. Perhaps they were two small stones, one representing "yes," the other "no," and the high priest found the answer by reaching into the pouch of his breastplate and drawing out one stone at random. Or perhaps he removed both stones and the one with the right answer glowed supernaturally. Or perhaps he cast them like dice and deduced the answer from the sides facing upward. We simply do not know anything about the Urim and Thummim except their names. No doubt God has withheld further information because he does not want us to make replicas for our own use.
2. Seeking signs. The most famous example is the method Gideon used to assure himself that God had really called him to lead the armies of Israel against the Midianites (Judg. 6:36-40). He asked God for a sign. Specifically, after setting out a dry fleece at night, he wanted to return in the morning and find the fleece soaked with dew but the ground around it dry. God complied with the request and gave him the sign as confirmation of His will. Then Gideon asked for a second sign. He wanted to find just the opposite, the ground wet but the fleece dry. Again God complied.
3. Casting lots. The Old Testament approved this method for deciding questions that might otherwise lead to conflict (Prov. 16:33).

The last time when saints legitimately employed chance outcomes to assess the mind of God is recorded in the Book of Acts. The eleven disciples cast lots to determine who should succeed Judas as the twelfth (Acts 1:26). The moment marked the end of an era—of a dispensation featuring a religion of external rites. A few days later the Holy Spirit descended and a new dispensation, the Church Age, began. Although casting lots was still proper during the twilight hours of the older dispensation, the descent of the Spirit rendered this method obsolete. Now that He has come, believers never need to consult chance outcomes. Instead, they can rely on the Spirit's leading. Moreover, ever since the New Testament was completed, they have had another source of guidance that was never available before. With both the Spirit and the completed Word to show them the will of God, believers require no other help.

To repeat, the only reliable ways of learning the will of God are by His Spirit and by His Word.

Picking Scripture at random. Yet some believers in the course of church history have not been content with the Spirit and the Word as sources of guidance. They have relapsed into older methods, or into other methods assuming that God controls chance outcomes. One unreliable method in particular has seduced many good Christians into bad decisions. This is to open the Bible at random and read the first text that comes to the eye. Toward the beginning of their careers, the Wesleys used such a procedure with apparent success. For awhile it produced some good decisions. But then after it gave some doubtful guidance, they realized that God wanted them to find better methods for determining His will. He had formerly led them through Scripture picked at random only as a temporary concession to their naiveté.

Many Christians can testify that this method can be a fast road to disaster. For example, once when I was considering whether I should allow the buyers of my house to move in early and pay rent, I happened to open my Bible to Psalm 4:2.: "O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah." The word "leasing" here means "lying," not "letting out for rent." Nevertheless, if I had been willing to take the verse out of context, I could have supposed that God brought it to my attention as a warning against renting my house. As it turned out, letting the buyers pay rent for awhile was a good idea.

I will give an example that is likely apocryphal, but nonetheless amusing and instructive. My pastor when I was young told of the man who opened his Bible at random and found, "Judas went out and hanged himself." Hoping that he had not correctly discerned the Lord's will, he tried again and found, "Go thou and do likewise."

The point is, God does not give us shortcuts to knowledge of what the Bible says. We must take the time and make the effort to learn the Bible from cover to cover. Then, when we have a need or a problem, the Holy Spirit can direct us, through our own knowledge, to the passage that is truly relevant to our situation.

Circumstances: Many Christians judge the right course by looking for an open door. They take opportunity as evidence of God's leading. There is no doubt some validity in this procedure. As we look at our lives in retrospect, we can see that God paved a way for us to go. At critical moments He swept aside all difficulties preventing us from going in the right direction. He opened the right doors and closed some of the wrong ones.

But the problem is this. It is difficult to judge God's will by looking at the doors open today. Today, the door to doing wrong may be wide open. Today, the door to doing right may be closed. How then should we use circumstances in assessing God's will? The answer is, we should not use them at all for primary guidance. Rather, we should rely on the Spirit and the Word to find the will of God and then use circumstances only to verify our conclusions. In other words, when seeking the right direction, we should take the following steps:

1. We depend on direct spiritual leading to show us the right door.
2. We either go through it, if it is open already, or we wait for it to open.
3. Then, and only then, we trust God to guide us through circumstances. We proceed in the faith that He will not allow us to go through a wrong door. He will close it if it is open, or never open it if it is closed. In the latter case, we trust also that He will convince us in our hearts that we should look elsewhere.

The right procedure is clear, although a little complicated to describe. Suppose I am choosing a college. I must first exert myself to acquire a Biblical perspective on every college I am considering and to gain a sense of the Spirit's leading. Then, after I attain an inner peace as to the right course, I start the process of enrolling at the college of my choice. Christians sometimes refer to this stage of seeking God's will as "rattling the doorknob." It is so called because it assumes that God will intervene to control the outcome, either by locking the door or by pulling it wide open. If the college accepts me and nothing stands in the way of my going there, I go, confident that God has led me.