Divination in Ancient Israel and African Traditional Religion: A Resurgence in Modern Pentecostalism

Abstract

Divination, the art of inquiring into the will of a deity, or investigating into the unknown mysteries surrounding life, is a vital feature of the religion of the ancient Israelite society. This practice may have come from the Ancient Near Eastern background. A number of instruments and devices, mentioned in the Old Testament, were employed for this purpose. The approved procedure through which Yahweh revealed his mind to his people in the Old Testament seems to be enshrouded in mystery for a number of reasons. For instance, while the priests wore the linen ephod to enquire from Yahweh, the prophets did not seem to need such devices. Besides, the preponderance of false prophets in ancient Israel raises further doubt as to the credibility of the means of discerning the mind of Yahweh. What may be evident is that the occult practices of the Near Eastern background had filtered into some religious activities in the ancient Israelite society. Divination, the art of enquiry into the unknown, is a major feature of African traditional religious orientation. The African would inquire into the past to know how errors of the past are affecting the fortunes of the present; while also looking into the future to ascertain the implications of actions being undertaken at present. Although the Euro-Christian missionaries discredited every aspect of African indigenous religion as fetish and occultic, yet, the desire of the African worshipper to inquire into the past and the future has not changed, and Christianity does not seem to be fulfilling this aspect of the African religious aspiration. To satisfy this aspiration, elements of the African inquiry into the past and future are beginning to emerge in the modern Pentecostal prophetic movement, drawing heavy patronage from the African audience. This paper examines divination or spiritual inquiry practices in the ancient Israelite society and African Traditional Religion, using the phenomenological approach, and appraises the modern Pentecostal prophetic movement as a possible vehicle for satisfying the indigenous African religious aspiration of inquiring into the past and the future.