Thus concerning those, who, by the practice of these arts, have professed themselves to be in a kind of confederacy with Satan. It is certain no good man ever practised them; and therefore some have found it very difficult to understand the sense of that scripture in Gen. xliv. 5. concerning the cup that was in Benjamin’s sack; Is not this the cup wherein my Lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? And Joseph himself says, in ver. 15. Wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine? Though Joseph was a prophet, it is certain he was no diviner in that sense in which the word is commonly used in scripture; nor was this cup an instrument by which he practised any such art. Therefore, for the understanding of this scripture, we may consider,
1st, That the word which we render to divine, denotes, as it is observed in the margin, to make trial of, or search after, or to discover, or find out a matter; and instead of whereby, or by which, it ought rather to have been rendered concerning which; and then the meaning of the scripture is only this; Is not this the cup wherein my lord drinketh? And therefore, if it were lost or stolen, he would soon miss it; and make inquiry to find out the thief, as he has now done. And when Joseph says, ver. 15. Wot ye not that such a man as I can divine? The meaning is, Do you think that one who is so diligent and industrious in the management of all those affairs that are incumbent on me, would lose the cup in which I drink, and make no inquiry after it? Did you expect to go undiscovered, when you had such an one as I to deal with, who not only have an inclination, but all the advantages that can be desired, to make search after those who have dealt unjustly by me, as you have done?
2d, To divine may signify to prophesy; and so it may be taken in a good sense as well as in a bad one. Accordingly, when Joseph’s servants speak of him as divining concerning the cup, they consider him as one who had an extraordinary gift from God of revealing secrets. Therefore, they might easily conclude that he would, by this means, find out the person who had stolen his cup. This is agreeable to the Egyptian mode of speaking; for those whom the Hebrews called prophets, they called diviners. And Joseph used the same expression when he says, Wot you not that such a man as I could divine? that is, Did you not know that I was a prophet, and by this means was advanced to my present honour in Pharaoh’s court? So that, whether we take the words in this or the other sense, it does not follow, that he used any arts that were diabolical or unlawful.
And now we are speaking concerning those arts, by which Satan deludes them, who, either directly, or by consequence, pay that regard to him which is due only to God. It may farther be inquired; what we are to conclude concerning the practice of judicial astrology, by those, who, in scripture, are called star-gazers, as a term of contempt, whose profession is universally condemned therein.
These are, especially in our age, a generation of men, who impose on the weakness of many superstitious and ignorant people, who, by encouraging them, are partakers with them in their sin. The art they pretend to, is not only uncertain, but presumptuous, and contains in it a contempt of the providence of God, in regarding the signs and intimations, which they suppose they receive from the stars, concerning the future contingent events, or those actions which take their rise from the free-will of man.
That which I would observe in general, concerning this practice, is, that we no where find in scripture, that the stars were designed to signify the prosperous or adverse circumstances in which men shall be in the world; or to foretel the riches or poverty, sickness or health, which we should experience in our passage through it, or how long we shall continue in it; our times and circumstances in the world being only in God’s hand; and it is in mercy to us that he has concealed these future events from us. To this we may add, that this art, and those that use it, is very often spoken against in scripture, and the church warned against it; when God says, Learn not the way of the Heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, Jer. x. 2. And elsewhere, Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels, let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up and save thee, Isa. xlvii. 13. And elsewhere, they are ranked with diviners, and called liars, chap. xliv. 25.
If it be inquired, Whether any good men have ever practised this art, though without pretending to have had any intimation from Satan, but only proceeding according to the rules prescribed therein? It is not my business to censure men, but things. Therefore the best that can be said thereof is; that if any good men have studied or practised it, they have generally blamed themselves for it afterwards, or, at least, confessed the uncertainty and presumption thereof. And we read of some that, in the time of their ignorance, had addicted themselves thereunto; who, when it pleased God to convert them, have laid it aside, and burned the books from whence they learned it, Acts xix. 19.
It is objected against what has been said concerning the unlawfulness of judicial astrology, that Moses addicted himself to the study thereof, of whom it is said, That he was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, chap. vii. 22. To which it may be replied, that if, by the wisdom of the Egyptians, we understand, as most expositors do, judicial astrology, Moses might know, but not approve of, or practise this art, which was so much in use among the Egyptians. But it may be, nothing more is intended by it, but his knowing the regular motion of the stars, and the wisdom of God seen therein, without judging of future events thereby; which is not only lawful, but commendable: though, I am apt to think, that by the wisdom of the Egyptians, we are to understand those maxims of state, and the secrets of Pharaoh’s court, which he had an opportunity to know, as being a great favourite with him, as Josephus observes, who thinks that he designed that he should succeed him in the throne[[207]]. Thus having considered this Commandment as being broken by Atheism and idolatry, and the various kinds and degrees thereof; which is called our having other gods;
We proceed now to inquire what is meant by these words [before me] in the first Commandment, which are an intimation of the aggravation of the sins forbidden therein; whereby God puts us in mind of his all-seeing eye, which ought to deter us from the breach of it; especially when we consider, that inasmuch as he beholds all our actions, he cannot but be exceedingly displeased when we entertain any conceptions of him that tend to question his authority, dethrone his sovereignty, or alienate our affections from him, and set up any thing in competition with him. And this should teach us how we ought to set the Lord always before us, considering him as the heart-searching God, who is jealous for his own honour, and will not suffer this sin to go unpunished.