In a remarkable passage, God instructs us through an astonishing comparison between two groups of people—certain specially gifted servants of God and certain practitioners of the occult.
Daniel 1:17 As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. 20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.
To understand what God wants us to learn from this vital revelation, we must compare and contrast these two groups carefully.
From Scripture, we know that both groups were image bearers and recipients of common grace. It might seem to some believers that each group therefore should have had some people in that group who were better in some areas of wisdom and understanding than those in the other group were.
In “all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them [emphasis added to the original],” Daniel and his three friends, however, were found to be “ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.” Through this astounding revelation by the Spirit, we learn that it is wrong to expect that the image of God in man and common grace ensure that all groups of people will have among them at least some who excel in some areas of wisdom and understanding above those who are in other groups of people.
Contrary to this expectation that might seem to us to be what ought to be true, we must hold that specially gifted servants of God excel far above all practitioners of the occult in all areas of wisdom and understanding!
Moreover, we must understand plainly that occult wisdom is not the all-excelling wisdom of God in any matter of wisdom and understanding. What’s more, neither this passage nor any other passage of Scripture provides any biblical basis to hold that there has ever been or will ever be any area of wisdom and understanding in which occultists have excelled above specially gifted servants of God.
Application
Consecrated believers must not hold to the faulty notion that all groups of people will have some among them who excel in some areas of wisdom and understanding such that they are better in those areas than are the best people in every other group of people. In particular, the Bible does not provide any basis for Christians to hold that practitioners of the occult have ever produced through their wisdom anything that is distinctively of the occult such that God’s people should make any use of it in any facet of their living a life that is pleasing to God.
God’s people must categorically reject all occult wisdom and all things that are distinctively of the occult!
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