A: Thank you for your question. Another name for a psychic is a medium; a person supposedly used as a spiritual intermediary between the dead and the living. In Leviticus 20:6, the Lord said, "I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people." As you can see, God told the nation of Israel not to be involved with psychics because they can lead people astray into all sorts of godlessness, regardless if they say they believe in god or not. Besides, who knows what "god" they are believing in? How often have you seen people talk about participating in things like a seance or playing with Ouija boards? It is things like that which the Lord is warning against. A seance is a meeting in which a spiritualist attempts to communicate with the spirits of the dead. A Ouija board is a device manipulated by the fingers of spiritualists, mediums, or others in an attempt to answer questions or give messages involving the dead. All of this subjects the individuals involved to demonic influence. That is why God warned against prostituting oneself by following psychics because, ultimately, your trust is in what the psychic reveals to you rather than in what God has revealed about a certain subject.
What are the types of answers a person is seeking from a psychic? They will ask about the location of a loved one who has died. God answers that in Hebrews 9:27, "Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment." One question all of us would like answered is about our own future. Jesus Christ answered that question in Matthew 6:34. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Personally, when we are trusting in a psychic to give us answers, we are not trusting in the Lord. That is why He warns against seeking their guidance. In Psalm 1:1, God says, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked ..." We are blessed when we are not seeking the advice of evil people, but looking to the Lord to guide us as He promised. Christians, who have been born again of the Spirit of God through faith in Jesus Christ, have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. It is that Spirit which Jesus promised, in John 16:13, who "will guide you into all the truth." If the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth, where will the "unholy spirit," whom psychics use to guide them, lead us?
While people often use psychics to try and find out answers to questions plaguing them in their personal lives, people will try an use so-called prophets to seek answers about God's future plans. The common definition of a prophet is a person recognized as inspired to utter special revelations and predictions. It is in this sense that you get so many people desiring to find out questions about the End Times and or when the Second Coming of Christ will occur. However, Jesus put all of this type of speculation to rest in Matthew 24:36. "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only." Countless false prophets have come and gone trying to predict the "End" or when Jesus will return. Unfortunately, many people who have followed these false prophets have been led astray and, to steal a phrase from the Bible, "pierced themselves with many griefs." Yet, when you think about it, what else is there on God's "timetable" that we need a prophet to tell us about? Personally, I believe the only thing left unrevealed is the End and His Second Coming. God has already told us that nobody knows when Jesus Christ is returning, so we should not spend our time trying to figure out that which nobody knows. There are those that spend time trying to figure out the "signs" of the End Times, like who the Antichrist is, but to me that is a distraction that takes us away from the real role of a prophet; one all Christians can fulfill.
Another definition of a prophet is someone who brings a message from God to the people. What is the message God has given us as Christians to take to the people? It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, sometimes referred to as the Good News of Jesus Christ. What is that good news? In Luke 19:10, Jesus said, "Indeed, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save people who are lost.” Jesus wants people to be saved by accepting Him as their savior. As Christians, we have responded to His message and are saved. Therefore, we can bring that message of God, salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, to the people. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus gave what is called the Great Commission. He told the disciples, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." This is something all Christians can do. Therefore, we are in a sense "prophets" because we can all bring the Gospel message to the people. Perhaps that is why the Prophet Isaiah proclaimed in Isaiah 52:7, "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”" We are prophets who bring good news. I pray this has helped answer your question about the difference between psychics and prophets.
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