One sad thing that people were doing in Isaiah’s day was to seek to other sources for information and advice and help with daily life. But God told Isaiah, “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?” (Isaiah 8:19)
The people of Isaiah’s day were being deceived by those who claimed to be spiritual leaders. However, these leaders led them away to seeking after familiar spirits and wizards. They were looking to false spirits to be their guide rather than to the Lord. God was warning Isaiah not to follow in their paths. God warns us about the same thing today. He says, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (I John 4:1)
How is it possible to know if the person speaking is a true prophet or a false teacher being guided by false spirits? Test what they teach by the word of God. Isaiah 18:20 says, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Also, here is a specific test given in I John 4:2,3a, “2) Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3) And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.” If a teacher or preacher or prophet is not from God, whom do they represent? I John 4:3b says, “and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” They represent the spirit of antichrist, the one whose coming is after the working of Satan. (See II Thessalonians 2:9) They are servants of the devil, not servants of God, and they follow familiar spirits and the teach the teachings of the devil.
May the Lord give us discernment so that we can look into His word to determine if the things we are being taught are from the Spirit of God or from the spirit of antichrist. We need to let God’s word dwell in us richly so that we can test the teachings we hear or read against the teachings of Scripture. If they line up with the Scripture, then they are true teachings. If they do not line up with Scripture, the teachings do not come from God.