The Battle for the Mind

The most ferocious wars throughout the centuries were not the ones fought on the bloody battlefields of the world. The most potent wars take place in the mind of every single human being, every single day. The battle cry of Love, Life, Light, and Truth in this war between God and Satan, truth and lies, eternal life and eternal death, joy and misery is “metanoeō.” (Metanoia; repent).

John the Baptist and Jesus Christ used it when they first set out to begin their ministries, John the Baptist in the wilderness of Judaea (Matthew 3:2) and Jesus in the land of Zebulon and Naphtali, by way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. (Matthew 4:15).

They were swathed in spiritual darkness. They were morally, mentally and spiritually so deeply in bondage to Satan’s lies (John 8:44) that the Bible describes their appalling and miserable situation as having sat in darkness, and in the region and shadow of eternal death.  Whenever the Bible uses the word “sit” in the spiritual sense of the word, it usually conveys the idea of resting and being content and satisfied with the status quo.

Lighthouses

Only light, emanating from the essence of light (John 8:12), in the same way love emanates from the essence of love (1 John 4:8), was able to dispel their spiritual darkness. This truth stands firm: Light (truth) and love always go hand in hand. They are inseparable. Truth without love is not truth and love without truth is not love. (John 14:15; 15:10). It is no surprise that the contemplative fraternity, whose main enterprise is mysticism, have no qualms to separate light and truth. Anne Lamott, one of Jacques Bornman’s favourite writers wrote:

“Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.” 

Lamott’s cryptic remark may seem to be a pearl of wisdom from the lips of the goddess Sophia herself — but what does she really mean by it? Google search led me to make an astonishing discovery. Most people who were rather puzzled by her cryptic remark presented questionnaires with the best answers. On the Reddit quote website, the conversation on the meaning of her remark, transpired as follows:

[–]SIRPORKSALOT 16 points 2 years ago 

Ok, I’m admittedly I’m a bit slow today. What does this even mean?

[–]unigami[S] 34 points 2 years ago

She is a Christian, so I think the meaning is that you shouldn’t go around trying to “save” people (convert them), but rather to live your own life as a shining example that will inspire others.

It doesn’t require much of your grey matter between your ears (rational and intellectual mind) to realize that her, and particularly the contemplative mystical gospel, is so sumptuously appetizing and pleasant to the ears of unbelievers, and so-called Christians who have experienced a conversion to Christianity and not to Christ Jesus.  Not surprising is the fact that Lamott’s social lighthouse gospel of not having to go around to save boats from the raging waves of the seas has filtered through to Jacques Bornman’s mind which is unable to comprehend the truth that his bigger than his own understanding of it. In the short biographical overview of his partnership in idolatry on Mosaïek Kerk’s website, he is introduced as follows:

Jacques leads the School of Prayer and EMosaïek.

It lies in the core of his humanity to help other people to grow in their friendship with God, through among other things spiritual coaching, retreats and meditative services.

It reminds me of Jesus’s words in Mark 16:15-16.

Go into all the world and teach every creature how to become a friend of God and how to grow in this friendship. He that applies to his life the spiritual coaching, retreats and meditative services of contemplative gurus shall be saved; but he that does not apply to his life the spiritual coaching, retreats and meditative services of contemplative gurus shall be damned.

It also reminds me of another contemplative idolatrous guru’s wise words about friendship with God.  His baptismal name is Stephan Joubert, He said:

We are full-time stewards of God’s gifts which we have freely received. Freely give it away then! No, don’t just give stuff away, give yourself to others. Build relationships with those you serve. Become their friends. Remember: every person that you serve turns in an immediate friend of Jesus. Go one step further: see him or her as Jesus in disguise. Also know that every cent, every slice of bread, every meal, every cup of cold water, every prayer, every word of encouragement, every visit is an eternal investment in the kingdom of our Father. Not only will it impact on the life of at least one or other person, but it will make heaven take special notice of you. God takes notice of the smallest deeds and words of kindness, as Jesus tells us in Matthew 10. (Emphasis added).

Strange Bedfellows – Calvinism and Mysticism

So, as you may have noticed, truth (light) doesn’t matter much to the mystical contemplative fraternity, as long as you love those whom you serve so that they may become friends of God. Light (truth) could only penetrate the darkened minds of the Gentiles in Galilee if they proved to be willing to change their own minds for the better. This is where the word “metanoeō.” (repent) takes on its true meaning. But, how do you change your mind when the truth is bigger than our understanding of it, as Jacques Bornman asserts?

The word “metanoeō” (repent) means to morally feel compunction and to begin to think differently from the way you’ve been accustomed to think. It does not mean that God unilaterally changes your mind on your behalf because man allegedly does not have a free will (a.k.a. Calvinism), or that you need to go beyond your rational and intellectual mind or thoughts to dispel the darkness (a.k.a. mysticism, contemplative spirituality) because truth is bigger than your rational mind, as Jacques Bornman suggested.

Although Calvinists believe that one needs to repent, they do not articulate repentance as Jesus and his disciples enunciated it, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye and believe the gospel.” (Mark 1:15).

Calvinism is growing at an alarming rate as this article accurately portrays. Even more alarming is that Calvinism and Contemplative Spirituality have become strange bedfellows (Read here, and here). Leslie Newbigin, together with other well-known mystics, E. Stanley Jones, Sadhu Sundar Singh, Henri Lesaux (aka Abishiktanada), and Bede Griffiths, have made “fascinating contributions to questions of Christian contemplative practice. They bring perspectives that are tempered by deep cross-cultural conversation, and often combine Eastern and Western methodologies.” (Read here) (Isaiah 2:6).

Indeed, Calvinism and contemplative spirituality is fast becoming one of the most venomous and dangerous combinations of Satan’s lies. The Gentiles who sat in darkness and in the region of death in Galilee when Jesus began his ministry were holy saints compared to today’s Christian pagans, shamans and witch doctors.

Contrary to Calvinism, contemplative mystics do believe that man has a free will but that it falls short of a correct understanding of God’s truth. I caused quite a stir when I let loose the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons and posted a few comments on the Mosaïek Kerk’s chat box to the right of their live broadcasts on their site.

Jacques Bornman of the Mosaïek Kerk in Fairland, South Africa, promptly wrote me an email inviting me to meet with some members of their leadership to discuss the problems I have with their church. I declined because the meetings I had with them during some of their conferences in the past were fruitless. I have since concluded that a great deal of the grey matter in their brains are so badly inclined to silence (contemplatively induced silence) that they adamantly remain silent when asked probing questions.

During a break-away session of a contemplative conference held on 14 and 15 September 2010 at the Mosaiek Church in Fairland, Johannesburg, Stephan Joubert openly took sides with Theo Geyser who complacently said that mysticism is much older than Christianity. To substantiate his statement Theo Geyser quoted Karl Rahner who said: “The Christian of the future will be a mystic or he will not exist at all,” which, of course, undermines Jesus Christ’s promise in Matthew 16:18 that

He alone is capable of building, caring for, and safely keeping his church, and not every Tom, Dick, and Harry who pull mystical little tricks out of their contemplative hats. The mystically orientated Christian, Stephan Joubert, who agreed with Theo Geyser in typical rhythmically silent contemplative fashion, also answered my question surrounding the inexplicability of God in deep mystical silence. He ignored me like one would a curse. He speciously refused to play the eye to eye little game.

He never once looked me in the eye but sat as if fixed like a statue or an icon in a niche with his head bowed down, facing the floor. He reminded me of Proverbs 24:7. (Wisdom is too exalted for a [hardened, arrogant] fool; He does not open his mouth in the gate [where the city’s rulers sit in judgment]). (Amplified Bible). Out little one-sided conversation transpired as follows:

“You say, you cannot explain God. May I ask: Is God Holy? (In compliance with the contemplative art of “silence” or “stillness” Stephan remained silent); Is God merciful? (Complete silence); Is God righteous? (Complete silence); Is God just? (Once again, complete silence); Is God loving-kindness? Is God love? (Stephan’s silence reached a climactic crescendo). I waited a moment for him to answer and then decided to answer my own question on his behalf. If your answer is “yes” to each of my questions, then you have managed to explain God.

These are all attributes He revealed to us throughout the history of mankind. In fact, these few attributes alone contain the magnanimous elements of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His awesome holiness presents you with an opportunity to tell people that sinful and lost sinners cannot possibly enter into the presence of God because of his awesome holiness and that they need to repent.

One of their most thoroughly thoughtless mantras, whenever they are confronted with God’s truth, is that “truth is bigger than just our understanding of it.” Jacques Bornman used it on me when he wrote me an email. At first, I thought to myself, without going into a trance or altered state of consciousness, “Yeah, that’s a very nice and humble statement. Surely, Job, King David, his son Solomon and Paul could not have been wrong when each one sung praises to the unsearchable depths of God’s ways.

I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvelous things without number. (Job 5:8-9).

Every day will I bless thee, and I will praise thy name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. (Psalm 145:2-3).

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! (Romans 11:33).

Do these verses prove that God’s truth is bigger than our understanding of it, especially the truths surrounding salvation and redemption? Hardly, because God Himself proclaims –

The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29).

Jesus never told his disciples to sit down in a quiet contemplative fashion while meditating or reflecting on a word or a passage from his Word, to quieten and free the mind of the clutter of thoughts that tend to invade the mind every moment of the day. He never said as Melissa van Biljon’s stated, “to allow God’s Word to move from your rational mind to your innermost functions, your soul, your whole being, your intuition. . .. to meditate on what you feel or visualize when a word or phrase comes to you.” He simply said, “Repent.”

Note carefully that He and John the Baptist did not only say “repent.” They said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” (Mark 1:15). On the Day of Pentecost, Peter said:

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; (Act 3:19).

The above statement is not a truth bigger than what the mind can comprehend or grasp, or a means to learn how to become a friend of God through mystical means of coaching, retreats and meditative disciplines, as Jacques Bornman claims. It is a simple command everyone, from a child to a the eldest, can understand, to have their sins blotted out. In fact, Jesus made it very clear that even a child can understand his truth related to salvation.

At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matthew 18:1-6).

It is a gross criminal offense to declare that God’s truth in relation to salvation is beyond our understanding when Jesus Christ says that even a little child can understand it. It amounts to the crime of offending one of the little ones who believe in Him and evidently justifies Christ’s judgment that a millstone should be hanged about his neck and that he was drowned in the depth of the sea, where He metaphorically casts the sins of those who have repented and believed the Gospel. (Micah 7:19). In other words, they deserve to be drowned in the depths of the sea where sins lie in the darkest regions of the sea.

Truth is Bigger Than Our Understanding of It!!

If, as Jacques Bornman said, “Truth is bigger than just our understanding of it” and as Melissa van Biljon said, “to allow God’s Word to move from your mind, your rational mind, to your innermost functions, your soul, your whole being, your intuition. . ..” through Lectio Divina, with an intent to experience God and his presence, and hence get to know the truth, we need to ask this question: Do they follow the same procedures and practices when they need to identify lies? If the truth is bigger than just our understanding of it, as Bornman says, it would be impossible to pinpoint lies, of which Satan is the father and uses very copiously to murder the souls of people who fall prey to his lies. (John 8:44; John 8:32; John 16:13).

Do they also sit still in a Buddhist lotus style position and go into an altered state of consciousness so that the words of Satan may move from their rational mind to their innermost functions, their soul, so that they may identify his lies intuitively? If God’s truth is bigger than our understanding of it, it follows that Satan’s lies must also be bigger than our understanding.

Should they, however, argue that Satan’s lies are not bigger than our understanding, they would have to admit that Satan’s lies are more illuminating than God’s truth because they are able to understand Satan’s lies with their rational minds. It poses a very big problem for them. If truth (light) is the only way to expose lies (darkness) and truth can only be experienced by going beyond your mind, it inevitably leads to a situation where contemplative meditation is the only way to repentance and salvation (“metanoeō”).

In fact, one of their noblest gurus, his holiness Johan Geyser, is in full agreement with the heretic Marcus Borg’s definition of “metanoeō,” who says that repentance and salvation is to go beyond the mind, or, as Melissa van Biljon said, to go beyond your thoughts through the practice of Lectio Divina and other meditation practices.

Marcus Borg (1942-2015)  who believed that Jesus’ resurrection was not a literal but a metaphorical one, and that his body was probably devoured or eaten by dogs, linked repentance (metanoeō) to a social paradigm shift. In a sermon he gave in his Lenten Noonday Preaching Series at Calvary Episcopal Church, Memphis, Tennessee, on March 16, 1999, he articulated the justice of God as follows.

He readily admitted that the God of the Bible is passionate about justice. However, Borg’s view of justice is not related to God’s justice in meting out righteous punishment and judgment on man’s sins and rebellion against Him and Him only (Psalm 51:4; Revelation 16:7). He interprets God’s justice in terms of his hatred of the systemic injustices in our society, causing much suffering, amongst others, the LGTB community. He does not see anything shameful in their lifestyle. He went on to say-

By systemic injustice, I mean sources of suffering caused by cultural systems, by the structures of society. I think in many ways, this is a difficult notion for us, made more difficult to grasp by the ethos of American individualism. So let me say a bit more about systemic injustice. Think of all the suffering caused throughout history in the ancient world and in the contemporary world by economic exploitation and destructive impoverishment, by the way elites in every society have made the system work in their own self-interest, by political oppression, by all the isms — racism, sexism, nationalism, imperialism, and you can add your own isms. These are all examples of systemic injustice. Injustice is built into cultural systems. More subtly, think of all the suffering caused by rigidly held convention and the cultural shaming that frequently goes along with it.

I want to relate all of this to the word repent. Repenting, and repentance is one of the central themes of Lent. It is also one of those very heavy words — repent. When I was growing up, repenting was always associated with becoming really contrite about one’s sinfulness and experiencing guilt. . ..

The roots of the word “repent” are very interesting and suggest something quite different — not intensification of guilt and contrition. When we look at the Greek roots of the word repentance, the verb is metonoata. The noun is metanoia. The Greek roots are very interesting. Meta means beyond. The noun from which the second part of the word repent is derived is noose in Greek, and it means mind. Putting that together, to repent means “to go beyond the mind that you have. . ..

All of this, it seems to me, is what it means to take Jesus seriously, even as all of this is also the journey of Lent. The path of following Jesus is an invitation to go beyond the minds that we have. Amen. (Read the entire sermon here).

In a nutshell, Borg said that repentance is to move beyond your mind concerning the social injustices that have plagued humanity in all its facets – racism, sexism, nationalism, imperialism – and to force, as it were, the establishment to beg for forgiveness for its systemic injustices against mankind. It follows that, in his mind, sin should not be viewed as the unrighteous deeds perpetrated against God and Him only (Psalm 51:4); it is rather a matter of social injustices against the proletariat, causing them much suffering whilst they justifiably indulge in their lifestyles of homosexuality, abortion, extramarital relationships, out of wedlock pregnancies, etc.

Stephan Joubert has a similar view of the meaning of metanoeō. To his liking repentance (metanoeō) is something you must do to be counted worthy for redemption and entrance into God’s Kingdom on earth. He says,

According to Jesus, access to the kingdom of Cod happens through metanoia, or the way we translate it” repentance’* (Mark 1:15). Today, repentance is often downscaled to moral behaviour adjustments.

However, to Jesus metanoia is not a moral course alteration that leads to two different worlds – one home to sinners, and another one way over there where the holy ones congregate.

Metanoia means think and live radically different – every day, everywhere, and amongst everyone – in the light of God’s new reign that has already come.

Don’t get me wrong – I believe John 14:6 with my whole heart: Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. He is the only One!

“It’s not so much our beliefs [belief that Jesus is the only Way, Truth and Life], but our integrity in terms of following Jesus in the smallest details of our lives through service, sacrifice, humility and generosity that will provide intelligible answers to the right questions here in our day.” 

If the word “metanoeō” never intended to convey feelings of contrition and guilt (feelings of sorrow and regret for sin), the Holy Spirit would never have included passages in Scripture where sinners expressed their sorrow and guilt (contrition) for their sins. Here are two examples, one from the Old and one from the New Testament.

Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. (Psalm 51:2-4; 16-17).

The word “contrition” or “contrite heart” means to be in a remorseful and a penitent condition until such time when the repentant asks for forgiveness. The following passage from the New Testament is a good example.

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:10-14).

Marcus Borg’s Influence

Marcus Borg’s rendition of metanoeō is pure Pharisaism that cannot save. Johan Geyser’s, Melissa van Biljon’s and Jacques Bornman’s acknowledgment and acceptance of Marcus Borg’s

interpretation of the word Metanoia (to move beyond reason, your mind, your thoughts) is a classic example of the contemplatives’ loose-lipped biblical spirituality. What they say and do are two fundamentally different things.

On the one hand, they say that all Christians should base their spirituality on the Bible but ironically agree with scholars like Marcus Borg who says that we should move beyond the literal meaning of biblical doctrines and embrace the more esoteric and mystical explanations thereof. Johan Geyser explained Marcus Borg’s perception of the meaning of metanoia (to move beyond reason) with a bowl of fish he brought with him and displayed on a little table in front of his audience. (Mosaic Congress held at the Mosaic Church 4 – 5 Sept. 2009). Geyser said of Borg:

It was very interesting for me to discover that Marcus Borg, the new Testamentikus (sic) of our time said that the word metanoia means to move beyond reason, move beyond your reason.

If Robert Funk and Marcus Borg were correct in saying that Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, but instead was buried in a shallow grave and later dug up and eaten by dogs, then the Mosaïek Kerk has nothing to celebrate during Lent, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Their entire season of Lent festivities, sermons, silent meditation bashes, music worship sessions, retreats and church leadership are all a sham and means absolutely nothing, according to Paul of Tarsus. (1 Corinthians 15:14). Lo and Behold, rather than listening to Paul, they believe the “Jesus Seminar” charlatan, Marcus Borg who said:

To think that the central meaning of Easter [resurrection] depends upon something spectacular happening to Jesus’ corpse misses the point of the Easter message and risks trivializing the story. To link Easter primarily to our hope for an afterlife, as if our post-death existence depends upon God having transformed the corpse of Jesus, is to reduce the story to a politically-domesticated yearning for our survival beyond death. ^{Marcus Borg, “Easter About Life, Not Death” (Washington Post/Newsweek “On Faith” column, April 7, 2004, https://www.onfaith.co/onfaith/.}

They would probably vehemently deny their associate Jesus Seminar’s statement above. If so, they must also deny Borg’s avowal to “move beyond reason,” because everything else he believed hinges on this one pivotal statement. It fits in perfectly with the post-modernist notion that we need to rethink the Christian faith about the virgin birth, Christ’s death and resurrection, and his kingdom.

How do they go beyond their rational reason abilities and how do they dig up their new-found gold nuggets in their “going-beyond-your-thoughts” gospel? We’ve already heard Melissa van Biljon inspiring the Mosaïek congregants to go beyond their minds so that God truth ((his Word) should move down from your rational mind into your innermost functions (your soul) so that you may experience it intuitively. Just to give a taste of what they do to move beyond their mind, let us listen to some snippets from an interview Fred Peatros had with Ron Martoia in December 2006.

FRED: In your book Morph, you write of the need for spiritual transformation (morphing) within our congregations. You make the point that much of this is dependent on the state of our interior life. Hey, that sounds good, even Quakerish. But how do we find time to develop a quiet center in this online world where cell phones are constantly ringing and schedules are so freaking full?

RON MARTOIA: Great question with no great answer. But I will say this, I am renewed in the commitment for a quiet daily centering prayer practice and the immense impact it brings. I have just come off a five-day integral Christianity conference with Father Thomas Keating, eighty-three-year-old Benedictine monk. One of the things we did each day was at least two to four sessions of centering prayer at a minimum of twenty minutes a session. Total silence, total inner silence. Your question is, “how do you find time?” It is simply a matter of what you deem most important. I know that sounds trite and cliché but there is no way around it. Jesus with regularity walked past immense need to manage well the rhythm of “with” time and “alone” time, or activity and quiet. Most of us in church leadership are pathological in our need to be busy so we can ignore the deeper more important issues of inner space cultivation.

Dallas Willard, Trevor Hudson’s much-admired philosopher, directly attributed salvific capabilities to the contemplative view of “metanoeō.”

“Indeed, solitude and silence are powerful means to grace. Bible study, prayer and church attendance, among the most commonly prescribed activities in Christian circles, generally have little effect for soul transformation, as is obvious to any observer. If all the people doing them were transformed to health and righteousness by it, the world would be vastly changed.

In simple layman’s terms, he is saying that faith in Jesus Christ and his Gospel cannot save you (impute righteousness) and therefore you must go beyond your mind in solitude and silence to experience its powerful means to grace.

To conclude, we must once again carefully and circumspectly judge Jacques Bornman’s statement, “Truth is bigger than our understanding of it.” To do that, we need to read the rest of the short biographical overview of his work as leader of the School of prayer and eMosïek on their website. It says,

Jacques is passionate about words — to read those of others in books, to listen to them in music or films, or to write down his own.

He has a long list of favourite writers who inspire him, among others Eugene Peterson, Dallas Willard, Henri Nouwen, Anne Lamott, John O’Donohue and the local writer, Trevor Hudson.

I’m pretty sure Bornman will agree that his passion for words can only blossom into full maturity when he understands those words and is able to interpret them as the authors intended them to be understood. The slightest deviation from the meaning of the words as the authors penned them down, is not only a gross breach of honour and a sign of disrespect for the writers but a disdainful misinterpretation of the writer’s character and decorum.

Assuming that all the words Eugene Peterson, Dallas Willard, Henri Nouwen, Anne Lamott, John O’Donohue and Trevor Hudson had written in their books are respectably truthful and trustworthy, it must also be pertinently true that Bornman understands their words with his rational and intellectually vibrant mind. Or does he approach their words in the same way he does God’s words in his eternal book by declaring that their truths are bigger than his own understanding thereof?

In that case, he should approach their truths in the same way he does God’s words by going beyond his rational mind, bypassing it and letting their words move down from his electrified rational mind to the innermost bowels of his being. Should he fail to do so, it will prove that he has more respect for the mindful clarity of the words of men and women who are but dust and ashes (Genesis 18:27) than for the truths of an awesomely holy God.

They just love to make you think they are teaching and guiding you in how to be a follower of Jesus Christ. The truth and you don’t need to go into a contemplative trance to understand it, is this:

even from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse and distorted things, to draw away the disciples after themselves [as their followers]. (Acts 20:30). (Amplified Bible).

May God have mercy on their pitiful souls.

Most certainly [Lord] You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob,
Because they are filled with influences from the east,
And they are soothsayers [who foretell] like the Philistines;
Also they strike bargains with the children of foreigners (pagans).

Isaiah 2:6 (Amplified Bible)

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