In the Christian Science Bible Lesson May 23, 2011 Issue

Find refuge and safety in the Allness of God

For the lesson titled "Ancient and Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism and Hypnotism, Denounced" from May 23–29, 2011

Kathy Fitzer

Are we tempted to hopelessly accept danger and destruction as a part of life? This week’s Bible Lesson, titled “Ancient and Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism and Hypnotism, Denounced,” encourages us to think again. It illustrates how the promise of the Golden Text, “The enemy is gone forever. . . . the Lord rules forever” (Ps. 9:6, 7, New Century Version), can be realized as we understand what it means to dwell in the “secret place of the most High” (Ps. 91:1, Responsive Reading). 

The New Interpreter’s Bible links the 91st Psalm to Paul’s teachings, calling it a “reminder to us that ‘nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God’ (Rom. 8:39)” (Vol. IV,
 p. 1048). This love of God is the secret place in which we dwell. God is a refuge—a safe hiding place—for His creation.

The Lesson denounces (informs against) the generally held belief that there is a power other than God, called evil, and that God’s creation is subject to attack. Examples are offered of how the ancients were delivered from the many faces of the enemy. Because God had already blessed Israel, the attempts by the king of Moab to curse them failed (Section III). David escaped the hate and terror of Saul (Sect. IV). Jesus safely walked through an angry mob (Sect. V). And Jesus healed a centurion’s servant of palsy, that is, of paralysis and involuntary tremors (Sect. VIII).  