Deuteronomy 13
IDOLATERS AND ENTICERS TO
IDOLATRY TO BE PUT TO DEATH.
(vs. 1-18)
Three Cases
First Case (vs.
1-5) - The case supposed here is that of
one professing to have
supernatural intelligence, who should, by giving a sign or a wonder, endeavor to draw
away
the people to idolatry. Such a one was to be put to death.
1 “If
there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of
dreams, and giveth thee
a sign or a wonder, 2 And the
sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake
unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods,
which thou hast not known, and let us
serve them;
3 Thou shalt
not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that
dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love
the LORD your God with all your heart and with
all your soul. 4
Ye shall walk
after the LORD your God, and fear Him, and keep
His commandments, and obey
His voice, and ye
shall serve Him, and cleave unto Him. 5 And that prophet, or that
dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because
he hath spoken to turn you away
from the LORD your God, which brought you out
of the
redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust
thee out of the way which the
LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from
the midst of thee.” A prophet (nabhi,
נבָיִא); one who speaks from God, an
interpreter to men of what God reveals or suggests to him (for the
meaning of the word,
compare Exodus 4:16 with 7:1; also Jeremiah 15:19). Dreamer of dreams. Not
by visions
or
immediate suggestion only, but
also by means of dreams, did God communicate
with
men
(Numbers 12:6). The case supposed here, then, is that of one
pretending to have had
revelations from God through those media by which God was pleased to
convey His will
to
men. Sign
or a wonder. A sign was some event foretold by the
prophet, and the
occurrence of which was a token that something else which he
announced would happen
or
should be done (compare I Samuel 2:34; 10:7-9; II Kings 19:29; Isaiah 7:11-14;
38:7;
Mark 13:4). (The Gospel of John is full of examples of Jesus Christ being a σηµεῖον –
saemeion – a sign- that He was truly THE SON OF GOD! A wonder was a miracle,
the
performance of which gave proof of a Divine commission. These signs, it is
assumed,
should come to pass; nevertheless, the
people were not to listen to the man who
gave them to
go after other gods. The mere fact
that he sought to persuade them
to forsake the worship of Jehovah was sufficient to prove
him an impostor; for
how could one who sought to seduce the people from God be
sent by God?
The sign which was given to authenticate such a message
could only
be one of those
“lying signs and wonders after the
working of Satan” (II Thessalonians
2:9),
by which
his emissaries try to deceive and mislead; and was permitted by God only
that their fidelity to Him might be tested and proved. They had already received God’s
message; they had His word; and no
teaching which contravened that, however
apparently authenticated, could be from Him, or was to he accepted by
them
(compare Jeremiah 29:8; Galatians
1:8-9; I
John 3:1). Come what might, they were to
walk after Jehovah their God, and
keep His commandments, and obey His
voice, and serve Him; and cleave
unto Him (v.4). The false prophet, as a public
enemy and a suborner of treason against the King of Israel, was to be put to
death;
and so
the
evil would be put away from among them.
Second Case (vs. 6-11) - A second case supposed is that of temptation to apostasy
proceeding from some near relative or intimate friend. Not only was this to be resisted,
but no
consideration of affection or bend of friendship was to be allowed to
interfere with the stern sentence which doomed the tempter to death; on the
contrary, the person tempted was to
be the first to lay hands on the tempter and put
him
to death. This was to be done by stoning, and the person he had
tried to seduce
was to cast the first
stone.
6 “If thy
brother, the son of thy mother,” - thy full
brother, allied to thee by the
closest fraternal tie -“or
thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom,” -
the
object of thy tenderest affection, whom it is thine to protect and cherish (compare
ch.28:54, 56; Micah 7:5) -“or thy friend, which is as thine own soul,” - i.e. whom
thou lovest as thyself. The word translated “friend” (רֵעַ,
for רֵעֶהֹ)
is from a verb
which signifies to delight in, and conveys primarily the idea
not merely of a companion,
but
of a friend in whom one delights; and the definition of true friendship is the
loving
another as one’s self. As commonly used, however, the word
designates any one with
whom one has any dealing or relationship; and so our Lord expounds it (Luke
10:29-36)
–“entice thee secretly,”
- if the temptation was in private, and so known
only
to thyself - “saying, Let us go and serve other gods,
which thou hast not known,
thou, nor thy fathers; 7 Namely, of
the gods of the people which are round about
you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee,
from the one end of the earth even
unto the other end of the earth;”
8 “Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither
shall thine
eye pity him, neither shalt
thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:” Pity, spare,
conceal - The accumulation of terms serves to make the injunction
more solemn and
impressive. 9 But thou
shalt surely kill him; thine
hand shall be first upon him to
put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all
the people. 10 And thou shalt
stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away
from the LORD thy God, which
brought thee out of the
house of bondage.”
11 “And
all
wickedness as this is among you.” The penalty publicly inflicted, and therefore
generally known, would have a
deterrent effect on the community, so
as to
prevent the recurrence of such evil. (The modern secularist, described in the
above verses as “seeking to turn their fellow man from God” often are
the main advocates of there being no relationship between capital
punishment
and a deterrence on crime BUT THIS FLIES IN THE FACE OF WHAT GOD
HAS COMMANDED. GOD SAYS IT WILL
DETER CRIME! In the 21st
Century, we are paying the price and the JUDGMENT OF GOD IS NOT FAR
BEHIND! – CY – 2012)
Third
Case (vs. 12-18) - A third ease supposed is that
of the inhabitants of a city
being seduced by wicked men into idolatry. In this case inquiry
was to be made as to
the
fact; and if
it was found to be so, the inhabitants of that city were to be put to the
sword, all their property
was to be burnt, and the city itself reduced to a heap; so
should the anger of the Lord be averted from
12 “If
thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities,” - The Hebrew
phrase, “to hear in”
(שָׁמַע בְּ). has sometimes
the meaning of to overhear, as in Genesis 27:5;
I Samuel
17:28; Job15:8; sometimes it means simply to hear, as in
II Samuel 19:35; in
Job 26:14, it has the force of to hear of or
concerning, though some think this
questionable. This latter is apparently
the meaning here: If thou hear
concerning
any of thy cities - “which the LORD thy God hath given thee to
dwell there,
saying, - This
introduces what is heard.
13 “Certain
men, the children of Belial,” - the sons of worthlessness, utterly
worthless persons. Beli ya’al (a
compound of בְלִי, not, and עָל,
to ascend, to
have worth, to profit) means primarily that which is low, hence worthlessness,
naughtiness,
wickedness. In ch.
15:9, Belial is rendered in the Authorized Version
as
an adjective, “wicked.” In Psalm 18:4,
it is rendered by “ungodly
men.” Most
commonly it is treated as a proper name. But in all places the proper meaning
of the
word might be retained. The Hebrews described an object, of which any
quality was
predominantly characteristic, as the son of that quality – “are gone out from among
you,” - have
gone forth from the midst of you, i.e. have risen up among
yourselves –
“and have
withdrawn” - The verb here is the same as that rendered by “thrust,”
in
vs. 5 and 10. It conveys the idea of
drawing away with some degree of force,
not
mere easy seduction, but impulsion by
strong persuasion -“the inhabitants
of their city, saying, Let us go and
serve other gods, which ye have not known;”
The spiritual condition of a city or state should be of interest to the whole community.
Immediate action should be taken to reduce evil in the
community. No longer, indeed,
with carnal weapons. We have no warrant to proceed by fire and sword. A better way
is
open to us of reducing evil than by judicial slaughter. The wickedness of a
city is
doubtless a token of God’s wrath resting upon it. If it repent not,
His
judgments will fall upon it with all the old severity. But it does not lie with
us
to give effect to these judgments; God keeps them in His own hand. Our
work, meanwhile, is the happier one of seeking the reduction of evil by
spiritual means — by reasoning, by persuasion, by preaching of the
truth,
by substituting good influences for bad ones. These weapons are
adequate
to
the work for which they are given, and ought to be plied to the utmost. Places
differ
in
spiritual character. There are those of which it may be said
— as of Pergamos,
“where Satan’s seat is” (Revelation 2:13) — that in
them evil has a kind of
stronghold. Against these, by preference, the assaults of
God’s servants should be
directed. The apostles chose for their attacks the leading centers
of pagan influence.
14 “Then shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently;
and,
behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain,
that such abomination is
wrought among you;
15 Thou shalt
surely smite the inhabitants of that
city with the edge of the sword, destroying it
utterly, and all that is therein,
and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the
sword.” After
due inquiry, if it was
found that such a thing had really been done in any of their cities,
the extreme penalty
was
to be inflicted on the city and all its inhabitants — all were to be
destroyed.
Smite... with the edge of the sword; literally, with the mouth of the sword, as
biting and devouring like a ravenous beast — a phrase for utter
destruction.
16 “And
thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst
of the street
thereof, and shalt burn
with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit,
for the LORD thy God:” - rather, all
the spoil [booty] thereof as a whole
offering unto Jehovah thy God;
it was to be wholly devoted to God, and as
such to be consumed by fire. “It was a
destruction, and not properly an
offering. Hence the author selects neither עֹולָה nor חַטָּאת, but כָּליִל,
whole, whole offering (ch.33:10; Leviticus 6:15, 22),
which word, in the law
concerning offering, is no technical designation of any particular
kind of
offering. The city was to be made a ruin, never to be rebuilt; and
thus was to
be
treated the same as a heathen, idolatrous city might be (compare
Numbers 21:3) -
“and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be
built again.”
17 “And
there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand:
that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of
His anger, and shew
thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and
multiply thee, as
he hath sworn unto thy fathers; 18 When thou
shalt hearken to the voice
of the LORD thy God, to keep all His
commandments which I command
thee this day, to do that which is right in the
eyes of the LORD thy God.”
Temptations to Depart from God to be Resisted at All Costs (vs. 1-18)
In the preceding chapter we had directions with regard to
the worship of the true God.
Here
The chapter in its entirety deals with this one topic. From
it we might open up two main
themes:
o
the treatment of
error;
o
the test of truth.
For the test of truth, we reserve till we come to
ch.18:21. The treatment of error
we
deal with now. In doing this we must remember that Moses is not only the
expounder of religious duty, but also of a judicial polity. He is
not only the prophet,
but
the legislator.
It is supposed, in this chapter, that temptations to depart
from God may come:
v
from a professed
prophet or wonder-worker, or
v
they may arise from
the nearest relative or besom friend, or
v
they may come from a town or city.
In either ease, the infection is to be “stamped out” at once. Any enticement
to
idolatry, come whence it may, is not to be tolerated for a moment. The
wonder-worker is to be put to death; the friend is to be slain; the city
is to
be
destroyed. All this may seem harsh. Perhaps it is not so
harsh as it
seems. There may be occasions when
severity is the greatest kindness, and
when tolerance would be the greatest unkindness. In the early Christian
Church, the sudden death of Ananias and Sapphira
seemed severe (Acts 5:1-11).
But the instantaneous cutting out of the canker of
hypocrisy was, as it were, the
surgical operation which only would save the Church. So here. There are three
principles which were at stake in such cases as those here supposed:
Ø
The supremacy of
Jehovah was the key-stone of their national
constitution. Consequently, the attempt to draw
other gods was treason to the State, and must be dealt with
accordingly.
Ø
The aim of Jehovah in
choosing
people for His Name. Hence if they did not forcibly repress
idolatrous worship, the very reason of their separate existence as
a people would cease.
Ø
Since the very
continuance of
their raison d’etre, for them not
to stamp out idolatry would be to
blot out themselves.
The Church’s Duty
the
maintenance and defense in the world of the great truths of our most holy
faith,
and
she is “earnestly to contend for the faith once (for all) delivered to the
saints”
(Jude 1:3). This
Church is to be a self-governing body, having within itself all the
powers and authorities for self-regulation and discipline. The
Epistles to the seven
Churches in Revelation 2-3 show this abundantly. The Church
is to be very jealous in
guarding the glorious gospel of the blessed God. Amid all changes of
public
sentiment and opinion on minor points, she is to hold fast the
cardinal truth, that no
advance of public thought can warrant her in surrendering the one
vital truth on which
her
existence depends, without which she would have had no existence, nor
could show any reason why she should continue to exist. This one
truth, which
she is to conserve intact age after age, is analogous to the one which
so
sacredly to guard.
HE IS THE LORD! The Church has now to guard the doctrine that
JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF THE LIVING GOD!
(see I John 4:1-4). The Church
might as well cease to be as let that truth go. It is
“the doctrine which is according to godliness” (I Timothy 6:3). She is to guard the
doctrine which tends to godliness, and to maintain the godliness which is to
illustrate
the doctrine. The church
has within herself means and powers for the
defense of the faith, and for visiting with monition, censure, suspension, or
excommunication, those who deny it or disgrace it (I Corinthians 5.; Matthew
18:17-20;
Titus 3:10-11). Her
weapons are not carnal. She has no power to use the
sword
(Matthew 26:52; II Corinthians 10:3-8). Nor has the Church any power towards
those that are not within her pale (I Corinthians. 5:12-13), i.e.
she has no power of
judging. She has to be a witness
for God to the outlying world, and that she may be
this
she
is to keep herself pure.
The
Duty of Individuals
“Ye shall walk after the Lord” embodies New Testament teaching as well as Old.
on
the basis of the
chapter before us, the following outline of thought may well be filled
up.
Jehovah of the Old Testament is the
Christ of the New. He is the Mediator
of the new covenant. He is a Legislator of more glory than Moses (Hebrews 3.).
He appeals to us by
righteousness, love, hope, fear.
various quarters. The
chapter suggests three:
o
A prophet. There may arise some new claimant for man’s homage, or
some philosopher who thinks to disprove the claims of Jesus by
showing his own wondrous intellectual stature.
o
The family. Seductions either to the false in faith or the corrupt in
practice may come from those near and dear to us.
o
The city. A strong current of public
sentiment, (for starters, let’s
say polling to get the opinions of people and then to consider
this what is right – CY – 2012) adverse
to “THE TRUTH
AS IT IS IN JESUS” may set in, and may threaten to carry us
away.
“wonder,” is ever to be allowed to dazzle us for a moment. Christ’s claims
are so convincing to the conscience and heart, they are sustained by
such overwhelming evidence, that nothing in any age
can set them aside.
The sovereignty of Christ is the fundamental law of our life.
He will allow no
rival whatsoever. Even if men should work miracles to lead us
away from
Christ., we are to follow
Christ, and let miracles go for naught.
Even
Under the Mosaic Law, miracles
were not a sufficient test of truth. The
Doctrine they were intended to
confirm must be put alongside therewith, and
if this doctrine contravened the supreme canon of
moral life, “Loyalty to
God,” it was to be set aside. So now, no physical wonder can ever justify
us in ignoring supreme moral law. The Lordship of Jesus is our highest moral
law. He is to us the embodiment of righteousness,
truth, and love; yea,
HE IS OUR
INCARNATE GOD!
Under a different
dispensation – God will judge in
the GREAT
JUDGMENT! - CY – 2012) - yet, even now, the most sacred claims
and relationships of our earthly life are to be renounced if
they come into
collision with our loyalty to Jesus (see Luke 14:26-33). Even though
the
temptations should come from all quarters at once, our loyalty to our
Savior
is to remain unmoved. We may not halt, nor waver, nor seek a feigned
neutrality (Matthew
12:30). It will be a very far more serious thing for us
if we let ourselves be seduced from loyalty to God as
revealed in Christ,
than it would have been for
of Moses (Hebrews 2:1-4; 10:28-31; 12:29). How earnestly
should we pray
that we may be kept faithful to our dear Lord in heaven! How
lovingly should
we warn others, lest they swerve from their fealty to him (II
Peter 3:17-18;
Jude 1:17-25; Revelation 2:10-11;
Matthew 24:11-13)!
ADDITIONAL NOTES (vs. 1-18)
No respecter of persons is God. The sin of all sins is
idolatry, and such overt rebels
against the supreme God shall be summarily punished, whether they
be Amorites,
Hebrews or modern day Europeans or
Americans. In this dispensation which
we
know as the Church Age, as a rule, complete retribution
is reserved
for the
future state; the full effect of evil
ways is not seen in this life. (Men are
deceived by thinking “Because sentence against an evil work is
not
executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully
set
in them
to do evil” (Ecclesiastes 8:11).
Paul said “Some men’s sins are
open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they
follow
after. Likewise also the
good works of some are manifest beforehand;
and they
that are otherwise cannot be hid.” - I Timothy 5:24-25 – CY – 2012).
Yet there are sins so flagrant — so mischievous in their
present influence, that
God employs His agents, personal or impersonal, to execute
His verdicts promptly
and
manifestly. It is not that infinite justice is not content to wait; it is that
God is so
solicitous for the good of the human race, that He puts forth His hand to arrest the
moral
pestilence. In this chapter we learn:
reasonable ground on which
the Hebrews could vindicate their possession of
pest and a curse upon the earth. If now the conquerors should yield to the
habits and vices of the conquered, reason and right would require
that
they likewise should be displaced. (Historically, this happened with
and why? “Moreover
all the chief of the priests, and the people,
transgressed very much after all the abominations of
the heathen; and
polluted the house of
the LORD which He had hallowed in
And the LORD God of
their fathers sent to them by His messengers,
rising up betimes, and sending; because He had
compassion on His
people, and on His dwelling place: But they mocked the messengers
of God, and despised His words, and misused
His prophets, until the
wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till
there was no remedy.
Therefore He
brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew
their young men with the sword in the house of
their sanctuary, and
had no compassion upon young man or maiden,
old man, or him that
stooped for age: He gave them all into his
hand. And all the vessels
of the house of God,
great and small, and the treasures of the house
of the LORD, and the treasures of the king,
and of his princes; all
these he brought to
brake down the wall of
with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels
thereof. And them that
had escaped from the sword carried he away to
were servants to him and his sons until the
reign of the
Persia: To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah,
until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate
she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. – II Chronicles
36:14-21 – CY – 2012) The Nemesis of extermination had fallen upon the
dwellers in
they were idolaters.
Abraham had been called out of Charran, and received
the promise of
And the special mission of Abraham’s posterity was to stamp
out idolatry,
and to lift high the banner of Jehovah. To do this effectually, no
connivance with the cursed thing must be tolerated. If the luminous
agent
employed to shed light makes alliance with the element of darkness,
its
mission is terminated: it is good for nothing. Hence, in order that the Hebrews
might keep alive the lamp of
heavenly truth, they must burn pure oil.
The evil growth must be nipped
in the bud. The dread disease must be
checked at its very first symptom. If they are to continue “the sacramental
host of God’s elect,” no secret
foe must be concealed in the camp.
The decree had gone forth, “Idolatry
shall cease!” and
commissioned to execute that decree.
SUBORDINATION OF ALL OTHER TIES AND CLAIMS.
The ligaments of blood
relationship are strong — dear as very life. The ties
of friendship and of conjugal love are tender and sacred. Yet
God has a
prior claim. His will
forestalls every other obligation. The love which is
due to Him overleaps every boundary — absorbs every other
affection.
“With all the heart, and soul, and mind,
and strength,” that love to
Him, must be. And this superior and incomparable obligation of love will
sometimes necessitate most painful self-denial — the amputation of a
right hand, the sacrifice of aright eye (Matthew 5:29-30). The demand made
upon the Jews, to slay a wife or child, if addicted to idolatry,
was a demand
replete with awful severity; yet no one can question its righteousness. And if so
be the will of God is clearly understood, natural
inclination must yield to
dutiful obedience. Jesus
said, “He that loveth father or mother more
than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth
son or daughter
more than me, is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37).
OF SURVIVORS. (vs. 5,11,17.) (To promote the General Welfare,
if you please – CY – 2012)
The effect anticipated was this, “All
On God’s side the result would
be that He would “turn and show
them
mercy, and multiply”
their numbers. Very clearly was it announced
that this
JUDICIAL ACTION WAS
THE ACTION OF GOD — that righteous
and obedient Hebrews were the officers of Jehovah. In view of
the magnificent
results upon the whole nation, yea, upon the world, this grave
disaster might be
patiently endured. (Basically, what they were doing was only
symbolical of
what God would do with sinners at the Judgment – that action
assures that
in heaven THERE WILL BE NO
REPEAT OF SIN AND DEATH –
CY – 2012) To spare the lives of these rebels, and yet to retain the favor
of Jehovah, WAS A SHEER IMPOSSIBILITY! . A severe choice was
demanded. The remedy was painful, but the effect anticipated was precious.
The blessing and approval of
God, and the moral elevation of the nation, were
the practical fruits. In these
benign results, the survivors would have great
occasion for grateful joy. The
destruction of sinners is a beacon-light, to
which we all should take WARNING!
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