Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 12-13; 18:9-22
5. Avoiding Contamination – Continued
Please read Deuteronomy 12:29-13:18; 18:9-22 for the background to this section.
Temptation from the prophets (13:1–5). God raised up prophets in Israel during those times when the people needed to be called back to the faithful worship of the Lord. It has often been said that prophets weren’t just “foretellers”; they were primarily forth-tellers who declared the Word of the Lord in the name of the Lord. The faithful prophet spoke in God’s name and gave only God’s message for God’s glory and for the good of God’s people.
The key phrase in Deuteronomy 13 is, “Let us go after other gods” (verses 2, 6, 13). In this paragraph, Moses describes a prophet who predicted an event and it occurred, which was the test of a true prophet (Deuteronomy 18:21–22). But then the prophet invited the people to join him in worshiping other gods. Why would a prophet deliver a true message followed by an invitation to worship false gods? For the same reasons formerly orthodox religious leaders in the church will abandon their calling and get involved in cults or even organize their own cults: pride, the desire to have a following and exercise authority, and the desire to make money. The Israelites knew that God’s law prohibited the worship of idols, but there are always unstable people who will blindly follow a “successful religious leader” without testing their decision by God’s truth.
Bible students don’t agree on whether this man referenced and given as an example in 13:1-5 was/is a true prophet who turned false or a false prophet from the beginning. If he were known to be a false prophet, the Law states he would have been killed, but the Jews didn’t always obey the laws involving capital punishment. I take it from 13:1 that the man in the example was/is a true prophet, which would make the temptation even more insidious.
Moses made it clear that the Word of God was true no matter how many miracles or signs a prophet might perform. We don’t test the message by supernatural events; we test the message by God’s Word. Satan can perform signs and what appear to be miracles (2 Thessalonians 2:9; Revelation 12:9) and not everybody who addresses Jesus as “Lord” and performs miracles is a genuine child of God or servant of God (Matthew 7:21–23). God sometimes allows these things to happen in order to test His people to see if they will obey His Word. Even if this man had been originally called of God, when he asked the people to disobey the God’s law, he ceased to be a true servant of the Lord. Because he enticed the people to rebel against the Lord, he was to be put to death.
“So you shall put away [purge] the evil from your midst” (Deuteronomy 13:5). This statement is found at least eight more times in the Book of Deuteronomy (17:7, 12; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21–22, 24; 24:7), and Paul quoted it in 1 Corinthians 5:13 with reference to discipline in the local church. We don’t stone guilty people in our churches, but we should expel from the fellowship any that openly live in sin and refuse to repent and obey the Word of God. Why? For the same reason the idolater was removed (by death) from the nation of Israel: sin is like yeast and when it’s not purged, it will spread and infect others (1 Corinthians 5:6–8; Galatians 5:9). Just as a surgeon removes cancerous tissue from a patient’s body to keep it from spreading, so the local body of believers must experience surgery, no matter how painful, to maintain the spiritual health of the church.
So many today want to justify not doing this by using Scriptures such as found in Matthew 7. Yet in context, Matthew 7 actually agrees with the rest of Scripture concerning recognizing and rebuking falsehood in those amongst us. Christians today cannot justify ongoing blatant sin within their midst. Paul wrote this in 1 Corinthians, “Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits’ ” (1 Corinthians 15:33).
The fact that the accuser was to throw the first stone would encourage him to give serious consideration to the facts and not impetuously accuse an innocent person. The method of execution was stoning so that all the people could participate and cast their vote against the worship of idols. Either one person’s sin affects the whole nation (Joshua 7), or the whole nation must deal with that one person’s sin.
It’s remarkable how many otherwise intelligent people study their horoscopes and consult professional “psychics” who claim to have the power to see into the future. If people really had that ability, they could make a great deal of money on the stock market or at the racetrack and wouldn’t have to earn a living reading palms, gazing at the stars, or consulting crystal balls. Later in his address, Moses will name specific occult practices that are forbidden to God’s people, and one of them is consulting Satan in order to know the future (Deuteronomy 18:9–13). Jesus warned about false prophets and the apostles warned about false teachers (Matthew 7:15–20; 2 Corinthians 11:3–4, 11–13; 1 Timothy 1:6–7; 2 Peter 2).
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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