FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 12-13; 18:9-22

6. Honoring God’s Word – Continued

Please read Deuteronomy 18:9-22 for the background to this section.

The revelation of the true God (verses 14–19). Israel didn’t need to experiment with new religions because the Lord had revealed Himself and His Word to them through Moses His chosen prophet. Once you have the real thing, why go in search of substitutes? Israel could have said to the nations in Canaan what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, “You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). In this statement, Jesus rejected all other religions except Old Testament Judaism and New Testament Christianity, and Christianity came out of Judaism and fulfilled it.

Moses promised the people that God would raise up other prophets as the nation needed them, and the people were to give heed to their message and obey it, for their message would be the Word of God. Moses reminded the people that at Sinai they had requested that he give them God’s message, because they were afraid to hear God’s voice (Exodus 20:18–21). Not all the prophets wrote down their messages for future generations to read and study, but Moses did and so did Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the twelve men we call “the minor prophets.” These prophets not only rebuked Israel for sin and encouraged them in holy living, but they pointed to the coming of the Messiah who would be the Savior of the world. During His walk with the two Emmaus disciples, Jesus began at “Moses and all the Prophets” and “expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27).

Over the centuries, Jewish scholars interpreted Deuteronomy 18:15 to refer to a special prophet who would appear before Messiah came to establish His kingdom. From Malachi 4:5, the Jews knew that Elijah would return at the end of the age, and they wondered if it was John the Baptist, who dressed and ministered so much like Elijah (Luke 3:1–9; Matthew 3:4). John denied it and also denied that he was the prophet that Moses promised (John 1:19–21). In one sense, John was an “Elijah” who prepared the way for Christ (Matthew 11:14; 17:12; Luke 1:13–17), but John did not identify himself as the fulfillment of Malachi 4:5. (On Moses’ writing about the Christ, see John 1:19–28, 45; 5:46; 6:14; 7:40).

Moses was doing more than promise the whole line of prophets that the Lord would send; he was also announcing the coming of the Prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ. At least that’s the way Peter explained it in Acts 3:22–26. Our Lord has three offices, that of Prophet, Priest, and King. When He ministered here on earth, He declared God’s Word as Prophet, and by the inspiration of His Spirit has caused it to be written down for our learning. He intercedes for His people as the High Priest in heaven, and He also sits on the throne and reigns as King, working out His purposes in this world (1 Corinthians 15:25; Ephesians 1:18–23). One day He will return and reign on earth as King of kings (Revelation 19:11-16).

It’s a serious thing to hear God’s Word and not respect it and obey it, for it is the Word of the living God, the God of truth. The written Scriptures are a priceless treasure; they teach us what we need to know about God, the way of salvation, and how to live godly lives and please Him. There is no substitute for the Word of God. Peter was right: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

To Be Continued

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Equipped, “Be” Commentary Series.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 12-13; 18:9-22

6. Honoring God’s Word

Please read Deuteronomy 18:9-22 for the background to this section.

If people don’t know the true and living God and don’t have His Word to guide them, they have to find substitutes to help them make decisions and face up to the demands of life. Instead of worshiping the true and living God, the people in Canaan worshiped dead idols (Psalm 115), and for the Word of God they substituted superstitious practices that linked them to Satan and his demonic forces. No matter what the experts in “comparative religions” might say, pagan idolatrous religion is Satan worship (1 Corinthians 10:14–22; Revelation 9:20). The explosion of the occult that we’ve seen in recent years is evidence that people are seeking in the wrong direction for the spiritual help they need. Visit any large secular bookstore and you’ll find shelves of books devoted to Satan, demons, black magic, and allied themes. People who refuse to love the truth must end up believing lies (2 Thessalonians 2:7–12), and only Jesus Christ can deliver them from the bondage that these occult practices bring to their lives.

The abominations of Satan (verses 9–13). God forbids His people to have anything to do with occult practices. Moses had already mentioned some of these “abominations” [“detestable practices,” NIV] (verses 9, 12) and warned Israel not to meddle with them (Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 17:7; 19:26, 31; 20:6, 27), so this wasn’t an entirely new theme; but here he went into greater detail. The false prophet Balaam discovered that no sorcery could work against Israel (Numbers 23:23), but the Jews could ensnare themselves if they investigated these dangerous practices and got themselves involved. One reason God commanded Israel to wipe out the nations in Canaan was because of their evil occult practices (Deuteronomy 18:14), and why should the conqueror follow the religion that brought judgment to the conquered?

Lest we conclude that these warnings about the occult don’t apply to Christians in this “enlightened age,” we need to be reminded that idolatry and witchcraft are listed among the sins of the flesh in Galatians 5:19–21, and that the Book of Revelation teaches that occult practices will be very widespread in the end times (Revelation 9:20–21; 18:2). In fact, those who engage in such things are among the ones destined for the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8; 22:14–15).

In Deuteronomy 18:10–11, Moses listed the practices that were forbidden by God, beginning with sacrificing children, a subject we’ve already discussed (Deuteronomy 12:31). If you want to worship Satan, you have to pay the price he demands. He will give you what you want if you give him what he wants. He offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world in return for one act of worship (Matthew 4:8–10), and he sneered at Job and claimed that he worshiped God only because the Lord rewarded him (Job 1–2). There are poems, novels, and plays in ancient and modern literature telling about people who sold themselves to Satan, received their rewards, and then regretted they had ever entered into the bargain.

The second forbidden practice is divination, which is seeking to get secret knowledge, especially about future events. Divination was widely practiced in the ancient world in various ways, including interpreting omens, consulting the stars, inspecting various animal organs, using divining rods, interpreting dreams, watching the movement of the water, and contacting the dead (1 Samuel 28). In some way, the sacrificing of children was also involved in divination. Mediums, necromancers, and spiritists consulted the dead with the hopes of learning forbidden things about the future.

The diviner wants to know the future, but the sorcerer wants to control people and the future by using various forms of magic, witchcraft, and spells. By being in league with the demons and casting spells, magicians and witches seek to influence people and events to achieve their own selfish purposes. People in today’s “scientific world” may scoff at these things, but any evangelical missionary can tell you of the demonic influence that has held many backward peoples in bondage and fear. Certainly demonic forces are at work in the “modern” Western world today, but they operate with greater subtlety and aren’t always easily detected. Those who would deny the influence of demons in the church today will have to explain the prevalence of demonism when Christ was here on earth and His victory over demons. They must also consider our Lord’s commission to His disciples (Mark 3:14–25; Luke 9:1) and their experience ministering to the demonized (Luke 10:17). And what about the ministry of Paul (Acts 19:11) and what Paul wrote about demons to believers in the churches (1 Corinthians 10:20–21; Romans 8:37–39; Ephesians 6:10–18)?

If any Jew ever considered getting personally acquainted with these wicked practices, he would have to consider Moses’ closing admonition, “You must be blameless before the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 18:13 NIV). “Blameless” implies, not sinless perfection, but a heart totally devoted to the Lord. It speaks of integrity and an undivided heart, what David meant when he wrote, “I will walk within my house with a perfect heart” (Psalm 101:2). The Jewish “Shema” declared, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5).

To Be Continued

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Equipped, “Be” Commentary Series.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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 a multitude (verses 12–18). “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil” (Exodus 23:2). If a person has committed wickedness, the fact that hundreds of people approve of it doesn’t change its character. It is God who defines what sin is and how we should deal with it. God governs His people by decree, not by consensus. How could an entire town in Israel turn away from the Lord and start worshiping false gods? By failing to deal with the first persons in the town who turned to false gods. The leaders didn’t obey God’s law and purge the evil from the town, so the sin easily spread from person to person and eventually infected everybody. When you remember that the land belonged to the Lord (Leviticus 25:23), that He graciously allowed the Jews to live there, and that He alone had the right to lay down the rules, you can see that the idolatrous town was guilty of very serious sin.

It was important that the matter be investigated thoroughly and accurately. “He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him” (Proverbs 18:13). If the accusation was found to be true, the wealth and possessions of the people were to be burned in the town square as a burnt offering to the Lord. The people were to be slain and the city itself was to be destroyed and nothing was to be salvaged from it. It was to be left a “heap,” which is the translation of the Hebrew word tel, which is a mound composed of layers of ruins. The heap of ruins would be a constant witness to warn the Jews not to worship idols.

But could the nation of Israel afford to lose a town and all its inhabitants? Yes, because God would multiply His people and bless them for obeying His Word and honoring His name. Why not rebuild the town and start all over? Because God said it was to remain a heap of ruins forever and never be rebuilt. Human calculation would say that this was a great loss, but divine wisdom says it is a great gain, for a festering sore had been removed from the nation.

Unfortunately, Israel didn’t obey these laws and idolatry multiplied in the nation during the reign of Solomon and after the kingdom divided. When Jeroboam became ruler of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, he made idolatry official by setting up two golden calves for the people to worship, one at Dan and the other at Bethel. In this way, he encouraged the people not to go to Jerusalem to worship (1 Kings 12:25-33). Because of their idolatry, Israel fell to Assyria in 722 B.C. and Judah fell to Babylon in 606–586 B.C. God would rather that the nation be scattered and the holy sanctuary be destroyed than that His people worship false gods. The people forgot that it was the Lord Jehovah who delivered them from Egypt and gave them their land (Deuteronomy 13:5, 10).

To Be Continued

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Equipped, “Be” Commentary Series.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.